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Technical Studies Lecture Series: Deborah Saunt, DSDHA “Recent Projects” | Thursday, October 6 at 18:00 (BST), M416 + Live Stream

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

When: Thursday, 6th of October, 6pm (BST)

Where: M416, University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Road, NW1 5LS + Online

Deborah is one of the founding directors of DSDHA. Her recent and ongoing projects include the refurbishment of London’s iconic Economist Plaza in St James and a new building on Piccadilly for The Crown Estate. Large urban scale work includes the regeneration of a 600-home estate for London Borough of Southwark with a strong focus on engagement, the creation of Cundy Street Quarter, a new 2.4-acre mixed-tenure neighbourhood in Westminster, the redesign of the public realm around the Royal Albert Hall, the public realm framework for the West End including the reimagining of Tottenham Court Road, and a new park for the City of London above Liverpool Street Station. 

Much of her current work is concerned with democratising architecture, having set up the Jane Drew Prize in Architecture, and helping to redefine the role of architecture in the 21st century – addressing people’s emerging needs in the context of rapidly shifting environmental, technological and social conditions. Deborah is a Trustee of the London School of Architecture, of which she was a Founding Director, which focuses on broadening access to the profession and building new collaborative forms of research and practice. She regularly talks and writes on issues of diversity and innovation in the built environment.  

Deborah gained her PhD with the RMIT Practice Research Programme, and has held academic appointments at Yale School of Architecture, Universidad de Navarra, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne and the University of Cambridge. 

For details contact: Will McLean 

w.f.mclean@wmin.ac.uk 

https://technicalstudies.tumblr.com/

The Robin Evans Lecture 2022: Andrew Holmes – IMAGINATION: From Ink to Light | Tuesday, October 25 at 18:00 (BST), Robin Evans Room and online

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

When: Tuesday, 25th of October at 6pm (BST)

Where: Robin Evans Room, University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Road, NW1 5LS + Online

About the Speaker

Born in 1947 in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, Andrew Holmes moved to London in 1966, and attended the Architectural Association.

He is best known for a series of 150 photo realistic colour pencil drawings exploring the apparently anonymous mobile infrastructure of cities. In addition his work encompasses printmaking, photography, film, and design.

The work in all its forms has been exhibited, and published widely for fifty-five years. Holmes is Professor Emeritus of Architecture at Oxford Brookes University, Guest Professor at the Technische Universitaat, Berlin, and a Visiting Scholar at the Getty Research Institute. He lives and works in London.

http://www.andrewholmes.me.uk

About this event

Andrew’s personal view is not the conventional idea of imagination. He will be talking about his experience of drawing.

During his working life the digital revolution has enabled a transformation. The craft of pencil and ink on paper has been joined by the skill of drawing with light. Andrew is fascinated by the ways in which an idea in the mind can be represented to the outside world.

The talk comprises an intense collection of images and visual effects. It offers observations about the unique quality of handicraft and the elements of three traditions:

Art is evidence, and an ability to select significant objects and experiences.

Art is the residue of engaging the existing systems with particular mechanical techniques and processes.

Art provides the possibility of fabricating new versions of reality.

About the Robin Evans Lecture Series

This series supports outstanding scholarship in the history of architecture and allied fields, building on the work of Professor Robin Evans (1944-1993). It encourages scholars working on the relationship between the spatial and social domains in architectural drawing, construction and beyond.

Evans’ work interrogated the spaces that existed between drawing and building, geometry and architecture, teasing out the points of translation often overlooked. From his early work on prison design and domestic spaces, through to his later work on architectural geometry, Evans sought to articulate the multiple points at which the human imagination could influence architectural form. His first book, The Fabrication of Virtue, analysed the way that spatial layouts provided opportunities for social reform via their interference with morality, privacy and class. In The Projective Cast: Architecture and its Three Geometries, Evans traced the origins of the humanist tradition to understand how human form influenced architectural drawing and construction, focusing on aesthetic dimensions in the production of architectural space.

This series will provide opportunities for the creation and/or dissemination of work by scholars working on similar questions of space, temporality, and architecture. In particular, it supports work that breaks the boundaries of traditional disciplines to think though these complex networks involved in the space between human imagination and architectural production.

Registering for the event

This year’s lecture will take place in the Robin Evans Room in hybrid format, with a limited number of places available for in-person attendance by students, staff and externals – in line with capacity for the room (100). Additionally, there is capacity for up to 500 attending remotely via Zoom. You must register if you plan to attend.

The in-person iteration will be followed by a short drinks reception in the Robin Evans Room, closing at approximately 21:00.

Register via Eventbrite

AJ Student Prize 2022 nominees: Reece Murray (BA Arch DS3.4) and Rebecca Kelly (MArch DS11)

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

Congratulations to Reece Murray from DS3.4 BA (Hons) Architecture and Rebecca Kelly from DS11 MArch on being nominated for this year’s AJ Student Prize.

To read more about their projects visit here.

