The Berlage

Session Room B
—12:45

On the Rothschild Bank

Carol Patterson, OMA

Rothschild Bank, OMA. (Photo: Philippe Ruault)

Carol Patterson, Director for the UK for OMA, will discuss their project of a new headquarters for Rothschild in the City of London. Building for a famous banking family at a site they had called home since the Napoleonic Wars, while starting construction during the global financial crisis was challenging and fortuitous. Carol will take you through some of the history, and how family, business and physical context both hindered and benefitted the Stirling Prize shortlisted scheme.

Carol Patterson is an OMA Director, overseeing project in the UK.  During her 20 years at OMA and preceding 10 years as a New York architect, she’s managed the complexity of historical preservation, political turf wars, and challenging logistics under budget and deadline pressure. Her work on the new headquarters for Rothschild in the City, the Commonwealth Institute, the Whitney Museum in New York and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) demonstrate the value a natural diplomat and accomplished practitioner brings to large-scale projects. Recent projects include The Factory, a new performing arts centre in Manchester, due to open later this year.  Patterson first joined OMA in 2000 to help design the Seattle Public Library. A Californian, Carol graduated from UC Berkeley, and earned a Masters in Architecture, with honours, from Columbia University.    

This spring’s series, entitled “Money Talks,” looks at the architecture associated with the storing, trading, management, digitization, and centralization of money. Topics will include the history of the Bank of England, the competition for a new commodity exchange in Amsterdam, the design of banknotes, the commissioning of the headquarters of one of the largest banking and financial services institutions in the world, the post-war development of London’s financial center, among others. Speakers will include Daniel M. Abramson, Herman van Bergeijk, Martin Gran, Carol Patterson, Lauren S. Weingarden, Amy Thomas, and Stephanie Williams.

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