Current Work is a lecture series featuring leading figures in the worlds of architecture, urbanism, design, and art.
Shelley McNamara and Yvonne Farrell co-founded Grafton Architects in 1978 after meeting at the School of Architecture at University College Dublin. They have been selected as the 2020 Pritzker Prize Laureates.
As architects and educators, the partners honor “history while demonstrating a mastery of the urban environment and craft of construction,” as their Pritzker Prize announcement states. The practice’s academic, civic, cultural, and residential projects balance strength and delicacy, resulting in impactful and unique works.
In 2018, Farrell and McNamara were the Curators of the Venice Architecture Biennale, guided by their FREESPACE manifesto.
The practice has won numerous awards, including the inaugural RIBA International Prize for the Universidad de Ingeniería y Tecnología (UTEC) in Lima, Peru, in 2016. It was recently presented with the 2020 RIBA Royal Gold Medal in London.
Farrell and McNamara hold longstanding appointments at University College Dublin and have taught at universities around the world. They are currently professors at the Accademia di Architettura in Mendrisio, Switzerland.
Recent projects include:
The lecture will be followed by a conversation with Paul Lewis, partner at LTL Architects, professor and associate dean at Princeton University School of Architecture, and president of The Architectural League of New York.