Richard Rogers Lays Off a Quarter of His Staff

First Frank Gehry laid off his entire Atlantic Yards staff and then Norman Foster announced that he was letting go more than three hundred of his employees due to the economic slump. Now the latest big name starchitect has issued walking papers: Richard Rogers, who has announced that his firm, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, would be laying off a full quarter of their staff. Unlike Foster’s massive operation, this isn’t affecting nearly as many architects and other staffers, but 35 people no longer have jobs at the firm. Surely another blow to the morale of the industry. Here’s a bit:

Lord Rogers said: “Projects which seemed secure three months ago are now on hold or cancelled.”

Among them are the tower at 122 Leadenhall Street, London, nicknamed ‘the Cheesegrater’, and one of the towers at New York’s troubled Ground Zero site.

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