Michael Wilford

For the British diplomat, seeMichael Wilford (diplomat).

Michael Wilford
Born	(1938-09-09)9 September 1938 Surbiton,Surrey,England
Died	10 March 2023(2023-03-10)(aged 84)
Occupation	Architect
Awards	Stirling Prize(1997)
Practice	Stirling/Wilford Partnership (1971–1992) Michael Wilford & Partners (1993–2001) Michael Wilford Architects, UK (2001–2023) Wilford Schupp Architekten, DE (2001–2023)
Buildings	Lowry Centre

Michael James WilfordCBE(9 September 1938 – 10 March 2023) was an English architect fromHartfield,East Sussex. Wilford studied at theNorthern PolytechnicSchool of Architecture, London, from 1955 to 1962, and at theRegent Street PolytechnicPlanning School, London, in 1967. In 1960, he joined the practice ofJames Stirlingand in 1971 together established the Stirling/Wilford partnership. He designed theBritish Embassy in Berlin.

Biography

Michael James Wilford was born inSurbiton,Surreyon 9 September 1938.In 1960 Wilford joined the practice which James Stirling created in 1956. The Stirling/Wilford partnership was established in 1971 and continued until James Stirling's death in 1992. From 1993 to 2001 Michael Wilford worked in partnership under the name of Michael Wilford and Partners. In England, Michael Wilford practiced under the name of Michael Wilford architects and in Germany had established Wilford Schupp, based in Stuttgart.

Wilford's work has gained international renown and includes significant public buildings such as performing art centres, art galleries, museums and libraries located around the world. These projects have won many architectural awards, the most recent including The Royal Fine Art Commission Building of the Year Award in 2001 for The Lowry performing and visual arts centre in Salford, England.

Wilford taught extensively in schools of architecture including posts atYale,Harvard,Rice, theUniversity of Cincinnatiin USA, theUniversity of Toronto,McGill UniversityMontreal in Canada, University of Newcastle, Australia, the Architectural Association in London, and theUniversity of Sheffield,England. He was a visiting professor at the Liverpool School of Architecture. This was his favorite school of architecture. He had been an external examiner at many UK schools of architecture and sat on juries for numerous international architectural competitions and architectural awards.

Wilford was a member of theRoyal Institute of British Architects,the Singapore Institute of Architects, Royal Institute of Arbitrators, Fellow ofRoyal Society of Arts,and an Honorary Member of the Bund Deutscher Architekten. In 2001 he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

National Life Storiesconducted an oral history interview (C467/88) with Michael Wilford in 2009 for its Architects Lives' collection held by the British Library.

Michael Wilford died on 10 March 2023, at the age of 84.

Buildings

• 2000The Lowry performing and visual arts centre in Salford, England
• 2000British Embassy in Berlin
• 1994 Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst (University for Art and Music),Stuttgart,Germany

Awards and prizes

• 1997Stirling Prize– Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst,Stuttgart,Germany

Gallery

• 
  The Lowry performing and visual arts centre, Salford, England
• 
  TheBritish Embassy, Berlin.

External links

• Michael WilfordOfficial website, UK
• Wilford Schupp ArchitektenOfficial website, DE
• Michael WilfordatarchINFORM
• New Embassy: Michael Wilford