Docomomo: One-day Seminar on Tower Blocks, Saturday 7th July, 10:00-16:30

Tower blocks have had a chequered history and their survival in the UK remains uncertain. In this one-day event, we look at their history, their changing technical characteristics, the reception of them by residents and the public, the maintenance and upkeep of them by their owners, their safety and their prospects for the future.

Among our speakers will be:

  • Professor Stefan Muthesius, co-author with Miles Glendinning of Towers for the Welfare State (published by the Scottish Centre for Conservation Studies);
  • Emma Dent Coad, MP for Kensington, former member of the tenant management association that oversaw Grenfell Tower, and member of the Docomomo Working Party;
  • Ian Abley, a specialist in construction detailing, compliance, snagging, and the requirements of façade, structural and services engineers;
  • Asterios Agkathidis of Liverpool University, a specialist in sustainable retrofit;and others.

For more info please go to: https://www.docomomo.uk/copy-of-11-nov-ticket-page

Featured image: Grenfell Tower via https://goo.gl/images/Tz12ZS

LFA, Borough Talks: “Food City: How has food changed London’s built environment?” Thursday 28th June, 18:30-20:30

Borough Market hosts debate as part of the London Festival of Architecture

When: 6.30pm – 8.30pm, Thursday 28 June

Where: Jubilee Place, Borough Market, Winchester Walk, London, SE1 9AG

 

How has food production, distribution, storage, preparation, consumption, waste and culture changed London’s built environment? How has London changed food? What does the future hold?

These questions will be debated during a thought provoking evening of discussion hosted by London’s oldest food market, Borough Market, in partnership with architects DLA Design and the Cambridge University Land Society.

As part of the London Festival of Architecture – the world’s largest annual architecture festival – Borough Market is organising a special public debate bringing together experts from the worlds of architecture and food, to explore the impact that food has on our capital city. The talk will take place in Borough Market‘s recently completed communal hub, Jubilee Place. The audience will also be invited to sample a delicious spread of food and drink provided by Borough Market‘s traders.

Donald Hyslop, Chair of Borough Market‘s Board of Trustees, said:

Borough Market has been serving the people of London for 1,000 years, and that extraordinary heritage is an important part of the market’s appeal. With architecture ranging from the Victorian, to Art Deco, to the modern day, Borough Market is an iconic space, which combines the historic with 21st Century innovation. Jubilee Place provides a stimulating setting for what we believe will be a lively and engaging discussion about the relationship between food, communities and London’s built environment.

Speakers who will bring their unique views to the debate include:

  • Carolyn Steel – architect, lecturer and writer who has combined architectural practice with teaching and research into the relationship between food and cities.
  • Kate Hofman – CEO and co-founder of GrowUp Urban Farms, which produces sustainable fresh fish, salads and herbs in cities using a combination of aquaponic and vertical growing techniques.
  • Joanna Lewis – Trustee of the Food Ethics Council and Strategy and Policy Director for Soil Association Food for Life, an award-winning national programme which is about making good food the easy choice for everyone, whoever and wherever they are.
  • Donald Hyslop – Chair of Borough Market and Head of Regeneration and Community Partnerships at TATE. Donald is also Chair of Better Bankside, the business-led regeneration body for SE1.
  • Tim Lang will act as moderator – Professor of food policy at City University London’s Centre for Food Policy, former trustee of Borough Market, and writer of numerous articles, reports and books on the politics of food production.

Tickets are £17.50 and include opportunities to ask questions at the end of the talks as well as a superb spread of food and drink provided by Borough Market traders.

Tickets are available from Eventbrite:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/borough-talks-food-city-how-has-food-changed-londons-built-environment-tickets-45374376983

For more information:
Borough Market,
8 Southwark St,
London SE1 1TL
Tel: 020 7407 1002
www.boroughmarket.org.uk

Nearest tubes: London Bridge or Borough

For more information contact the Borough Market team at Barley Communications:
Maria Kortbech maria.kortbech@barleycommunications.co.uk, 07952 507270

About Borough Market

Borough Market is a source of quality British and international produce, but it is more than just a place to buy or sell food. It’s a place where people come to connect, to share food and awaken their senses. Borough has long been synonymous with food markets and as far back as 1014, and probably much earlier, London Bridge attracted traders selling grain, fish, vegetables and livestock. In the 13th century traders were relocated to what is now Borough High Street and a market has existed there ever since. Borough Market’s mission is to continue to provide a world class food market at Borough for the community of London and beyond. Borough Market is the only fully independent market in London. It is owned by a charitable trust and run by a board of volunteer trustees. The trust is committed to supporting the local community around Borough Market. We regularly run community events, free cookery demonstrations and we support local community projects and schemes.
#LoveBorough
@Boroughmarket
http://boroughmarket.org.uk/

About London Festival of Architecture

The London Festival of Architecture is the world’s largest annual architecture festival. From 1st to 30th June the London Festival of Architecture is hosting over 400 events across the city exploring this year’s theme ‘identity’. From exhibitions to family events, walking tours, debates and stunning architectural installations; there’s something for everyone.
https://www.londonfestivalofarchitecture.org/

Expanded Territories Reading Group: “Hollow Land: Israel’s Architecture of Occupation” by Eyal Weizman, Wednesday 3rd October, 17:30, M330

The most astonishing book on architecture that I have read in years. (Edwin Heathcote, Financial Times)

The next Expanded Territories Reading Group will take place on Wednesday 3rd October at 17.30 in M330. We will be discussing Hollow Land: Israel’s Architecture of Occupation by Eyal Weizman, introduced by David Chandler.

