Blog

LFA 2022 + SA+C: The Finnish Sauna | June 24-30, 2022 | Victoria Embankment Gardens

In 2017 and 2019 the School of Architecture + Cities built two pavilions in Finland in collaboration with the Finnish Institute, the architect Sami Rintala.

This year, our students are building a pavilion here in London: a working Finnish sauna in Victoria Embankment Gardens – just next to Embankment tube station. Student helpers from the Fabrication Laboratory, are currently prefabricating the sauna in the Fabrication Lab, and from 24–30 June, as part of the London Festival Architecture, you are all welcome to watch the students construct it on site. 

It is bookable to be used until 8 July.

For more details and to book, please go here.

Later in the summer the sauna will move to Lake Windermere.

Exhibition: Reimagining the Royal Docks | BSc Architecture and Environmental Design | Friday, June 24 from 17:00 (BST) at Silver Building in the Royal Docks

When: From Friday, 24th of June (5pm) to 14th of July 2022 (available for viewing Monday – Saturday, 9am-6pm)

Where: Silver Building in the Royal Docks, 60 Dock Road, E16 1YZ

BSc Architecture and Environmental Design will be hosting a public exhibition at the Silver Building in the Royal Docks, where local people can explore the students re-imagining of the neighbourhood. 

There is a public opening on Friday 24 June to which everyone is welcome.

To attend the opening, please register here.

LFA 2022 + UoW: The African Off-Grid Housing Project | Monday, June 20, 2022 from 17:00 to 19:00 (BST) | Online Event

When: Monday, 20th of June 2022, 5pm-7pm

Where: Online Event

The talk will disseminate the results of the African Off-grid Housing [AOH] research project developed at the School of Architecture & Cities of the University of Westminster thanks to the support of the Global Challenge Research Fund / UKRI.

The talk is curated by the [AOH] Principal Investigator Dr Paolo Cascone in collaboration with the Research Associate Maddalena Laddaga, with the aim  to animate an open discussion on innovative design to build methodologies towards affordable and self-sufficient housing solutions for sub-Saharan Africa. Therefore the [AOH] research team will be in conversation with a panel of international experts from different backgrounds, to discuss possible synergies and developments, among the others:

  • Conor Black / Arup
  • Dr Claudia Loggia and Dr Viloshin Govender / University of KwaZulu-Natal
  • Vincent Kitio / Chief Urban Energy Unit / UN-Habitat
  • Prof Mark Raymond / Director of the GSA / University of Johannesburg

To attend, please register here.

Joint Talk: “How to Boost Energy Transition in Housing” by Prof Jacopo Gaspari and Dr Lia Marchi from the University of Bologna | Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 14:00 in M321 + Online

Where: M321, Marylebone Campus, 35 Marylebone Rd, NW1 5LS

When: Tuesday, 21st June 2022 at 2pm

To join online please go here: https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/a8b04a2558aa464a8d91ad23c4e4189d

LFA 2022 + ArCCAT | Architecture Acts: A Climate Performance in Three Parts | University of Westminster, Marylebone Campus, June 24, 2022, 14:00-17:00

When: Friday, 24th of June 2022 from 2pm to 5pm

Where: University of Westminster, Marylebone Campus, 35 Marylebone Road, NW1 5LS

Architecture Acts asks participants to think beyond carbon calculations as architecture’s response to climate change. It is predicated on the understanding that architecture acts on and with the environment and that acts of protest can be affirmative and inclusive.

Act 1: The Conversation, initiated by Sarah Ichioka, co-author of Flourish: Design Paradigms for our Planetary Emergency (2021) and Elisa Iturbe, guest editor of Log 47, ‘Overcoming Carbon Form’ (2019), with Peg Rawes and Jeremy Till as respondents, discusses architecture’s implication in climate change and its potential for alternative action.

Act 2: Postcards to our Planet. In 1909 architecture student and suffragette Elspeth McClelland was posted to the Prime Minister, an action designed to allow women’s voices to be heard. We will make postcards as acts of solidarity, conversations with our planet.

Act 3: A Tea Party to honour McClelland’s action. Participants will be asked to perform readings of their postcards.

This event is free, but to attend please register here.

Featured Image [segment of the original]: Daisy Solomon and Elspeth McClelland with a post boy, police and an official outside 10 Downing Street, attempting to get themselves delivered as letters LSE Library – https://www.flickr.com/photos/lselibrary/22934656091/ On reverse of photo is printed ‘Copyright: World’s Graphic Press Limited, 36-38 Whitefriars Street, Fleet Street, London’.

