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Cecil Balmond

PhD Dsc Msc Bsc(Eng) FRIBA FRAE FIED DIC MIStructE CEng, OBE

Cecil Balmond OBE, is widely considered to be one of the most significant creators of his generation.

An internationally renowned artist, designer and engineer, Balmond transcends the conventional boundaries of discipline - working in the crossover between art and science. In this dynamic area, he has re-invented the very concept of space, transforming the meaning of geometry, form and structure.

Balmond’s design approach engages inner organisational systems - a process based on rigorous research. Balmond has spent over 40 years investigating the relationship between form and the very roots of order at the core of life.

This scientific methodology allows Balmond to create alternate theoretical models and negotiate new emergent forms by experimentation.

Before setting up Balmond Studio in 2011, Balmond was Deputy Chairman of Arup. He was also Chairman of Arup’s European Building Division, and ran the critically acclaimed design group, AGU (Advanced Geometry Unit). His pioneering work with the AGU, and collaborations with internationally-renowned architects, brought Balmond's unique design philosophy to the global stage.

Balmond has also taught at some of the world’s most influential design and architectural institutions. He was formerly the Paul Philippe Cret Chair (2005 to 2015) at Penn Design, University of Pennsylvania, where he founded the Non-Linear Systems Organization (NSO) and remains a part of the associated faculty as Professor of Architecture. He has also been Visiting Saarinen Professor at Yale University School of Architecture, 1997- 2002; Professor at LSE Urban Cities Programme, 2002-2004; and Visiting Kenzo Tange critic, Harvard Graduate School of Architecture, 2000.

He is the recipient of many awards including: Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Architecture (2016); Officer of the Order of the British Empire for Services to Architecture (2015); the IED Gerald Frewer Memorial Trophy (2011); the Sir Banister Fletcher Prize for best book on architecture in 2005 awarded to Informal (2005); the RIBA Jencks Award for theory and practice in architecture (2003); and the Gengo Matsui prize for the Serpentine pavilion designed with Toyo Ito (2002). Snow Words, a light sculpture created for Anchorage, Alaska was heralded one of the top 50 public artworks in America in 2013 by the Americans for the Arts, Public Art Network Year in Review.

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