The Architectural Association has announced that Eva Franch I Gilabert has been selected as their new Director, following a public months-long search to replace former Director Brett Steele and interim Director Samantha Hardingham.
The AA School Community, consisting of students, staff and Council members, selected Franch i Gilabert from a shortlist of 3 candidates by a majority vote of 67%, the highest percentage received in a contested election since 1990. Over 1,000 total ballots were cast.
“We wish to congratulate Eva on her election and receiving the highest majority in a contested election since 1990,” said the AA in a statement. “We also wish to sincerely thank Pippo and Robert for their candidacy and presentation of their ideas on the AA and the role of the director.”
The final vote returned:
Eva Franch I Gilabert – 587 votes cast / 67% of the vote
Pippo Ciorra – 154 votes cast / 17.6% of the vote
Robert Mull – 135 votes cast / 15.4% of the vote
Chief Curator and Executive Director of New York’s Storefront for Art and Architecture since 2010, Franch i Gilabert is a celebrated architect, curator, educator and lecturer. In her vision statement presented to the school last month, she stressed the importance of adapting architectural education to the contemporary societal climate.
“Today, the Architectural Association has the opportunity, and also the responsibility, to articulate what architecture can contribute to the world we live in, and to redefine what the education of an architect should be and can be,” her vision statement reads.
“I believe that architecture is the discipline with the privilege and duty to articulate the different desires and realities of society in a specific moment in time. Architecture has the ability to bring together the social, the economic, the political and the technological in a project of collective aspiration. But more importantly, architecture is the discipline that understands society as a whole, being able to advocate for those who are unable to sit down at the decision-making table. Architecture sits for all.”
News via Architectural Association
