Amanda Levete

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Amanda Levete
Amanda Levete.jpg
Born1955 (age 6970)
Bridgend, Wales
NationalityBritish
Alma mater Architectural Association
OccupationArchitect
Spouses
AwardsCommander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), for services to architecture. Jane Drew Prize, Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, Royal Academician, The Royal Institute of British Architects Stirling Prize
Practice AL_A
Buildings

Amanda Jane Levete (born 1955 [2] ) is a British architect and the principal of AL_A. [3] While she worked as a partner at Future Systems, the company was awarded the 1999 Stirling Prize for their work on the Lord's Media Centre. [4] She has also received several prizes and accolades for her work at AL_A.[ citation needed ]

Contents

Early life and education

Levete was born in Bridgend, South Wales. She attended St Paul's Girls' School in London and the Hammersmith School of Art, where she studied architecture before enrolling at the Architectural Association. [5] Levete began her career as a trainee at Alsop & Lyall and later worked as an architect at the Richard Rogers Partnership. [6] In 1985, as a co-founder of Powis & Levete, she was nominated for the RIBA's '40 under 40' exhibition. [7] Levete became a partner at Future Systems alongside Jan Kaplický in 1989. [8] She also served as a trustee of the arts organisation Artangel from 2000 to 2013 and as a trustee of the Young Foundation. [9] She is currently a trustee of the Victoria and Albert Museum. [10]

Career

Future Systems

From 1989 - 2009 Amanda Levete was a partner alongside her partner Jan Kaplicky at Future Systems. Notable projects include the RIBA Stirling Prize winning Lord’s Media Centre, and the Selfridges Birmingham store within the Bullring shopping centre. Their curvaceous buildings, made possible by new computer aided design technologies have been referred to as ‘blobitecture’. [11]

AL_A

In 2009, Levete established AL_A (formerly known as Amanda Levete Architecture). The practice gained recognition when it won an international competition in 2011 for designing a new main entrance on Exhibition Road. Levete also contributed to the design of the courtyard and gallery at London's Victoria and Albert Museum, which featured a porcelain courtyard adorned with handmade ceramic tiles. [12] This project marked the museum's most significant undertaking in over a century. [13] AL_A has been involved in various notable projects, including the MAAT project in Lisbon for the EDP Foundation (completed 2017), [14] the Central Embassy project in Bangkok (completed 2017), [15] 10 Hill's Place in London (completed 2009) and the pop-up restaurant Tincan (completed 2014). [16] The Dr. Lee Shau Kee Building and William Doo Undergraduate Centre for Wadham College at the University of Oxford. [17] (completed 2021), the design for Maggie's cancer care charity building in Southampton(completed 2021) [18] and the media campus for News Corporation in East London. [19]

Internationally, she has completed three hospital buildings in Cyprus, [20] the redesign of the D'Ieteren Headquarters in Brussels, and the design of a prototype fusion plant for clean energy firm General Fusion at Culham. [21] and hotels and malls for the Central Retail Corporation in Bangkok.

MAAT - The Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (2016) MAAT - The Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (34180927816).jpg
MAAT - The Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (2016)

As a designer, Levete has created furniture pieces for Established and Sons [22] as well as her architectural works.

In 2025, Levete was among the UK-based signatories of a letter to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology secretary Peter Kyle urging the government to reconsider its plans to allow artificial intelligence models to be trained using copyrighted works without permission. Other prominent designers to sign the letter included Tomoko Azumi, David Chipperfield, Sebastian Conran, Tom Dixon, and Jasper Morrison. [23] [24] [25]

Awards

Personal life

Levete, and the Czech architect, Jan Kaplický, became acquainted in the 1980s. [30] They married in 1991, had a son named Josef in 1995, and divorced in 2006. From 1989 to 2009, Levete and Kaplický collaborated professionally. [31] Since 2007, Levete has been married to Ben Evans, the director of the London Design Festival. [32]

On 19 March 2017, Amanda Levete was featured as a castaway on the Radio 4 programme, Desert Island Discs . [33]

