Nigel Coates RA (b. 1949)
Nigel Coates RA (b. 1949)
Coates is a polemical architectural designer and theoretician based in London. He was educated at the Architectural Association and has overlapped teaching, experiment and building throughout his career. Typically, he invests architecture with semiotics, craftsmanship and contemporary culture.
As a young tutor at the AA his extemporary approach led to the formation of the NATØ architecture collective which achieved wide-reaching influence through its magazine and exhibitions. His notoriety in the early 1980s led to success in Japan and to the formation of his practice Branson Coates. Numerous projects there include The Wall and the Art Silo in Tokyo. In the UK his buildings include the Hubs in Sheffield, Powerhouse:uk in Whitehall, the Museum of the Home in London and the Body Zone at the Millennium Dome, as well as numerous stores for Katharine Hamnett, Jasper Conran, Liberty and Jigsaw.
Coates is known for his dynamic freehand drawing style that puts the viewer at the heart of an idea. For him, the sketch carries the essence of a design. Alongside building design he has an ongoing interest in cities. He has exhibited numerous cityscapes made from found objects, such as his installation Mixtacity at Tate Modern. Other installations, including Ecstacity and Hypnerotosphere, featured in the Venice Architecture Biennale. Recent solo shows include David in Voxtacity at Betts Project.
In 1995 he entered the faculty of the Royal College of Art as Professor of Architecture, and in 2011 he was made Professor Emeritus. In 2012 he received the RIBA Annie Spink Award for Architectural Education, and in 2023 he was made an Honorary Fellow of the RIBA. Works are held by the Victoria & Albert Museum, FRAC in Orléans, the Tchoban Foundation in Berlin, and M+ in Hong Kong. His furniture and lighting designs are produced with leading Italian companies such as Fornasetti, Slamp, GTV and Poltronova. Books include Guide to Ecstacity, Narrative Architecture and his recent memoir – Lives in Architecture.
Profile
Born: 1949 in Malvern
Elected RA: 31 May 2023
Visit Nigel Coates RA (b. 1949)'s website
Preferred media: Architecture
Works by Nigel Coates in the RA Collection
4 results
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Works by Nigel Coates
![Nigel Coates, Hypnerotosphere, 11th Architecture Biennale, Venice 2008]()
Nigel Coates, Hypnerotosphere, 11th Architecture Biennale, Venice 2008.
![Branson Coates, Body Zone, Millennium Dome, London]()
Branson Coates, Body Zone, Millennium Dome, London, 2000.
![Branson Coates, Caffè Bongo, Tokyo]()
Branson Coates, Caffè Bongo, Tokyo, 1986.
![Branson Coates, Geffrye Museum 20th Century Wing, London]()
Branson Coates, Geffrye Museum 20th Century Wing, London.
![Nigel Coates, Lehnstuhl, Gebrüder Thonet Vienna]()
Nigel Coates, Lehnstuhl, Gebrüder Thonet Vienna, 2015.
![Branson Coates, The Wall, Tokyo]()
Branson Coates, The Wall, Tokyo, 1989.
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Selected CV
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One Person Exhibitions
2019 David in Voxtacity, Betts Project, London
2015 Paracastello, H+, Fuorisalone, Milan
2013 Exploded, White Post Gallery, London
2012 Casa Reale, Entratalibera, Milan
2011 Baroccabilly, Cristina Grajales Gallery, New York
2010 Baroccabilly, Camera 16 Gallery, Milan
1998 Oyster House, Ideal Home Exhibition, London
1992 Ecstacity, Architectural Association, London
Ecstacity, Fondation pour l’Architecture, Brussels
1984 ArkAlbion, Architectural Association, London
1979 Nightlives of the Artists, Galleria Zona, Florence -
Group Exhibitions
2023 Archivision, Tchoban Museum of Architectural Drawing, Berlin
2012 Picaresque, Kama: Sesso e Design, Triennale Design Museum, Milan
2012 British Design, Victoria & Albert Museum, London
2011 Postmodernism, Victoria & Albert Museum, London
2009 Battersea Gods Home, Super Contemporary, Design Museum, London
2008 Hypnerotosphere, At Home In The Modern World, 11th Architecture Biennale, Venice
2007 Mixtacity, Global Cities, Tate Modern, London
2006 Babylon:don, Italian Pavilion, 10th Architecture Biennale, Venice
2005 Avenirs de Ville, Nancy, France
2003 Latent Utopias, Graz, Austria
2002 The Wall Tokyo, Architecture Gallery, Victoria & Albert Museum
2000 City Visionaries, British Pavilion, 7th Architecture Biennale, Venice -
Awards and Publications
2023 Honorary Fellow of the RIBA
2012 Annie Spink Award for Excellence in Architectural Education
1998 Winner: Oyster House, Concept House competition
1997 Winner: Powerhouse::uk
1992 Winner: Geffrye Museum 20th Century Wing
1990 Japan Inter-Design award for contribution to Japanese Cities
1978 Borsa di Studio Italiano, Università della Sapienza, Rome
2023 Lives in Architecture, RIBA Publications, London 2023
2012 Narrative Architecture, Wiley London
2003 Guide to Ecstacity, Laurence King, London
2002 Collidoscope, Laurence King, London
1992 Ecstacity, AA Publications, London
1984-86 ed. Narrative Architecture Today (NATØ) magazine, AA Publications, London
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