It's Like Talking to a Wall
A lecture from Stephanie Davidson and Georg Rafailidis
Founders, DAVIDSON RAFAILIDIS
Thursday, September 28, 6pm
Betts Auditorium, School of Architecture
Georg Rafailidis is a licensed architect in the EU. Prior to co-founding DAVIDSON RAFAILIDIS with Stephanie Davidson he worked for Herzog & de Meuron in Switzerland. Since 2005, he has taught at various institutions including RWTH Aachen University; The State University of New York at Buffalo (SUNY); and the Peter Behrens School of Arts, Dusseldorf, Germany; he is currently a visiting critic at the Syracuse University School of Architecture. His published research includes topics on structural systems, material explorations, and fabrication processes. He has a Master of Arts from the Architectural Association (AA) in London and a professional degree in architecture from the University of Applied Sciences, Munich.
Stephanie Davidson
Prior to co-founding the professional practice DAVIDSON RAFAILIDIS with Georg, Stephanie worked for various architectural practices from Canada to Germany, such as Gonzalez Haase AAS architecture scenography in Berlin. Since 2008, Stephanie has held academic appointments including positions at the School of Architecture and Planning at Buffalo SUNY; the School of Graduate Studies at the University of Toronto; and The Creative School, Toronto Metropolitan University, among others. She is now a visiting critic at the Syracuse University School of Architecture. Her 2023 book, 10 minutes: architects and designers in conversation (Idoine Édition), features 24 interviews with contemporary architectural practices from 15 countries, exploring their relationship with building materials. Stephanie received her Master of Architecture from the Dalhousie University School of Architecture in Nova Scotia. She also attended the AA in London, and completed a Bachelor of Environmental Design Studies at Dalhousie University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Mount Allison University in New Brunswick, Canada.
DAVIDSON RAFAILIDIS embraces frugality; they work within lean budgets and their projects are seen as case studies in financially accessible architecture: space for everyone. Their projects have also been published in journals such as Domus, Detail, Arquine, The Architect’s Newspaper, Bauwelt, C3, PLAT, among others. Their essay, “Continual Construction,” will be included in the forthcoming 2024 book, Affordances of Architectural Typologies, edited by Andreas Lechner and Gennaro Postiglione (Thymos Books). Their 2017 book, Processes of Creating Space: An Architectural Design Workbook (Routledge), outlines how to observe and translate architectural representations into design practice.
Select exhibitions include the recent Objets trouvés at Cité de l’architecture et du patrimoine in Paris (2023); the International Biennale of Architecture and Landscape in Versailles (2022); and Drawing for the Design Imaginary at the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh (2019).
Their award-winning work has been recognized by The Architect’s Newspaper’s Best of Design 2022 award in the Adaptive Re-use category; the 2021 John E. Brent Award for Outstanding Project (less than 10,000 square feet); the 2020 Architectural Review House Awards; the shortlist for the 2021 Architectural Review UK’s New into Old Award; and the 2018 Emerging Voices award from the Architectural League of New York.
