Tag: School of Architecture + Cities

“A stint in construction could be what architectural education is missing” by SA+C’s Lecturer in Regenerative Technical & Environmental Design, Urna Sodnomjamts for Building Design

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

The School of Architecture + Cities’ Lecturer in Regenerative Technical & Environmental Design, Urna Sodnomjamts on why hands-on construction experience helps architects bridge the gap between design and delivery

“Having now qualified as an architect, I have chosen to specialise in the architecture of reuse and retrofit, aligning with my interest in low-tech, low-carbon, and community-focused contextual development. I recently spent a year on the main contractor side, and my broadened understanding of delivery and construction has made me question the industry’s route to becoming an architect.

My construction role gave me invaluable insight into the unpredictable challenges arising during strip-out, detailed design, and construction – challenges that inevitably impact early concepts and designs. This move, albeit frowned upon by some in the architecture profession, has given me a layered perspective on how buildings are deconstructed and reassembled in retrofit projects, exposing me to many of the realities faced by non-architects within the industry.

I believe that if more architects undertook this type of work placement, it would benefit both architectural practice and the wider construction industry.”

To access the article in full please visit here.

PIXEL PRESERVATION | DS2.6 BA Architecture studio tutor Sho Ito to run a Summer School in Hanoi, Vietnam from July 7 to July 20, 2025 | Deadline for applications: June 1, 2025

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

When: From 7th of July to 20th of July 2025

Where: Hanoi, Vietnam

Pixel Preservation

AAVS Hanoi is a two-week research programme that explores the concept of experimental preservation within the unique and rapidly evolving built environment of Hanoi, Vietnam. In response to the relentless pace of urban regeneration and localised informal (de)construction practices that continually reshape the city’s fabric, the programme seeks to address these dynamic changes by focusing on the digital documentation of overlooked 20th-century architectural artifacts, particularly those at risk of being forgotten or erased. By tapping into Hanoi’s distinctive context, the programme also delves into the material culture and urban narratives surrounding these architectural relics.

Using digital tools and advanced research methods, participants will capture, analyse and preserve these architectural elements, highlighting their historical, cultural and sociopolitical significance. The programme critically examines how these artifacts have contributed to Hanoi’s organic development, revealing the underlying forces shaping the city’s informal forms of living, working and playing. By connecting the past and present through experimental preservation, the programme aims to foster a deeper understanding of how urban spaces evolve in response to both external pressures and community-driven forces. From these findings, we aim to establish a discourse on what constitutes Hanoi’s heritage and how it can be sustainably preserved for the future.

The research will be conducted in collaboration with several universities, institutions, curators and practicing architectural offices, providing a robust academic framework that includes lectures on the history and design of 20th-century Vietnamese architecture. This theoretical foundation will be complemented by office visits and hands-on workshops focused on 3D scanning, photogrammetry, filmmaking, and in-depth discussions on topics such as multiple modernities and experimental preservation. Students will work collaboratively, supported by personalised tutorials and review sessions. The project will culminate in the production of short narrated films, which will be publicly screened and exhibited.

For more information, please visit here.

AAVS_Hanoi_PamphletDownload

Congratulations to Senior Lecturer Scott Batty on being shortlisted for RIBA East Awards 2025 for his project ‘1970s House Retrofit’!

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

Scott Batty, Senior Lecturer in the School of Architecture + Cities, has been shortlisted for the RIBA East regional awards for his project 1970s House Retrofit. Batty worked with visiting consultant Structural Engineers Dave Rayment and Henry Burling (Consultants for Year 3 BArch + MArch 2).

Rosa Schiano-Phan and her student Negin Esmailzadehhanjani (MSc in Architecture and Environmental Design) carried out a study of the project’s environmental performance.

Expertise in sustainable water strategies and low-carbon technology was provided by Cath Hassell, ech2o consultants, who is also a regular visiting consultant for Year3BArch + MArch2. 

The project was the principle case study for Batty’s Research Folio as part of REF2021.

Featured Image: Siobhan Doran Photography

Architecture + Cities Research Seminar: Guy Sinclair “Climate Assemblages: Siting Climate Knowledge Production” | Thursday, February 27 at 13:00 (GMT) | Online

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

When: Thursday, 27th of February 2025, 1pm-2pm (GMT)

Where: Online

The next Architecture + Cities Research Seminar will take place on 27 February, 13.00 – 14.00. Guy Sinclair will present aspects of his PhD research in a seminar titled  Climate Assemblages: Siting Climate Knowledge Production. 

The link to the seminar is here. 

