RIP Richard Rogers

Another one of my favorite architects has shuffled off this mortal coil:

Pritzker Prize-winning architect Richard Rogers, whose landmark buildings include the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the 3 World Trade Center tower in New York and London's Millennium Dome, has died aged 88. Rogers "passed away quietly" on Saturday evening, his representative Matthew Freud of Freud Communications confirmed to CNN on Sunday.

He was one of the most distinctive architects of his generation, with an architectural style that was both instantly recognizable and highly adaptable.

My favorite Rogers building - in fact, one of my favorite buildings overall - is the Lloyd's of London headquarters, which he designed back in the '80s.

In 1986, Rogers, then working as the Richard Rogers Partnership, would complete another famous building in the same style: the Lloyd's of London headquarters. It, too, was heavily criticized at first, but it is now one of the city's most iconic buildings. In 2011, the Lloyd's building received Grade I listed status, making it one of the few modern buildings to receive Britain's most prestigious designation.

Like the Pompidiou Center, the Lloyd's building is an example of "Bowellism" or "inside-out" architecture closely associated with Rogers, wherein normally "internal" facilities such as elevators, stairwells and HVAC ducts are moved to the exterior of the building, in order to a) maximize internal open space and b) make the building more interesting to look at.

The architect also received the Pritzker Prize -- popularly known as the Nobel Prize of architecture -- in 2007. 

Rogers was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1991. In 1996, he was made a life peer for the Labour Party and created Baron Rogers of Riverside.

Not a bad life. Thank you, Sir Rogers, and rest in peace.