Professor Neil Gillespie
OBE RSA FRIAS RIBA, Design Director and Chairman of Reiach and Hall Architects, Edinburgh.
- Nominated for RIBA Stirling Prize 2015, 2016, 2017 for Maggies Lanarkshire, Glasgow College, Riverside and City Campuses respectively.
- The Pier Arts Centre, Orkney, Doolan Award, RIAS Best Building in Scotland 2008, Mies van der Rohe Prize finalist, Europa Nostra Award 2009.
- The NDA, Archive, Wick, RIBA Award, Doolan award RIAS Best Building in Scotland 2018
- Scottish Design Awards, Architect of the Year, 2004, 2008, 2013, 2014, 2015.
- Visiting Professor at Scott Sutherland School of Architecture, Aberdeen and the University of Sheffield.
- External Examiner at Kingston School of Architecture, London.
- Academician of the Royal Scottish Academy (RSA), Member of the RIBA Honours Committee and the RIBA Awards National Panel.
- Board member of the aeFoundation, Co-founded ‘sleeper’ gallery with Alan Johnston, 2000
- OBE for Services to Architecture, Queen’s Honours List, 2011.
- Curated Scotland + Venice at the Venice Biennale 2014.
In Two Minds, somewhere between ideas and places
Architecture, for me, is a search for silence, for quiet spaces that are host to the routines of daily life, the quotidian. Spaces that are witness to moments of great joy and yet are filled with accumulated memories and a pervading sense of sadness.
My talk will be concerned with this exploration, illustrated through a loosely connected series of modest projects in Scotland. The works share certain attitudes and thoughts that stem from a particular landscape and light, a certain mindscape and culture.
Active House, too, is about recognising and accommodating a bigger sense of what it means to be in the world. In addition to acting responsibly, to save resource and energy, Active House principles recognise the life affirming qualities of being open to daylight and air.