All are welcome.

Open Lecture Series: “The Prefabricated Interior & Interior Systems Theory” by Deborah Schneiderman, Pratt Institute | Friday, January 31 at 13:00 (GMT) in M416 (Robin Evans Room)

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

When: Friday, 31st of January 2025 at 1pm (GMT)

Where: M416 (Robin Evans Room), Marylebone Campus, University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Road, NW1 5LS

Recommended for those interested in interiors and the technologies of prefabrication but everybody welcome.

Deborah Schneiderman, RA, LEED-AP, is Professor of Interior Design at Pratt Institute and principal/founder of deSc: architecture/design/research.  Schneiderman’s scholarship and praxis explore the emerging fabricated interior environment and its materiality. Schneiderman’s publications include the books Inside Prefab: The Ready-Made Interior, The Prefab Bathroom, Textile, Technology and Design: From Interior Space to Outer Space, Interiors Beyond Architecture, Interior Provocations: History, Theory, and Practice of Autonomous Interiors, and Appropriated Interiors. She has published multiple journal articles and chapters in edited volumes including The Interior Architecture Theory Reader (Routledge) and The Handbook of Design for Sustainability (Bloomsbury). Schneiderman has exhibited work and lectured internationally for peer-reviewed conferences and invited venues including the Storefront for Art and Architecture, The Center for Architecture, and Van Alen Institute Books. Schneiderman earned her Bachelor of Science in Design and Environmental Analysis from Cornell University and MArch from the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc).

Call for papers: A+C PhD Symposium “Community Spaces, Contested Spaces, and Spaces of Conflict” | Deadline for submission: March 15, 2025

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

Community Spaces, Contested Spaces, and Spaces of Conflict. We invite you to participate in the second annual PhD Symposium organised by the School of Architecture + Cities at the University of Westminster. This symposium is organised by PhD students within the University of Westminster and aims to spotlight the work of other PhD and ECR researchers within our global network. This is a call for papers for the 2025 symposium and this year the theme is “Community Spaces, Contested Spaces, and Spaces of Conflict.” The event will be held online on 11th June 2025, and we welcome a wide range of papers from individuals or groups of PhD researchers around this theme. The call for papers is open until 15th March 2025 17:00 GMT.

In this era, the concept of community is rapidly evolving, no longer just a product of geographical and spatial proximity; communities can connect and evolve globally. As economic and environmental pressures can erode community spaces, they can also generate opportunities for new, shared understandings of place.

As a community of Doctoral Researchers, we are no longer restricted by geography. We are not segregated. We are global. By sharing knowledge among peers across different countries, we aim to draw from important PhD works in progress to explore the need for community spaces and critically address contested spaces and spaces of conflict.

Themes

We invite critical reflections and responses to any one of the three key themes of community spaces, contested spaces, and spaces of conflict.

1. Community Spaces: Why are communities important, and what is the role of community spaces in increasingly individualised societies? What conditions or resources are needed for communities, human and more-than-human, to develop and thrive? How do the actors involved in the creation of community spaces—whether materials, animals, plants, or other non-human agencies—form relationships with these spaces? What do ‘community spaces’ reveal about life in collectives? We welcome papers that explore the theme of community building, shared living spaces, community projects, group activities, or the reclamation of spaces, and more-than-human communities.

2. Contested Spaces: Why do contested claims to space and resources develop? How do we learn from them? How do issues of power and privilege manifest and emerge within contested space? We invite papers addressing challenging issues of contestedclaims to land and resources, confronting hegemony and status quo in architecture and in cities, or contesting rights to the city.

3. Spaces of Conflict: How do critical investigations into spaces of conflict help communities? How can spatial practices be used as a tool to resolve, rectify and remedy conflict? We encourage PhD works in progress which confront important current affairs with a focus on the spatial dimensions of conflict, or research set in conflict zones, militarised or securitised sites.

Keynote Speakers

The symposium will feature keynote speakers Dr. Yara Sharif and Dr. Nasser Golzari who are both practicing architects and academics.

Dr. Yara Sharif (University of Westminster) is a Senior Lecturer and a practitioner with an interest in design as a mean to facilitate and empower “forgotten” communities, while also interrogating the relationship between politics and architecture.

Based in London at NG Architects and leading a design studio at the University of Westminster, she co-founded the Palestine Regeneration Team (PART), a research collective focused on speculative and practical projects that address spatial possibilities in fragmented landscapes.

