Farrell & McNamara mp4

Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara are Irish architects who, as founders (1978) of the firm Grafton Architects, are known for structures that are at once understated and complex, historical and modern, generous toward their users, and considerate of the environment. The pair had been collaborating for more than 40 years when they received the Pritzker Prize in 2020, the first time the honour was given to two women.
Shelley McNamara
Born: 1952 Lisdoonvarna, Ireland
Alma mater: University College Dublin
Occupation: Architect
Awards: Pritzker Prize, Royal Gold Medal
Practice: Grafton Architects
Buildings: Universidad de Ingeniería y Tecnología
Yvonne Farrell
Born: 1951 Ireland
Alma mater: University College Dublin
Occupation: Architect
Notable work: The Röntgen Building
Practice: Grafton Architects
Awards: Pritzker Architecture Prize
(with Shelley McNamara)
Awards and recognitions:
Shelley McNamara
World Building of the Year Award, 2008 to Grafton Architects for the Bocconi University building in Milan, Italy.
"Architecture as New Geography", Silver Lion Award at the Venice Biennale Common Ground Exhibition, 2012.
University of Limerick Medical School and Pergola Bus Shelter, Shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize, 2013.
"University of Limerick Campus" exhibited in the Sensing Spaces show at the Royal Academy.
Shortlisted for the 2014 AJ Women in Architecture Awards, 2014.
Grafton Architects won the fourth annual Jane Drew Prize, 2015, for their "massive influence" on the profession.
RIBA International Prize, 2016, for the Universidad de Ingeniería y Tecnología, Lima, Peru,.
Appointed as curator of the 16th Venice Biennale of Architecture in 2018.
Honorary doctorate from Trinity College Dublin, 2019.
Pritzker Architecture Prize winner in 2020, shared with Farrell.
The Daylight Award 2022, Daylight in architecture laureate, shared with Yvonne Farrell
UCD Alumni Award for Architecture 2015
McNamara is a fellow of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects. She was the first architect to be elected a member of Aosdána, an association of Irish artists.
Yvonne Farrell
The World Building of the Year award in 2008 for their Bocconi University building in Milan.
The practice won the inaugural RIBA International Prize in 2016 for their Universidad de Ingeniería y Tecnología building in Lima, Peru
The 2020 Royal Gold Medal.
In 2017 she was appointed, along with Shelley McNamara, as curator of the 16th Venice Biennale of Architecture in 2018.
The Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2020, also with McNamara.
Design philosophy:
‘For their integrity in their approach to both their buildings, as well as the way they conduct their practice, their belief in collaboration, their generosity towards their colleagues, especially as evidenced in such events as the 2018 Venice Biennale, their unceasing commitment to excellence in architecture, their responsible attitude toward the environment, their ability to be cosmopolitan while embracing the uniqueness of each place in which they work, for all these reasons and more, Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara are awarded the 2020 Pritzker Architecture Prize.’
- Source: Pritzker Prize website
“Some people might say we architects are naïve. But we are great believers in human invention. We are great believers in the capacity of architecture to change things. We teach. We see young people researching on how to make buildings in different ways and how to think in different ways about landscape, about the resources, about water, about solar energy. ”
“Architecture is a framework for human life. It anchors us and connects us to the world in a way that possibly no other space-making discipline can. At the core of our practice is a real belief that architecture matters. It is a cultural spatial phenomenon that people invent.”
McNamara
Notable works:
McNamara
2006: Solstice Arts Centre, Navan, Co. Meath, Ireland.
2008: Waterloo Lane Mews, Dublin 4, Ireland.
2008: Drogheda Fire and Rescue Services Station, Drogheda, Ireland
2012: University of Limerick Medical School, Limerick, Ireland.
2014: Memory / Grafton Architects, with the collaboration of ELISAVA for 300 Years of Catalan Spirit, Spain.
2015: University Campus UTEC Lima, Peru
2016: Competition Winner for The Paul Marshall Building - LSE
2018: Curators of 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale FREESPACE
2019: Université Toulouse 1 Capitole Toulouse, France
2020: Kingston University Town House
2021: ESB Headquarters, Fitzwilliam Street, Dublin 2
Yvonne Farrell
2008: Grafton Building (Universita Luigi Bocconi), Milan, Italy
2009: Department of Finance, Dublin, Ireland
2019: Institut Mines Telecom, 2019, Paris Saclay, France
2019: Toulouse School of economics, 2019, Toulouse, France
Quotes:
“Everybody has a right to benefit from architecture,” McNamara