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Call for manuscripts for a special issue of the journal Architecture and Culture: “Spiritual, sacred, secular. Places of faith in the twenty-first century” | Deadline: January 15, 2022

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

Spiritual, sacred, secular. Places of faith in the twenty-first century

The special issue of Architecture and Culture (Volume 11 Issue 1) seeks to broaden notions of how the sacred, spiritual and secular are imagined and constituted through new architectures. We invite expansive interpretations of faith, religion and spirituality and the spatial and architectural encounters between them. We are interested in innovative faith practices and spaces, and welcome contributions that address the spatial implications of the rising phenomenon of online gathering and worship, necessitated by the Covid pandemic.

The journal invites articles which might explore (but not be limited to) the following themes:

  • The significance of gender in worship, design and construction
  • Style and iconography
  • Shifts in demographics and populations
  • Shifts in theology/narratives of the secular and post-secular
  • Transnational links
  • Modes of production – vernacular techniques and craft skills and mechanization
  • Adaptive reuse and mixed use spaces
  • Multi-faith spaces
  • Community participation and engagement
  • Heritage and identity
  • Continuity and change/tradition and innovation
  • Places of worship in post-conflict territories
  • Funding, budgets, finance and stakeholders
  • Virtual and material spaces
  • Impacts of the pandemic on space and worship
  • Secular ritual

The journal aims to publish a selection of articles from both established and early career scholars. It will also seek perspectives from practitioners (architects, artists and heritage professionals), stakeholders and members of faith communities.

For more information please go here: https://think.taylorandfrancis.com/special_issues/spiritual-sacred-secular-places-faith-twenty-first-century/

Kate Jordan is a Senior Lecturer in Architectural History and Theory at the University of Westminster. She publishes and lectures widely on modern-era Christian architecture: recent publications include her co-edited volume Modern Architecture for Religious Communities, 1850-1970: Building the Kingdom and ‘Places of Worship in a Changing Faith Landscape’ in 100 Years, 100 Churches. Her research on Victorian magdalen convents was shortlisted for the 2016 RIBA Presidents Award for Research. She is currently working on contemporary church architecture, a subject on which she regularly contributes articles and reviews for RIBAJ. In June 2019, she organised a conference entitled ‘Spiritual, Sacred, Secular: The Architecture of Faith in Modern Britain’, co-hosted by the University of Westminster and the RIBA.

Shahed Saleem is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Westminster, and a practising architect. His book, The British Mosque, an architectural and social history, was published by Historic England in 2018 and is the first comprehensive account of this building type in Britain. His architectural design work was nominated for the V&A Jameel Prize 2013 and the Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2016. His research won commendations at the RIBA President’s Medal for Research and Historic England Angel Award for excellence in heritage research, in 2018. He co-organised the conference ‘Spiritual, Secular, Sacred: The Architecture of Faith in Modern Britain’, June 2019, with Kate Jordan.

Falling Away: A one-day symposium held together with the exhibition of Catherine Yass’ film works in Ambika P3

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

The symposium will bring together researchers and practitioners from a diverse range of disciplines to discuss the agency of falling in contemporary culture. Metaphors of falling are often evoked to describe the current period of insecurity and instability. At the same time, the built environment reflects and in turns reproduces this state of suspension: while highrise construction reshapes the landscapes of cities around the world, including London, its impact on our perception of gravity is yet to be understood. Typically defined as ‘the force that makes objects fall toward the earth’, gravity is so pervasive that we may overlook the ways in which it conditions our daily lives, and how we abandon ourselves to its force – or resist it.

How do creative practices engage with the perception of gravity, balance and falling? Can they mediate our fears and desires to lose the ground? What links can be drawn between the vertiginous spaces of our cities and the conditions of social instability in which we live? These and other related issues will be addressed from a variety of perspectives drawing on art, architecture, design, geography, psychology, and dance. Structured around a series of conversations, the symposium will conclude with a panel discussion with the artist Catherine Yass.

The event is organised in conjunction with Falling Away, a major exhibition of Catherine Yass’s work in Ambika P3. Curated by Davide Deriu and Michael Mazière, the exhibition comprises seven vertiginous films of modern architectural structures that embody the institutions which built them. Spanning the past two decades, it is the first retrospective of the artist’s extensive body of film work in the UK. The joint events are aligned with the Vertigo in the City project based at the School of Architecture + Cities, University of Westminster.

