Iron used in the domestic interior revolutionized our understanding of the spatial setting; used in tall buildings, it has equally contributed to radical redefinition of the contemporary city. The breadth of its surface character and sectional dimensions are amazing, ranging from surgical instruments to infrastructure. As a prompt to this conversation, Eric Parry will illustrate a journey through the alchemic possibilities of metals in his own architecture.
Eric Parry has developed a particular reputation for delivering beautifully crafted and high-quality contemporary buildings that respond to their context. His practice, Eric Parry Architects, is renowned for cultural projects involving sensitive historic buildings such as the restoration of the historic St Martin-in-the-Fields Church in Trafalgar Square and the highly acclaimed restoration for the Holburne Museum in Bath, as well as a number of prestigious commercial projects in the City of London and the City of Westminster including 1 Undershaft. This work also includes the Stirling Prize shortlisted schemes at 30 Finsbury Square and 5 Aldermanbury Square, One Eagle Place in Piccadilly and 8 St James’s Square.
International projects include the residential schemes Damai Suria in Kuala Lumpur and the Westminster Nanpeidai in Tokyo for Grosvenor. In addition to his work in architectural practice, Eric serves on the Council of Royal Academy, The Fabric Advisory Committee of Canterbury Cathedral and the Council of the British School at Rome. He has in the past served on the Arts Council of England’s Visual Arts and Architecture panel, chaired the RIBA Awards Group and was President of the Architectural Association. His contribution to Academia includes fourteen years as lecturer in Architecture at the University of Cambridge and visiting lectureships at the Harvard University Graduate Design School and the Tokyo Institute of Technology. In 2006 Eric Parry was elected Royal Academician (RA), one of the highest accolades for a practicing architect or artist in the UK and also received an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from the University of Bath in 2012.
