A re-evaluation of three 'red buildings', designed by Jim Stirling: the University of Leicester Engineering Building (and James Gowan), the History Faculty and Library at Cambridge and the residential Florey Building at Queen's College, Oxford. These are buildings much praised by architects, yet hated by the members of the universities that use them. Alan Berman has drawn together essays which put the buildings in their historical context, and which explore both their radical features and their technical failings. In addition, twenty-four of today's most famous architects - including Will Alsop, Norman Foster, Richard MacCormac and Richard Rogers - explain and partly seek to defend, the importance of these radical and controversial buildings. With top contributors and newly commissioned photography, as well as stunning drawings taken from the Jim Stirling archives, this book attempts a serious re-engagement with the continuing debate between modern architects and the public.