Graham Phillips presents inaugural
Giesecke Lecture Friday at 5 p.m.

Graham Phillips, an internationally acclaimed architect and principal with Foster and Partners Architects in London will present the inaugural lecture of the Texas A&M College of Architecture’s new Frederick E. Giesecke Endowed Lecture Series. The presentation, examining Phillips’three decades working alongside the firm’s world renowned founder and chairman, Norman Foster, is set for 5-7 p.m. Friday, April 7 in the Preston M. Geren Auditorium in Building B of the Langford Architecture Center.

“A generous gift from Preston and Colleen Geren ’45 established the Giesecke Endowed Lecture Series, enabling us to bring outstanding world-scale speakers to the college on a regular basis,”said J. Thomas Regan, dean of the College of Architecture. “These lectures will give our students and faculty the opportunity to hear the latest ideas and accomplishments by leaders in the virtual and built-environment professions, industries, and disciplines, as well as to hear speakers who have contributed to the historic present.”

Graham Phillips studied architecture at Liverpool University. As a student he received a Royal Institute of British Architects Award for is early work. After an internship, or “year out,”in Toronto, Canada, Phillips graduated with first class honors in 1971.

He joined Foster Associates in 1975, taking charge of IBM Technical Park at Greenford and developing special skills in the field of project management, cost control and contract administration. He was involved at the inception of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank project in 1979 and became a resident director in Hong Kong in 1980, playing a key role in the management of the project and the practice's Hong Kong office. While in Hong Kong he became a member of the Hong Kong Institute of Architects and qualified as an HKIA “Authorized Person.”

On his return to London in 1986 he became involved in the overall management of the practice and was also responsible for the design of projects for Sir Robert and Lady Sainsbury at the University of East Anglia. He was made a partner in 1991 and returned to Hong Kong as part of the Hong Kong International Airport competition team.

He returned from Hong Kong in 1993 continuing as managing director of the practice, involved not only in its worldwide business and management aspects but also in maintaining the highest design standards. Recently he has led the design team on two shops for Asprey in New York and London.

Graham designed and built his own house, 'Skywood', a glass pavilion set in a tranquil landscape, which won an RIBA Award in 1999 and was nominated for a Mies van der Rohe Foundation Award in 2000. He has since designed an apartment in London and a house in Spain.

He was made chief executive of Foster and Partners in 2004.

This initial Giesecke Endowed Lecture is presented in conjunction with the Department of Architecture Lecture Series, organized by Professor Malcolm Quantrill.

The college is forming a Giesecke Endowed Lectures Committee to select the speakers and organize the lectures for the 2006-07 academic year. Those interested in serving on this committee should contact their department head and notify the dean. The committee’s first meeting will be held later this month.