Yvonne Farrell Speaks to GSD Graduates at Class Day 2026

Yvonne Farrell is co-founder of Grafton Architects, established with Shelley McNamara in 1978. They shared the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2020. Their work includes major academic and civic buildings such as Università Luigi Bocconi (2008) in Milan; Universidad de Ingeniería y Tecnología (UTEC, 2015) in Lima; and Town House (2019) at Kingston University, London. In 2018, Farrell and McNamara curated the Venice Architecture Biennale, where they presented “Freespace” as the exhibition theme. Teaching has been a significant part of Farrell’s career. She taught at the School of Architecture, University College Dublin—her alma mater—from 1976 to 2002 and was later appointed adjunct professor there in 2015. She and McNamara held the Kenzō Tange Chair at the GSD in 2010. Currently, she is a professor at the Accademia di Architettura in Mendrisio, Switzerland.