Tessa Forde

Contributor Profile

Tessa Forde is a daughter, sister, partner, friend, maker, organiser, swimmer, teacher, researcher, writer and architecture worker based in Aotearoa New Zealand. When she was 15, after a bout of second places, she won the The Tryer’s Cup at her local swim club “for trying really hard but not always doing that well”, and she’s been trying hard and coming second ever since. Tessa’s practice, explored through a PhD, is one of ‘school-making’, ‘ground-making’, and organising—establishing platforms and events that experiment with how architecture is practised, and make ground for new modes of being and knowing to emerge. These have included the Free School of Architecture and the Architecture Beyond Capitalism School based in the US and globally online; and The Night School and pre:fab platform operating locally in Aotearoa. Tessa has lived and worked in Los Angeles California, and is now director of Groupwork Aotearoa, a small architecture cooperative committed to ethical practice and contributing to disciplinary development. In 2024 Tessa received a scholarship to spend a year in Valparaíso, Chile, researching and learning alongside students at the Escuela de Arquitectura y Diseño PUCV, and observing and participating in the activities at La Ciudad Abierta (The Open City). Her time there has had a profound impact on her life and practice.