Author: Mirna Pedalo

London Festival of Architecture: “London Bridge Public Realm Competition”_Deadline 5th June 2018

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

London Festival of Architecture and Team London Bridge announce London Bridge public realm competition

The London Festival of Architecture and Team London Bridge have announced a design competition to improve a pedestrian triangle outside London Bridge station.

As London Bridge becomes one of the focus areas for this year’s London Festival of Architecture, the competition will create a lasting legacy for the area: improving the appearance of the streetscape and assisting wayfinding in front of the station, which has recently undergone a £1bn redevelopment.

The design competition is aimed at architects, designers and artists, who are invited to submit a design concept that will use visual clues and public realm infrastructure to transform the busy but unremarkable space on Tooley Street. The site is on routes to several major London landmarks: the riverside, City Hall, Southwark Cathedral and Borough Market. However, none of these key locations are immediately visible, and many people need to re-orientate themselves. In the context of funding from the Mayor of London, the project will promote clean air routes that people can easily choose to use over major routes that are more polluted.

The competition will be judged by a panel including Jonas Lencer (director, dRMM), Jack Skillen (placeshaping director, Team London Bridge), Tamsie Thomson (director, London Festival of Architecture) and Matthew Hill (head of highways, Southwark Council).

Following a public exhibition of shortlisted entries in June, the winning team will be revealed in July 2018 to develop a fully costed, feasible design that can be installed subject to planning consent. The total project budget is £23,000 + VAT.

The deadline for submissions is 3.00pm on 5 June 2018.

Further information for entrants is available at www.londonfestivalofarchitecture.org

Hundreds of people pass through London Bridge station every day, and this competition is an opportunity to demonstrate how good design can make a difference even in everyday spaces. We are grateful to Team London Bridge for creating a brilliant opportunity to champion design talent in London, and to foster positive and lasting change to London’s public realm.

Nadia Broccardo, executive director of Team London Bridge, says:

As people navigate their way around the new London Bridge station, we have a chance to alter their preferred routes and behaviours through clever public realm design. This competition offers someone the chance to have their design seen by millions of people every year, and encourage people to use routes with cleaner air while providing more pleasant ways to explore London Bridge.

Featured image by LFA.

International Competition: “Affordable Housing Design Challenge 2018″_May – August 2018

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Introduction

My friends and I have very little time to chat because we work overtime every day. What’s important is that my friends and I don’t want to live like this. We want a place with certain standards; i.e. with enough equipment and a bathroom inside, with enough space to live in. (Hem Sela, 26)

Cambodia (Khmer: Kampuchea, officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia) is currently experiencing something of an industrial revolution in the 21st century. Cambodia is developing to become an economic centre for manufacturing and production, graduating from the status of a Low income country to a Low- middle income Country in 2016. As more international companies move their production within Cambodia’s borders, the capital city located on the banks of the Tonlé Sap and Mekong River, Phnom Penh, is experiencing rapid urbanization.

As low-income workers flood the city to live nearer to employment opportunities, and to pursue better living conditions, the city struggles to build infrastructure and affordable housing to support its new residents. Despite the national economic optimism, many urban residents live in dismal, slum-like conditions. Small multi- family units with poor ventilation, light, and water access are offered without proper rent protection, leaving the city’s most desperate residents vulnerable to their landlords. Often, the housing available to these low-income workers is little more than a poorly constructed room.

The Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone, in association with United Nations Development Programme SDG Finance initiative and Building Trust International, aims to support the transition from Special Economic Zones to SUSTAINABLE Economic Zones in line with the UN SDG Goals. This first challenge focuses on building new affordable social housing for low- income workers.

These new units should be well-designed, sustainable, and most importantly, improve the quality of life of the intended residents and the surrounding community. More than just housing, this new project should build a future for workers and their families in Cambodia.

Eligibility:

Design professionals, Engineers, Architects, architecture/design/engineer graduates or architecture/design/engineer students are eligible to participate.

Key Dates:

Competition Officially Announced: 1st May 2018

Registration deadline: 15th July 2018

Closing Date for Submissions: 1st August 2018

Announcement of Winners: 1st September 2018

The winners will be posted on www.buildingtrustinternational.org

To download catalogue with more info: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/j1j33y4grxhgec9/AAByxb8Ej7mo5FL96vKb2c_5a?dl=0

“Cleveland – Alternatives to the Present” Conference on Architecture, Urbanism, Sociology, Development & Planning_Deadline for Abstracts: 5th June 2018

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Where: Kent State University, Cleveland

When: 01-02 November 2018

Deadline for abstracts: 05 June 2018.