Confirmed speakers

  • Ruth Anderwald + Leonhard Grond, Artists-Researchers and Professors of Artistic Research, University of Applied Arts Vienna
  • Amy Butt, Practising Architect and Lecturer in Architecture, University of Reading
  • Emilyn Claid, Dance artist, director, performer and educator
  • John Golding, Professor of Applied Psychology, University of Westminster
  • Andrew Harris, Associate Professor in Geography and Urban Studies, University College London
  • Catherine James, Art Historian and Lecturer in Academic Practice, University of the Arts London
  • Michael Mazière, Ambika P3 curator and Reader in Film and Video, University of Westminster
  • Brendan Walker, Thrill Engineer and Professor of Creative Industries, Middlesex University
  • Catherine Yass, London-based artist
  • Convenor: Davide Deriu, School of Architecture + Cities, University of Westminster

View the Programme for the ‘Falling Away’ Symposium

View the Falling Away Exhibition Catalogue

Register for tickets for the Falling Away Symposium on 22nd October

Register for tickets for the private view of Falling Away on 21st October

View the Falling Away Exhibition Catalogue

Tickets

The event will be delivered as a webcast, with a limited number of tickets set aside for in person attendance in the Robin Evans Room – broken down into AM and PM slots.

Half of available tickets for in person attendance have been set aside for students, so we would much obliged if you could share details with them – and those who you think may find the event of interest. Those attending virtually are welcome to join the session at any point, and a link will be shared with registered attendees prior to the event.

A recording of each of the sessions will also be made available on the School of Architecture and Cities YouTube Channel shortly after the event.

Huge congratulations to Jamie Williamson (MArch DS18 graduate) and Ben Pollock (MArch DS18 tutor) for winning the overall prize and honorary mention respectively in MIT’s “Projection 16 – Visualizing Cities”

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

A huge congratulations to Jamie Williams, a MArch DS18 student last year and his tutor, Ben Pollock who have won the overall prize (Jamie) and an honorary mention (Ben) for their submissions to MIT’s Projection 16 – Visualizing Cities awards. These awards celebrate data visualizations that analyze city dynamics to inform urban planning practice and advocate for just, safe, and equitable cities.  

Jamie William’s “The Atlas of the Carbon Economy” combined rigorous research and visual storytelling to unpack the geopolitics of carbon trading. It will also be exhibited at a COP26 fringe event – Imagine Glasgow 2021, COP26 Edition hosted by the New Glasgow Society in collaboration with ACAN/ACAN Scotland, Common Wealth and the Architectural Associations Ground Lab.

Ben Pollock’s “Why and Where We Need to Change, London 2020” highlighted the compound effect that social factors, environmental stress, and climate threats have on London neighbourhoods.  

A catalogue of all the projects submitted to MIT’s Projection 16 – Visualizing Cities awards is available at http://visualizingcities-dusp.mit.edu 

Featured images: Jamie Williams Atlas of the Carbon Economy (left) and Ben Pollock Why and Where We Need to Change, London 2020 (right)

ArCCAT Climate Action Week – Monday 25th to Friday 29th of October

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

The Architecture and Cities Climate Action Taskforce (ArCCAT) has developed an exciting, slightly-longer-than-a-week programme of events between October 18th and October 28th to support the University’s Sustainability Month, a lead-in to COP 26 in Glasgow at the beginning of November.

Go here for further details of the University’s programme: here: https://www.westminster.ac.uk/about-us/our-university/vision-mission-and-values/sustainability-month. 

The ArCCAT programme is as follows: 

Monday 18 October 18.30 – 19.30

Cartographies of the Monsoon Exhibition Opening

Venue: Gallery Café, 309 Regents Street, W1B 2HW

Lindsay Bremner in conversation with Tom Corby, Associate Dean of Research, Central St Martins.

This exhibition will show a selection of the maps produced by John Cook for Monsoon Assemblages, a research project in the School of Architecture and Cities at the University of Westminster funded by the European Research Council between 2016-2021. The project drew on the environmental humanities, the natural sciences and the spatial disciplines to develop an understanding of the entanglements of the monsoon in everyday life, politics and planning in Chennai, Delhi, Dhaka and Yangon, four of South Asia’s rapidly growing cities. The maps were mechanisms through which the project team constructed understandings of the materiality of the monsoon and the many mechanisms that drive it.

