Open Studio is an interactive project run by the School of Architecture + Cities at the University of Westminster to make its design, research and practice-based work available online while it is happening. The site acts as a real time teaching and learning environment in which the work of both students and staff is curated and documented – the work of its design studios, or its other teaching and research groups and workshops. Read more in Blog, follow us on Twitter and like us on Instagram.
When: Monday, 6th of February, 13:00-14:00 (GMT)
Where: M321, University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Road, NW1 5LS
The next Architecture and Cities Research Seminar will take place on the 6th of February, 2023, 13.00 – 14.00 as an in-person presentation in M321 (note the change of venue from previous seminars). It will be given by Elias Pajeres, a researcher currently visiting the EX-TRA project.
All staff and students are welcome to attend.
Heritage Dot is a conference bringing together heritage + digital, taking place online on 22nd March 2023.
The University of Lincoln is hosting the second Heritage Dot Conference with the support of The National Lottery Heritage Fund and other partners, exploring digital horizons in relation to cultural heritage.
Heritage Dot will offer a platform for sharing, challenging, disrupting and interrogating what digital heritage is and does across professional, academic and community sectors with interests in heritage; read more here.
How would you like to take part?
Respond now to the call for participation and submit your proposal for your opportunity to present your project, share your experiences, or outline your research for a wide audience of heritage and digital sector professionals, researchers, volunteers and supporters.
If you’d like to attend the conference, register your interest here for news and updates about Heritage Dot including registration announcements.
How to get involved
Find out more at heritagedot.org or contact heritagedot@lincoln.ac.uk.
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
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
When: Monday, 28th of November, 13:00-14:00 (GMT)
Where: M416, University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Road, NW1 5LS
The next Architecture + Cities Research Seminar will be on Monday 28 November, by Andrew Smith, Professor of Urban Experiences and Director of the Sustainable Cities and the Urban Environment Research Community (SCUE). Andrew’s presentation, ‘Beyond the Pale’ will critically analyse temporary fencing in public parks for ticketed festivals.
Note that this will be an in-person only seminar.
When: Tuesday, 22nd of November, 6pm (GMT)
Where: M416, University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Road, NW1 5LS + Online (see tumblr page below for link)
“bamboo … the green steel of the 21st Century”
Vo Trong Nghia
Bamboo is not a new building material, but given changing environmental design imperatives, this aggressive fast-growing plant species provides a strong and durable construction material. Bamboo is the largest member of the grass family and is one of the fastest growing plants on the planet – Moso bamboo from China can grow up 900 mm a day. Bamboo can be ready for harvest and construction use in three to five years compared with 20-25, for softwood timber.
Jan will discuss new developments in the field of bamboo processing and engineering and the Future of building with this fast-growing ‘regenerative’ construction material. The talk will also feature a contribution from bamboo architect Samsul Aripin. In January 2020, designer and Bamboo builder Jan Balbaligo working with non-profit arts and social enterprise Cosmic Convergence completed the Eco-Salon in San Pablo La Laguna, Solalá, Guatemala. The Eco-Salon is a multi-functional indoor space built on top of an existing public school to provide space for music, sports, arts, dance and other activities to complement and enrich the formal education. The building structure is a bamboo framework, with a bamboo lathe (bamboo splits) roof and bamboo split walls with a Bajareke (clay and sand) infill. Jan Balbaligo is a great advocate for the use of bamboo in construction and she has worked on a number of temporary festival structures and small school and community buildings.
https://technicalstudies.tumblr.com/
For details contact: Will McLean – w.f.mclean@wmin.ac.uk
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!
When: Thursday, 17th of November, 6pm (GMT)
Where: M416, University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Road, NW1 5LS + Online (see tumblr page below for link)
“Earth blocks have one tenth of the embodied carbon of other commonly specified materials such as blockwork, which is a cement-based product. Aside from the high energy demand during production, blockwork and concrete manufacturing consumes large quantities of sand, which has led to fast depleting sand supplies and environmentally damaging sea extraction. The low embodied carbon of earth blocks is a great starting point that positions us ahead of what most commercial developments are committing to right now.”
Nikolay Shahpazov
Since joining Bennetts Associates in 2019, Nikolay has been involved in various areas of research, with a particular focus on regenerative materials, setting up contacts with suppliers and manufacturers. Nikolay is a member of the Bennetts Associates Sustainability group. He studied architecture at the Architectural Association in London, graduating in 2007 and winning the Alex Stanhope Forbes Prize.
As part of the new Tribeca development behind Kings Cross, Nikolay is helping to pioneer a new regenerative building process that will see the excavated subsoil of the site transformed into unfired earth blocks for use in the project. This initiative will reduce landfill waste and harness the benefits of this natural building material – regulating indoor temperature and humidity levels, and purifying the air by trapping and metabolising airborne pollutants.
https://technicalstudies.tumblr.com/
For details contact: Will McLean – w.f.mclean@wmin.ac.uk
When: Wednesday, 16th of November, 13:00-14:00 (GMT)
Where: Online
The next Architecture + Cities Research Seminar will be by Mengqui Cao, titled “The Sharing Economy: Car sharing in Greater London.” It will be an online event, and you can access the link here.
All staff and students are welcome to attend.
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
