Cecil Balmond
Cecil Balmond OBE is a Sri Lankan–British 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. One current project is the Gretna Landmark, Star of Caledonia for which Cecil is the artist. It is an illuminated sculpture that marks the Scottish and English border crossing, and will be completed in 2018. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to architecture. In  2016 Balmond was also awarded the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Architecture by the University of Virginia. Education. He went to Trinity College, Kandy and later studied engineering at the University of Colombo. After living briefly in Nigeria he moved to Britain and continued his studies at the University of Southampton and at Imperial College, London. Philosophy. Balmond sees his work as an open-ended visual application of theory, following the principle that "structure as conceptual rigour "is" architecture". His approach to structure is derived by theories of complexity, non-linear organisation and emergence. Through his research, Balmond investigates mathematical  concepts and their influence on natural forms and structures, interrogating algorithms, fractals, rhythm and cellular structure. Life and work. Ove Arup & Partners Balmond was deputy chairman at Arup. The AGU at Arup brought together architects, mathematicians, programmers, artists, musicians and scientists. It investigated structural systems, delving in the basin of order and patterns and engaging with music, algorithms, and malignant cellular structure to create abstract concepts that inspired tectonic forms. Under Balmond's artistic direction at the AGU, Balmond worked on some of the world's most famous structures including the Centre Pompidou-Metz with Shigeru Ban and CCTV Headquarters  with Rem Koolhaas. Serpentine Gallery Balmond has also been a creative force behind London's Serpentine Pavilion programme. The Ito-Balmond Serpentine Pavilion, 2002 was crafted in glass and white-painted aluminium and featured a scatter of lines, the product of an algorithm designed by Balmond. The pavilion is now located at a luxury hotel in South of France. Balmond also designed pavilions with Daniel Libeskind (2001), Alvaro Siza and Eduardo Souto de Moura (2005) and Rem Koolhaas (2006). Balmond Studio Balmond set up his own studio and workshop in London 2010. Balmond's own designs are numerous and include  Weave Bridge, a bridge for University of Pennsylvania (2010), the Pedro e Inês bridge in Coimbra (2006) and a $400m mixed-use development in Asia. The Orbit The ArcelorMittal Orbit is designed by Balmond and Anish Kapoor. It is a 120m high sculpture designed for the 2012 Olympics in Stratford, London. Balmond also collaborated with Kapoor on Marsyas a sculpture which was displayed in Tate Modern Turbine Hall (2002), and also co-designed the "Tees Valley Giants" art installations with Kapoor. Other key works by Balmond include a radical masterplan for Battersea Power Station (2006) and the  Victoria & Albert Museum extension with Daniel Libeskind (1996). Freedom Sculpture The "Freedom Sculpture" is a stainless steel gold and silver monument located on Santa Monica Boulevard in a publicly accessible median at Century City, Los Angeles, California.