the times | Monday July 27 2020 2GM 23
News
One of the world’s most prestigious
schools of architecture has been
accused of sexism after firing its first fe-
male director.
The Architectural Association (AA),
whose alumni include Lord Rogers of
Riverside and the late Dame Zaha
Hadid, ended Eva Franch i Gilabert’s
contract this month after she lost a vote
of confidence.
Some 80 per cent of the members of
the school had previously voted against
her strategy for the organisation, amid
accusations that she had bullied staff.
The sacking of Ms Franch i Gilabert,
Whitehall frontrunner in
row over ‘free paint’ offer
Dominic KennedyEva Franch i Gilabert was the first female director of the Architectural AssociationArchitect school sacks first female director
who was elected as director in June
2018, has prompted criticism from lead-
ing figures, including Elia Zenghelis, a
former teacher at the association and
co-founder of the OMA practice in Rot-
terdam, who designed the media head-
quarters of CC TV in Beijing. He de-
scribed the “obviously prejudiced” deci-
sion to fire the director as “haughty and
crass” and said it had “put the school
and its future in serious jeopardy”.
Christina Varvia, of Forensic Archi-
tecture, an agency that was a runner-up
in the 2018 Turner Prize, said: “Serious
allegations and grievances were raised
during the process that led to her dis-
missal that deserve careful investi-gation — [but] instead, the first elected
woman director was ousted without
any meaningful conversation of the
challenges of women in power.”
An open letter to the association,
signed by 200 architects and academ-
ics, decried “systemic biases against
women” in society and suggested that
AA members had become “distressed”
by the pandemic and therefore voted
erroneously. While acknowledging
that they have “no purview” of recent
events at the AA, they concluded that
“the question of sexism seems obvious”.
The association said the letter was
“grossly uninformed and misguided”.
Ricardo Ruivo and Will Orr, both tu-tors, responded: “The privileged nature
of the open letter, coupled with its igno-
rance of the people involved, renders its
baseless claims regarding the pandemic
turmoil ironic to the point of satire.”
They said “the final breaking point...
was defined by allegations of worker
abuse and bullying, with prominent
cases brought forth by women staff.”
Ms Franch i Gilabert did not respond
to a request for comment. In a state-
ment the AA said: “At the heart of the
decision is the failure to develop and
implement a strategy and maintain the
confidence of the AA school communi-
ty, which were specific failures of
performance against clear objectives inthe original contract of employment.”
The dismissal of Ms Franch i Gila-
bert, who is from Spain, is the latest per-
sonnel upheaval in the profession.
Three weeks ago it was revealed that Sir
Nigel Carrington, the head of the trust
responsible for running the Royal Insti-
tute of British Architects, had resigned
after clashing with members. A fort-
night earlier the institute’s president,
Alan Jones, returned from a leave of
absence after an extra-marital affair.
Karen Holmes, the chief executive of
the Architects Registration Board,
which regulates the profession, and
Alison White, the chairwoman of the
board, resigned last month.Jonathan Morrison
DANIEL HAMBURY/EVENING STANDARD/EYEVINEA Whitehall chief tipped to be the first
female head of the civil service is said to
have arranged to get free paint for her
official New York apartment in ex-
change for promoting Farrow & Ball.
Antonia Romeo, 45, was nicknamed
“Strong White” by her staff in reference
to the colour of the £75 tins of the up-
market brand she allegedly received.
A leaked file of claims, including bul-
lying, was dismissed by Downing Street
yesterday, which insisted that allega-
tions had been investigated and Mrs
Romeo had been cleared. She is said to
have denied any wrongdoing.
Mrs Romeo, permanent secretary at
the Department for International
Trade, had been accused of misus-
ing expenses and “terrorising”
staff after becoming British Con-
sul General in New York in 2016.
Dave Penman, general sec-
retary of the senior civil ser-vants’ union FDA, said the claims had a
“whiff of misogyny” because she was an
outgoing and dynamic woman. She is
viewed as the frontrunner to replace Sir
Mark Sedwill as cabinet secretary.
The Foreign Office rejected Mrs Ro-
meo’s revamp of her grace-and-favour
apartment because of the £100,000 cost.
Her staff then allegedly asked Farrow &
Ball to help in return for free promotion
and a reception at her Manhattan resi-
dence. Officials complained to the For-
eign Office that the deals were outside
usual procurement rules.
Cassie Farrelly, an ex-consulate offi-
cial, wrote in June 2016 that Mrs Ro-
meo would “bully” her for “point-
ing out what our budget can
and can’t afford [for redeco-
rations]”. Mrs Romeo is
alleg ed to have told an
official: “I don't like
hearing the word
‘no’.” A government
spokesman said:
“The complaints
were dismissed and
she [Mrs Romeo] was
cleared.”Antonia Romeo was
nicknamed “strong white”,
one of the paint colours