MAKE FOR UKRAINE! An evening of robotics and ceramics to raise funds for Ukraine | Fabrication Lab | Thursday, June 9, 2022, 18:00 – 22:00 (BST)

When: Thursday, 9th of June from 6pm to 10pm (BST)

Where: Fabrication Lab, University of Westminster, Marylebone Campus, 35 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5SL

Make your own ceramic patisseries in the UoW’s Fabrication Lab. Assemble your cake with clay 3D printed by robots, decorate using digitally fabricated cutters & stamps, & paint it with a glaze. Yours to keep forever! All proceeds will be donated to humanitarian aid for Ukraine.

For more information please go here.

The Westminster Hydro Green Wall Installed in Marylebone Campus

This academic year, several of the BSc Architecture and Environmental Design students [who are part of the Westminster Environmental Society] and academics have been collaborating with Square Mile Farms in the creation of a hydroponic green wall for the production of food.

This project is the result of the successful application to the Westminster Green Fund.

The wall was installed in the entrance of Marylebone campus on Thursday, May 26th and will be ready for the first harvest after 4 weeks. The installation process was lead by students and Square Mile Farms team. The Vice Chancellor Peter Bonfield also visited the site and chatted to the team.

The official launch and the first harvest are scheduled for June 24th. To attend, please register here.

From September, the BSc Architecture and Environmental Design students will take charge of the maintenance and harvesting of the wall.

Congratulations to all involved!

Article 25: Make Design Matter Talk with ZAV Architects | Thursday, May 26 at 13:00 BST | Online

ZAV Architects presents the Habitat for Orphans Girls, Thursday 26 May from 13:00- 14:00 BST during Article 25’s Make Design Matter free virtual talk. 

Please find additional information about the talk and how to register on our website: Make Design Matter, May Virtual Talk, Habitat for Orphan Girls, Khansar — Article 25 – Humanitarian Architecture (article-25.org)

ZAV Architects founded in 2007, aims to have a role in the Iranian architectural cycle by consulting projects with a socio-geographical vision. The research-based approach of ZAV assists clients in clarifying their perspectives by providing architectural data. 

MAKE DESIGN MATTER is a series of monthly inspirational talks for humanitarians. Article 25, in partnership with the BRE Trust, 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.

Follow Article 25 on Instagram @article_25 for more updates on projects and future lectures.

College of Design, Creative & Digital Industries, University of Westminster: Summer Party | Harrow Campus

Registration for your college’s Summer Party is now open!

As a final year or postgraduate student at the College of Design, Creative and Digital Industries, your Summer Party will take place at Harrow Campus on Wednesday 15 June, 12–4pm.

If you’d like to attend this free event, please sign up here.

Please bear in mind that attendance is limited, and places will be offered on a first come, first served basis. Also, please bring your University of Westminster ID pass or proof of ID to the event.

The party will provide a fantastic opportunity for you to get together with your college community, enjoy delicious food and drink, and have fun with a range of outdoor activities.

A variety of food options will be available, including a Lebanese salad bar, kebab stall and pie and mash stand – with vegetarian, vegan and halal options. Party goers will also be treated to a free alcoholic or non-alcoholic drink, with a paid bar on hand too.

A host of optional fun activities are planned for the afternoon. If you’ve got energy to burn, why not play some volleyball or take part in our egg and spoon race?

There’ll also be a variety of funfair-style games for you to enjoy. Good accuracy? Test your mettle with the coconut shy, tin can alley or giant football darts.

And if all of this sounds exhausting, the option to simply chill and chat is open to all.

Please take this opportunity to celebrate the end of the year with fellow students, lecturers and other colleagues who have supported your journey at Westminster.

Performance Architecture: Body, Movement, Space | Online Summer School | Deadline for applications: June 22, 2022

Course dates: 2nd, 3rd, 9th and 10th of July

Deadline for applications: 22nd of June 2022

Free webinar: 18th of June 2022 at 10am

Performance Architecture Online Summer School is an exciting learning journey designed to inspire, broaden, and challenge the possibilities of spatial representation and design.

Participants are invited to work on ways of designing that use the body as an instrument of thinking, sensing, drawing and sculpting space. It is designed to give an alternative, critical view to the study, use and production of space on both urban and architectural scales.

Architecture has for long been considered a static discipline. This course focuses on applying the toolbox of performance in architectural thinking, to the production of spatial actions and bodily geometries in space.

For more details and to apply please go here.