Technical Studies Lecture Series: Steve Webb, Webb Yates Engineers “Low Carbon Structures” | Thursday, November 3 at 18:00 (GMT), M416 + Online

When: Thursday, 3rd of November, 6pm (GMT)

Where: M416, University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Road, NW1 5LS + Livestream (see Tumblr Site below)

Steve Webb founded Webb Yates Engineers with Andy Yates in 2005. Steve started his career as a site engineer for the Jubilee Line Extension, gaining first-hand experience of site issues and subterranean construction in London. He went on to work at Whitby Bird and Sinclair Knight Merz and Santiago Calatrava, where he worked on prestigious projects including Wembley Arena and the Turning Torso tower in Sweden, a 58-storey residential tower with a dramatic twisting form achieved with a hybrid steel and concrete frame. 

Steve is interested in combining imagination with technical rigour to create thoughtful and inventive structural designs. Since founding the company, he has led a number of prestigious and multi award-winning projects including 15 Clerkenwell Close with Amin Taha and the repurposing of the landmark Hoover Building into residential accommodation. 

Steve has pioneered the practice’s approach to innovation and sustainability. Encouraging the use of non-conventional materials, from cast iron to cork and from inflatables to stone, to design low carbon and environmentally conscious structures.  

In 2020 Steve was awarded the Milne Medal, for continuously challenge and redefine what is considered possible in structural design. 

Steve also regularly lectures at universities and events and he has taught at the AA, RCA, and the Bartlett. He has also written for industry magazines including BD and the RIBAJ, and has judged various awards for the RIBA and iStructE. 

https://technicalstudies.tumblr.com/

For details contact: Will McLean 

w.f.mclean@wmin.ac.uk 

ArCCAT Screening: “How to Save the Planet: Degrowth v Green Growth” with Jason Hickle, Samuel Frankhauser and Kate Raworth | Tuesday, November 8 at 4pm (GMT) in M309, Marylebone Campus

When: Tuesday, 8th of November, 16.00 – 18.00

Where: M309, University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Rd, NW1 5LS

ArCCAT will be screening the recording of How to Save the Planet: Degrowth v Green Growth, a debate between Jason Hickle and Samuel Fankhauser moderated by Kate Raworth.

The screening will be followed by a short discussion.

All are welcome to attend.

Experiments with Body Agent Architecture: Alessandro Ayuso Book Launch | Thursday, October 20, Fabrication Lab, Marylebone Campus, UoW at 19:00 (BST)

When: Thursday, 20th of October at 7pm

Where: Fabrication Lab, University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Rd, NW1 5LS

Join us for the launch of Experiments with Body Agent Architecture, with a reading by the author, Dr Alessandro Ayuso. This event is a part of ‘The Knowledge Exchange’ initiated by Fabrication Lab.

Please RSVP through the link provided here.

Technical Studies Lecture Series: Dr László Tálas, University of Bristol “The Science of Camouflage” | Thursday, October 20 at 18:00 (BST), M416 + Online

When: Thursday, 20th of October, 6pm (BST)

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

Dr László Tálas is a Lecturer in Animal Sensing and Biometrics at the Bristol Veterinary School, whose research interests concern computational approaches to applied vision and questions lying at the intersection of sensory biology, psychology, history and art. László is particularly passionate about how visual scenes can be “understood” using computer vision and what comparisons can be drawn with biological visual systems. His current research focuses on early automatic disease detection in animals using thermal imaging and deep learning, while also running projects on investigating optimal colouration for concealment and visibility in animals and humans.  

