Tara Kennedy

Tara Kennedy is a member of Free Market, alongside Jeffrey Bolhuis, Jo Anne Butler, Miriam Delaney, Laureance Lord and Orla Murphy. Free Market which was originally conceived as the Irish Pavilion for the Venice Architecture Biennale 2018. Tara practices and teaches architecture, with a multi-disciplinary and collaborative approach. Tara works with John McLaughlin Architects and is a lecturer at Cork Centre for Architectural Education, as well as initiating socially driven design and research projects.

As the curator of Beyond Participation, an international conference by the Irish Architecture Foundation, Tara provokes discussion about architecture, community, and the meaning of the things we design. Tara is a co-founder of Culturstruction with Jo Anne Butler. Tara was a co-founder of ‘Commonage Summer School’ (2011,12,13) an innovative ten-day programme of design and build workshops, talks, field trips and film screenings exploring the role of design in rural futures, situated in the small town of Callan, Co. Kilkenny.

Tara was born in and currently lives in Dublin. Her partner is from the town of Bantry, Co. Cork and they are preparing to move out of the city with their young family. Tara is interested in how her collaborative design practice might contribute to, and learn from, a small town context.