Stephane Kirkland was born in July, 1969, just outside Paris, of French and American descent.
He attended Phillips Academy Andover, from which he graduated in 1986. He studied architecture in Paris at the École d’Architecture Paris-Villemin (today ENSA Paris-Malaquais), one of the schools created to replace the École des Beaux Arts, receiving his qualification as an architect (DPLG) in 1994. He obtained a DEA (post-graduate degree) in architecture history from Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne and a post-graduate degree in urban law and economics from the Université Paris II Panthéon-Assas. He completed his French military service in the Paris Fire Department, where one of his duties was to monitor fire safety during performances back stage at the Opéra Garnier.
Stephane created an architecture studio in the Midi-Pyrénées region of south-west France, building, among other things, the extension of the junior high school of Pierrefitte-Nestalas (with Pierre Cassou), the public spaces around the medieval Nestalas church, also in Pierrefitte-Nestalas, and a park in Cauterets. He moved back to Paris to become a member of the first incarnation of the studio that still functions today as Caméléon3.
Stephane obtained an MBA from the Stern School of Business, New York University, in 2000. He then worked as a strategy consultant at Marakon Associates in London and Amsterdam. In 2002, he joined international energy company Centrica plc, where he occupied roles in strategy, mergers and acquisitions, and general management in London, Paris, New York and Pittsburgh until 2011.
His paternal grandfather was Jack Kirkland, author of the theater adaptation of Tobacco Road, still the second-longest-running non-musical in Broadway history. His maternal grandfather was scientist Jean Coursaget, former Director of the French Atomic Energy Commissariat and President of the Curie Institute. His aunt is dancer Gelsey Kirkland.
He shares his time between Brooklyn, New York, and Paris, France.
You can contact him by e-mail at info@stephanekirkland.com.