Monday 25 October 12.30 – 14.30 

What about ‘the other half’ of the ‘UN sustainability goals’?

Venue: Studio

UoW students-as-co-creators project team 2021: Dana Al Khammach, Elantha Evans, Rebecca Kelly, James Mason and Lavinia Peninno.

Join us for a curated, interactive and enjoyable 15-20 min session anytime between 12.30-14.30 on Monday 25th October 2021. This is about what YOU think we can do together, and is part of a wider project about architecture, empathy and the empathic imagination. Come along! And sign up here for more info on the project and future collaborations.

Offered as part of ‘Sustainable Disclosures’ // Expanding architecture education to better nurture people, places and practices for sustainable, inclusive futures (http://eepurl.com/hFy9q1).

Monday 25 October 13.00 

Launch of Design Competition for a material reuse station for the studios

Venue: Studio

Doiny Kypraiou, Stefania Bocoletti, Paolo Zaide and Tabatha Mills.

For both students and architectural designers, the physical model is a manifestation of ideas. The act of physical model-making is central to architectural education and our studios. It presents the opportunity to test, explore, speculate, compose and further the design process. How can you as students begin to challenge wasteful practice? Can we make our studio practice more circular?

Five teams of 4 L5 students each, drawn from each of the undergraduate degrees (Interiors, Architecture, AED, Technology) will participate in this design challenge for a week.

Monday 25 October 16.00 – 17.00 

The King’s Cross journey to carbon neutrality

Venue: Robin Evans Room (M416) and online; book at Eventbrite: https://www. eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-kings-cross-journey-to-carbon-neutrality-tickets-183433162527

Organiser and Moderator: Johannes Novy

Speaker: Stephen Kellett, Sustainability Manager, Ardent Services LLP

Discussant: Roudaina Alkhani

The King’s Cross Estate is one of Europe’s most significant regeneration projects – this talk will highlight the key decisions made from the projects inception through to the design of its buildings and the management in operation that have enabled it to achieve carbon neutrality, on its journey to net zero carbon.

Monday 25 October 17.30 – 18.30 

Opening of the ArCCAT Sustainable Design + Research Exhibition

Launch of the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Campaign

Venue: Marylebone Learning Platform

Speaker: Peter Bonfield

Curators: Lindsay Bremner, Grace Lancto, François 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 team.

Tuesday 26th October, 18.00 – 20.00 

Practicing Sustainability: from Portfolio to Practitioner

Venue: 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.

Thursday 28th October, 18.00 – 20.00 

Environmental Design Sourcebook Book Launch and Panel Discussion

Venue: Room M416 and available on https://technicalstudies.tumblr.com/

Organisers: Will McLean and Pete Silver

To coincide with Climate Action Week and the recent publication of Environmental Design Sourcebook: Innovative Ideas for a Sustainable Built Environment (RIBA Publish- ing, 2021), the authors 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), Rosa Schiano-Phan, Guy Sinclair, Urangua Sodnamjamts, Pete Silver and Will McLean.

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.

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

Technical Studies Lecture Series: “Dakar Earth Bricks” Nzinga B. Mboup – Worofila | Thursday, October 21, 2021 at 18:00, Room M416, Marylebone Campus + Online

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When: Thursday, 21st of October at 6pm

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

Livestream Link: https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/fc7cfc71b9534b29830ec5e4ae564d16

Before air conditioning, people paid attention to materials and orientation for the natural regulation of heat.  

Nzinga Mboup 

Senegal’s traditional dwellings were made of earth, but that construction method has slowly been abandoned. Dakar’s sidewalks today are littered with piles of sand and stones that are mixed with cement to make cheap building blocks. 

Worofila and Mboup were inspired to use modern earth bricks made from soil and very small amounts of cement and water to create a mixture that is cut into blocks, compressed with a hand-operated machine and left to dry in the sun for 21 days. Unlike concrete, earth bricks require very little embodied energy to produce. Worofila have worked with Elementerre on the construction of private homes, offices and part of a train station. Elementerre, is an earth brick manufacturer founded by Doudou Deme in 2010.  

