Category: Events

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

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

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

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

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

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!

 

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

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

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.

DS23’s Crista Popescu Reflects on Angela Brady’s Lecture at the Alumni Lecture Series, WAS

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

On Tuesday 24th October, Angela Brady, the Co-Founder of Brady Mallalieu Architects, past president of RIBA (2011-2013) currently a Design Council CABE ‘Built Environment Expert’ as well as President of the Architects Benevolent Society,  launched the Alumni Lecture Series organised by Westminster Architecture Society, and gave a talk titled “What it Takes to Design Great Social Spaces.”

Crista Popescu, MArch DS23 student and the president of the Westminster Architecture Society, reflected on Angela Brady’s visit in her recent blog post.

Read an excerpt from her blog below or the full text here.

Her talk focused on how to build “sociable” buildings, as in making sure that today’s high density housing and office buildings offer suitable opportunity for users to meet and socialise. BradyMallalieu designed buildings seem to do just that, with social spaces usually being decided on by consultations with community groups. Their buildings have an elegant appearance, despite using robust materials and detailing.

Some of the things that dwelt in my mind were related to their approach to practice. In Mastmaker Rd project, the practice offered the client an alternative brief that included tenure homes, having an obvious impact on the community that can now afford to buy and live in the new development. At Ivy Hall the architects brought the community together to consider the feasibility of a community centre integrated in the already planned rented social housing development. For the St. Catherine’s Foyer, they put forward the idea to Dublin City Council  although it hasn’t been done yet in Ireland (see foyer.net to read more about the concept). In all these projects, the architects took initiative to improve on the brief as much as they could. It’s a skill to know how to approach the client and the community and understand the specific politics/circumstances of the situation and – most importantly – navigate around it so as to negotiate in your favor.

You can also watch the talk in full here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xx1crxO1V9c&feature=youtu.be

Harry Charrington and Julia Dwyer to speak at the AA XX 100: AA Women and Architecture in Context 1917-2017_ November 2nd-4th, Architectural Association

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

AA XX 100: AA WOMEN AND ARCHITECTURE IN CONTEXT 1917-2017

The Head of the Department Prof Harry Charrington and Senior Lecturer Julia Dwyer are to participate in AA XX 100: AA Women in Architecture in Context 1917-2017, an international conference convened by the Architectural Association and the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art with a rich programme of presentations, panel discussions, distinguished keynotes, and an open jury to celebrate the centenary of women at the AA.

Where: Architectural Association and Paul Mellon Centre, Bedford Sq, London WC1

When: 2nd – 4th November 2017

Tickets (for 3 day event): Full Price £60, Student £30

Book tickets: https://xx.aaschool.ac.uk/conference/ 

View the conference schedule: https://xx.aaschool.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/aaxx_conference_program_3.pdf

As for University of Westminster‘s own history of women in architecture, our first female graduate, Beatrice Pritchard, graduated from, what was then known as, The Regent Street Polytechnic in 1903!

Today our Computer Lab is officially named Beatrice Pritchard Laboratory.

Architecture Research Forum: “Still Dreaming? Space After Spectacle and the Indifference of Architecture” Douglas Spencer – 2nd November, Erskine Room, 5th Floor, 13:00-14:00

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

Douglas Spencer: Still Dreaming? Space After Spectacle and the Indifference of Architecture 

Susan Buck-Morss, in her Dreamworld and Catastrophe, observed that the end of the Cold War was marked by the passing of the dream-forms of modernity — capitalist, socialist and fascist — as sustained through the experience of the built environment. If, following Walter Benjamin, we understand awakening from the dreamworld to be premised on the conscious realisation of its utopian fantasies, then what hope remained now, she asked, in the absence of any dreamworld? This paper takes up this question through an analysis of the seemingly indifferent and post-spectacular spaces of contemporary architecture, offering, in response, an analysis that explores both its historical and its phenomenological implications.

Douglas Spencer teaches at the University of Westminster and the Architectural Association, and is the author of The Architecture of Neoliberalism (Bloomsbury, 2016).

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

When: Thursday 2nd November, 13:00-14:00

Angela Brady “What It Takes To Design Great Social Spaces” – WAS Alumni Lecture Series, Tuesday 24th October, 18:00, M416

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

The pressures of proposing new models that not only fulfil an aesthetic brief, but also are environmentally friendly, keep up with technology, economy, and other restraints falls mainly on the architects. Buildings can strongly influence our welfare and general happiness, be it where we live, work, or play. Join us to hear from Angela Brady about the social life of buildings and how architects can design to encourage interaction in communities in the changing contemporary urban context.

