Blog

Series of Lectures organised by Sir John Soane’s Museum and James Taylor-Foster: Architecture on Display

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

Sir John Sloane’s Museum in Holborn is hosting a series of lectures in collaboration with James Taylor-Foster.

The series is called ‘Architecture on Display’ and aims to tackle head-on the ideas, ideologies and assumptions that underlie how we present and display architecture, whether through exhibitions, installations, pavilions, biennales, triennials, debates, lectures or other projects.

In essence, the speakers are asked to address the following: what does it mean to curate architecture and what is its purpose?

The museum is delighted to be welcoming Marina Otero Verzier, Head of Research & Development at Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam, on 6 December, 7–8pm.

The format is salon-style: 30 mins presentation, followed by 30 mins of discussion.

Tickets are £5 for students.

More information about the event and series (which continues in the New Year) can be found here: https://www.soane.org/whats-on/talks/architecture-display-marina-otero-verzier

Technical Studies Lecture Series: Robert Barker “Aquatecture – Building for Flood Zones”, Thursday 7th December, 18:00, Room 416

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

Robert Barker, Stolon Studio : Aquatecture – Building for Flood Zones

When: Thursday 7th December, 6pm,

Where: Room M416

Robert Barker is one of the co-founders of Stolon Studio Ltd along with Westminster alumna Jessica Barker. He trained at the Royal College of Art before working for a number of innovative firms such as Birds Portchmouth Russum. In 2003 he jointly set up Baca Architects and went on to win numerous awards and recognition as one of the leading innovators in flood resilient and adaptable architecture. With Baca, he won the RIBA Presidents Award for Research in 2009 and 2014, for the LifE project and the CAN project respectively. Robert is an author of the Metric Handbook – Flood Chapter (2015) and RIBA book – Aquatecture (2016). Whilst a director at Baca he worked on The Amphibious House (the UK’s first); A one-off house with a floating concrete base designed to resist flooding, which featured on Grand Designs and was winner of the London Design Awards, Gold 2015.

In 2016 he set up Stolon Studio with the aim of specialising in Architectural Development – using his design skills to unlock complex sites and push the boundaries of development. Robert is also a Part 3 examiner and he sits on several design review panels.

For lecture details contact Will McLean: w.f.mclean@westminster.ac.uk
www.technicalstudies.tumblr.com

Architecture Research Forum: “White Light and Black Shadow – The Poetics of Light in Le Corbusier’s Sacred Architecture” Benson Lau, Thursday 7th December, Erskine Room, 5th Floor, 13:00-14:00

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

Benson Lau: White Light and Black Shadow – The Poetics of Light in Le Corbusier’s Sacred Architecture

This presentation will disseminate the research outcome of a RIBA Research Trust funded project that explored the interplay of space and light in Le Corbusier’s sacred buildings from both qualitative and quantitative perspectives. Measurable and unmeasurable aspects of these divine luminous environments were investigated through extensive field work, theoretical physical and digital modelling. The findings offer new insights into the unique lighting strategies adopted by Le Corbusier for the creation of sacred luminosity in his religious buildings. A similar research methodology has now been employed for the investigation of light in Louis Kahn’s museums, and preliminary results of this research will also be presented.

Benson Lau is a Reader and Course Leader of the BSc (Hons) Architecture and Environmental Design at the University of Westminster. He has practised as architect and environmental design consultant since 1996, and joined academia in 2005.

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

Where: Erskine Room (M/523), Marylebone Campus

When: 7 December 2017, 13.00–14.00

ALL WELCOME

Technical Studies Lecture Series: Pete Silver “The Electronic Architect”, Thursday 30th November, 18:00, M416

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

Pete Silver – The Electronic Architect

When: Thursday 30th November, 18:00

Where: Room M416, Marylebone Campus

Pete Silver is an architect with experience of the construction industry, public sector housing, teaching, research and private practice. During the 1970s, he worked for five years as development manager for Solon Housing Association where he was responsible both for the rehabilitation of pre-war housing stock and the development of new-build projects in the outer-London boroughs, working with architects such as Patrick Keiller, Edward Cullinan and Walter Segal.

During the 1980s, Pete Silver trained at the Architectural Association under Professor John Frazer and cybernetician Gordon Pask, and subsequently completed four years as a Research Associate in the Land Use Research Unit at King’s College London under Professor Alice Coleman. Pete Silver has worked as a studio design tutor at the Architectural Association teaching with John and Julia Frazer, Greenwich University and the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, where he jointly established Diploma Unit 14 to investigate expert and real-time environmentally-responsive systems. Pete will be discussing the history of computing in architecture, machine logic and interactive design.

