An engineer rarely receives acknowledgement for their contribution to the creativity of a project. Peter Rice was an Irish engineer whose work has been celebrated in the film An Engineer Imagines.
His work can be appreciated in structures like the Pompidou Centre, the Lloyds building, a church in Lille, the Sydney Opera House and La Defense.
His life was cut short by a brain tumour in 1992, and he faced death certain in his faith. The film paid tribute to his ability to think outside the box and his ability to face seemingly insurmountable problems and resolve them creatively.
One of the projects he worked on was the Full Moon Theatre in southern France. We were treated to scenes where people held up mirrors to the moon in the setting of an amphitheatre. The disappointment was that we never experienced the full impact of a stage lit solely by moonlight.
Peter Rice’s influence and contribution to architecture were recognised by the RIBA in 1992 when he won the Gold Medal for Architecture, the second engineer to receive the award.
The award is conferred by the Sovereign annually for work which has “promoted, either directly or indirectly, the advancement of architecture.”
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