Richard Rogers exhibition delves into the architect’s ideas at Chateau La Coste

A new Richard Rogers exhibition created by Ab Rogers opens at the late architect’s final design, the Drawing Gallery at Chateau La Coste in France

Richard Rogers' drawing pavilion for Château La Coste, photographed by James Reeve in 2020, now containing Richard Rogers exhibition
Richard Rogers' drawing pavilion for Château La Coste, photographed by James Reeve in 2020
(Image credit: James Reeve)

A new Richard Rogers exhibition, celebrating the ideas and oeuvre of the late, great architect has just launched at Chateau La Coste in France. The show was not only fittingly created by Ab Rogers, a designer and founder of the London studio Ab Rogers Design as well as the architect’s son; it is also staged at Rogers’ last project, the gravity-defying Drawing Gallery within the French destination’s expansive, leafy estate. 

interior displays at Richard Rogers exhibition at Chateau La Coste

(Image credit: Stephane Aboudaram)

Richard Rogers exhibition: the architect's work and ideas

The exhibition focuses on ‘Rogers’ buildings as manifestations of his ideas’. It spans ten projects, all pivotal in his career, but not all built – from Zip-Up House (1967-69) and Centre Pompidou (1977) to Industrialized Housing (1992), The Millennium Dome (1999) Tree House (2016), and of course the vessel of the show itself, the Richard Rogers Drawing Gallery (2020). 

architecture model against green views at Richard Rogers exhibition at Chateau La Coste

(Image credit: Stephane Aboudaram)

A bold approach when it comes to the exhibition design underlines the architect's strong ideas, drawing parallels to his ‘electric personality’. The walls in the single-space gallery pavilion have been painted bright pink. The architect’s own voice is ever present, echoing in the space, as the show includes the film ‘Exposed’, which was commissioned for the Pompidou exhibition that celebrated the building’s 40th anniversary in 2007. 

pink wall and displays at Richard Rogers exhibition at Chateau La Coste

(Image credit: Stephane Aboudaram)

Ab Rogers says: ‘This is a portrait of a man who never stopped being curious and never wanted to stop learning. His buildings were the physical manifestation of his beliefs, driven by social, environmental, ethical, and political passions.’

pink bench at Richard Rogers exhibition at Chateau La Coste

(Image credit: Stephane Aboudaram)

'Richard Rogers at the Drawing Gallery' runs 22 October 2023 - 7 January 2024 at Chateau La Coste

rshp.com 

chateau-la-coste.com

abrogers.com 

Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).