Yvonne Farrell (born 1951) is an Irish architect and academic. She is the co-founder, together with

Shelley McNamara Shelley McNamara (born 1952) is an Irish architect and academic. She attended University College Dublin and graduated in 1974 with a Bachelor of Architecture. She founded Grafton Architects with Yvonne Farrell in 1978. Grafton rose to promine ...

, of

Grafton Architects Grafton may refer to: Places Australia * Grafton, New South Wales Canada * Grafton, New Brunswick * Grafton, Nova Scotia * Grafton, Ontario England * Grafton, Cheshire * Grafton, Herefordshire * Grafton, North Yorkshire * Grafton, Oxfords ...

, which won the World Building of the Year award in 2008 for their

Bocconi University Bocconi University ( it, Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi, ) is a private university in Milan, Italy. Bocconi provides education in the fields of economics, finance, law, management, political science, public administration and computer sci ...

building in Milan. The practice won the inaugural RIBA International Prize in 2016 for their Universidad de Ingeniería y Tecnología building in Lima, Peru, and was awarded the 2020

Royal Gold Medal The Royal Gold Medal for architecture is awarded annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects on behalf of the British monarch, in recognition of an individual's or group's substantial contribution to international architecture. It is gi ...

. In 2017 she was appointed, along with Shelley McNamara, as curator of the 16th Venice Biennale of Architecture in 2018. She won the

Pritzker Architecture Prize The Pritzker Architecture Prize is an international architecture award presented annually "to honor a living architect or architects whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment, which has produ ...

in 2020, also with McNamara.

Career

Farrell studied architecture at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

, graduating in 1974 with a bachelor degree. In 1977, together with

, she established Grafton Architects in Dublin. She is a founder member of Group 91, which was behind the revitalization of the Temple Bar district of Dublin in the 1990s. Grafton Architects represented Ireland at the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

in 2002 and exhibited there again in 2008. Their

project in Milan, which won the World Building of the Year Award in 2008, has been widely acclaimed and exhibited. In 2009, the Department of Finance building in Dublin's city centre won the

Civic Trust Award The Civic Trust Awards scheme was established in 1959 to recognise outstanding architecture, planning and design in the built environment. As the longest standing built environment awards scheme in Europe, since 1959, more than 7000 projects have ...

as well as the

Architectural Association of Ireland The Architectural Association of Ireland is an organisation dedicated to architecture in Ireland. It is not a professional accredited organisation but is open to all. Its activities include the organisation of a public lecture series, an annual ar ...

Special Award."Yvonne Farrell"
, ''World Architecture Festival''. Retrieved 8 March 2012. Farrell has taught at University College Dublin since 1976 and has been visiting professor at the Architecture Academy in

Mendrisio Mendrisio (; lmo, label= Ticinese, Mendris ) is a municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. Mendrisio is the seat of the Accademia di Architettura of the university of Italian-speaking Switzerland (U ...

, Switzerland, since 2008. She held the Kenzo Tange chair at the Harvard Graduate School of Design in 2010 and currently teaches at the EPFL in

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...

. She has lectured widely in European and American schools of architecture, including Oslo, Stockholm, Berlage, Yale, Buffalo, St.Louis, Kansas City and Tampa. Farrell is a fellow of the

Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland The Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland ( ga, Institiúid Ríoga Ailtirí na hÉireann) founded in 1839, is the "competent authority for architects and professional body for Architecture in the Republic of Ireland." The RIAI's purpose ...

, an Honorary Fellow of the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

and elected member of

Aosdána Aosdána ( , ; from , 'people of the arts') is an Irish association of artists. It was created in 1981 on the initiative of a group of writers with support from the country's Arts Council. Membership, which is by invitation from current member ...

, the Irish arts organisation. Furthermore, she is Adjunct Professor at

. In 2015, she was awarded the UCD Alumni Award for Architecture. In November 2019, Farrell and her partner at Grafton Architects, Shelley McNamara, were awarded an honorary degree by

NUI Galway The University of Galway ( ga, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe) is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. A tertiary education and research institution, the university was awarded the full five QS stars for excellence in 201 ...

, and in April 2019 they were awarded an honorary doctorate by

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

. She and McNamara won the

in 2020, making them the fourth and fifth women to ever be awarded the prize. In 2022 Yvonne Farrell and

were awarded with

The Daylight Award The Daylight Award is awarded every second year since 2016 "to honor and support daylight research and daylight in architecture, for the benefit of human health, well-being and the environment. The award puts specific emphasis on the interrelation ...

for daylight in architecture.

Main projects

* Grafton Building (Universita Luigi Bocconi), 2008, Milan, Italy * Department of Finance, 2009, Dublin, Ireland * Institut Mines Telecom, 2019, Paris Saclay, France * Toulouse School of economics, 2019, Toulouse, France

References

External links

Yvonne Farrell's architectural drawings at MoMAGrafton Architects website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farrell, Yvonne 1951 births 20th-century Irish architects 21st-century architects Alumni of University College Dublin Aosdána members Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects Irish women architects Living people Architects from Dublin (city) Pritzker Architecture Prize winners