 |
Since joining Pei Cobb Freed & Partners more
than 30 years ago, Yvonne Szeto has spent her career advancing the firm's tradition of thoughtfully considered and well-crafted public works. A member of the first succeeding generation of design partners as well as the firm's first female partner, she has distinguished herself with an approach that draws from the tradition of the firm while embracing current issues in architecture, advancing the debate about the direction of architecture today. While highly concerned with formal properties
such as shape, form, and appropriate application and detailing of materials, Ms. Szeto is passionate about the creation of buildings that engender meaning and identity, that serve their users in both functional and practical ways, and that respect human scale and create a sense of place.
Ms. Szeto's practice includes a broad range of building typologies at a variety of project scales. In her designs for the workplace she has placed great emphasis on the quality of the
workplace itself and the collegiality of the environment for occupants. In her academic work she has addressed challenging issues of context, creating spaces that foster social interaction and collaboration. In her public museum works, she has created eloquent forms and spaces that speak of their content and are welcoming and receptive to the public. In her master planning, she has developed concepts that express unique identity, create significant and well-balanced public space, and merge
architecture and planning into a single expression.
Early in her career Ms. Szeto collaborated on some of the most important works of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, including the Grand Louvre in Paris, France, for which she was responsible for the detailing of the glass pyramid that is the centerpiece of the museum. In one of her first works as a partner, she was responsible for the design of the ABN AMRO Bank Head Office, a corporate headquarters with a striking and prominent
identity, distinguished by an exceptional work environment in a building that was an early paradigm of sustainable design. The project was awarded the AIA Top Ten Green Project Award, the AIANY Sustainable Design Award, and the Chicago Athenaeum Award. Her exploration of the quality of the workplace and corporate identity continued with commissions for the headquarters for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris, the Federal Reserve Bank in Kansas City, and the
headquarters for the International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C. The latter was one of the first post-9/11 buildings in Washington, groundbreaking in its approach to incorporating requisite new security features while providing an open and inviting streetscape. The IMF project was awarded LEED Gold EB and EPA Energy Star Award.
A hallmark of Ms. Szeto's recent commissions in the academic field has been the issue of context, one that she has addressed in unique ways adapted to the
exigencies of each challenge. For the Bossone Research Enterprise Center at Drexel University, she created an emblematic 7-story atrium as a gateway to the campus's research precinct while setting back the southern edge of the building to respect adjacent historic structures. At the Institute for Critical Technology & Applied Science at Virginia Tech, she used elements drawn from the well-established vocabulary of the campus—local Hokie stone and Collegiate Gothic architectural forms—in
an innovative way to create a building that is a harmonious component of the campus but discreetly distinctive in its modern approach. In her current work for Fordham University in New York City, she is addressing a different contextual challenge: to be deferential to the neighboring landmark of Lincoln Center while also providing a distinctive identity for Fordham Law School. In her most recent cultural work, Ms. Szeto has sought to create evocative compositions that provide an open and
welcoming posture while creating a lively presence in the public realm and urban fabric. The newly completed NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Carolina, is an iconic landmark for that city, unique in its expression and generous in its provision of a variety of public spaces. The project has been awarded the McGraw Hill Best of 2010 Award of Excellence in Architectural Design.
Beyond the significance of her built work, Ms. Szeto has lectured and exhibited widely and maintained an
influential presence in the academic world. She has lectured on sustainability, current issues facing the practitioner, and the role of women in contemporary architectural practice. Within her firm she is a mentor to young architects and, as a LEED-accredited partner, a leading voice in the education and positioning of the firm as a leader in sustainable practices. She is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.
See also Ms. Szeto's Curriculum Vitae and Project List.
|
