Farshid Moussavi (November Conferences - Lectures on contemporary architecture)

Fifth lecture of the 4th edition of the NOVEMBER CONFERENCES.

Farshid Moussavi is an architect, founder of Farshid Moussavi Architecture (FMA) and Professor in Practice of Architecture at Harvard University Graduate School of Design. She was co-founder and co-principal of Foreign Office Architects (FOA) until June 2011.

She trained in architecture at the Dundee School of Architecture, University of Dundee, The Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London and graduated with a Masters in Architecture (MArch II) from the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University. Moussavi first came to prominence with FOA, the practice she co-founded in 1995. Previously she had worked at the Renzo Piano Building Workshop and the Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) before moving back to London to teach at the Architectural Association and start her own practice, Foreign Office Architects (FOA). At FOA, Moussavi co-authored the design for the award-winning Yokohama International Ferry Terminal in Japan (which was subject to an international design competition in 1995) and was part of the United Architects team who were finalists in the Ground Zero competition. She also completed a wide range of international projects including the John Lewis complex in Leicester, England and the Meydan retail complex in Istanbul, Turkey.

In June 2011, Farshid Moussavi announced the opening of her new practice, Farshid Moussavi Architecture (FMA), based in London. FMA is currently working on number of prestigious international projects including the Museum of Contemporary Art in Cleveland, USA, which is under construction, a Quran Museum in Tehran and a housing complex in Paris.

Farshid Moussavi has served on numerous design committees including the Mayor of London’s Design for London Advisory Group and LDA International Design Committee, the RIBA Gold and Presidents Medals, the Stirling Prize and the Venice Architecture Biennale. In 2004, she was Chair of the Master Jury of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture and has been a member of the Award’s Steering Committee since then. Moussavi is a trustee of the Whitechapel Gallery as well as the Architecture Foundation in London. Since September 2011, Moussavi has been writing as a columnist for the Architectural Review magazine.