Sarah Wigglesworth
{{Short description|British architect and academic}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox architect
| name = Sarah Wigglesworth
| honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|MBE|RDI}}
| image =
| image_size =
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| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1957}}
| birth_place = London, UK
| death_date =
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| nationality = British
| alma_mater = University of Cambridge
| spouse =
| partner = Jeremy Till
| children =
| parents =
| awards = Fulbright Arts Fellowship, Royal Designer for Industry
| practice = Sarah Wigglesworth Architects (1994–2024)
| significant_buildings = Strawbale House, Highbury Roundhouse, Cremorne Rierside Centre, Sandal Magna Primary School
| significant_projects =
| significant_design =
| website = {{URL|swarch.co.uk}}
}}
Sarah Wigglesworth (born 16 May 1957, London) is a British architect. She was also a professor of architecture at the University of Sheffield until 2016.{{Cite web|url=http://dwell.group.shef.ac.uk/people/|title=People {{!}} DWELL|website=dwell.group.shef.ac.uk|language=en-US|access-date=2017-01-31}}
Career
Wigglesworth founded her own architectural practice in 1994.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2001/jun/25/architectureweek2001.architectureweek1|title=Sarah Wigglesworth|date=25 June 2001|newspaper=The Guardian|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|access-date=2017-01-31}} Her practice has a reputation for sustainable architecture using alternative, low energy materials.{{Cite news|url=http://www.building.co.uk/qs/deconstructing-sarah/3032697.article|title=Deconstructing Sarah|newspaper=Building|language=en|issue=8|year=2004|access-date=2017-01-31}} The practice designed the Straw Bale House in Islington, London,{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2002/jan/13/life1.lifemagazine6|title=Clutching at straws|last=Lutyens|first=Dominic|date=12 January 2002|newspaper=The Guardian|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|access-date=2017-01-31}} as a home for Wigglesworth and her partner, Jeremy Till, as well as an office for Sarah Wigglesworth Architects. Constructed of straw bales, cement-filled sandbags, silicon-faced fibreglass cloth and gabions filled with recycled concrete, she described it as not "like a traditional green building." Her stated aim was "to bring green architecture into the mainstream by making it more urban and urbane." The house featured in the first series of Grand Designs (1999) and Lina Stergiou's AAO exhibition at the Benaki Museum."Sarah Wigglesworth" in Lina Stergiou, ed., AAO Project: Ethics/Aesthetics (Athens: Benaki Museum and Papasotiriou, 2011), pp.348–53, Exhibition Catalogue {{ISBN|978-960-491-026-7}}{{Cite news |last=Card |first=Nell |date=2020-06-07 |title=No house of straw: Sarah Wigglesworth's eco-home, 20 years on |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/jun/07/return-sarah-wigglesworth-straw-bale-house-stock-orchard-street |access-date=2025-03-11 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}
She was Professor of Architecture at the University of Sheffield from 1999 to 2016 where she founded the PhD BY Design in 2002.{{Cite web|url=http://design.britishcouncil.org/blog/2011/jul/28/a1-paper-thinking-architecture/|title=A1 Paper: Thinking Architecture {{!}} Blog {{!}} ADF {{!}} British Council|website=design.britishcouncil.org|language=en|format=blog|date=28 July 2011|access-date=2017-01-31}} Her academic work often blended with her 'live' projects and she describes her research focus as "revealing the workings of practice." She led the Designing for Wellbeing in Environments for Later Life research project at the University of Sheffield, looking into the design of houses and neighbourhoods for older people.