To download form and more info: http://architecturemps.com/cleveland/ 

Context:

Alternatives to the Present…… The New Urban Agenda of the United Nations presents itself as a blueprint for governments globally. Through it, UN-Habitat seeks to combine the material, social and environmental agendas molding the urban world. The American Planning Association reflects this, advocating for planning that promotes social equity, inclusive communities, and expanded opportunities for all. The International Union of Architects speaks of revolutionizing design to ensure sustainable human settlement, while the AIA champions liveable communities. In the UK, the RIBA links housing design and social inclusion and the National Housing Federation connects the provision of homes to public health. All this reflects the field of sociology and geography with the ISA identifying cites as the principle site of social conflict and political contestation and the American Association of Geographers linking the notions of resilience and urban justice.

This apparently holistic view suggests that 20th Century top-down and disciplinary reductive understandings of the urban condition, such as those attributed to the Athens Charter, are a thing of the past. It also suggests a scenario in which social equity is fully integrated into notions of development. However, even a cursory glance at the reality of early 21st Century urbanism shows this is clearly not the case. On the one hand, individual disciplines still tend to work in isolation and even in competition, while on the other, Neoliberal agendas still represent the raison d’être of most development projects. The Alternatives to the Present conference seeks to critique the dichotomies involved in this increasingly confused scenario by bringing together various disciplines to interrogate the diversity of factors either limiting or activating the possibilities of an equitable urban future.

Key Dates:

Abstracts: 05 June 2018 | Abstract Feedback: 25 June 2017 | Registration opens: 01 July 2018

Conference: 01-02 Nov 2018

Full Paper Submission (where applicable): 10 Jan 2019 | Feedback for publication: 10 March 2019 | Full Publication: 10 July 2019

Nb. There will be a second round of late abstract submissions on 01 September 2018.

Featured image from Amps web-site.

Architecture Research Forum: “What About Design?” Kester Rattenbury, Thursday 17th May, Erskine Room, 5th Floor, 13:00-14:00

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KESTER RATTENBURY: “WHAT ABOUT DESIGN?” The Research Assessment and You

Westminster has an amazing body of active, diverse, internationally recognised staff teaching our students design. Their outputs – your outputs – include buildings, competition designs, exhibitions, books, collaborations, products, blogs, new ways of working. This work is recognised locally, nationally and internationally. But is it research?

Arguably in all case, and demonstrably in some, yes, it is. And when the next national University research appraisal, the REF, takes place, all staff will be considered to see what their ‘research outputs’ have been, and will have to make submissions demonstrating this.

In the last REF, Architecture was able to submit Design Portfolios of selected staff projects for the first time. This Research Forum opens the discussion on how this will work – and whether we can in any way shape the process so as make the work of our remarkable staff a more more visible part of our School.

This is a short, three part event to open the discussion:

*Professor Lindsay Bremner and Professor Susannah Hagan will give short accounts of how the process worked last time;

*Toby Burgess and Arthur Mamou-Mani will give short presentations of the range of work they do, as an example of the range of our staff work

*Open discussion chaired by Kester Rattenbury on how we might approach Design Folios in the next REF and whether we could turn any part of the exercise to our advantage.

When: 17 May 2018, 13.00–14.00

Where: Erskine Room, 5th Floor

The Architecture Research Forum is a seminar series hosted by the Architecture + Cities Research Group where staff present work-in-progress for discussion.

ALL WELCOME

Piercy&Company lead by MArch DS16 tutor Stuart Piercy wins BD’s “Office Architect of the Year 2018” Award

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Congratulations to MArch DS16 tutor and studio leader Stuart Percy of Piercy&Company on winning this highly competitive and prestigious international award!

The “Office Architect of the Year 2018” recognises Piercy&Company‘s work across the sector; from new builds, to refurbishments, co-working, and occupier fit-outs.

The judging considered a cross section of our completed and in-progress office projects: The Copyright Building and 25 Savile Row, both for Derwent London; and Spring Place and Princelet Street, both for Brockton Capital/Fora. Common across these diverse projects is an engagement with the current shift in the types of spaces people want to work in; embracing a blurring of the once separate realms of home and work – of the informal and the formal. (Piercy&Company)

For more info please go to Piercy&Company’s web-site.

Featured image by Piercy&Company.

CRL Scholarship Award for First Year Undergraduate Students_Deadline 30th October 2018

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1) Who is eligible for this scholarship?

