Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara
Friday, February 13, 2009
7:00 p.m.
The Urban Center
457 Madison Ave
This program was part of the 2008-09 program calendar. Click here for information about our current season.

Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara are co-founders of Grafton Architects established in 1978 in Dublin. The practice has been engaged in the design and building of university buildings, schools, housing, houses, mixed use buildings, and institutional buildings, together with urban design projects.

The firm’s most recent project Universita Luigi Bocconi, Milan was the recipient of the World Building of the Year Award, World Architecture Festival 2008.  In 2001, ten architectural practices from a number of European countries were invited to participate in an architectural competition to expand the campus facilities of the prestigious Luigi Bocconi University in Milan, Italy.  In 2002, it was announced that the unanimous winning entry was by Grafton Architects.  The project, which consists of office and research facilities for 1,000 professors; conference facilities, including an Aula Magna for 1,000 people; and five Conference Halls to accommodate 1,200 people, provides more than 45,000 square meters of accommodation.

Other work includes buildings for Trinity College Dublin; University College Dublin; Government Department for the Office of Public Works, Ireland; and numerous schools for the Department of Education and Science, Ireland, which have been cited in school design manuals and OECD school design publications.

Additional awards include the Architectural Association of Ireland Downes Medal, awards from the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland, OPUS Architecture and Construction Awards, and numerous shortlists to the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture.

Their work is exhibited widely including: Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland Exhibition Centre in 1999; Milan Urban Centre 2002; Mies van der Rohe Award Exhibition 2003; Bergamo and Rome 2006; Dessa Gallery; Ljubjiana 2006; Lisbon Triennale 2007; and the Venice Biennale 2002 and 2008.  Their work is widely published in journals and yearbooks.

Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara graduated from the School of Architecture in University College Dublin in 1974, where they began teaching in 1976.  Both lecture and teach internationally.  They are also founder members of Group ’91 Architects, winners of the International Competition for the Regeneration of Temple Bar, Dublin.  Co-Directors Gerard Carty and Philippe O’Sullivan joined the practice in 1993 and 1992 respectively.

This program was made possible in part by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

Image: Bocconi University, Milan, Italy. Photo by Federico Brunetti