Notes from the archive

Next week, Tate Britain launches an exhibition dedicated to James Stirling, the architect behind Tate Liverpool on the Albert Dock and the Clore Gallery at Tate Britain.

The exhibition will comprise of rarely seen drawings, models, photographs and sketches, including a childhood bird-watching diary and blueprints for the Cambridge University History Faculty building, which Stirling worked on in the 1960s.

The exhibits on display are predominantly from the recently catalogued archive James Stirling-Michael Wilford fonds at the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal. The exhibition coincides with the Tate Britain Millbank Project, which is the first stage to renovate and improve Tate Britain by Caruso St John Architects.

Here’s a sneak peek at some of the rare material that will be on display during the exhibition.

House for the Architect: model, probably late autumn 1948 Paper, burlap, cork, plastic, metal, thread, black ink, gouache, fibreboard James Stirling/Michael Wilford fonds, Collection Centre Canadien d’Architecture/Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréa
Florey Building, The Queen’s College, Oxford: axonometric, 1966–71 Ink, graphite, and colored crayon on tracing paper James Stirling/Michael Wilford fonds, Collection Centre Canadien d’Architecture/Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal.

House for the Architect: model, probably late autumn 1948 Paper, burlap, cork, plastic, metal, thread, black ink, gouache, fibreboard James Stirling/Michael Wilford fonds, Collection Centre Canadien d’Architecture/Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréa
House for the Architect: model, probably late autumn 1948 Paper, burlap, cork, plastic, metal, thread, black ink, gouache, fibreboard James Stirling/Michael Wilford fonds, Collection Centre Canadien d’Architecture/Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal.

House for the Architect: model, probably late autumn 1948 Paper, burlap, cork, plastic, metal, thread, black ink, gouache, fibreboard James Stirling/Michael Wilford fonds, Collection Centre Canadien d’Architecture/Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréa
Wissenschaftszentrum, Berlin: plan, between 1979–87 Ink, correction fluid and traces of graphite on paper James Stirling/Michael Wilford fonds, Collection Centre Canadien d’Architecture/Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal.

House for the Architect: model, probably late autumn 1948 Paper, burlap, cork, plastic, metal, thread, black ink, gouache, fibreboard James Stirling/Michael Wilford fonds, Collection Centre Canadien d’Architecture/Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréa
School Assembly Hall, Brunswick Park Primary School, Camberwell, London (1958–61): axonometric Ink, coloured pencil and graphite on paper AP140.S2.SS1.D21.P2.2 James Stirling / Michael Wilford fonds, Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal © CCA

History Faculty Building, University of Cambridge, England (1963–67): axonometric Ink on paper AP140.S2.SS1.D26.P3.1 James Stirling / Michael Wilford fonds, Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal © CCA
James Stirling, Michael Wilford, and Associates Clore Gallery, Tate Britain © Tate Photography

House for the Architect: model, probably late autumn 1948 Paper, burlap, cork, plastic, metal, thread, black ink, gouache, fibreboard James Stirling/Michael Wilford fonds, Collection Centre Canadien d’Architecture/Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréa
History Faculty Building, University of Cambridge, England (1963–67): axonometric Ink on paper AP140.S2.SS1.D26.P3.1 James Stirling / Michael Wilford fonds, Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal © CCA

James Stirling: Notes from the Archive runs from 5 April – 21 August at Tate Britain, 5 Atterbury St, Westminster, London SW1P

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