Her contributions have garnered multiple awards, including the RIBA President’s Award for Research in 2016 in the “Cities and Communities” category. Dr. Sharif has also collaborated on several projects with the Palestinian NGO Riwaq, which received the Holcim Commendation Award for Sustainable Construction in the MENA Region in 2014 for the Beit Iksa Eco Kitchen, as well as the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2013 for the Regeneration of Birzeit Historic Centre.

Dr. Nasser Golzari (University of Westminster) is an architect and academic dedicated to social architecture and the creation of inclusive cities that advance socio-environmental ecologies within post-colonial contexts. As the founder of GOLZARI (NG) Architects in London and co-founder of the Palestine Regeneration Team (PART), Golzari is deeply committed to rethinking scarred and contested landscapes through both speculative and live projects, in line with his passion for socially responsive architecture.

Golzari challenges Western, market-driven architectural practices, drawing inspiration from the daily rituals, narratives, and passive ecological practices of the Global South. His work seeks to reclaim and celebrate socially driven architecture, particularly focusing on ‘the invisible other.’

Key Dates

• Call for papers deadline: 15th March 2025 17:00 GMT

• Selection of abstracts and notification of speakers: 15th April 2025

• Conference date: 11th June 2025 10:00 – 13:00 BST

We have designed this event with international participation in mind and to make the most of our links with universities and collaborators in the far east. We are open to global participation and welcome abstracts from any and all PhD students whose work aligns with our themes.

Submission Guidelines

Contributions are invited in response to these themes with abstracts for either academic papers or creative, practice-based submissions. Please send us your 200–300-word abstract in PDF. Please include in the document header with details of your name, your contact email, the stream your abstract addresses, and your institutional affiliation by 17:00 GMT on 15th March 2025.

All submissions should be sent to acphdsymposium@westminster.ac.uk

We welcome diverse formats, including drawings, photographs, videos, performances and other creative expressions. For practice-based contributions, please consider how your work can be effectively presented in an online format. With your permission, we may feature excerpts or pieces of your submission on the symposium’s Instagram page or other promotional material to engage with a wider audience and showcase your work.

For any queries, please contact acphdsymposium@westminster.ac.uk. Please share this call for papers with your networks and help us spread the word.

Inaugural Lecture: Prof. Peter Sharratt, School of Architecture + Cities | Monday, February 10 at 18:00 (GMT) | M416 (Robin Evans Room), Marylebone Campus

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When: Monday, 10th of February 2025 at 6pm (GMT)

Where: M416 (Robin Evans Room), Marylebone Campus, University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Road, NW1 5LS + Online

Eventbrite Booking

Peter Sharratt, Ma, DipArc, MSt IDBE (Cantab), RIBA, MIET, FRSA,

Professor of Practice, University of Westminster

Peter will make the case for a new design imperative, Strategic Design, in addressing the global growth challenges we face by applying design and systems thinking to solving complex and often contradictory problems. Drawing from his international professional experience leading a niche Strategic Design and Planning consultancy, he will explain what strategic design means, how it’s being deployed in practice and importantly, how architects’ unique skills can play a leading role in shaping the real-world solutions that make a difference. Examples include net zero transition strategies for organisations and cities in the Gulf region, policy innovation and post war recovery planning for Kyiv, and new approaches for economic infrastructure and urban development for emerging economies across Africa and SE Asia based.

Professional Practice Profile: With a background in award winning passive and low energy building design, Peter has held appointments at senior levels in international blue-chip design, engineering and management consultancies before setting up Fhoras Consulting, a niche strategic design consultancy advising cities, business and governments on sustainable development, economic infrastructure, climate resilience, Net Zero transition and inclusive, green growth strategies.

Architecture + Cities Research Seminar: Dawn Rahman “Mad or Magnificent? Mothers who cycle with their children in the UK” | Thursday, February 6 at 13:00 (GMT) | Online

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

When: Thursday, 6th of February 2025, 1pm-2pm (GMT)

Where: Online

The first A+C research seminar of the new year will be presented by Dawn Rahman on 6 February, online here. Dawn will speak on her doctoral studies, in a seminar titled Mad or Magnificent? Mothers who cycle with their children in the UK.

All are welcome, including students.

Dealing with Complexity: Strategies in Airport Design | Friday, February 28, 2025 from 10:00 (GMT) | Marylebone Campus

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

When: Friday, 28th of February 2025 from 10am to 5.30pm (GMT)

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

Eventbrite Booking

‘Dealing with Complexity: Strategies in Airport Design’ will be held at University of Westminster (Marylebone Campus), on February 28, 2025. It is organised by the School of Architecture and Cities with Professor Harry Charrington, Nigel Dennis, Frances Kremarik, William Mclean and design historian Marianna Wahlsten.