Pete is currently joint co-ordinator of Technical Studies at the University of Westminster, and is a director of the Chartered Practice Architects Ltd. Silver has co-authored four books with colleague Will McLean, which include Fabrication: The Designers Guide (2008), An Introduction to Architectural Technology (2013) and Air Structures (2014).

For details email Will McLean – w.f.mclean@westminster.ac.uk
www.technicalstudies.tumblr.com

Tonight! Lecture by Clancy Moore Architects – Tuesday 28th November, 19:00, Marylebone Hall

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

Lecture: Clancy Moore Architects

When: Tuesday 28th November 2017, 19:00

Where: Marylebone Hall, Marylebone Campus, NW1 5LS

Access to this event is free of charge. A cash bar will be open after the talk.

Read more about Clancy Moore Architects here.

Featured image: Shatwell stairs model photograph © Clancy Moore Architects

Professional Studies Learning Burst Lectures: 10th, 11th and 12th January 2018

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

Schedule

Wednesday 10th January

1:30 – 2:15      Introduction to PS3: Jane Tankard + Leo Skoutas (FABE Placements)
2:15 – 3:10      The Role of the Architect: Jane Tankard
3:30                 Finding the right practice: Sofia Karim, Doone Silver Kerr Architects

Thursday 11th January

10:30 – 11:30   Work Stages: Scott Batty
12:00               Presenting yourself at Interview: Sophie Campbell, Sheppard Robson
1:00                 Lunch
2:00 – 5:00      Applying for a job in the Architectural profession: Stride Treglown

Friday 12th January

10:30               Ethics and professionalism + the PEDR and the Year Out: Wilfred Achille
12:00               Preparing your portfolio for interview: Sophie Nguyen, Sophie Nguyen Architects
1:15                 Lunch
2:00                 Contracts – An introduction: Alastair Blyth

Call for Papers: Urban Jewish Heritage “Presence and Absence”, International Conference, September 2018, Krakow, Poland – Deadline: 9th April 2018

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT & CALL FOR PAPERS

Urban Jewish Heritage: Presence and Absence

3-7 September 2018
Krakow, Poland
Call for Papers
Deadline: 9th April 2018

Over the centuries, cities across Europe and around the world have been impacted by their Jewish communities; as places of both presence and absence. Being held as part of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018, this Conference is dedicated to addressing Urban Jewish Heritage and the multi-layered issues it faces, and will bring together academics, planners, policy makers and community leaders to examine the pasts, presents and futures for cities with Jewish Heritage, particularly in Europe.

The Conference recognises that the threats to Jewish heritage are complex and dynamic and there is a need to identify new thinking to preserve and sustainably manage both the tangible and intangible aspects of Jewish culture and to communicate this to a wider audience. As such, it seeks to address the following questions:

• What are the pressures upon Jewish heritage in the urban context?
• How can new and sensitive uses be found for Jewish heritage in towns and cities?
• What management models can be applied to Jewish heritage to ensure its sustainability?
• What forms of relationships exist between Jewish heritage sites and urban tourism?
• What are the touristic experiences with Jewish heritage?
• To what extent is the interpretation of Jewish heritage effective and geared to an increasingly cosmopolitan and younger audience?
• What is the role of the museum in the mediation and representation of Jewish heritage?
• How is the intangible cultural heritage of the Jewish community communicated?

Organised by the Ironbridge International Institute for Cultural Heritage and the Foundation for Jewish Heritage, in association with the City of Krakow and Villa Decius Association, we invite abstracts of 300 words to be submitted as soon as possible but at the latest by 9 April 2018.

Please visit our website for more details: www.urbanjewishheritageconference.wordpress.com

Call for Papers: AHRA Annual Research Student Symposium, Aalto University, Helsinki, June 2018 – Deadline: 26th January 2018

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

A R C H I T E C T U R A L H U M A N I T I E S
R E S E A R C H A S S O C I A T I O N
a r c h i t e c t u r e :- h i s t o r y – t h e o r y – c u l t u r e – d e s i g n – u r b a n i sm

Call for papers for the AHRA annual research student symposium, which will be held at Aalto University, Helsinki. 11 – 12 June 2018

Using History

Recent decades have seen several critical accounts of history, reviewing its methods and premises, questioning its narrative techniques and revealing its uses and abuses for political ends. Against becoming a refuge from the present, or a consolation, this kind of history sees its task as reminding societies and collectives of things that have been forgotten or covered up.

