MArch DS18 student, Georgios Malliaropoulos, reports on his experience from 2022 Sustainability Workshop by the Norman Foster Foundation

The 2022 Sustainability Workshop organised by Norman Foster Foundation took place in Madrid, Spain, between 10th and 14th of October.

Georgios spoke about his experience to University of Westminster’s News:

“The Workshop aimed to explore the concept of sustainability at the intersection of natural and artificial. During the week-long programme, we aimed to generate projects and prototypes that demonstrated the transformative potential of combining different types of intelligence, namely ecological, human, and technological.”

To read more, please go here.  

Technical Studies Lecture Series: Michael Jones, Foster and Partners “Building Bloomberg” | Thursday, December 8 at 18:00 (GMT), M416 + Online

When: Thursday, 8th of December, 6pm (GMT)

Where: M416, University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Road, NW1 5LS + Online (see tumblr page below for link)

Michael Jones is a deputy head of studio at Foster + Partners. Alongside Senior Executive Partner Stefan Behling, he oversees almost 100 architects working on a wide range of international projects. He was awarded a bachelor degree in architecture in 1986 and joined the practice in the same year as an architectural assistant.  In 1988, he continued his studies at the Royal College of Art, gaining his master’s degree in architecture in 1990. He subsequently returned to Foster + Partners, where he qualified as an architect in 1994. 

He initially worked on a number of education buildings, starting with the Deuxième Lycée de Fréjus in the South of France, followed by the Law Faculty for the University of Cambridge. Thereafter, he focused on working with historic and listed buildings, initially as the project architect of the new International Rail Terminal for London at St Pancras Station, then as project director on the detail design and procurement for the Great Court at the British Museum. In 2000, he began work on the large-scale masterplan and expansion of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. During this time, he was leading the design of the UK Supreme Court in Westminster, the new Winspear Opera House in Dallas and a major a new Faculty Building for Imperial College London. 

Most recently he has been responsible for the new European headquarters for Bloomberg in the City of London and the ongoing renovation and expansion of the Imperial War Museum in London, the first phase of which was completed to coincide with the centenary of the First World War in 2014. 

https://technicalstudies.tumblr.com/

For details contact: Will McLean – w.f.mclean@wmin.ac.uk 

Technical Studies Lecture Series: Gnanli Landrou, ETH / OXARA “Cleancrete” | Thursday, December 1 at 18:00 (GMT), M416 + Online

When: Thursday, 2nd of December, 6pm (GMT)

Where: M416, University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Road, NW1 5LS + Online (see tumblr page below for link)

“A derivative of the Northern Togolese language, Lamb-Kabyè, Oxara means, ‘Gathering and Community’, bringing the actors of the construction ecosystem together to collectively create an innovative and sustainable industry is a key ingredient to make our business scalable and to achieve our vision of providing safe and decent housing to all.” 

Gnanli Landrou

Gnanli Landrou is a materials scientist and entrepreneur. He was born in Togo, and when he was a young boy he travelled with his uncle in West Africa watching him build earth houses. Later, whilst studying in France he researched the challenges facing the global construction industry – energy and CO2 ​intensive production of cement, dwindling supplies of construction grade sand and gravel, and the high cost of concrete, unaffordable in many countries. Gnanli had experienced the benefits of building with clay/earth but also understood how labour-intensive and time-consuming traditional clay brick construction was. As a doctoral student at ETH Zurich, Gnanli worked with mentor Professor Guillaume Habert and together, they developed a process to turn clay-​based excavation material into an alternative cement free concrete. Importantly this material can be poured as concrete using the ready-mix infrastructure of the concrete industry. 

His ETH spin-​off company Oxara, is now developing a cement-​free concrete made from clay-​based excavation material with his main goal to solve the lack of affordable housing in Africa. In 2019 Forbes magazine listed Gnanli as one of Europe’s 30 most influential entrepreneurs under the age of 30. 

