Martha Thorne has been entrusted with setting up OBEL AWARD teaching fellowships programme and advising the foundation in the development of new initiatives related to architectural education and the future of the built environment.
For the past twelve years, Martha Thorne served as Dean of IE School of Architecture & Design, part of the innovative IE University in Madrid/Segovia, Spain. She will continue her affiliation with the IE School of Architecture and Design as Distinguished Professor. From 2005 to 2021, she served as Executive Director of the Pritzker Prize. Her main interests center on two broad themes: the contemporary city and how architecture, design, and urbanism can contribute to sustainability and resilience; and how architecture and design education can evolve in both content and pedagogy to be more relevant for today’s challenges.
Martha Thorne is also a member of the UIA2023 Honorary Committee, and in this function she will contribute to the opening and closing ceremonies as well as selected sessions which will be published later.