Category: News

Architectural Robotics Theatre (A.R.T.) workshop at the FAB FEST – Apply by Sunday 16th April

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

FAB FEST team is delighted to announce that FAB FEST ’17 will also feature the launch of the Architectural Robotics Theatre. A.R.T. is a series of research projects exploring how our industrial robots might be used to invent and develop new ways of working with a particular material to create innovative architecture. The projects will all culminate in a week-long public performance in the Lab’s unique robot cell overlooking Marylebone Road.

The first project will focus on innovative ways of working with card and use the robots to create a fantastic pavilion for FAB FEST. FAB LAB team is now looking for students to join the team. The project will be mentored by the Fabrication Lab staff together with Mentors from exparch.hochbau from Innsbruck University, and practitioners from the leading structural engineers, AKT II. In addition to the usual support provided by FAB FEST mentors, the A.R.T. team will also receive presentations in basic robotics, and will learn how to generate tool paths and work with these highly flexible digital fabrication tools. Note that the project will involve a commitment to attending these training workshops and will require a (very worthwhile) investment of your time.

Schedule:

April – Application period Thursday 6th – Sunday 16th of April

April – Design | Concept development

– Robotics | Introduction workshop

May – Design | Design a technical detail and build a 1:20 model

– Robotics | Design concept application and material testing

June – Fabrication | Working drawings production and robotic fabrication of parts

July – Festival | Pavilion installation in Ambika P3

Public robotic performance over the Festival week (2nd – 9th July)

If you wish to apply for this exciting workshop opportunity, the deadline to be part of the A.R.T. team is Sunday 16th April 2017. Please send contact details and a brief motivation paragraph (a description of why you want to apply in about 150 words) to art@fabricationlab.london

For more information, visit FABFEST.london and fablab.london/art, or for specific queries, please contact Eva Magnisali (art@fabricationlab.london).

RIBA Wren Scholarships 2017 – Application deadline 5pm, Monday 22nd May

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

The RIBA Wren Insurance Association Scholarships were established in March 2013 following a generous donation by The Wren Insurance Association Limited, the architects’ professional indemnity mutual that currently comprises 60 of the UK’s leading architectural practices.

The scholarships aim to support outstanding Part 2 students who have the potential to make a significant contribution in the field of architecture.

Five scholarships worth £5,000 each are available for the 2016/17 application cycle. At the time of application, students must be enrolled in an RIBA-validated Part 2 professional qualification course in the UK, and will be starting the final year in September 2017.

Preference will be given to applicants who are RIBA members.

The deadline to apply is 5PM on Monday 22 May 2017.For more information and to download the application form, visit www.architecture.com/wrenscholarships. (Student membership of the RIBA is free.)

Submit completed applications to education.temp@riba.org. Please mark email subject as ‘Wren 2017 submission’.

Electronic files over 8MB, should be sent via an external FTP site such as www.wetransfer.com. Large files will not get through via email.

Students should contact Chiamaka at Chiamaka.Ezeani@riba.org, or call on 020 7307 3678 for help with their applications.

Good luck!!

*Featured image (c) Nathan Su, 2016 RIBA Wren Insurance Association Scholar

The James Phillips Travel Prize – Application deadline 2nd May 2017

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

The James Phillips Foundation is a charity established in 2015 in memory of James Phillips who died, aged 27, on Sunday 21 September 2014.

James was a partner at Make Architects, and studied architecture at the University of Kingston. The day after he died would have been his first day on Westminster’s Part 3 course. His brother Daniel completed his Part 1 BA Architecture here in 2015 (getting a First).

James cared about architecture, photography and travel, and for his MA “Common Ground: An analysis of public space on an International basis” he travelled to 24 countries to document – and photograph – their most significant public spaces.

The Prize

In 2016 the James Phillips Foundation very generously set up a travel prize of £1000 per annum for a Westminster architecture student in memory of James.

The only conditions are that the prize money must be used to facilitate travel, and that the goal of that travel should be photographed and archived on the James Phillips Foundation web-site within 6 months of the award being made.

Last year’s winner Zhini Poh was a DS10 MArch student. Her proposal consisted of researching three buildings: Zaha Hadid’s MAXXI, BMW Central Building and SANAA’s EPFL Learning Centre, which would take her to three cities: Rome, Lausanne and Leipzig, over the course of nine days. These three buildings would constitute case studies for her final dissertation project.

Applications

The prize is open to all students enrolled at the Department of Architecture at the time of application, although the travel can be undertaken after graduating. Students should make a proposal of maximum 300 words + images demonstrating:

  • How the travel will enable investigation of: either a subject beyond the normal academic requirements of their course, or a specific study for their course that would otherwise be unaffordable (e.g. dissertation, extended essay, studio project).
  • Why they have chosen a particular destination, or destinations, and what aspect of ‘common ground’ they plan to investigate – and how.
  • A draft travel schedule (in addition to the 300 words)
  • How they use photography to enhance their work

Proposals will be judged against the following criteria:

  • To what extent the proposed travel research will document and enhance knowledge of some aspect of common ground or public space.
  • Feasibility of the proposed travel
  • Timetable

Proposal deadline: Tuesday 2 May (beginning of term 3) submit to Rita Darch: R.A.Darch@westminster.ac.uk

Announcement of Winner: Friday 16 June (OPEN Awards Evening)

Under exceptional conditions, this time limit may be extended.

 

Welcome to Open Studio Westminster

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

Hello Everyone,

And welcome to Open Studio Westminster!

This is an interactive project run by the Department of Architecture at the University of Westminster to make its design, research and practice-based work available online, while it is happening.

The key idea is that the site acts as a ‘real time’ teaching and learning environment in which the work of both students and staff generated in its design studios, or its other teaching and research groups and workshops, is curated and documented.

The aim of this project is, primarily, to document and showcase students’ work. This would allow both students and staff within the school itself, as well as prospective students or employers, to have an insight into work that is being produced here at the School of Architecture. In turn, that would enhance the opportunities for global online and offline dialogue, and would promote the work to global audiences. The platform will also include archive of public events at Westminster and other schools, links to studios’ other social media outlets (twitter, instagram, tubmlr, blogs etc.), and would hopefully help maintain contact with the alumni.

Organised around two main segments, the structure of the platform is envisaged as a combination of static and dynamic content.

The studio content, featuring information on both undergraduate and postgraduate diploma studios, MAs/MSc and research, is considered a relatively static part of the platform, and will be updated in accordance with the changes happening in the studios. It is envisaged almost like a portfolio, where the emphasis is on images, while the text can be hidden and moved out of sight. The concept itself is studio-oriented, and not year-oriented, therefore the information is found under the studio name/number, rather than on year-by-year basis.

The blog content of the platform is seen as more dynamic. Unlike the studios, here the layout is more in line with what we’re used to seeing online, so it’s a bit more busy, with combination of text and images. The blog will be updated regularly, bringing the information on the latest events at the school: exhibitions, performances, lectures, crits etc.

If you would like to get in touch, give us suggestions or share with us content that you would like to see online, please contact us on M.Pedalo@westminster.ac.uk.

You can also follow us on Twitter and like us on Instagram.

We are very excited to have you on board with us! Looking forward to journeying together!