The Physics of Culture with Architect Yvonne Farrell

This event is co-presented with Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Architecture. A reception follows on Carnegie Museum of Art’s Hall of Sculpture balcony, and the exhibition remains open until 9 p.m.

In just the last month, Dublin-based Grafton Architects, headed by Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara, were the first recipients of the International Award from the Royal Institute of British Architects for their innovative University of Technology and Engineering building (UTEC) in Lima, Peru. Shortly thereafter they were named the curators of the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennial exhibition. Fresh from these impressive achievements that make Grafton one of the leading architecture firms on the international scene, Yvonne Farrell will talk about the firm’s distinguished body of work that includes numerous awards and important realized projects, especially for universities in Toulouse, Paris, London, and Milan.

UTEC, their Lima project represented in the Heinz Architectural Center’s exhibition Building Optimism: Public Space in South America, has been described as both “an exceptional example of civil architecture—a building designed with people at its heart,” and “…an innovative new model for a university campus that is highly responsive to its local environment and community.” Farrell’s lecture and the reception that follows are the closing events for the exhibition that opened in September 2016. Come hear Yvonne Farrell describe the work of her prize-winning practice and strategies for the creation of social space in our contemporary era.