In 1991, Wigglesworth and Till were the first architects to be awarded the Fulbright Arts Fellowship. Wigglesworth was appointed MBE in 2004 and in 2012 became the first woman to receive the Royal Designer for Industry award for architecture.{{Cite news|url=https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/daily-news/wigglesworth-becomes-royal-designer-for-industry/8638461.article|title=Wigglesworth becomes Royal Designer for Industry|newspaper=Architects Journal|language=en|access-date=2017-01-31}}
Alongside the Straw Bale House, Wigglesworth's Sandal Magna School has been described as an exemplar of passive, sustainable design.{{Cite web|url=http://www.architecturetoday.co.uk/?p=10940|title=Sarah Wigglesworth Architects: Sandal Magna School, Wakefield. {{!}} Architecture Today|website=www.architecturetoday.co.uk|access-date=2017-01-31}} Wigglesworth also places an emphasis on user involvement in the design of buildings. Her Mellor Primary School incorporates spaces for natural habitats and is designed to aid the school's curriculum and help pupils interact with the building.{{Cite news|url=http://www.theglassmagazine.com/from-the-archive-glass-meets-britains-leading-architect-sarah-wigglesworth/|title=From the archive – Glass interviews Britain's leading architect Sarah Wigglesworth|date=2016-09-02|newspaper=The Glass Magazine|language=en-GB|access-date=2017-01-31}}
Sarah Wigglesworth is an advocate for the role of women in architecture. In 1995, she initiated of Desiring Practices: Architecture, Gender and the Interdisciplinary,{{Cite book|title=Desiring practices : architecture, gender, and the interdisciplinary|last=Katerina.|first=Rüedi|last2=Sarah.|first2=Wigglesworth|last3=Duncan.|first3=McCorquodale|date=1996-01-01|publisher=Black Dog Pub|isbn=0952177390|oclc=37984409}} an exhibition, symposium, catalogue and book that explored gender differences in architectural practice.{{Cite news|url=http://www.abitare.it/en/archive/2013/04/25/women-in-architecture-an-interview-with-sarah-wigglesworth/|title=An interview with Sarah Wigglesworth {{!}} Abitare|date=25 April 2013|newspaper=Abitare|language=en-US|access-date=2017-01-31}} She has criticised the architectural profession for failing properly to support female architecture students and practitioners.{{Cite news|url=http://www.theglassmagazine.com/from-the-archive-glass-meets-britains-leading-architect-sarah-wigglesworth/|title=From the archive – Glass interviews Britain's leading architect Sarah Wigglesworth|date=2 September 2016|newspaper=The Glass Magazine|language=en-GB|access-date=2017-01-31}}
Notable works
- Straw Bale House and office, London (2001) – RIBA Award and RIBA Sustainability Prize
- Classroom of the Future, Sheffield (2005) – RIBA Award{{Cite web|url=https://www.architecture.com/RIBA/Awards/RIBANationalAwards/Winners2005/Yorkshire/Classroomofthefuture.aspx|title=Classroom of the future, Mossbrook School, Sheffield|website=www.architecture.com|language=en-gb|access-date=2017-01-31}}
- Siobhan Davies Dance Studios, London (2006) – RIBA Award{{Cite news|url=http://londondance.com/articles/news/siobhan-davies-dance-building-wins-award/|title=Siobhan Davies Dance building wins award – LondonDance|newspaper=LondonDance|language=en|access-date=2017-01-31}}
- Cremorne Riverside Centre, London (2008) – RIBA Award{{Cite web|url=https://www.architecture.com/RIBA/Awards/RIBANationalAwards/Winners2008/London/CremorneRiverside/CremorneRiverside.aspx|title=Cremorne Riverside Centre|website=www.architecture.com|language=en-gb|access-date=2017-01-31}}
- Heathfield Children's Centre, London (2008){{Cite web|url=https://www.architecture.com/FindAnArchitect/ArchitectPractices/SarahWigglesworthArchitects/Projects/HeathfieldChildren39;sCentre-118977.aspx|title=Heathfield Children's Centre|website=www.architecture.com|language=en-gb|access-date=2017-01-31}}
- Sandal Magna Community Primary School, Wakefield (2010) – RIBA Award{{Cite web|url=https://www.architecture.com/RIBA/Awards/RIBANationalAwards/Winners2011/Yorkshire/SandalMagnaCommunityPrimarySchool/SandalMagnaSchoolexterior.aspx|title=Sandal Magna School|website=www.architecture.com|language=en-gb|access-date=2017-01-31}}
- Mellor Primary School, Stockport (2015) – RIBA Award
- Deborah House Artist Studios (2015){{Cite web|url=https://www.dezeen.com/2016/01/23/sarah-wigglesworth-deborah-house-former-factory-renovation-affordable-artists-studios-space-london-corrugated-metal-skin/|title=Corrugated metal skin added to a former factory housing artists' studios|date=2016-01-23|website=Dezeen|access-date=2017-01-31}}
Personal life
Wigglesworth grew up in north London, attending Camden School for Girls. She studied architecture at the University of Cambridge from 1976 to 1983, graduating with distinction.{{Cite book|title=The architect : women in contemporary architecture|last=Maggie.|first=Toy|date=2001-01-01|publisher=Wiley-Academy|isbn=0471495441|oclc=44101931}}
Her long-term partner, Jeremy Till, is Head of Central Saint Martins and Pro Vice Chancellor of the University of the Arts London.
References
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External links
- [http://www.swarch.co.uk/ Sarah Wigglesworth Architects]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20120621174946/http://www.shef.ac.uk/architecture/people/wigglesworth_s Sheffield University profile]
- Lerner, Kevin. “Sarah Wigglesworth Architects.” Architectural Record 190, no. 1 (January 1, 2002): 43–44.
https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bvh&AN=445676&site=ehost-live . - “Primary School in Takeley: Sarah Wigglesworth Architects, London.” Detail (English Ed.), no. 3 (May 1, 2013): 264–65.
https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bvh&AN=695792&site=ehost-live . - Rüedi, Katerina., Sarah Wigglesworth, and Duncan McCorquodale. Desiring Practices: Architecture, Gender, and the Interdisciplinary. London: Black Dog Pub., 1996.
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Category:British women architects
Category:21st-century British architects
Category:British women academics
Category:Academics of the University of Sheffield
Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)