Giorgios Malliaropoulos from MArch DS18 to participate in 2022 Sustainability Workshop organised by the Norman Foster Foundation

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

Congratulations to Giorgios Malliaropoulos, MArch DS18 student, on being selected from hundreds of applicants to be one of ten to participate in the 2022 Sustainability Workshop and represent the University of Westminster.

His interest in sustainability has been proved through his University project last year – ‘’Institute of Ground Tectonics’’ developed while at DS18, under the tutelage of Laura Nica, John Cook, and Ben Pollock. The project is a laboratory for investigating soil structures , sampling analysis and morphological changes in land. Constructed out of a series of innovative aggregate mixtures, the proposal was aiming to minimise the use of material and carbon-intensive materials, materials that would adapt to extreme weather conditions such as drought and storms. This project included complex climatic data gathering, diligent research, Computational fluid dynamics simulations, high standard drawings, and carefully crafted prototypes. 

Giorgios is currently finalising his research topic and agenda for the workshop, but he is interested in exploring soil morphologies & the possibility of controlling through design, nutrient concentration for more fertile soils and enhanced agriculture yields. 

MORE 2022 | Friday, September 23, 2022 from 18:30 (BST) at Marylebone Campus + Online

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

When: Friday, 23rd of September 2022 from 6.30pm (BST)

Where: Room M416, University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5LS + Online

Join us on Friday 23 September for the launch of MORE 2022, an exhibition of the University of Westminster’s School of Architecture + Cities Master’s students’ thesis projects.

The exhibition will launch in Room M416 at 18:30 on Friday 23 September with a hybrid event, for both in-person attendees and those who may wish to attend online (via Zoom).  

The celebratory event will be followed by contributions from each of the participating courses (paired with the School’s annual student awards), and will close with a musical performance.

The physical exhibition will be supported by an online iteration – MORE 2022 – which will also launch on the evening of Friday 23 September at http://www.openstudiowestminster.org/more2022/

Register for the opening night via Eventbrite

Call for Abstracts: “Repurposing places for social and environmental resilience” | International Conference 2023, London | UEL, Arup, Counterarchitecture | Deadline: September 5, 2022

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

When: 23rd and 24th of March 2023

Where: Arup, 8-13 Fitzroy St, London W1T 4BQ, UK 

Whilst 20th century was mostly about starchitects, 21st century is about synergies and the relevant complex dynamics that these allow to grow. This shift happens in parallel to others; reusing, retrofitting, and giving a new life to the existing places, buildings and neighbourhoods, in an environmentally and socially resilient manner, developing ways for the existing communities to grow in a symbiotic relationship with new ones, designing processes of circular economy and upcycling, which allow people to collaborate and find viable solutions. Participation in architecture is a notion that continuously evolves, even more so in recent years. Knowledge and innovation that contributes to social justice and responsible design practices, emerges from complex networks and agile cross-disciplinary collaborations. 

In this context, this conference aims to discuss the link between social and environmental resilience, by looking into designed projects, cross-disciplinary research and investigations, participatory and collaborative design methods. It welcomes architects, designers, artists, planners, academics, educators, who have addressed some of the above themes through their work. Projects on adaptation and retrofitting of places in an environmentally and socially responsible way, as well as participatory projects, are particularly welcome. It also welcomes presentations of ongoing projects and collaborations, which will drive the relevant conversations forward. 

Indicative topics

Topic 1: Designed and built projects that address the conference theme. 

Topic 2: Critical analysis of case studies and places in relation to the conference theme. 

Topic 3: New approaches to participation and mapping, in the context of architecture, arts, urbanism, social sciences. 

Topic 4: Educational briefs and student projects that address the conference theme.  

Keynote speakers

Simon Allford, RIBA Director  

Anna Minton 

Prof Doina Petrescu 

Alex Scott-Whitby 

The conference is co-organised by the UEL, Counterarchitecture, Arup. 

Conference organisers: Dr Anastasia Karandinou (UEL, Counterarchitecture), Florence Lam (Arup) 

Advisory Committee: Prof Hassan Abdalla, Carl Callaghan, Alan Chandler, Prof Richard Coyne, Prof Gail Findlay, Prof David Tann, Dr Julie Wall 

Organising Committee: Dr Deborah Benros, Christian Groothuizen, Dr Debra Shaw, Catalina Pollak, Clare Penny 

Scientific Committee: Prof Ela Aral, Dr Aghlab Al-Attili, Pauline Desouza, Dr Angelique Edmonds, Prof Heba Elsarkawy, Prof Ozlem Erkarslan, Armor Gutierrez, Prof Luisa Maria Gutierrez, Dr Arman Hashemi, Carsten Jungfer, Prof Roland Karthaus, Prof Fabiano Lemes de Oliveira, Prof Anastasios Maragiannis, Dr Kat Martindale,  Dr Anna Mavrogianni, Prof Rosa Mendosa, Fernanda Palmieri, Sowmya Parthasarathy, Melina Philippou, Prof Christine Schwaiger, Dr Sally Shahzad, Dr Renee Tobe, Amanda Wanner

Deadline for abstract submission: September 5, 2022

https://www.counterarchitecture.com/repurposing-places-conference

https://www.uel.ac.uk/about-uel/events/2023/march/repurposing-places-social-environmental-resilience

Fire Experience Day for Architecture Students

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

On June 9, 2022 a group of staff and students from the School of Architecture + Cities, University of Westminster attended a pilot day hosted by the Fire Service Training College. The experience and information gathered was particularly useful with regard to the new Building Safety Bill and also the incoming RIBA/ARB criteria on Fire and Life Safety Design.

