Julia Barfield

Julia Barfield (born 1952) is a British architect and director of Marks Barfield Architects, established in 1989. Barfield created the London Eye together with husband partner David Marks. Barfield has interest in vernacular architecture, geometry and in the way nature "designs and organizes itself so efficiently". She was influenced by Buckminster Fuller and his beliefs on how architects have a social and environmental responsibility.^[1]

Education

Julia Barfield studied at the Architectural Association School of Architecture from 1972 to 1978. During her year out, she went to South America and worked in the barriadas of Lima in Peru designing housing and a community centre.

Experience

After graduation, Barfield worked for Foster and Partners for nine years. In 1990, together with husband David Marks, they founded Marks Barfield Architects. During the last 13 years, with Marks, she has designed projects in the leisure, housing, transport, education and cultural sectors.^[2]

London Eye

The best thing about the Eye is the journey. It’s not like the Eiffel tower, where you get in a dark lift and come out on to a platform at the top. The trip round is as important as the view. -Julia Barfield, 2015^[3]

In 1993, the Sunday Times and the Architecture Foundation held an open competition to design a landmark for the millennium, which would in turn be the London Eye.^[3]

Awards

Barfield is the winner of "Architectural Practice of the Year" in 2001 and a "Queen's Award for Enterprise" in 2003.

References