Between 2006 and 2009 she was Head of Landscape Department at Ateliers Jean Nouvel in Paris, and between 2009 and 2015, Head of Vogt London.
As a landscape architect, her collaboration with Jean Nouvel gave her a wide range of international experience developing landscape designs for projects such as the Paris Philharmonic Hall and the Louvre Abu Dhabi.
At Vogt London, Irene oversaw the design development of the London 2012 Athletes Village public realm project. She was also part of the team in charge of developing the Olympic Legacy Framework for the London Legacy Development Corporation. Amongst other projects, she led the Tate Modern public realm development.
In February 2015, she founded her own practice, Djao-Rakitine Landscape Architecture. Djao-Rakitine is a landscape architecture practice based in London and Paris, working on high profile public and private cultural, commercial and residential projects worldwide.
Irene was visiting critic to the London Mayor’s Project Review Panel in 2013–16 and a researcher at the ETH Zurich in 2015–16.
She's been one of the Mayor's Design Advocates to support the Mayor of London's Good Growth by Design plan since 2017 and a member of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Quality Panel since 2020.
Current and former team members
Marie Saalburg, Joanna Ederyd, Jitka Benesova, Federica Terenzi, Amélia Chevée, Marzia Vanzati, Hortense Blanchard, Chun Wing Fok, Valmore Rojas, Charles Dujardin, Povilas Marozas, Mariel Drego
Collaborations
ACME (UK), Alexander Brodsky (Russia), Andrew Phillips (UK), l’AUC (France), Berger & Berger (France), Bruto (Slovenia), Burckhardt+Partner (Switzerland), Carmody Groarke (UK), Caruso St John Architects (UK), Cobe (France), Consequence Forma (Czech Republic), David Chipperfield Architects (UK), Van Belle & Medina Architects (Belgium), Meyer Fey (Germany), NAME Architecture (France/ UK), Nicolas Dorval, Bory Architectes (France), NP2F (France), RDAI (France), SCAU architecture (France), Stanton Williams (UK), Studio VT (Switzerland), Wilmotte & Partners (France)
Geography
China, Czech Republic, France, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Russia, Slovenia, Taiwan, United Kingdom, Vietnam
Clients
Altarea Cogedim, Bouygues Immobilier Ouvrages Publics, City Councils, Continental Development Corp., ICADE, Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Science, Lend Lease, Private clients, Selfridges, Sellar+, Strelka KB, Ville de Paris, Zhejiang Medicine, Etc.
Awards
Awarded Best Urban Design by the Moscow Urban Forum
Best Cultural Heritage site restoration project in Russia
ISOCARP Grand Award 2018
Qatar Sustainability Award 2018
RIBA London Award 2019
Lectures
Back to Basics, London, 12th of March 202
Le jardin comme exposition l'exposition comme jardin, Monaco, 9th of December 2019
Back to Basics, Vilnius, 21st of November 2019
Judging Panel Tuchkov Buyan Park Design Competition, Saint Petersburg, 6th of November 2019
Landscape as a fantasy, Brno, 30th of June 2016.
Europan jury, Vienna, 25th of February 2016.
Europan jury, Vienna, 8th of November 2015
Publications
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2018:
2017: