Thomas Vincent Emerson (born 29 September 1970 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

) is a British architect based in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

. His practice, 6a architects, founded with Stephanie Macdonald in 2001 is best known for designing buildings for the arts and education for which it has won several RIBA Awards, the Schelling Medal for architecture. and the Tessenow Medal 2023. He was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the

2021 New Year Honours The 2021 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

for services to architecture and education. In 2023 Emerson and Macdonald were elected Royal Academicians by the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

in London.

Education

Emerson was born in France and brought up in Belgium. For his studies, he came to the United Kingdom. He studied architecture at the

University of Bath The University of Bath is a public research university in Bath, England. Bath received its royal charter in 1966 as Bath University of Technology, along with a number of other institutions following the Robbins Report. Like the University ...

, the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

and at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...

where he met his partner Macdonald.

Architectural work

In 2001, Emerson founded 6a architects alongside Macdonald. Projects have included

Raven Row Raven Row is a free art exhibition centre in Spitalfields. It was constructed from numbers 56 and 58, Artillery Lane. These properties were built about 1690. The area was formerly used for testing artillery and this portion of the lane was ...

, 2009,

South London Gallery The South London Gallery, founded 1891, is a public-funded gallery of contemporary art in Camberwell, London. Until 1992, it was known as the South London Art Gallery, and nowadays the acronym SLG is often used. Margot Heller became its direct ...

2010-18 incorporating a garden by

Gabriel Orozco Gabriel Orozco (born April 27, 1962) is a Mexican artist. He gained his reputation in the early 1990s for his exploration of drawing, photography, sculpture and installation. In 1998, Francesco Bonami called Orozco "one of the most influentia ...

and the conversion of the Fire Station, the V&A fashion gallery,

Sadie Coles Sadie Judith Coles (born February 1963) is a British art dealer. She is the owner of Sadie Coles HQ, a contemporary art gallery in London, that has been at the forefront of the Young British Artists movement. Early life Coles was born in Februa ...

HQ in London and MK Gallery in

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of Milton Keynes urban area, its urban area was 264,349. The River Great Ouse forms t ...

winner of an RIBA South Award in 2021. The studio complex for

Juergen Teller Juergen Teller (born 28 January 1964) is a German fine-art and fashion photographer. He was awarded the Citibank Prize for Photography in 2003 and received the Special Presentation International Center of Photography Infinity Award in 2018. M ...

won RIBA London Building of the Year 2017 and was nominated for the

Stirling Prize The Royal Institute of British Architects Stirling Prize is a British prize for excellence in architecture. It is named after the architect James Stirling, organised and awarded annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The ...

2017. 6a architects' competition-winning design for a new court at

Churchill College Churchill College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. It has a primary focus on science, engineering and technology, but retains a strong interest in the arts ...

Cambridge was completed in 2016. Works by 6a architects are particularly noted for their use of materials of strong relationship to landscape and gardens.

Academic work and teaching

Since 2010 he has been Professor of Architecture and Construction at the

ETH Zurich Faculty of Architecture Founded in 1854, the Department of Architecture (D-ARCH) at ETH Zurich in Switzerland is an architecture school in Zürich, providing education in the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, and urban design. It has arou ...

. As part of his teaching and research on landscape and making, his students produced the Pavilion of Reflections floating on Lake Zurich for

Manifesta Manifesta, also known as the European Nomadic Biennial, is a European pan-regional contemporary cultural biennale. History Manifesta was founded in 1994 by Dutch art historian Hedwig Fijen. The first edition took place in Rotterdam. One of t ...

11 and urban landscape studies on Forst,

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

and

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

which was exhibited at Glasgow International in 2016. Before ETH Zurich, he taught architecture at the

Architectural Association The Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, commonly referred to as the AA, is the oldest private school of architecture in the UK. The AA hosts exhibitions, lectures, symposia and publications. History The Architectura ...

(2000–04) and the

(2004–10). He was awarded the Conrad Ferdinand Meyer Prize in 2018 for his academic work with ETH. Emerson has published a collection of essays as Dirty Old River, Park Books, 2025 and several academic journal articles including for ''AA Files'', as well as articles for ''

Architects' Journal ''Architects' Journal'' is a professional architecture magazine, published monthly in London by Metropolis International. Each issue includes in-depth features on relevant current affairs, alongside profiles of recently completed buildings. Ten t ...

''.

Personal life

Tom Emerson lives in London and Zürich. In London, he lives with his partner Stephanie Macdonald.

Projects by 6a architects

*Oki-ni, Savile Row, London, 2001 *

, Contemporary Art Exhibition Centre, Spitalfields, London, 2009 *

, London, 2010 *Fashion Galleries,

Victoria & Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

, London, 2012 * Romney's House, Hampstead, London, 2012 *Tree House, London, London, 2013 *Façade for

Paul Smith Paul Smith is the name of: Music * Paul Smith (composer) (1906–1985), American film music composer * Paul Smith (pianist) (1922–2013), Los Angeles jazz pianist * Paul Smith (English singer) (born 1979), vocalist and songwriter of British in ...

, Albemarle Street, London, 2013 *Studio for

, London, 2016 *Cowan Court,

Cambridge, 2015–16 *Black Stone Building, London, 2017 *Coastal House, Devon, 2017 *Blue Mountain School, London, 2018 *MK Gallery, Milton Keynes, 2019 *Holborn House Community Centre including Great Things Lie Ahead 2020 with Caragh Thuring, 2022 *CARA, Centre for Art, Research and Alliances, New York, 2022

Bibliography

* Dirty Old River by Tom Emerson, Park Books, Zurich, 2025, * Never Modern by 6a architects and Irénée Scalbert, Park Books, Zurich, 2013, * 6a architects 2009–17, El Croquis, no. 192, 2017, * 6a architects 2001–22, A+U, no, 623,

References

External links

Professor Tom Emerson Chair of Architecture and Construction ETH Zurich

6a architects

MK Gallery review in The Observer

Juergen Teller Studio in The Observer

Jonathan Glancey Raven Row art gallery: east London architecture at its finest Guardian Review

Icon Magazine feature on 6a architects
{{DEFAULTSORT:Emerson, Tom Living people 21st-century British architects 1970 births Academic staff of ETH Zurich Alumni of the Royal College of Art Alumni of the University of Bath Alumni of the University of Cambridge Architecture academics British expatriates in Switzerland French people of English descent Officers of the Order of the British Empire