The airport terminal is the ultimate ‘architectural promenade’, a typology of high modernism and a megastructure with complex programmatic configurations. Marking the border of a nation state as a machine-like fortress, the airport terminal is firmly tied to technological innovations, and increasingly to the image of the city. While many of the functions are becoming invisible, hidden in the electronic networks that organise the passenger terminal, the high-tech aesthetic is being reinvented with a more holistic approach, where smart tech will be used for environmentally friendly alternative systems of controls and where new digital tools will support the programmatic transformation of the terminal. Although technological innovation is making everything faster and smoother, there is a raised level of unpredictability.

This symposium brings together architects and academics, exploring some of the latest developments and challenges that designers are working with while dealing with the demands of the airport terminal for the future. Besides geopolitical uncertainties, concerns for the climate are key drivers for the reinvention of the airport terminal. Companies managing airports are seeking the best and most authentic experiences for passengers, with a sense of place, and a spatial rhythm that will enhance orientation.

The event will be followed at 17:30 by an informal drinks reception for attendees and speakers, to close at 19:00.

Programme

10.00-10.15 Welcome (Kate Cheyne and Harry Charrington)

10.15-11.30 Session 1 Organisation, Flows and Typologies (Presentations: Anne Graham – University of Westminster: ‘Different airport types and roles’, Piet Ringersma – NACO: ‘Designing for flexibility’ Panel also includes: Nigel Dennis, Will Mclean)

11.30-12.00 Coffee

12.00-13.15 Session 2 Experience and Place (Presentations: Francois Curato – Foster + Partners: ‘Old and new: building the DNA of an airport’, Cristiano Ceccato – Zaha-Hadid Architects: topic to be confirmed Panel also includes Frances Kremarik, Marianna Wahlsten)

13.15-14.15 Lunch

14.15-15.30 Session 3 Beyond the Contradiction: Airports and the Environment (Presentations: Antoinette Nassopoulos – Foster + Partners: ‘Designing sustainable airports’, Gianluca Maestri – Heathrow: ‘Developing a sustainable airport plan’ Panel also includes Su Jayaraman)

15.30-16.00 Tea

16.00-17.15 Session 4 Aerotropolis and Airport City (Presentations: Henrik Rothe – Cranfield: ‘The urban implications of the airport’, John Reavy – MottMac: ‘Aerotropolis and urban air mobility: a new era for Airport Cities’ Panel also includes Harry Charrington)

17.15-17.30 Summary/Conclusion

17.30 onwards Drinks Reception

DocomomoUK: “Aalto in London” talk by Prof Harry Charrington | Tuesday, December 3 at 19:00 (GMT) at The Alan Baxter Gallery, 77 Cowcross Street, London EC1 + Online

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When: Tuesday, 3rd of December 2024, 7pm-8.30pm (GMT)

Where: The Alan Baxter Gallery, 77 Cowcross Street, London EC1 + Online

Tickets in advance: Docomomo UK non-members: £13.70 incl fees

Tickets on the door: Docomomo UK non-members: £15

Tickets for Docomomo UK members: free

Westminster students (id required): free

The first ever exhibition of Aino and Alvar Aalto’s work took place at Fortnum & Mason in London in November 1933. Between then and 1939, 70% of all Aalto furniture produced was sold in London, primarily through the Finmar company who supplied clients as diverse as Heal’s, Highpoint and Alexander Korda.

This lecture explores the unique qualities that made Aalto furniture so appealing to architects and the public in London, the actors and agents involved in promoting it, such as Laszló Moholy-Nagy, Herbert Read and Philip Morton-Shand, how Finmar became the model for the Aaltos when they later set up Artek in Helsinki, and how furniture became the basis for the enduring connection between Finnish and British architecture.

Dr Harry Charrington, an architect and academic, was Head of the School of Architecture + Cities at the University of Westminster from 2014-24. He has combined academia and practice in the UK and Finland, including working for Elissa Aalto at the Aalto atelier in Helsinki and was a co-developer of Springhill CoHousing in Stroud.

Dr Charrington has a particular interest in the history of modernism, housing, and the relationship of architecture and planning. He was the founding editor of Scroope: Cambridge Architecture Journal and his book, Alvar Aalto: the Mark of the Hand won the RIBA President’s Award for Research.

Featured image: Alvar and Aino Aalto with Otto Korhonen, Wood Relief for the “Exhibition of Finnish Furniture”, Fortnum & Mason, 13 November 1933.