This talk is co-hosted and kindly supported by the Engineering Club http://engineeringclub.org.uk/ 

https://technicalstudies.tumblr.com/

For details contact: Will McLean – w.f.mclean@wmin.ac.uk 

Association for Tourism in Higher Education Seminar: “Resilience, Recovery, and Rejuvenation” | Friday, November 25, 10:45 – 15:00 (GMT), Marylebone Campus, M416 (morning session) + MG28 (afternoon session)

When: Friday, 25th of November at 10:45am

Where: M416 + MG28, University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Road, NW1 5LS

The Association for Tourism in Higher Education’s (ATHE) seminar Resilience, Recovery, and Rejuvenation will take place on Friday, 25th of November from 10.45am to 3pm. The morning session will be held in M416, and the afternoon session in MG28.

This timely event is being organised by Ilaria Pappalepodore.

You can book a place using this link: www.athe.org.uk/booking/

All welcome!

Technical Studies Lecture Series: Dr Pooja Basnett, University of Westminster “Bacterial Polymers” | Thursday, November 10 at 18:00 (GMT), Online

When: Thursday, 10th of November, 6pm (GMT)

Where: ONLINE (Due to the London Underground strike action)

Dr. Pooja Basnett is a lecturer in Biological Sciences. She received a Cavendish scholarship from the University of Westminster to complete a PhD in Applied Biotechnology titled ‘Biosynthesis of Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) and their application in medical device development’. Following her PhD, she worked as a lead postdoc in the European Union-funded project – ReBioStent aimed at developing drug-eluting biodegradable stents. She also worked as a postdoc on other EU projects – NEURIMP which focused on the development of nerve conduits for peripheral nerve repair; POLYBIOSKIN – aimed at developing biocompatible and biodegradable skin contact products. She was also involved in an EPSRC funded project titled CYCLOPS which focused on the development of a wound healing patch with Artificial Intelligence (AI).  

Pooja’s research focuses on the production of bioplastics using bacteria and their application in medicine – she is also exploring other potential uses. Basnett has worked on producing novel biopolymers such as polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) via bacterial fermentation process using a range of waste streams. PHAs are naturally occurring biodegradable polymers and are a potential replacement for some petrochemical-based plastics. 

https://technicalstudies.tumblr.com/

For details contact: Will McLean  

w.f.mclean@wmin.ac.uk 

Architecture + Cities Research Seminar: “EXTRA Project” by Enrica Papa, Emilia Smeds and Tom Cohen | Monday, October 31 at 1pm (GMT) M416, Marylebone Campus + Online

When: Monday, 31st of October, 13:00-14:00 (GMT)

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

The next Architecture + Cities Research Seminar will be by Enrica Papa, Emilia Smeds and Tom Cohen, on their work within the EXTRA project, Experimenting with City Streets to Transform Urban Mobility. It will be a hybrid event in M416, with the virtual link here. 

All staff and students are welcome to attend.

UoW + Docomomo UK: Lyons Israel Ellis Gray “A visit to Cavendish Campus hosted by Tony Fretton” | Friday, October 7 at 18:30 (BST)

When: Friday, 7th of October at 6.30pm

Where: Cavendish Campus, University of Westminster, 115 New Cavendish St, London W1B 2HW

To book tickets please go here.

Please join us for an event organised jointly with Docomomo UK:

We are celebrating the University’s finest building: 115 New Cavendish Street, and the work of its architects Lyons, Israel, Ellis.

John Ellis, architect and son of the partner Tom Ellis, will bein conversation with Elain Harwood and John Miller.

Lyons, Israel, Ellis, ‘the most important form of architects you never heard of’, were a remarkable firm and employers / mentors of Neave Brown, Alan Colquhoun, Eldred Evans, James Gowan, John Gray, Richard MacCormac, Rick Mather, John Miller, and James Stirling.

The Robin Evans Lecture 2022: Andrew Holmes – IMAGINATION: From Ink to Light | Tuesday, October 25 at 18:00 (BST), Robin Evans Room and online

When: Tuesday, 25th of October at 6pm (BST)

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

About the Speaker

Born in 1947 in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, Andrew Holmes moved to London in 1966, and attended the Architectural Association.

