Revealed: bust-up with Boris made Lord Rogers quit

An extraordinary row between Boris Johnson and one of the world's leading architects is revealed today.

Richard Rogers quit suddenly as a mayoral aide after nine years because of a breakdown in his relationship with Mr Johnson, private letters show.

The Mayor's spokesman suggested today the pair had fallen out over Lord Rogers' hugely controversial redevelopment of Chelsea Barracks, with Mr Johnson backing Prince Charles's objections to the modern designs.

But the correspondence - obtained under freedom of information laws - also lays bare Lord Rogers' repeated attempts to force Mr Johnson into giving the go-ahead for work to improve public spaces in London, and his frustration at a lack of action.

This prompted Lord Rogers - whose landmark work includes the Lloyds of London building in the City, Terminal Five at Heathrow and the Pompidou Centre in Paris -- to quit in frustration as a mayoral architecture adviser last month.

Lord Rogers, whose offer to work for free for half a day a week was rebuffed by the Mayor, penned a devastating resignation letter in September complaining of being undermined and "blocked" by the Mayor and his deputies in carrying out urgent work to improve the capital's public realm.

He wrote: "I am disappointed and frustrated that for over a year you and your deputies have blocked me from realising the work we discussed at our first meeting and in numerous letters: to lead a professional team to design and deliver public spaces in London.

"As for you and I working closely together, this, quite simply, has never happened. Without a team and without your support I cannot continue."

But Mr Johnson's spokesman today said the relationship had broken down because Lord Rogers was unhappy at not having the final say.

Letters obtained by Building Design magazine show Mr Johnson had originally termed Lord Rogers — who was Ken Livingstone's unpaid chief architectural adviser — his "Agrippa", a reference to a Roman general credited for securing victories for his master.

Mr Johnson's spokesman told the Standard: "We didn't tell him to leave, he resigned. But it was clear we were on different sides of the fence over Chelsea Barracks.

"He [Rogers] was very frustrated at Prince Charles and Boris is closer to the thinking of the heir to throne and that didn't help."

The £3 billion Rogers design for the barracks, in Belgravia, proposed modernist steel and glass tower blocks, while the Prince had advocated more traditional buildings.

It was eventually abandoned by developers Qatari Diar and new designs commissioned from other architects. Lord Rogers said the Prince "single-handedly destroyed the project".

Mr Johnson's spokesman said: "I don't think there was any particular animosity. Richard Rogers obviously felt more happy under the ancien regime."