Press Release

IRISH FIRM GRAFTON ARCHITECTS AWARDED SILVER LION AT 13th VENICE ARCHITECTURE BIENNALE

(Dublin, August 30th, 2012) Dublin based Grafton Architects has won the Silver Lion for a promising practice at the 13th International Architecture Exhibition at la biennale di Venezia.

Grafton Architects were chosen by the Director of the Biennale to feature in the exhibition’s notable international curator’s programme, and are one of four Irish firms at the Venice Architecture Biennale, supported by Culture Ireland. This year's Biennale included the strongest ever representation of Irish architects.

Grafton Architects' exhibition examines the potential of architecture in the city of Lima, where the firm has won a competition for a new university campus, UTEC. It includes comparative images of Skellig Michael and Machu Picchu and representations of Mendes da Rocha's football stadium, Serra Dourada as reference for their idea for the university as an 'arena of learning'. The exhibition also includes models in collaboration with sculptor Eileen Mac Donagh.

The reasons of the International Jury for awarding Grafton Architects were as such; 'Silver Lion for a promising practice of the International Exhibition Common Ground’ - The Silver Lion of the International Exhibition Architecture as New Geography is awarded to Grafton Architects ( and Shelley McNamara) as a promising and emerging practice. For their impressive presentation of a new University campus in Lima, connecting to the ideas of . The jury believes that the conceptual and spatial qualities of this installation demonstrate the considerable potential of this architectural practice in reimagining the urban landscape.'

Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan, T.D., who launched Ireland's participation in Venice last month said: “I congratulate Grafton Architects on winning the prestigious Silver Lion Award. This is a remarkable achievement and will highlight the dynamism and creativity of Irish architecture worldwide.”

CEO of Culture Ireland, Christine Sisk, said: "Culture Ireland is delighted that Grafton Architects has received the Silver Lion Award for their fantastic presentation in Venice which they so deserve and which reflects the strong regard for Irish architecture globally. This presentation along with the Heneghan Peng and O’Donnell Tuomey exhibitions gave an outstanding sense of contemporary Irish architecture at this important international showcase."

The Awards were presented yesterday by David Chipperfield, Director of the 13th Biennale, and Paolo Baratta, President of the Biennale. The Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement was awarded to Portuguese architect Alvaro Siza. For the National pavilions, the Golden Lion was awarded to the Japan Pavilion, curated by who dedicated the award to the victims of the tsunami.

Culture Ireland is pleased to have supported Grafton Architects’ presentation as well as that of O'Donnell Toomey Architects, also selected by the Director in addition to Ireland's National Representation by heneghan peng which is an initiative of Culture Ireland in partnership with The Arts Council of Ireland

The 13th International Architecture Exhibition - la Biennale di Venezia opened to the public today and continues until 25 November 2012.

ABOUT GRAFTON ARCHITECTS

Grafton Architects was established in 1978. Directors Yvonne Farrell & Shelley McNamara are both graduates of UCD, are Fellows of the RIAI, are International Honorary Fellows of the RIBA and are elected members of Aosdána, the eminent Irish Art organization.

Teachers at the School of Architecture at University College Dublin from 1976 to 2002, they have been visiting professors at Accademia d’Archittettura, Mendrisio, , EPFL, Lausanne, held the Kenzo Tange chair at GSD Harvard and the Louis Kahn chair at . They have been external examiners at numerous universities including Cambridge University and The London Metropolitan School of Architecture. As well as public lectures in Dublin and abroad, including the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin and the Royal Academy in London, they have lectured widely in European and American Schools of Architecture.

Grafton Architects are winners of numerous international awards including the World Building of the Year Award 2008 for their building for the Universita Luigi Bocconi in Milan, which is widely acclaimed and recognized as a seminal contemporary work. They are currently working on the commission for the construction of the new School of Economics for University Toulouse 1 Capitole.

Co-directors Gerard Carty and Philippe O’Sullivan have been with the practice for 20 years. They are accomplished teachers and architects and play a central role in the life of the practice. Other members of the practice are Simona Castelli, Kieran O’Brien, Matt McCullough, James Rossa O’Hare, Donal O’Herlihy, Joanne Lyons David Healy, Ivan O’Connell and Edwin Jebb. The exhibition was constructed in studios of the School of Architecture at UCD – kindly facilitated by Dr. Hugh Campbell professor of Architecture, where the made with the assistance of Conor Maguire, Denis Forrest, Albert Tobin and Philip McGlade – graduates and students at the School of Architecture at UCD.

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