When it comes to gender equality, the architecture profession is lagging behind, to say the least. It wasn’t until the 21st century that the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the profession’s highest award, was awarded for the first time to a woman: Zaha Hadid, who won it in 2004.
Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara, co-founders of Dublin firm Grafton Architects, are among five women who have collected the award since then.
In awarding them the 2020 prize, the Pritzker jury described Farrell and McNamara as “pioneers in a field that has traditionally been and continues to be a male-dominated profession” and cited their constant consideration for “the people who would inhabit and use their buildings.” . and spaces.”
Sustainable, community-oriented architecture was one of the themes of the Art for Tomorrow conference, an annual event convened by the Democracy and Culture Foundation with panels moderated by New York Times journalists that was held in Venice last week. In a panel titled “Architecture for Good,” Manuela Lucá-Dazio, executive director of the Pritzker Prize, said that while the Pritzker Prize’s mission has remained the same since its creation in 1979, “our world has changed profoundly in recent years.” 45 years”. .”
He said that issues such as gender balance, decolonization and decarbonization were now priorities for all individuals and professionals, and that the role of architects and the Pritzker Prize was to “address these issues.”
And those questions have been vital to Grafton Architects since it opened in 1978.
The studio, which now has a staff of 37, is known for producing elegantly designed buildings that are pleasing to the eye, easy to use and unextravagant, and where environmental elements such as sunlight, wind and water are combined. They take advantage to produce an architecture that stands up to the test. of time.
His notable projects include the campus of the University of Engineering and Technology in Lima, Peru, which has the appearance of a carved mountain; campus buildings with large, spacious lobbies where the architecture is discreet but highly effective for the London School of Economics and Kingston University (in south-west London); and the headquarters of ESB, Ireland’s electricity supplier, which is a pollution-free, fossil fuel-free building.
In a video interview, Farrell and McNamara talked about egos, “starchitects” and new projects. The following has been edited and condensed for clarity.
He has just won a competition to design a library for Christ’s College at the University of Cambridge. How do you ensure that the project is sustainable?
SHELLEY MCNAMARA Keeping as much of the existing structure as possible and making something that is as light and manageable as possible, using wood and reusing existing bricks. There is no great technological formula. It’s common sense.
Most architects usually put their name on the door. He named his practice after the street where his first office was located. Because?
MCNAMARA At first it was practical, because there were five of us. We weren’t going to answer the phone with five names. Furthermore, architecture is collaborative by nature, and we have become much more convinced of this as time goes by.
It sounds like you don’t have big egos.
MCNAMARA Of course we have egos. We bounce off each other and have tensions. We just navigated that and tried to put the project first.
We are not good at public relations or communication, because we find that we are consumed by work.
How do you explain why the profession continues to be so dominated by men?
YVONNE FARRELL It’s a problem. When I look at the boards (not just in architecture, but also in universities and other places) and see the suit and tie, it makes me sad.
We teach and in our classes, sometimes more than 50 percent of the students are women. And they are brilliant.
Testosterone in men seems to make their self-confidence in public stronger than in women. Women tend to say, “I’ll stay back, I’ll be inclusive,” and that inclusion sometimes means that the person who has stepped forward makes her voice heard.
Women need to have opportunities and receive support at work. They can do the job, if given the chance. It’s about believing in yourself: believing inside and believing outside.
MCNAMARA For me, the best explanation came from Virginia Woolf, in her essay “A Room of One’s Own.” She was asked to give a lecture on women in literature and she could only find three or four such women at that time. She championed precedence and role models. She noted that there is a catch-up period, because women have been left behind. We are catching up.
In recent decades, we have seen so-called star architects achieve fame with buildings that have highly sculptural and performative exteriors. How do you place yourself in that context?
FARRELL Architecture is not just something visual. It is something sensual and experiential. What really interests us is not so much a litany of so-called stars. We are interested in beautiful everyday life.
It’s not about standing on a stage screaming. It’s not about ostentation. It’s like a constructed choreography. What we’re trying to do is make architecture that looks a little bit like the way we see the world.
MCNAMARA There are some star architects whose work we really enjoy, like Kazuyo Sejima of Sanaa Architects; Herzog and de Meuron; Jean Nouvel. We learn from colleagues.
In fact, we miss Zaha Hadid a lot. His work was nothing like the work we do, but it was kind of a positive irritant.
What do you mean?
MCNAMARA She was always changing things, questioning them, fighting and really pushing the limits. There was a real thread of energy there.
Do you like its buildings?
MCNAMARA Some. There are things she has done, some of them unbuilt, that we have learned from.
We try to do work that consists of listening and caring. There are so many buildings that we go to and they do things that we couldn’t do. We admire them, oh my God. But we were not moved. It doesn’t hit us in the gut.
What are some current and future projects that you are looking forward to?
FARRELL We’re building our first all-wood building in Arkansas, which is a really important research project for us: the Anthony Timberlands Center for Design and Materials Innovation. [at the University of Arkansas] in Fayetteville. They believe in wood as a very sustainable material. The wooden columns rise like totems in space.
MCNAMARA We are also carrying out social housing projects in Dublin. It took us a long time to get into that kind of work and we really enjoyed it.
Building in the public realm is fantastic. We had never had access to that type of work before. So we’re excited about those things.
FARRELL You ask, what are we waiting for? I don’t navigate, but I would say there is fair navigation for every project: the right clients, the right brief, the right contractor, all the overlapping lines. Have people who find joy within the pain of making a building.