UO School of Architecture and Allied Arts honours London architect Rick Mather

EUGENE- London architect has received the 2005 Ellis F. Lawrence Medal, the highest alumni honor awarded by the University of Oregon School of Architecture and Allied Arts. Dean Robert Z. Melnick presented the award at the School's June 11 commencement ceremony.

Mather is known for his innovative use of glass, and has been recognised for his work with green buildings. His Times of London Headquarters received Britain's highest rating for environmental performance.

Projects currently occupying Mather's firm include a $95 million expansion and renovation of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England; the relocation of the Galleria Sabuada in Turin, Italy; the new design academy for Liverpool's John Moores University; and masterplans for a £420 million Central Milton Keynes Residential Quarter and the Natural History Museum in London. In addition, Mather recently secured his first project in the U.S., a $100 million renovation and expansion of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

Recent work includes a masterplan for the largest arts complex in Europe, London's South Bank Centre (2000). In addition, Rick Mather Architects is responsible for several sensitive and high-profile renovations, including London's Wallace Collection (2000) and the National Maritime Museum (1999).

Mather grew up in Lake Oswego, Oregon and received his bachelor degree in architecture from the University of Oregon in 1961. He studied at London's Architectural Association, and at the Center for Study of [16th- century Italian] architect Andrea Palladio in Vicenza, Italy. Mather founded Rick Mather Architects in London in 1973.

The Lawrence award is awarded annually to an alumnus or alumna whose professional and personal achievements exemplify the Oregon spirit and reflect the integrity, educational philosophy, and commitment to design and artistic excellence of Ellis F. Lawrence. Lawrence founded the UO School of Architecture and Allied Arts in 1914, and served as dean of the school for more than 30 years. Past recipients of the Lawrence Medal include interior designer Margo Grant Walsh, film director James Ivory, architect Johnpaul Jones, and landscape architect Peter Rothschild.

June 2005

Commencement 2005