Cecil Balmond Obe

Place: Colombo

Born: 1943

Biography:

Cecil Balmond OBE is a British Sri Lankan designer, artist, and writer. In 1968, Balmond joined Ove Arup & Partners, leading him to become deputy chairman. In 2000, he founded design and research group, the AGU (Advanced Geometry Unit). He currently holds the Paul Philippe Cret Chair at PennDesign as Professor of Architecture where he is also the founding director of the Non Linear Systems Organization, a material and structural research unit. He has also been Kenzo Tange Visiting Design Critic at Harvard Graduate School of Architecture (2000), Eero Saarinen Visiting Professor at Yale University School of Architecture (1997-2002) and visiting fellow at London School of Economics Urban Cities Programme (2002-2004). In 2010, Balmond set up his own practice, Balmond Studio, with offices in London and Colombo. The research led practice is involved with art, architecture, design and consulting. He has received numerous awards for his work, including Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to architecture and the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Architecture by the University of Virginia in 2016.