AIA UK Remembers - Sir Nicholas Grimshaw and Sir Terry Farrell
Fiona Mckay
While the world’s architectural press lauds the legacy of two architectural giants – Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, Hon FAIA (1939-2025) and Sir Terry Farrell, Hon FAIA (1938-2025) - AIA UK also remembers their critical, poignant support of our Chapter in its long ago early days.
Remembering that the careers of the two men were closely entwined in a partnership from the mid-1960s until 1980, it is fitting that AIA UK honours them both in this combined memorial.
Sir Nicholas Grimshaw
Grimshaw was a pioneer in the high tech architectural movement, as seen in projects such as the Waterloo International Terminal and the Eden Project. He was elected as an AIA Honorary Fellow in 1994.
From an AIA UK perspective, the International Terminal – winner of the Chapter’s 1st Design Awards in 1995 - was one of his most notable achievements. The Award jurors – a distinguished group, including Sir Phillip Dowson, David Leventhal, Rick Mather, Stephen Reinke and Zaha Hadid – described the Terminal as ‘a celebration of movement and technology’…
AIA UK Newsletters #04 and #05, which announced the award, can be read in full HERE and HERE.
Grimshaw Architects maintained connections with AIA UK over the next 30 years, including its hosting of the ‘New York, Ten Years On’ lecture in 2012 by Andrew Whalley (read HERE) and a lecture on the Eden Project.
The practice’s virtual tour of the renovated London Bridge Station in 2022 – one of the best of the covid era - can be watched HERE.
Sir Terry Farrell
Farrell was a key proponent of the postmodernist movement, as exemplified in projects such as the MI6 Building at Vauxhall and the 1980 Venice Architectural Biennale. He was elected as an AIA Honorary Fellow in1998.
From an AIA UK perspective, he is best remembered for his enthusiastic involvement in one of the Chapter’s earliest Student Design Charrettes in 1997. Newsletters #20, which described the event, can be read in full HERE.
As one of a distinguished lineup of speakers, Farrell also joined the AIA Professional Interest Area / International Committee’s 1998 London Conference, addressing the attendees at a spectacular closing diner at the Whitehall Banqueting Hall. With Charles Jencks, Fred Koetter and Rick Mather, he later took part in a memorable AIA/RIBA ‘Urban Head to Head’ seminar.
AIA UK Newsletters #25 and #26, describing the two events, can be read in full HERE and HERE. Although the seminar is recorded in some detail in the article, the lack of a virtual record of what must have been a thought provoking event can only be regretted.
We fondly remember these esteemed architects and the significant contributions they made - both individually and together - to the profession, our Chapter, and the understanding of what architecture can be and can do.
Written by Lorraine King, AIA
