John and Magda McHale Fellow
Sheila Kennedy
Sheila Kennedy is a founding Principal of Kennedy & Violich Architecture, Ltd. (KVA) an interdisciplinary design practice that explores new relationships between architecture, digital technology and emerging public needs. Projects at KVA include the new Graduate Center for Integrated Technology at RISD, the new headquarters for Harvard University's Department of Film and Video and the multi-modal Public Ferry Terminal Building at 34th Street in Manhattan. The work of KVA has been recognized by National Design Excellence Awards from the American Institute of Architecture, Progressive Architecture Awards, Industrial Design Excellence Awards and the Public Work Award of the National Endowment for the Arts. KVA's work has been exhibited at the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, Wired Magazine's NEXTFEST technology exhibition, the International Rotterdam Biennale, the Vitra Design Museum in Germany and MoMA's seminal exhibit "Design and the Elastic Mind".
In 2000, Kennedy established MATx, a pioneering materials research unit at KVA which engages applied creative production across the fields of electronics, architecture, design and material science. MATx works collaboratively with business leaders, industrial manufacturers, cultural institutions and public agencies to invent design concepts, products and building systems that advance the implementation of sustainable digital technologies. MATx has developed new technology applications for Dupont, Siemens, Osram, Herman Miller, The North Face and the United States Department of Energy. The MATx team is currently at work on the Portable Light Project, a non-profit global initiave to develop portable energy harvesting technology in an adaptable textile form.
Kennedy was featured in Business Week's report on new American Innovators in Technology and is the author of seven patents for the integration of digital technologies into architecture, building materials and textiles. Kennedy's research and work in architecture have been recognized by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Academy of Sciences. Kennedy has served as an advisor to the United States Department of Energy, the National Academy of Sciences' Government-Industry Partnerships, and the Vision 2020 National Technology Roadmap. Kennedy's work has appeared in Material Ultra Material (Harvard University, 2002), Extreme Textiles, (Princeton, 2005), Open House: Designs for Intelligent Living, (Vitra Design Museum, 2006) and Design for the Other 90% (2007). Kennedy lectures widely and her work has been featured in journals of architecture, design culture, anthropology and optoelectronics, as well as National Public Radio, United Nations Radio, the Discovery Channel, BBC World News, Wired, Science News, Der Spiegel Reporter, The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, Business Week and The New York Times.
Previous McHale Fellows
- 2006-07 Raoul Bunschoten
- 2005-06 James Cathcart
- 2004-05 Wolfgang Tschappeller
- 2003-04 Lebbeus Woods
- 2002-03 Neil Spiller
- 2001-02 Mark Wigley
- 2000-01 Michael Webb
Magda Cordell McHale (SUNY Buffalo, 1978-99) and John McHale were among the founders of the Independent Group, the British movement that grew out of a fascination with American mass culture and post-World War II technologies. In celebration of this legacy, the McHale Fellowship is intended to support design work that involves speculation on the impact of new technologies on architecture.