Staff attending:

  • Scott Batty
  • William Mclean

Students from Year 2, BA Architecture:

  • Luke Harvey
  • Ruhsan (Roxan) Sadrettin 
  • Kyrah-Chae Copeland-Thompson

The School hopes to be able to expand to a whole year group next year.

  • KODAK Digital Still Camera
  • KODAK Digital Still Camera

All images by Scott Batty

Dezeen: “University of Westminster spotlights 10 architecture, environmental design and technology projects”

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

Dezeen magazine has featured a selection of 10 students’ projects from the School of Architecture + Cities, University of Westminster.

The featured students are: Asena Koksal (MArch DS25), Edoardo Ripamonti (BSc Architecture and Environmental Design), Jan Macbean (BA Architecture, DS3.3), Joshua Dalsan (BA Architecture, DS3.6), Lilla Porkolab (MArch DS10), Malgorzata Socha (MArch DS15), Nikol Kaso (BA Interior Architecture), Suha Faisal Valiyaveettil (BSc Architecture and Environmental Design), Zhengyao Hu (BA Interior Architecture), Zuzanna Jodlowska (BSc Architectural Technology)

The Dezeen feature can be accessed here.

Featured image: The water healing mosque of Royal Docklands by Suha Faisal Valiyaveettil

OPEN2022 continues until Monday, July 11 in our Marylebone studios

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

When: June 17 – July 11, daily from 9am-5pm

Where: School of Architecture + Cities, University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Rd, NW1 5LS London

OPEN 2022 is a hybrid exhibition of projects that reflect the varied design approaches of the University of Westminster’s School of Architecture + Cities, its diverse students, and their place at the heart of London. The show celebrates the openness and diversity of the University of Westminster’s Architecture and Design students and includes an extensive range of creative student work from first year to graduation, drawing on the vast body of developmental and finished work imagined and realised over the course of the last academic year.

The exhibition features work from:

  • Architecture BA
  • Architecture and Environmental Design BSc
  • Architectural Technology BSc
  • Designing Cities BA
  • Interior Architecture BA
  • MArch (RIBA Part II)

The exhibition continues in our Marylebone studios until Monday, July 11. It is available for viewing from 9am to 5pm, daily. For those unable to visit us in person, the online version of the exhibition can be accessed here.

https://vimeo.com/724434953
OPEN2022 BA Architecture | Film by Bodhi Horton from DS3.4

Photography by Rory Lindsay

LFA 2022 | Make Design Matter Talk: Article 25 & Hayes Davidson “Kao La Amani Children’s Village” | Thursday, June 30, 2022 at 18:30 (BST) at Hayes Davidson Studio

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

When: Thursday, 30th of June 2022 at 6.30pm (BST)

Where: Hayes Davidson Studio, Studio A, 21 Conduit Place, London W2 1HS

In Tanzania, roughly 8% of children under the age of 18 are orphaned with an estimated 90,000 orphans in the northern region of Kilimanjaro alone.

Over fifteen years of humanitarian architectural experience have shown them how architecture can create a positive lasting impact. The Kao La Amani Children’s Village in Tanzania (https://www.article-25.org/project-kao-la-amani) is the focus of this month’s talk addressing how they build communities in places like Boma Ng’ombe which upon completion will replace an existing orphanage. From intimate living and study spaces to expansive areas for sport and play, the village is designed as a safe place where children of different ages can grow and develop together. Operable off-grid, the sustainability features allow the school to run at minimal costs while protecting its natural resources and ensuring the Children’s Village can continue to provide to children in this area for decades to come. 

Hayes Davidson is co-presenting and hosting this Make Design Matter Talk. Hayes Davidson supported on-the-ground charity Tír na nÓg Childrens Foundation CLG, by providing a visual narrative which would both engage the community of Boma in the design process, and also help secure funding for the construction of the project. They designed an immersive VR experience, using a playful ‘picture book’ aesthetic to appeal particularly to children. Their visuals reference the materials and colours of the local environment, and even the children’s existing school uniform, to create a process of engagement which is accessible, familiar and encourages participation. 

Hayes Davidson is a studio bringing architecture to life through powerful, emotive, and immersive artworks in various media and delighted to have partnered with humanitarian architecture charity Article 25 for the Kao La Amani project.

MAKE DESIGN MATTER is a series of monthly inspirational talks for humanitarians. Article 25 brings together outstanding design professionals who work with and support local communities through international development. These inspiring monthly panel discussions consider the pursuit of progressive, sustainable architecture, which focuses on the communities they serve. 

Register for this live talk here.

London Festival of Architecture

Article 25 is a small charity that relies on the support of built environment professionals and others to help fund our work. Please make a donation in support of their work.