MPavilion 2015: an interview with Amanda Levete

Amanda Levete is a Stirling Prize–winning architect and founder and principal of design and architecture studio AL_A.

Since its formation in 2009, AL_A has refined an intuitive and strategic approach to design that has radicalised clients and briefs, and led to a diverse range of concepts for cultural, retail and commercial schemes around the world. Recent commissions include the highly anticipated expansion of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London; a 1.5 million square-foot luxury shopping mall and hotel in Bangkok on the former grounds of the British Embassy; a new centre for the cancer care charity Maggie’s; a 13-hectare media campus for Sky; and a cultural centre in Lisbon commissioned by Energias De Portugal (EDP), one of the world’s foremost energy companies.

Amanda’s practice is widely regarded as having challenged and advanced the agenda for architecture in the twenty-first century. She trained at the Architectural Association and worked for Richard Rogers before joining Future Systems as a partner in 1989, where she realised groundbreaking buildings including the Media Centre at Lord’s Cricket Ground and Selfridges department store in Birmingham.

Alongside her architectural work, Amanda is a trustee of leading social innovation centre the Young Foundation, and served as a trustee of influential arts organisation Artangel for over a decade. She is also a regular radio and TV broadcaster, writes for a number of publications including New Statesman and Prospect, and lectures throughout the world.