Commander 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
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.
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) following the end of her 20-year partnership with the late Jan Kaplický at Future Systems. 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 Spencer Dock Bridge in Dublin (completed 2009),[14]MPavilion in Melbourne (2015),[15] the MAAT project in Lisbon for the EDP Foundation (completed 2017),[16] the Central Embassy project in Bangkok (completed 2017),[17] 10 Hill's Place in London (completed 2009) and the pop-up restaurant Tincan (completed 2014),[18] The Dr. Lee Shau Kee Building and William Doo Undergraduate Centre for Wadham College at the University of Oxford (completed 2021),[19] the design for Maggie's cancer care charity building in Southampton (completed 2021)[20] and the media campus for News Corporation in East London.[21]
Internationally, she has completed three hospital buildings in Cyprus,[22] the redesign of the D'Ieteren Headquarters in Brussels, the design of a prototype fusion plant for clean energy firm General Fusion at Culham,[23] and hotels and malls for the Central Retail Corporation in Bangkok.
In 2018, Levete received the Jane Drew Prize from the Architects' Journal and Architectural Review. The prize acknowledges individuals who promote the visibility of women in architecture through their dedication to design excellence.[34]
Levete, and the Czech architect, Jan Kaplický, became acquainted in the 1980s.[37] They married in 1991, had a son named Josef in 1995, and divorced in 2006. From 1989 to 2009, Levete and Kaplický collaborated professionally.[38] Since 2007, Levete has been married to Ben Evans, the director of the London Design Festival.[39]
On 19 March 2017, Amanda Levete was featured as a castaway on the Radio 4 programme, Desert Island Discs.[40]
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