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RIBA Student Support Fund | Deadline: Friday, December 3, 2021 at 12pm (GMT)

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

The RIBA Student Support Fund is now open for the Autumn 2021 round of applications!

Students enrolled in RIBA Part 1 and Part 2 courses in the UK and experiencing financial hardship can apply for a bursary of up to £3,000. Guidance notes and application details are available on the RIBA website.

The deadline to apply is 12pm on Friday 3 December 2021.

By the end of December, RIBA will have supported approximately 100 students and researchers by allocating just over £290,000 in scholarships, bursaries, and grants, the highest amount ever awarded by the RIBA in a calendar year. Read more about the recipients of this year’s funding on the Scholarships and Bursaries pages of RIBA’s website.

Technical Studies Lecture Series: “Cities of the future and the circular economy: Het Platform” by Ton Venhoeven, VenhoevenCS architecture + urbanism | Thursday, November 18, 2021 at 18:00 (GMT), Room M416, Marylebone Campus + Online

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

When: Thursday, 18th of November at 6pm (GMT)

Where: M416, Marylebone Campus, School of Architecture and Cities, University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5LS 

Ton will be giving the talk in person and the talk will also be live-streamed via this link. 

As the construction industry works towards a more sustainable post-pandemic future, Ton presents a timely, expert viewpoint having worked with government on a 2050 City of the Future design study. This study explored how cities should react to major challenges such as climate change, loss of biodiversity, natural resource depletion and pollution. As the leading architectural firm on the team, VenhoevenCS have conducted substantial research around this topic.   

The practice’s key projects centre around building healthier and more liveable cities with nature-inclusive design. The MicroCity is an innovative concept for buildings and neighbourhoods which reduces travel needs and is a major contribution to cities becoming truly self-sufficient and sustainable. An example of this is Het Platform, VenhoevenCS’ recently completed a mixed-use community building for living, working and playing right next to Utrecht Central station.  

Ton is a former Chief Government Advisor on Infrastructure to the Dutch government from 2008-2012. During his time in government he advised on sustainability of infrastructural, urban and regional planning. Prior to this he was a Professor of Architectural History and Theory at Eindhoven University of Technology (2005-2009), where his design research focused on the pedestrian city of tomorrow. Alongside his work as an architect and urban designer, Ton is an international consultant for Smart MicroCity and Healthy City, integrated planning, multimodal mobility networks and transit-oriented development. Among his clients are national and international governmental organisations, NGO’s and foundations. Sustainability is in Ton’s DNA: ever since the publication of Limits to Growth in 1972, he has made it a point in both his professional and private life to contribute to a sustainable, equitable world in which all life can thrive. His latest focus is on biodiversity and nature inclusive design. 

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For details contact: Will McLean – w.f.mclean@wmin.ac.uk 

Technical Studies Lecture Series: “Recent Projects” by Andy Watts, Grimshaw Architects | Thursday, November 11, 2021 at 18:00 (GMT), Room M416, Marylebone Campus + Online

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

When: Thursday, 11th of November at 6pm (GMT)

Where: M416, Marylebone Campus, School of Architecture and Cities, University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5LS 

Andy Watts is Grimshaw’s Director of Design Technology and oversees the application and exploration of innovative technological approaches across all Grimshaw studios, covering areas such as computational design, BIM, virtual and augmented reality technology, data-driven intelligence and DfMA.  

Andy strives to bring the benefits of design technology to as many Grimshaw projects as possible. He has worked to introduce these approaches to a range of their projects at various scales, with a range of different agendas.  

Beyond Grimshaw, Andy actively engages with the digital technology industry as well as representing the work of Grimshaw at various industry and academic events. He teaches at the Architectural Association in London and has taught at the Universities of Westminster, Lincoln, and Dundee and has organised educational workshops in Dubai and with the Pratt Institute in New York. Andy is also on the organising committee for the London VR/AR User Group which offers a platform to share Grimshaw’s leading knowledge in the field of VR with other architectural firms.  

