Tribute: Michael Wilford (1938–2023)

Michael Wilford, former partner of James Stirling and highly respected professor of architecture, died on March 10 at the age of 84. From early in his career, Wilford’s professional life in architecture was largely determined by his relationship with Stirling, arguably the most important British architect of the 20th century. In 1960, a 22-year-old Wilford joined Stirling and James Gowan in practice, and three years later when Gowan and Stirling parted ways due to creative differences, Wilford went with Stirling. Dismissed later as simply an enabler of Stirling’s flights of fancy, he was much more. As relayed to RECORD, it was said by a member of staff at Stirling and Gowan “whoever got Michael would have progressed.”

Wilford, 12 years younger than Stirling, helped organize the small practice with patience and humor, becoming a partner in 1971. According to staff who worked at Stirling Wilford & Associates at the time, the office was run more like a studio than a corporate practice, with Wilford guiding it through the difficult delivery of the technically ambitious Faculty of History at Cambridge University (1968) and the Florey Building in Oxford (1971). Wilford was also instrumental in navigating the practice through the economic downturn that followed those British projects, which were critically acclaimed but did not leave behind happy clients.