This reimagining and reengineering of earth construction remains niche and it currently costs more than concrete with many clients still unaware of this as a building material. Worofila has recently been longlisted for an Ashden Award, a British prize for climate solutions, which it hopes will raise visibility of this ‘age old’ but actually very new age natural material – locally sourced and with excellent thermal performance, which acts to moderate the internal temperature and humidity of the architecture.

https://technicalstudies.tumblr.com/

For details contact: Will McLean  

w.f.mclean@wmin.ac.uk 

Giulio Verdini moderating a session on ‘Climate Justice in Pedagogy and Practice’ at I4C ‘Innovate 4 Cities’ conference IPCC / UN-HABITAT / GCoM | Thursday, October 14, 2021, 14:30 (BST)

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

When: Thursday, 14th of October 2021, 15:30 CEST (14:30 London)

Where: You can find the link to join the session in the attached programme or directly via zoom here: https://zoom.us/j/97320816756 

Giulio Verdini (BA Designing Cities) is moderating a session on ‘Climate Justice in Pedagogy and Practice‘ at I4C ‘Innovate 4 Cities’ conference IPCC / UN-HABITAT / GCoM https://www.innovate4cities.org.

The session will be an opportunity to share and discuss the results of the UoW SCUE funded projects ‘Globally-informed (or decolonising) City Climate Pedagogy and Practice’ http://blog.westminster.ac.uk/ccpp/ (2019-2021) together with a number of global scholars and practioners from all over the world. The conference will feed into COP26 in Glasgow.

Registration free.

I4C_Climate-Justice-PROGRAMME_14Oct2021Download

Technical Studies Lecture Series: “Research as Practice: Material Formations” HANNAH | Thursday, October 14, 2021 at 18:00, Room M416, Marylebone Campus + Online

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

When: Thursday, 14th of October at 6pm

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

Link to join livestream https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/954cdae480dd42c7b74ca7c02d5e59df 

HANNAH is an experimental design and research studio working across scales from furniture to urbanism. HANNAH’s projects mine the tension between machine means and architectural ends. They reclaim authorship over processes of construction that influence the way we can build – or perhaps ought to build in the future. Leslie and Sasa will discuss the ‘Ashen Cabin’ (upstate New York), which uses 3D printed concrete and locally sourced ‘waste’ ash timber. 

Leslie Lok is a co-principal at HANNAH, an award-winning experimental design practice for built and speculative projects. Lok is also an assistant professor and the B.Arch Coordinator at Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning. Lok’s research and teaching explore the intersection of housing, urbanization, and mass-customized construction methods at multiple scales. At Cornell, Lok directs the Urban Construction Laboratory (UCL). 

Sasa Zivkovic is a co-principal at HANNAH, an experimental design practice based in Ithaca, New York. Zivkovic is also an assistant professor at Cornell University AAP where he directs the Robotic Construction Laboratory (RCL), an interdisciplinary research group that develops and implements novel robotic construction technology. Interdisciplinary in nature, the work integrates cutting-edge materials, advanced fabrication, mechanical design, architectural computation, structural optimization, and sustainable construction. 

https://technicalstudies.tumblr.com/

For details contact: Will McLean 

w.f.mclean@wmin.ac.uk

Exhibition: Cartographies of the Monsoon | Gallery Café, 309 Regent St | Monday, October 18 at 18.30 (BST)

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

Where: Gallery Café, 309 Regent St, 18 October – 15 November   

When: 18 October, 18.30-19.30   

Speakers: Lindsay Bremner, PI of Monsoon Assemblages in conversation with Tom Corby, Associate Dean of Research, Central St Martins.    

This exhibition shows a selection of maps drawn by John Cook for Monsoon Assemblages, a research project in the School of Architecture and Cities at the University of Westminster funded by the European Research Council between 2016-2021. The project drew on the environmental humanities, the natural sciences and the spatial disciplines to develop an understanding of the entanglements of the monsoon in everyday life, politics and planning in Chennai, Delhi, Dhaka and Yangon, four of South Asia’s rapidly growing cities.  The maps were mechanisms through which the project team constructed understandings of the materiality of the monsoon and the many mechanisms that drive it. At the opening, Lindsay Bremner will discuss the maps with Tom Corby, Associate Dean of Research at Central St Martins.  

Monsoon Assemblages was led by Professor Lindsay Bremner, with Dr. Beth Cullen, Christina Geros, John Cook, Harshavardhan Bhat and Anthony Powis. Monsoon Assemblages was a research project funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant Agreement No. 679873, 2016-2021). 

Featured image by John Cook.