Grimshaw was founded by Sir Nicholas Grimshaw in 1980. The practice became a Partnership in 2007 and operates worldwide with offices in four continents employing over 650 staff. Nicholas Grimshaw received the RIBA Gold medal in 2019. Notable practice projects include The Eden Project, the International Terminal at Waterloo and the Fulton Project, New York. 

https://technicalstudies.tumblr.com/

Technical Studies Lecture Series: “De-carbonising the Structure” by Thomas Hesslenberg, Elliott Wood | Thursday, November 4, 2021 at 18:00, Room M416, Marylebone Campus + Online

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

When: Thursday, 4th of November at 6pm

Where: M416, Marylebone Campus, School of Architecture and Cities, University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5LS 

Online: Live stream link 

Thomas Hesslenberg is a Senior Structural Engineer at Elliott Wood, a Structural & Civil Engineering practice based in London. Elliott Wood are committed to making “[…]engineering work harder for our clients, society and our planet” and they have created a phrase to capture their approach – Engineer a Better Society. Over the last couple of years, Thomas has been working around the issue of Embodied Carbon and how to reduce it in his companies’ projects, whilst also share his knowledge with the wider industry.  

Through the Institute of Structural Engineers (IStructE), Elliott Wood launched the Structural Carbon Tool last year, an open-source Excel-based software, which allows construction professionals to calculate their own projects Embodied Carbon. Thomas will be talking about the tool, what his company has learnt after using it on their projects, and what changes need to be made in order to help the construction industry get to Net Zero. 

Thomas is one of our visiting technical tutors/consultants for final year undergraduate and MArch Architecture. 

https://technicalstudies.tumblr.com/

For details contact: Will McLean w.f.mclean@wmin.ac.uk 

ArCCAT Climate Action Week: Material ReUse Station Competition winner announced!

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

Following the completion of the week-long design Student Competition on the ‘Material ReUse Station’ as part of the Climate Action Week (24-29 October) Group 5: The Slice was announced the winner!

Congratulations to Julie Beech (BA Interor Architecture), Adam El Hafedi (BA Architecture), Zuzanna Jodlowska (BSc Architectural Technology) and Ruhan Zaman (BSc Architecture and Environmental Design)

The video made by the winning team can be viewed here.  

Congratulations to the winners and all who participated. Big thank you to all the judges and course leaders Diony Kipraiou, Paolo Zaide, Stefania Boccaletti and Tabatha Mills who organised this cross-UG-course competition, first such initiative in the School.  

The next step will be collaboration with David Scott and the Fabrication Lab to work on building a prototype.

BA Architecture: Process Week – Events, Workshops and Reviews across Year 1/2/3 | From Monday, November 1 to Friday, November 5, 2021

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

PROCESS WEEK

Please join us for a week of Events, Workshops and Reviews across 

Year 1/2/3  – BA Architecture 

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Monday 01 November 2021, 1PM 

Year 1 Display: Very Very Vernacular  

BA Architecture Studios, 4th Floor  

Exhibition of 1:20 and 1:50 models of a range of vernacular typologies.  

Could turning to the past and looking at the vernacular be one way we could face the building challenges of the future?  

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Tuesday 02 November 2021, 2PM 

Shaping Spaces Talk – Simone Valeriani, RCA/V&A 

Building Centre: The essential yet under-explored role that models play in shaping the spaces we live in & a visit to the exhibition ‘Shaping Spaces’ 

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Wed+Thu  03+04 November 2021 

Model Making Marathon – Green Mat Workshop 

BA Architecture Studios, 4th Floor Double-day of experimental modelmaking, casting and photographing process models. 

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Thursday 04 November 2021, 10AM 

Year 3 Reviews:  Excerpts and Experiments 

BA Architecture Studios, 5th Floor  

DS3.1 Utopia Jane & Tom G 

DS3.2 UniverCity Maria & Bruce (review on Mon 01 Nov) 

DS3.3 Science Fiction & Supertrees Constance & Stephen 

DS3.4 Peripheral Landscapes Paolo & Tom B 

DS3.6 Radical Re-use Camilla & Kester 

DS3.7 Transient Lives John & David 

Open reviews across the Year 3 Design Studios challenging the idea of ‘Build Back Better…?’ Open to all.  

