Will Alsop

Alsop died after a short illness on 12 May 2018 at the age of 70.

Alsop always wanted to be an architect, even before he really knew what architects did; when he was six years old, he designed a house for his mother to live in – its most striking specification was that it had to be built in New Zealand. When he was 16 his father, an accountant, died, and being bored with school he left to work for an architect, doing his A-levels at evening classes.

Alsop featured significantly in Iain Sinclair's book Ghost Milk (2011), especially the chapter "In the belly of the architect". The book is a critique - written using the literary technique of psychogeography - of the capital used to drive through vanity planning projects such as the London Olympics, and Alsop's unbuilt planning projects in the north of England, such as Supercity, are seen as typical of these, where the architect fantasizes about how architectural design solves social and economic problems.

After leaving ARCHIAL (formerly Alsop Architects, then SMC Alsop), he joined RMJM's London Headquarters as International Principal on 1 October 2009. The office's name was "Will Alsop at RMJM". Alsop's current practice is called aLL Design and has practices in London and Chongqing. Alsop's London office is located in Battersea.

The Public, West Bromwich West Bromwich, West Midlands, England Part completed 2008

In April 2007, The Observer commented that Alsop's approach to architecture could broadly be defined by his statement: "I like people. I hope it shows."

In early 2006, Alsop sold his practice to a design conglomerate called the SMC Group to concentrate on architecture.

Ben Pimlott Building, Goldsmiths, University of London New Cross, London, England Completed 2005

Alsop admits to never being very good at handling finances, and his practice went through several difficult periods, including the cancellation in June 2004 of plans to build a "Fourth Grace" to be built on Liverpool's Pier Head waterfront – the so-called "Cloud Building" – officially because of rising costs and unrealistic design.

Stratford Docklands Light Railway Station Stratford, London, England Commissioned in 2003, completed in 2007

Muzinq Almere (nox), Doorworld and MediaMarkt Almere, Netherlands Completed 2002

He was responsible for several distinctive and controversial modernist buildings which are usually distinguished by their use of bright colours and unusual avant-garde forms. In 2000, Alsop won the Stirling Prize, the most prestigious architecture award in the United Kingdom, for the Peckham Library in London.

North Greenwich tube station Greenwich, London, England Completed 1999

Hôtel du Département des Bouches-du-Rhône (Le Grand Bleu) Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France Completed 1994 (with Brian Clarke)

Hamburg Ferry Terminal Hamburg, Germany Completed 1993 (with de:Jan Störmer, Hamburg)

Cardiff Bay Visitor Centre Cardiff, Wales Completed 1991, demolished 2010.

Alsop's first major commission was a swimming pool for Sheringham in Norfolk in 1984, followed by a visitor centre for Cardiff Bay. Thereafter he worked on a number of projects in Germany, including the Hamburg Ferry Terminal. In 1992, Alsop came first, against competitor Norman Foster, in the competition to design the Hôtel du département des Bouches-du-Rhône (the county government office of Bouches-du-Rhône) in Marseille, France. The building, now considered a major work of late 20th century architecture and a Marseille landmark, nicknamed Le Grand Bleu, was designed by Alsop and Störmer, and developed its visual identity through the design process in collaboration with the architectural artist Brian Clarke, with the completed building externally clad in Yves Klein blue glass, with one elevation formed of a 1,200 m artwork by Clarke screenprinted in ceramic glaze onto the facade. Alsop and Störmer divided into separate practices in 2000, with Alsop renaming the practice Alsop Architects.

After a short period with Roderick Ham, in 1981 Alsop set up a practice, Alsop & Lyall, with his classmate John Lyall in Hammersmith. Jan Störmer later joined the practice and a decade later, in 1991, the practice was renamed Alsop & Störmer after Lyall's departure.

Will Alsop was born on December 12, 1947 in Northampton, England as William Allen Alsop. He was married to Sheila Bean.

Alsop then studied at the Architectural Association School of Architecture where at 23 he entered the competition to design the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris and came second to the eventual winners, Richard Rogers & Renzo Piano. He worked briefly for Maxwell Fry and Jane Drew, a couple who had been instrumental in introducing modernism to Britain in the 1930s, then joined Cedric Price for four years.