STUDIOS: Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara on Being an Architect

The Pritzker Architecture Prize

03.18.2020

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“As an architect, you have to be optimistic, because you’re imagining new things all the time. How can you imagine a new world if you’re a pessimist? […] To me, architecture is a framework for human life. It anchors us and connects us to the world in a way which possibly no other space-making discipline can.” — Shelly McNamara

The 2020 Pritzker Architecture Prize was recently awarded for the first time to two women – Yvonne Farrell and Shelly McNamara of the Dublin-based firm Grafton Architects. In awarding what is widely acknowledged to be the highest honor given for architecture, the jury acknowledges that as “[p]ioneers in a field that has traditionally been and still is a male-dominated profession, they are also beacons to others as they forge their exemplary professional path.” To support the announcement, the Pritzker Architecture Prize released a series of videos celebrating Farrell and McNamara and their lifetime of achievement. In this selection, they speak of what it means to them to be an architect. Catch the remainder of the videos here.

From the announcement:

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.