Where: Robin Evans Room (M416), Marylebone Campus

When: Tuesday 24th October, 6pm

Speaker: Angela Brady, Co-Founder of Brady Mallalieu Architects OBE PPRIBA FRIAI

Angela is co-founder and director of the award winning private practice Brady Mallalieu Architects Ltd, with Robin Mallalieu. Their design studio specialises in contemporary sustainable architecture and their buildings prioritise occupiers’ wellbeing whilst still maintaining remarkable elegance and style.

Past President of RIBA (2011-2013), and currently a Design Council CABE ‘Built Environment Expert’ as well as President of the Architects Benevolent Society, Angela reaches a wide public audience as a professional TV broadcaster, promoting architecture on TV and radio. Angela also publishes articles in books, magazines, and Twitter as well and runs design workshops in schools and galleries as a STEMnet ambassador.

RSVP: https://your.westminster.ac.uk/form/design-great-social-spaces

BAIA & BSc AED “Light Narratives: Sun Rose” Workshop with Benson Lau

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

Last week, on Thursday 5th October, BA Interior Architecture second and third year students joined the BSc Architecture and Environmental Design students for a one-day workshop lead by the BSc AED’s course leader Benson Lau.

The aim of the workshop was to introduce the unmeasurable and measurable aspects of light and teach the students how to construct a solar design tool initially developed by Le Corbusier to accurately appreciate and visualise the interplay between space and light in an interior based on the latitude coordinates.

 

 

The workshop started with a lecture by Benson Lau, on the theme of “Poetics of Light in Architecture” with a focus on how to qualitatively and quantitatively visualise and selectively quantify the light dramas in architecture.

The students worked in groups of 5 to construct the Sun Roses based on the latitudes they’ve been given, as well as based on their understanding of the Solar Azimuth Angle and Solar Altitude of a particular latitude.The idea behind the workshop was to equip the participants with the skills that will enable them to read the sun path diagram and define the solar azimuth and solar altitude of a particular latitude on Summer Solstice (21st June), Equinox (Spring or Autumn Equinox 21st March or September) and Winter Solstice (21st December).

In addition to that, the students gained knowledge on how to conduct accurate light and shadow testing and analysis, and are now able to present the light testing results in a well-composed matrix showing the light and shadow in a selected interior on Summer Solstice, Equinox and Winter Solstice at 9:00am, 12:00pm, 15:00pm and 18:00pm.

Architecture Research Forum: MONASS “Reporting from the Field” with Lindsay Bremner, Beth Cullen and Christina Geros_19th October, Erskine Room, 5th Floor, 13:00-14:00

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

MONASS: Reporting from the Field

With: Lindsay Bremner, Beth Cullen and Christina Geros

Monsoon Assemblages is a five-year-long European Research Council funded research project investigating relations between rapid urbanisation and changing monsoon climates in South Asian cities. The MONASS team spent six weeks in Chennai over the summer conducting field work for the project. In this seminar, we will briefly sketch out the monsoon assemblage thesis and the questions that framed this field work. We will take you to a number of the sites we studied and discuss how our engagement with them has both challenged and extended our thesis and shaped future work.

Lindsay Bremner is a Professor and Beth Cullen and Christina Geros are Research Fellow at the University of Westminster

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

When: Thursday 19 October, 13:00–14:00

ALL WELCOME!

Premier: “A Story of Dreams” film about Jaime Lerner – RIBA, 17th October, 19:00-21:00

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

On Tuesday 17th October, RIBA will host a European premiere of “A Story of Dreams”, film on Jaime Lerner’s groundbreaking work as a mayor of Brazilian city of Curitiba.

Jaime Lerner is a community architect and transformational city leader who believes ordinary people, with their positive energy can upgrade their environment. As Parana State Governor, Curitiba Mayor, and practicing architect within the America’s and Africa, he believes sustainability succeeds by releasing ordinary people’s latent energy to survive and prosper.

To find out more and book tickets: https://www.architecture.com/whats-on/premier-a-story-of-dreams-a-film-about-jaime-lerner#