Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara, founders of Dublin-based Grafton Architects, have been named as curators for the 2018 edition of the Venice Architecture Biennale.
The duo – known for projects including the Universita Luigi Bocconi in Milan and the Medical School and Student Residences at the University of Limerick – will be the 16th curators of the Venice Architecture Biennale.
They follow Elemental founder Alejandro Aravena, who focused on how architecture can solve global issues for his 2016 show.
"The exhibition curated by Alejandro Aravena offered visitors a critical overview of the worldwide evolution of architecture and underlined how important it is that a qualified demand on the part of individuals and communities be met by an equally effective response, thereby confirming that architecture is one of civil society's instruments for organising the space in which it lives and works," said president of the Venice Biennale Paolo Baratta.
"Along these lines, Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara will continue to address the same theme but from the point of view of the quality of the public and private space, of urban space, of the territory and of the landscape as the main ends of architecture."
Grafton Architects' curation of the Biennale is expected to examine the quality of the public and private space.
"The curators, who are well-known for the refinement of their work, are also known for their intense didactic activity and their ability to involve and fascinate new generations," added Baratta.
Farrell and McNamara won the Silver Lion at the biennial architecture festival in 2012 – the same year they presented their plans for the UTEC University in Lima, Peru.
The concrete university campus recently won the Irish firm the inaugural RIBA International Award.
The 16th edition of the Venice Architecture Biennale will open on 26 May 2018 and continue until 25 November.