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Friday 05 November 2021, 10AM 

Year 1 Reviews 

BA Architecture Studios, 4th Floor Open reviews across Year 1 BA Arch + BSc AED 

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and coming soon… 

a double talks series 

Climate Conversations 

online, Term 2 (dates tba) 

A Talks Series about Climate Change, Environmental Sustainablity and Design Projects by tutors in the School of Architecture + Cities 

Out In Practice 

online, Term 2 (dates tba) 

Young architecture graduates reflecting on their time as students and their exciting next steps. Speakers will explore personal ideas and agendas as well as the unexpected trajectories of their early careers 

BAIA Open Lecture Series: “Community Self-Build” Anurag Verma, The RUSS | Thursday, October 28 at 13:00

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

Interior Matters//Practices

When: Thursday, 28th of October 2021 at 1pm

Where: Room M416, Marylebone Campus, School of Architecture + Cities, University of Westminster

The Rural Urban Synthesis Society is a volunteer-led Community Land Trust based in Lewisham, constructing 36 permanently affordable new homes, the largest self-build community housing project of its kind ever undertaken in London. Hear Architect and RUSS Chair Anurag Verma discuss the project. 

ArCCAT Climate Action Week + Technical Studies Lecture Series: “Environmental Design Sourcebook” Book Launch + Panel Discussion with Pete Silver and Will McLean | Thursday, October 28, 2021 at 18:30, Room M416, Marylebone Campus + Online

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

When: Thursday 28th October 6.30pm, M416 

Where: M416, School of Architecture and Cities, University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5LS + Online:

A new social and ecological prerogative demands appropriate material choices, a re-invention of construction and evolving building programmes that looks at lifecycle, embodied energy and energy use. 

To coincide with the university Sustainability Month and the recent publication of Environmental Design Sourcebook: Innovative Ideas for a Sustainable Built Environment (RIBA Publishing, 2021), the Authors, Dr Will McLean and Pete Silver will host a book launch and panel discussion. 

The discussion will feature contributors from the publication including industry collaborators, and University of Westminster staff and student researchers: Kirsten Haggart (Waugh Thistleton architects), Rosa Schiano-Phan (UoW), Guy Sinclair (UoW) and Urna Sodnamjamts (Hût Architecture). 

This panel discussion about design for climate change is the first of a planned series exploring knowledge transfer networks and partnerships with industry. These discussions are hosted by the University of Westminster (on and off-site) and are supported by Dr Stephanie Lasalle from the Research and Knowledge Exchange Office. 

https://technicalstudies.tumblr.com/

For details contact: Will McLean  

w.f.mclean@wmin.ac.uk 

ArCCAT Climate Action Week: Practicing Sustainability – from Portfolio to Practitioner | Tuesday, October 26 at 18:00 (BST), Robin Evans Room (M416) + online

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

When: Tuesday, 26th of October 6pm – 8pm

Where: Robin Evans Room (M416) and online | to book tickets please go to Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/practicing-sustainability-from-portfolio-to-practitioner-tickets-191649176847

Organiser and Moderator: Harry Charrington

Speakers: Chris Morgan, John Gilbert Architects, Glasgow. Gordon O’Connor-Read, Rural Urban Synthesis Society and Laing O’Rourke.

How do you take the ideas and commitment of your student portfolio into architectural practice? How can you build a career that reinforces your ideals and aims, rather than compromises them? These two talks, by architects at very different stages of their careers will illustrate ‘how they do sustainable practice’, and the challenges and success they have had in addressing the concerns they had as students through their built projects.

ArCCAT Climate Action Week: Opening of the ArCCAT Climate Action Exhibition + Launch of the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Campaign | Monday, October 25 from 17:30 (BST), Marylebone Learning Platform

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

When: Monday, 25th of October at 5.30pm – 6.30pm

Where: Marylebone Learning Platform

Speaker: Peter Bonfield

Curators: Lindsay Bremner, Grace Lancto, Francois Girardin and David Scott, with the assistance of Chris Meloy and John Whitmore.

An exhibition of staff and student work from the school of Architecture and Cities supporting sustainability goals accompanied by the launch of a Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Campaign by the Fabrication Lab and the University’s Estates tea