AIA UK/ RIBA Keynote Lecture 2025 - Lina Ghotmeh

We are excited to announce the highly anticipated 2025 AIA UK/ RIBA Keynote Lecture with Lina Ghotmeh!

When: Thursday 13 November 2025, 18:30
Where: University of the Arts London (Central Saint Martins), Granary Building, 1 Granary Square, London N1C 4AA

This event is being held in person with drinks to be served after the lecture. 

CES Credits: Estimated 1.5 LU/ HSW for AIA Members

RIBA Members may count this activity towards their CPD recording requirement.

Tickets
£10 - AIA and RIBA members
£20 - General admission
£5 - Students (not from UAL)
Free - UAL Students only

Registration is open. Book your tickets today!

Overview

The lecture is jointly hosted by the American Institute of Architects UK (AIA) and the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The AIA and RIBA have a long history of collaboration that dates from the founding of their institutes in 1857 and 1834 respectively.

Spatial Practices at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, are generously providing the venue for this event.

About Lina Ghotmeh

Born in Beirut in the 1980s, Lina Ghotmeh is an architect whose work bridges memory, innovation, and cultural context. Educated at the American University of Beirut, where she developed her methodology “Archeology of the Future,” she continued her studies at the École Spéciale d’Architecture in Paris, later serving as Associate Professor (2008–2015).

In 2005, while working in London with Ateliers Jean Nouvel and Foster & Partners, she won the international competition for the Estonian National Museum. This achievement led to the co-founding of DGT Architects in Paris and the realization of the museum, which received international acclaim, the Grand Prix AFEX (2016), and a nomination for the Mies van der Rohe Award (2017).

Her practice is defined by visionary yet contextually grounded projects, including Réalimenter Masséna (winner of “Réinventer Paris”) and the award-winning Stone Garden tower in Beirut. Ghotmeh’s multicultural background and engagement with contemporary global challenges have established her as a leading voice in architecture. She has taught as Louis I. Kahn Professor at Yale University and Gehry Chair at the University of Toronto, and in 2021 was named co-president of RST Arches, a network for architecture in extreme climates.

She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Schelling Architecture Prize (2021), Tamayouz “Woman of Outstanding Achievement” (2020), French Fine Arts Academy Cardin Award (2019), French Academy Dejean Prize (2016), Grand Prix AFEX (2016), and the French Ministry’s AJAP Prize (2008). She is also a professor member of the International Academy of Architecture.

Her work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Venice Architecture Biennale, and published by Phaidon, Taschen, RIBA, Domus, AA, and Architectural Record.

About Lina Ghotmeh — Architecture

Lina Ghotmeh — Architecture is an international studio of architects, designers, and researchers based in Paris. Founded by French-Lebanese architect Lina Ghotmeh, the practice is acclaimed for its innovative and poetic approach that bridges memory, ecology, and material sensitivity.

The firm was recently awarded the commission to redesign the Western Range of the British Museum.  The British Museum commented that the proposals “demonstrated an exceptional and materially sensitive architectural vision for the British Museum, and their 'archaeological' approach clearly understood the ambition for this project to be as much an intellectual transformation as an architectural one.”

Each project emerges as an “Archeology of the Future” — contemporary designs rooted in history and context while shaping a sustainable tomorrow. The studio’s work reflects a deep commitment to ecological responsibility, drawing inspiration from nature and the essence of materials to create architecture that is both visionary and grounded.

Notable projects include the Estonian National Museum (AFEX Grand Prix 2016, Mies van der Rohe Award nominee 2017); Réalimenter Masséna, a timber tower in Paris (winner of Réinventer Paris); Stone Garden in Beirut (Dezeen Architecture Award 2021); the Hermès Workshops in Normandy, a passive, low-carbon facility; and Les Grands Verres, the celebrated renovation of the Palais de Tokyo restaurant in Paris.

The firm’s work has been exhibited at leading institutions worldwide, including the Venice Architecture Biennale, MAXXI in Rome, the V&A in London, and the Danish Architecture Center in Copenhagen.

Through her practice, Lina Ghotmeh advances an architecture that is at once culturally resonant, materially attuned, and forward-looking — offering a compelling vision for the future of design.

This lecture is sponsored in part by Axalta Powder Coating Systems UK.  Please consider them for your next project