The CRL scholarship is open to:

  • First-year undergraduates only
  • Students who have a confirmed place at a recognised UK academic institution for a degree in one of the following disciplines: engineering, construction, architecture
  • Home, EU and International students in the UK only

2) How will your application be assessed?

The CRL Scholarship rewards academic performance and applicants must display evidence of academic excellence and innovation.This will be demonstrated by:

  • Academic endorsements by two personal referees
  • Submission of an essay of no more than 1,000 words entitled ‘The Future Of The Construction Industry’

3) How will the awards be allocated?

  • Applicants will be judged by our internal panel and the 10 strongest entrants will be selected to receive the £1,000 cash prize.
  • Successful applicants will be notified by 1st December 2018.
  • All scholarship awards will be presented at a ceremony hosted by CRL at a date and venue to be confirmed closer to the time.

For more info and to apply please go to: https://c-r-l.com/about-us/scholarship/

Roca One Day Design Challenge UK, Roca London Gallery, Saturday 26th May, 9:00-20:30

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The second edition of the Roca One Day Design Challenge UK will take place in London on Saturday, the 26th May. Once again, the event will take place at the Roca London Gallery, emblematic building in the city designed by the renowned architectural firm Zaha Hadid Architects.

As usual, the challenge will consist of a competition against the clock in which the participants will have to design a product related to the bathroom space in just one day.

When the challenge finishes, a professional jury made up of internationally renowned architects and designers will evaluate the projects based on the creativity and originality of the designs, the feasibility of the project and the quality of the presentations.

The competition, organised by Roca since the year 2012, is aimed at young students and professionals under the age of 30 that wish to test their creativity and participate in a collaborative event with other young people from these sectors.

Are you under 30 and living in the UK? Register for the next Challenge and show us what you’ve got!

When: Saturday, 26th May 2018, 9am-8.30pm

Where: Roca London Gallery, Station Court, Townmead Rd, Fulham, London SW6 2PY

To register online go to: http://www.onedaydesignchallenge.net/en/contests/united-kingdom/united-kingdom-2018

London Festival of Architecture: “Knowledge Territories”, Italian Cultural Institute, Monday 4th June, 19:00-20:30

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As part of the London Festival of Architecture programme, Davide Deriu (Director of Research and MA Architecture course leader) will be chairing a panel on Knowledge Territories at the Italian Cultural Institute on the 4th June.

The authors of a recent book about the architecture of higher education will discuss (in English!) university buildings and the politics they reflect.

The event will consider how university architecture should respond to the new conditions under which higher education operates, as well as how architecture may be conceived as central to a substantial contemporary redefinition of higher education comparable to that of 1968, when Joseph Rykwert described the new universities of the time as archetypes of combined urban and educational values for their age.

They will be joined in conversation by Dr Clare Melhuish, Director of the UCL Urban Laboratory.

When: 4th June 2018, 19:00-20:30

Where: Italian Cultural Institute, 39 Belgrave Square, SW1X 8NX

More info and booking (free):

https://www.londonfestivalofarchitecture.org/event/knowledge-territories/

Featured mage: Photo by Stefano Graziani from LFA’s web-site

Expanded Territories Reading Group: “Architecture in the Anthropocene: Encounters Among Design, Deep Time, Science and Philosophy”_Wednesday 6th June, 17:30, M330

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The second Expanded Territories reading group will meet in M330 on Wednesday 06 June at 17.30.

Christina Geros will introduce:

Architecture in the Anthropocene: Encounters Among Design, Deep Time, Science and Philosophy, edited by Etienne Turpin.

The book is available for download or purchase here:

http://www.openhumanitiespress.org/books/titles/architecture-in-the-anthropocene/

Discussion will be accompanied by wine and nibbles.

All are welcome.

AJ Student Prize – Deadline: Friday 8th June 2018

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All RIBA-accredited schools are invited to submit the final project of one undergraduate and one postgraduate student

The AJ has launched a free-to-enter prize aimed specifically at UK-based architecture schools, open to all students on RIBA-accredited architecture courses.

We are inviting all schools to submit the final-year projects of their two best students – one at undergraduate (Part 1) and one at postgraduate (Part 2) level. The projects must have been completed in the most recent academic season (2017/18). The AJ will publish the two entries received from each school in its annual student issue in July.

The judges – who will be announced next month – will choose two winners, one from each level, who will be announced at a prize-giving event in London this September. The winners’ work will also be covered in a September issue of the AJ.

This prize is a great platform for universities to celebrate the work of their students and their architecture departments in teaching the next generation of skilled architects.

More info on how to apply here.