Lord Norman Foster to Chair RIBA Stirling Prize Jury

The RIBA has announced Lord Norman Foster as Chair of the 2021 Stirling Prize jury.

Lord Foster will be joined on the jury by Simon Allford (RIBA President), architect Annalie Riches (2019 RIBA Stirling Prize winner) and artist Dame Phyllida Barlow. The jury will be advised by architect Mina Hasman (Sustainability Expert).

RIBA President, Simon Allford said:

“Lord Foster’s reputation as an architecture pioneer, is demonstrated by an extraordinary array of exceptional projects - uniquely including three Stirling Prizes - so we are delighted that he will Chair this year’s RIBA Stirling Prize jury.

Our 2021 shortlist illustrates the ideas, innovation and ambition that underpin great architecture, and there is no doubt that with Lord Foster’s steer, there will be engaging debate and deliberation as we decide the winner.”

The jury will visit each of the six projects on the shortlist and together select a winner, which will be announced on Thursday 14 October 2021 at Sir Basil Spence’s Coventry Cathedral, as part of the UK City of Culture 2021 celebrations.

#StirlingPrize

ENDS

Notes to editors:

1. For further press information contact Isabel.Campbell@riba.org +44(0) 20 7496 8349
2. 2021 Stirling Prize Jury Biographies:

Lord Norman Foster (Jury Chair)

Norman Foster is Founder and Executive Chairman of Foster + Partners, a global studio for architecture, urbanism and design, rooted in sustainability. Over more than five decades, the practice has pioneered a sustainable approach to architecture and urbanism through a wide range of work, from masterplans to offices, cultural buildings, airports and industrial design. He has been awarded architecture’s highest accolades, including the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the Praemium Imperiale Award for Architecture in Japan, the RIBA Royal Gold medal and the AIA Gold medal. He is president of the Norman Foster Foundation, based in Madrid. In 1999 he was honoured with a Life Peerage, becoming Lord Foster of Thames Bank.

Simon Allford (RIBA President)

Simon Allford is President of the Royal Institute of British Architects. He started his two-year term on 1st September 2021. Simon is a founding director of AHMM (where he leads a design studio of 200 architects), a frequent writer, critic and adviser; a visiting professor at Harvard; a previous chairman of the Architecture Foundation; and currently a trustee of the London School of Architecture and the Chickenshed Theatres Trust, the Angel, Tea and Yellow Buildings as well as Adelaide Wharf, the Saatchi Gallery and Chobham Academy. He recently completed White Collar Factory on Old Street, offices for Google and YouTube at Pancras Square, a tower at 240 Blackfriars, three mixed use projects on Regent Street for the Crown Estate, and an academic building for the University of Amsterdam.

Annalie Riches (2019 RIBA Stirling Prize Winner)

Annalie Riches is co-founder of Mikhail Riches, a practice that specialises in low-carbon housing design, residential neighbourhoods and mixed-use masterplans. Her practice won 2019 RIBA Stirling Prize for Goldsmith Street, a Passivhaus certified council housing scheme for Norwich City Council. Annalie contributes across all the scales of Architectural practice, from large-scale strategic thinking through to the detail. She is a visiting professor at Sheffield University.

Dame Phyllida Barlow (Lay Person)

With a career spanning nearly six decades, British artist Phyllida Barlow takes inspiration from her surroundings to create imposing installations that can be at once menacing and playful. Barlow's restless invented forms stretch the limits of mass, volume, and height as they block, straddle and balance precariously. The audience is challenged into a new relationship with the sculptural object, the gallery environment, and the world beyond. Barlow has exhibited extensively across institutions internationally including: Sprengel Museum, Hannover (2022) (forthcoming); ARTIST ROOMS, Tate Modern, London (2021); Haus der Kunst, Munich (2021); The Royal Academy of Arts, London (2019) and La Biennale di Venezia, British Pavilion, Venice (2017). This year, Barlow has been awarded the Niedersachsische Sparkassenstiftung's 2022 Kurt Schwitters Prize. Barlow lives and works in London.

Mina Hasman (Sustainability Expert)

Mina Hasman leads Skidmore, Owings and Merrill’s sustainability and wellbeing operations and long-term vision. She has experience in a wide variety of projects in Europe, UK, Middle East, and Asia, bringing a greater understanding of the implications for sustainable and equitable design in different climatic, social, and regulatory contexts. As a recognised expert in her field, Mina has been elected to UKGBC’s Board of Trustees, RIBA’s Ethics & Sustainable Development Leadership Group, UNEP/GlobalABC’s COP26 Task Force, and CIC’s Climate Change Committee, among others.

1. The six projects on the 2021 Stirling Prize shortlist are: 15 Clerkenwell Close, London (GROUPWORK); Cambridge Central Mosque (Marks Barfield Architects); Key Worker Housing - Eddington, Cambridge (Stanton Williams); Kingston University London – Town House (Grafton Architects); Tintagel Castle Footbridge for English Heritage, Cornwall (Ney & Partners and William Matthews Associates); Windermere Jetty Museum, Cumbria (Carmody Groarke).
2. First awarded in 1996, the RIBA Stirling Prize is the UK’s most prestigious architecture award. Given to the architect of the building thought to be the most significant of the year for the evolution of architecture and the built environment, the RIBA Stirling Prize is judged on a range of criteria including design vision, innovation and originality, capacity to stimulate engage and delight occupants and visitors, accessibility and sustainability, how fit the building is for its purpose and the level of client satisfaction.
3. The RIBA Stirling Prize is sponsored by Almacantar.
4. The RIBA is working in partnership with the BBC to deliver live coverage from the private ceremony at Sir Basil Spence’s Coventry Cathedral on 14 October, on both the BBC News Channel from 7.30pm and BBC Radio 4’s Front Row.
5. The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a global professional membership body that serves its members and society in order to deliver better buildings and places, stronger communities and a sustainable environment. Follow @RIBA on Twitter for regular updates.
6. Coventry UK City of Culture 2021 commenced on 15 May 2021, running for 12 months. The 365-day cultural programme will reflect Coventry as a diverse, modern city, demonstrating that culture is a force that changes lives. Coventry is the UK’s only city of peace and reconciliation, and known internationally as a city of welcome, a city of activists and pioneers, innovation, and invention, and now a City of Culture. Coventry is the city where movement began, from innovation in the transport industry to a history of welcome, it has moved people for centuries. For a whole year, Coventry will celebrate with events, music, dance, theatre, and large-scale spectacle. As well as the expected celebrations, it will throw a spotlight onto city voices with a range of hyper local experiences and ways to get involved across every neighbourhood. And it’s not just Coventry. This epic celebration will also witness the entire region getting involved and benefitting from the opportunities that being City of Culture brings. Our year of culture will be co-created with the people of Coventry and bring about long-term social, economic, and cultural benefits. coventry2021.co.uk