Symposium: “Heritage and Identity”, 29th June 12:00-19:00, M416, Marylebone Campus

When: Friday 29th June 2018, 12:00-19:00

Where: Room M416, University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Road, NW1 5LS

A half-day symposium bringing together diverse research currently being undertaken at the University of Westminster School of Architecture and Cities exploring the intersections between heritage, identity, politics and the built environment.

Keynote by Liza Fior, MUF architects, on the Venice Biennale and Robin Hood Gardens as a heritage artefact.

 

Everyone has history, but do some have more heritage than others?

If heritage is the process by which social histories are elevated into the narratives that form collective identities, communal, cultural, national, then heritage is about power, authorised and validated by certain social, institutional and state actors. At its most powerful, it is, as Stuart Hall says, the mirror of the nation, and those who are not reflected in it, can never belong to that nation.

With the revisiting of Britain’s colonial and slave-trading history, for example, there is growing awareness that heritage is contested and that we may just be entering foothills of cultural decolonisation. Heritage, thus, could be central to negotiating difference and diversity; it is a hot topic, the subject of government agendas, cultural projects, and identity politics. It remains, nonetheless, a fluid and contested term; what is heritage, who makes it, how is it made, who is it for?

Free admission. More info and bookings: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/heritage-and-identity-tickets-46386694853

Book Launch: “The Intrinsic and Extrinsic City” DS11 2008-2017, Wednesday 13th June, 18:30, Marylebone Campus

When: 13th June 2018, 18:30

Where: 35 Marylebone Road, NW1 5LS (Sign in at reception and follow directions)

This studio-as-book is not predicated on a fixed research agenda identified with a design studio’s performative practice or a theory of architecture. MArch 2 Studio DS11 has rather been conceived as a self-critical framework, so this book presents the work of the studio from a critical perspective towards ‘design research’. At its core is a development of a series of urban projects over an eight-year period. The emphasis is focused on the ‘after-life’ of the ‘design-studio’, a subject explored by ex-students’ reflections on the relationship between studio-based education and their subsequent experience. Resisting the view of architectural design produced as a model practice, it is the longer-term effect of a studio education and its embodied research that informs this book. (Editors: Andrew Peckham and Dusan Decermic)

Oculus Pavilion – Invitation to Launch Event: Wednesday 13th June, 18:00-21:00

When:  Launch -13th June 2018, 18:00-21:00 | Exhibition Continues – Thursday 14th June to Friday 13th July

Where: Rear of Learning Platform, Architecture and the Built Environment, University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5LS

A new Oculus Pavilion, designed and built by third year Architecture students from the University of Westminster, will open Wednesday 13th June, at the rear of Westminster’s Marylebone Campus, as part of the London Festival of Architecture.

The circular structure with a view into the sky was inspired by architect Vladimir Tatlin’s 1919 design Tatlin Tower, a design not realised until a sculpture was built in 1971 as part of the “Art in Revolution” exhibition at the Hayward Gallery. The 1971 sculpture was reconstructed at the rear patio of the Marylebone Campus, the same location where the students’ Oculus pavilion will be exhibited this year.

The project was funded by the Quintin Hogg Trust and led by Westminster Architecture Lecturers Maria Kramer and Eric Guibert.

Fab Fest 2018: “Digital City”, 2nd-10th July 2018

FAB FEST is a week-long celebration of design and making, hosted by the Fabrication Lab at the University of Westminster. For the third year running, it invites creative designers from around the world to envision and build their ideas about architecture and the city. It will feature over 80 pavilions and installations designed internationally, manufactured in the Fabrication Lab, and assembled and installed in Central London.

After five days of making, entertainment and international competition, FAB FEST opens to the local community and the general public, with lightweight, recyclable pavilions forming the transient architecture for a series of making events, live musical performances and a three-day exhibition. All the materials for FAB FEST are then recycled, for next year’s event.

FAB FEST this year asks designers to reflect on and offer creative responses to the contemporary digital condition. Proposals might push the boundaries for the digital production of architecture, or engage with wider aspects of how the digital affects our architecture, cities and daily lives. The challenge is to propose a compelling and engaging proposal for a pavilion or installation to manifest your ideas. What does the Digital City mean to you?

For full details, see FABFEST.London

Key Dates:

International Fabrication Competition: July 2nd – 6th | Prize-Giving, Friday July 6th 19:00

Let’s Make! Family-Friendly Making Festival: Saturday July 7th 12:00-16:00 | Music@FABFEST 18:00-22:00

FAB FEST Exhibition: Sunday – Tuesday July 8th – 10th 10:00 – 17:00

Robotic Carving Workshop, 28th-29th June 2018_Deadline for applications: 20th June

When: 28th – 29th JUNE 2018

Deadline: 20th June 2018

The Robotic Carving A.R.T. 2018 summer workshop will investigate ways to transform abstract, intangible data, such as material distribution or density, into physical form.

Participants will learn how to apply structural analysis and topology optimization on shell structures and how to translate structural data into robotic instructions.

The workshop will culminate in a 1:1 robotically carved wall installation that will be exhibited in FAB FEST ‘18.

Apply now online at fabricationlab.london

Textile Robotics Workshop, 25th-27th June 2018_ Deadline for applications: 20th June

When: 25th-27th June 2018

Deadline: 20th June 2018

The Textile Robotics A.R.T. 2018 summer workshop will investigate the ways in which industrial robotic arms can generate large scale structural textiles and automate a generative design process through robotic fabrication.

Using structural analysis and topology optimization, participants will explore different pattern combinations and learn how to translate them into robotic instructions.

The workshop will culminate in a 1:1 robotically fabricated installation that will be exhibited in FAB FEST ‘18.

Apply now online at fabricationlab.london