References

  1. "Absent friends", Building , 12 October 2007
  2. "Amanda Levete". Established & Sons. Retrieved 11 February 2025.
  3. "Amanda Levete | Tag | ArchDaily". www.archdaily.com. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  4. Mark, Laura (6 October 2015). "Twenty years of the RIBA Stirling Prize". The Architects’ Journal. Retrieved 11 February 2025.
  5. Phillips, Christine (2015). "Amanda Levete: organic forms and material complexity". Architecture Australia. 104 (1): 108–110. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  6. "Amanda Levete: the social networker", Architects' Journal , 25 September 2014, retrieved 15 October 2015
  7. "Out of time: Amanda Levete", Building Design , 1 April 2011, retrieved 15 October 2015
  8. Booth, Robert (17 October 2008), "From a shining future to a bitter end as 'blob' architecture pioneers part company", The Guardian, retrieved 15 October 2015
  9. "Amanda Levete". Young Foundation. Young Foundation. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
  10. "Trustees". Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
  11. "Wanted New homefor space age future sustems classroom pod". c20 Society. 20th Century Society. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
  12. "London | Inexhibit" . Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  13. Mairs, Jessica (28 June 2017). "AL_A completes tile-covered entrance and subterranean gallery for London's V&A museum". Dezeen. Dezeen. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
  14. Ayers, Andrew (15 June 2017). "On the waterfront: Lisbon's MAAT by Amanda Levete". Architectural Review. EMAP. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
  15. Mairs, Jessica (18 May 2017). "AL_A completes aluminium-plated tower block in central Bangkok". Dezeen. Dezeen. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
  16. "AL_A". AL_A. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  17. designboom, kat barandy I. (13 April 2021). "oxford's wadham college sees a major expansion by amanda levete architects / AL_A". designboom | architecture & design magazine. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  18. Duffy, Ellie (28 July 2021). "Building study: Maggie's Southampton by AL_A". Architects Journal. EMAP. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
  19. Mairs, Jessica (8 December 2016). "Amanda Levete and PLP Architecture create Sky headquarters for west London (completed 2016)". Dezeen. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
  20. Hadjidemetriou, Chrystalla (6 April 2024). "When architecture met medicine". Phile News. in Cyprus. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
  21. "Amanda Levete - designer profile". Stylepark. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  22. "Designer - Amanda Levete". Established and Sons. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
  23. Spocchia, Gino (2 April 2025). "Architects voice copyright fears over government's plans for AI". The Architects’ Journal . Retrieved 2 April 2025.
  24. Hahn, Jennifer (1 April 2025). "Copyright exemption plans for AI are "nothing less than vandalism" say UK architects and designers". Dezeen . Retrieved 2 April 2025.
  25. Milmo, Dan (31 March 2025). "Designers say plans for UK copyright law risk 'running roughshod' over sector". The Guardian . Retrieved 2 April 2025.
  26. Braidwood, Ella (20 June 2017). "Amanda Levete and Asif Khan recognised in Queen's Birthday Honours list". The Architects’ Journal. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  27. Keane, Katharine (5 February 2018). "Amanda Levete wins the 2018 Jane Drew Prize". www.architectmagazine.com. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  28. "AIA elevates 115 members and nine international architects to the College of Fellows - AIA". www.aia.org. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  29. "AL_A". AL_A. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  30. "Kaplicky, Jan, (18 April 1937–14 Jan. 2009), Founder and Partner, Future Systems, since 1979", Who Was Who, Oxford University Press, 1 December 2007, doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u22607 , retrieved 1 December 2022
  31. Grice, Elizabeth (11 March 2009), "'My greatest regret is that I didn't make peace with him in life'", The Daily Telegraph, retrieved 24 October 2011
  32. Jeffries, Stuart (9 April 2011), "The Saturday interview: architect Amanda Levete", The Guardian, retrieved 15 October 2015
  33. "Amanda Levete, Desert Island Discs – BBC Radio 4". BBC. Retrieved 16 April 2017.