CHASING THE TREE THE ARCHITECT: YVONNE FARRELL and SHELLEY MCNAMARA

Humanist and Honest Architecture: Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara

Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara, the co-founders of the Dublin-based firm Grafton Architects, establishing a relationship with the culture and context of the “place” the building belongs to in their architectural approaches and designing and building structures that best fit the texture of the relevant city, manage to be up-to-date and modern with their deep understanding of space, thanks to their investigative characteristics.

Founded in Dublin in 1978, Grafton Architects also received the 2020 RIBA Royal Gold Medal award at the end of last year.  While the Universita Luigi Bocconi located in Milan was awarded as the World Building of the Year (2008) and UTEC Lima University Campus in Peru was awarded the RIBA (2008); the Campus of the University of Limerick Medical School was shortlisted for the Stirling Prize (2013).  The North King Street Housing (Dublin, Ireland; 2000); the Urban Institute of Ireland, University College Dublin (Dublin, Ireland; 2002); Loreto Community School (Milford, Ireland; 2006); the Offices of the Department of Finance (Dublin, Ireland; 2009), and the University of Limerick Medical School (Limerick, Ireland; 2012) are among their other important projects.

Having met while they were students at the University College Dublin (UCD) School of Architecture, Yvonne Farrell (1951) and Shelley McNamara (1952) also had the opportunity to work with architects challenging the pre-existing thoughts and culture of the institution during their studies. After their graduation in 1976, contributing to the architectural education at the UCD also became a part of their professional life.  “Teaching architecture has always been a parallel reality for us” commented Farrel; “and it’s a way of trying to distill our experience and gift it to other cultures.”

In their architectural structures that allow natural light to penetrate through and animate the depths of a building, Light streams coming from roof windows or the windows of upper floors add warmth and visual appeal to interior spaces; and as they help the residents easily guide their movements within the space, they provide the connection between the outdoor and indoor spaces.

Having mastered proportion to maintain a human scale and achieve intimate environments within tall and vast buildings, Farrel and McNamara created a physical nearness between the audience members and performers with a contoured theater floor at the Solstice Arts Center (Navan, Ireland; 2007). The generous placement of open spaces, windows, glass curtain walls and exposed ceilings allows natural light to filter through a passage of rooms, creating impressions of light through large and small places.

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