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

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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

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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

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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/

Technical Studies Lecture Series: Prof Sadie Morgan, dRMM, Thursday 23rd November, 6pm, M416

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Professor Sadie Morgan – dRMM
Hastings Pier

Reinventing traditional pier design, Hastings Pier provides an open space, able to support a variety of events and uses from circuses to music events, fishing to markets.

Professor Sadie Morgan of dRMM will discuss the community-led regeneration project of Hastings Pier, which is this year’ winner of the RIBA Stirling Prize and the RIBA’s People’s vote. The judge’s citation explains; ‘Hastings Pier is a project that has evolved the idea of what architecture is and what architects should do … dRMM show what incredibly talented and dedicated architects can do: inspire, think big, interact and engage with communities and clients to help them to achieve the seemingly impossible; this is a great message for young architects following in their footsteps.’

Sadie is a founding director of dRMM with Alex de Rijke and Philip Marsh. Over her 20-year career Sadie has had an increasingly significant role in the advocacy of design and architecture through her professional practice and her advisory roles. Sadie is currently chairing the Independent Design Panel for High Speed Two (HS2), reporting directly to the Secretary of State. She is one of ten commissioners for the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) led by former Cabinet Minister Lord Adonis, and a commissioner for the Thames Estuary 2050 Growth Commission. In 2017, she was appointed as a Mayor’s design advocate for the Greater London Authority and she is Professor of Interiors in the Department of Architecture at Westminster.

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

When: Thursday 23rd November, 6pm, Room M416

Where: Department of Architecture, University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5LS

Architecture Research Forum: “In What Style Should We Build” Shahed Saleem, 23rd November, Erskine Room, 5th Floor, 13:00 – 14:00

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Shahed Saleem: In What Style Should We Build?

In what style should we build? This question, which has resonated throughout European architectural history for some 150 years, is revisited and reapplied in my talk to the predicament of mosque design in Britain today. Style became an existential battleground for the Victorians, representing contested notions of morality, identity, nostalgia and historicism in a period of self-doubt and reinvention. I argue that Muslim architecture in Britain, and in the West more broadly, where diverse Muslim communities are building as diasporic minority communities, is entwined in similar negotiations of identity and positioning.

Drawing from my research into the architectural and social history of the British mosque, I will provide an historical overview of mosque architecture in Britain, and will set out what I see as its current predicaments. Alongside this, drawing from my own design practice and experiences of working with Muslim communities, I will also suggest my own responses to the questions raised.

Shahed Saleem teaches at the University of Westminster and is a Senior Research Fellow at the Bartlett, Survey of London, and a practising architect.

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

ALL WELCOME!

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

When: Thursday 23rd November, 13:00-14:00

UnBox 2017 Design Competition – Deadline 15th January 2018

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The world today has become aware of the reckless utilization of natural resources and is now making conscious efforts to move towards a sustainable future. In this endeavor, it has become imperative to rethink our approach towards building materials to ease the pressure on the conventional ones.

The Shipping Container is one such potential building material that boasts of good structural quality, can be recycled easily and is universally available. With over two million unused containers docked at ports around the world, the UnBox 2017 aims to explore the prospective functionality of these as efficient structural components that aid in the creation of ingenious ideas and in reimagining sustainability.

UnBox 2017 intends to illustrate the inventive functionality of the material to the masses by using the containers to craft spaces in the public realm. The competition wants to enhance the future of public spaces with material innovation that fosters disruptive architecture and sustainability.

How can an ingenious, disruptive idea enhance our world’s future and create a sustainable living for all?

Early Registration Ends: 8th December 2017

Regular Registration Begins: 9th December 2017

Regular Registration Ends: 8th January 2018

Submission Ends: 15th January 2018

Announcement of the Winner: 15th February 2018

You can access more information and download the brief here.

DS13’s Dagmar Zvonickova Winner of the CTBUH 2017 Student Competition!

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Congratulations to Dagmar Zvonickova, a MArch DS13 student who won a first prize in the prestigious CTBUH 2017 student competition in Sydney, Australia.

Well done to DS13‘s tutors Andrei Martin and Andrew Yau for their support to Dagmar in development of her project.

Technical Studies Lecture Series: Prof John Chilton, Tonight 9th November, 6pm, M416

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The next guest in the Technical Studies Lecture Series will be Prof John Chilton from Nottingham University, who will give a lecture titled “Timber Grid Shells”.

When: Thursday 9th November, 6pm

Where: Room M416, Marylebone Campus, NW1 5LS

All welcome!

 

Congrats to Arthur Mamou-Mani one of RIBA J Rising Stars 2017!

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Congratulations to Arthur Mamou-Mani, the director of Mamou-Mani Architects and an MArch DS10 tutor who has been selected as one of the RIBA Journal‘s Rising Stars 2017!

The winning Cohort 2017 has been selected from 16 shortlisted architects, all of whom have qualified professionally within the last 10 years.

This year’s award includes many young practices as well as architects who moved into project management, diversified into digital fabrication or took up charity work. While no one would advocate another financial crisis, it is often said that they breed creativity and spur on new thinking. The 2017 Rising Stars cohort is a testament to that. Let’s see where they take it over the next 10 years. (RIBA Journal)

Read more about Arthur and his work here.

DS22 Students Participate in “Here, There, Everywhere” Exhibition _ Opening at P21 Gallery, Tonight 7th November at 6.30pm

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Artists, architects, actors, teachers, photographers, film makers and families get together in London and Gaza to inaugurate the exhibition Here, There, Everywhere.

Join us at P21 gallery 6.30 pm today –with a live streaming from Gaza at 7 pm — and get a taste of the work from an adaptation of of Tolstoy’s War and Peace to installations by postgraduate students of architecture from DS22 University of Westminster, to self-build initiatives for reconstruction by Palestine Regeneration Team (PART), the works will reflect on moments of hope to celebrate life.

This is part of a great initiative by Az Theatre to mark 10 years of collaboration with Gaza.

Event Curator: Jonathan Chadwick

When: 7th November 6.30pm

Where: PS21 gallery, 21-27 Chalton Street, London NW1 1JD

Read more here.