He is best known for a series of 150 photo realistic colour pencil drawings exploring the apparently anonymous mobile infrastructure of cities. In addition his work encompasses printmaking, photography, film, and design.

The work in all its forms has been exhibited, and published widely for fifty-five years. Holmes is Professor Emeritus of Architecture at Oxford Brookes University, Guest Professor at the Technische Universitaat, Berlin, and a Visiting Scholar at the Getty Research Institute. He lives and works in London.

http://www.andrewholmes.me.uk

About this event

Andrew’s personal view is not the conventional idea of imagination. He will be talking about his experience of drawing.

During his working life the digital revolution has enabled a transformation. The craft of pencil and ink on paper has been joined by the skill of drawing with light. Andrew is fascinated by the ways in which an idea in the mind can be represented to the outside world.

The talk comprises an intense collection of images and visual effects. It offers observations about the unique quality of handicraft and the elements of three traditions:

Art is evidence, and an ability to select significant objects and experiences.

Art is the residue of engaging the existing systems with particular mechanical techniques and processes.

Art provides the possibility of fabricating new versions of reality.

About the Robin Evans Lecture Series

This series supports outstanding scholarship in the history of architecture and allied fields, building on the work of Professor Robin Evans (1944-1993). It encourages scholars working on the relationship between the spatial and social domains in architectural drawing, construction and beyond.

Evans’ work interrogated the spaces that existed between drawing and building, geometry and architecture, teasing out the points of translation often overlooked. From his early work on prison design and domestic spaces, through to his later work on architectural geometry, Evans sought to articulate the multiple points at which the human imagination could influence architectural form. His first book, The Fabrication of Virtue, analysed the way that spatial layouts provided opportunities for social reform via their interference with morality, privacy and class. In The Projective Cast: Architecture and its Three Geometries, Evans traced the origins of the humanist tradition to understand how human form influenced architectural drawing and construction, focusing on aesthetic dimensions in the production of architectural space.

This series will provide opportunities for the creation and/or dissemination of work by scholars working on similar questions of space, temporality, and architecture. In particular, it supports work that breaks the boundaries of traditional disciplines to think though these complex networks involved in the space between human imagination and architectural production.

Registering for the event

This year’s lecture will take place in the Robin Evans Room in hybrid format, with a limited number of places available for in-person attendance by students, staff and externals – in line with capacity for the room (100). Additionally, there is capacity for up to 500 attending remotely via Zoom. You must register if you plan to attend.

The in-person iteration will be followed by a short drinks reception in the Robin Evans Room, closing at approximately 21:00.

Register via Eventbrite

AJ Student Prize 2022 nominees: Reece Murray (BA Arch DS3.4) and Rebecca Kelly (MArch DS11)

Congratulations to Reece Murray from DS3.4 BA (Hons) Architecture and Rebecca Kelly from DS11 MArch on being nominated for this year’s AJ Student Prize.

To read more about their projects visit here.

Giorgios Malliaropoulos from MArch DS18 to participate in 2022 Sustainability Workshop organised by the Norman Foster Foundation

Congratulations to Giorgios Malliaropoulos, MArch DS18 student, on being selected from hundreds of applicants to be one of ten to participate in the 2022 Sustainability Workshop and represent the University of Westminster.

His interest in sustainability has been proved through his University project last year – ‘’Institute of Ground Tectonics’’ developed while at DS18, under the tutelage of Laura Nica, John Cook, and Ben Pollock. The project is a laboratory for investigating soil structures , sampling analysis and morphological changes in land. Constructed out of a series of innovative aggregate mixtures, the proposal was aiming to minimise the use of material and carbon-intensive materials, materials that would adapt to extreme weather conditions such as drought and storms. This project included complex climatic data gathering, diligent research, Computational fluid dynamics simulations, high standard drawings, and carefully crafted prototypes. 

Giorgios is currently finalising his research topic and agenda for the workshop, but he is interested in exploring soil morphologies & the possibility of controlling through design, nutrient concentration for more fertile soils and enhanced agriculture yields.