Additionally, architectural research has been in dialogue with different specialised fields of history: cultural and political history, but also economic history, history of media and technology, history of everyday life. Studies in conservation history have relied on technical history and history of science.

To study this multi-faceted relationship, our conference calls PhD candidates to reflect on the various uses of history and historical knowledge in architectural research and practice in the most broad sense. Speakers are also welcome to reflect on the role of history in their own research. Proposals will be welcomed from PhD candidates in the areas of theory and history of architecture and landscape, conservation and heritage, urban design and history, as well as relevant adjacent fields and interdisciplinary research.

Keynote lecture Prof. Juhani Pallasmaa, “STRATIFICATIONS – memory, experience and imagination”

Logistics:

To apply to present a paper at the symposium, please send an abstract of your proposed presentation to Professor Aino Niskanen, aino.niskanen@aalto.fi and Dr. Andres Kurg, andres.kurg@artun.ee to arrive by January 26th 2018.

The abstract should be no more than 300 words in length and address the theme of the conference ‘Using History’ as outlined above.

There is no fee for attendance at the AHRA Student Symposium. Participants may wish to attend a part of the European Architectural History Network (EAHN) conference which is taking place in Tallinn, Estonia, 13-16 June 2018. http://eahn2018conference.ee/.

Travel between Helsinki and Tallinn is easily taken with a ferry, they take around 2 hours.

Key Dates:

  • Deadline for submission of abstracts: 26 January 2018
  • Successful applicants informed: 26 February 2018
  • Submission of extended abstracts (1200 words): 1 June 2018
  • AHRA Symposium: 11–12 June 2018
  • Tour on Finnish modernism and the architecture of Alvar Aalto (optional): 12 June 2018

Key Contacts:

Human Comfort – One-Day Symposium, Today 27th November 10:00-17:00, M416

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

Human Comfort: A one-day symposium on environmental design and architecture

When: Monday 27th November 2017, 10:00-17:00

Where: Marylebone Campus, M416

Ben Stringer at Hyper Rural: The End of Urbanism, International Symposium at the MMU

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

On Wednesday 22nd November Ben Stringer (DS12), will participate in the Hyper Rural: The End of Urbanisam, international symposium at the Manchester Metropolitan University, as a part of the Designing the Future Rural; imagining the future rural landscapes, settlements & economies panel, alongside Stefan Petermann (OMA/OSA) and Dr Rosemary Shirley (Art Deptartment, MMU).

The symposium is partly intended as a response to the outcomes of two recent publications and research projects (under). It also aims to document the emergence of a radical new programme of art and agriculture and critical rural arts practices which, in turn, propose a cultural reframing of agriculture and rural development in the post-agricultural era. Including the New Creative Rural Economies initiative (and a conference proposed for 2018) which will further outline a wider strategic role for art, architecture, digital design and the cultural sector in support of rural regeneration and the Government’s (post-Brexit) Industrial Strategy.

Rem Koolhaas’ ‘The Countryside’ – Charles Jencks Award lecture presentation at RIBA in London, 20th December 2012. Above is one of the main slides where Koolhaas contrasts what he describes as the increasing hyper-Cartesian re(de)formation of the countryside, with what he also views as the regressive tendencies of the discourse of urbanism*, and the increasing whimsicality and detachment of some urban public art, architecture and design.

“Our current preoccupation with the city alone is highly irresponsible.. The countryside is now more volatile that the most accelerated city”

” Architects are attracted by contradictions ..we must also look to new ideas and new ways of thinking.. particularly when the old ways of thinking and working beginning to break down.. [at] OMA we look to the countryside and what is happening there is extraordinary..” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y97yXB82nWc

The New Creative Rural Economies report. The symposium is also proposed as a platform and a response to the Littoral Arts Trust’s publication; The New Creative Rural Economies report (2018).

“What the BSE and FMD (Foot and Mouth) disasters have shown us is that agriculture and the rural are now also important cultural responsibilities and arenas and, as such, they also represent urgent new critical spheres for artists, digital media, architects, designers and cultural policy discourse.”

The symposium runs from Tuesday 21st to Wednesday 22nd November.

To book tickets: https://www.landscapeinstitute.org/event/hyper-rural-symposium/