László’s PhD work focused on how camouflage uniform patterns have evolved since the early 20th century, using methods from computer vision to establish similarity metrics between patterns and phylogenetics to model how patterns of allied / hostile countries have influenced each other’s designs. 

https://technicalstudies.tumblr.com/

For details contact: Will McLean  

w.f.mclean@wmin.ac.uk 

Technical Studies Lecture Series: Steven Johnson, The Architecture Ensemble “Flimwell Park” | Thursday, October 13 at 18:00 (BST), M416 + Live Stream

When: Thursday, 13th of October, 6pm (BST)

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

Steven Johnson was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He attended Kansas State University to study architecture and followed this with a short period of working in Kansas City. In 1986 he moved to London to take a Masters in Architecture at the Architectural Association, and he has lived and worked in London ever since.  

Having worked for several London firms, Steven practiced as a consultant with Edward Cullinan Architects, serving as the project architect on the award-winning Downland Gridshell at the Weald & Downland Open Air Museum in West Sussex. The mix of new technology and timber processes in the Downland Gridshell required pushing timber construction and architecture in new and innovative directions.  

Upon completion of the Downland Gridshell, Steven established The Architecture Ensemble in 2002. Its main emphasis is to explore possibilities in timber architecture using both traditional methods and cutting-edge technological advances while remaining acutely sensitive to ecological issues. Steven was a co-founder of the Timberbuild Network based at Flimwell, East Sussex. The Network was established to help rebuild links between timber growers, saw millers, carpenters, builders, and designers in order to re-ignite the interest in and the use of local timber within the South East of England.  

The Flimwell Park development is a pioneering new sustainable woodland development designed by Steven Johnson to connect people with its woodland surroundings. Set in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the Village of Flimwell on the East Sussex border with Kent, the aim is to enhance the wellbeing of the community that will live, work and visit. Environmental, social, and economic sustainability has been at the heart of Flimwell Park, with all timber sustainably sourced and weathering steel used for the window bay cladding. Onsite solar power is generated from 300 photo-voltaic cells located on building roofs, cladding, and canopies, with a grid of solar thermal units heating water directly from the sun. Flimwell Park is one of the first mixed-use, sustainable woodland developments in the UK. 

https://technicalstudies.tumblr.com/

For details contact: Will McLean  

w.f.mclean@wmin.ac.uk 

Technical Studies Lecture Series: Deborah Saunt, DSDHA “Recent Projects” | Thursday, October 6 at 18:00 (BST), M416 + Live Stream

When: Thursday, 6th of October, 6pm (BST)

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

Deborah is one of the founding directors of DSDHA. Her recent and ongoing projects include the refurbishment of London’s iconic Economist Plaza in St James and a new building on Piccadilly for The Crown Estate. Large urban scale work includes the regeneration of a 600-home estate for London Borough of Southwark with a strong focus on engagement, the creation of Cundy Street Quarter, a new 2.4-acre mixed-tenure neighbourhood in Westminster, the redesign of the public realm around the Royal Albert Hall, the public realm framework for the West End including the reimagining of Tottenham Court Road, and a new park for the City of London above Liverpool Street Station. 

Much of her current work is concerned with democratising architecture, having set up the Jane Drew Prize in Architecture, and helping to redefine the role of architecture in the 21st century – addressing people’s emerging needs in the context of rapidly shifting environmental, technological and social conditions. Deborah is a Trustee of the London School of Architecture, of which she was a Founding Director, which focuses on broadening access to the profession and building new collaborative forms of research and practice. She regularly talks and writes on issues of diversity and innovation in the built environment.  

Deborah gained her PhD with the RMIT Practice Research Programme, and has held academic appointments at Yale School of Architecture, Universidad de Navarra, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne and the University of Cambridge. 

For details contact: Will McLean 

w.f.mclean@wmin.ac.uk 

https://technicalstudies.tumblr.com/

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

MORE 2022 | Friday, September 23, 2022 from 18:30 (BST) at Marylebone Campus + Online

When: Friday, 23rd of September 2022 from 6.30pm (BST)

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

Join us on Friday 23 September for the launch of MORE 2022, an exhibition of the University of Westminster’s School of Architecture + Cities Master’s students’ thesis projects.

The exhibition will launch in Room M416 at 18:30 on Friday 23 September with a hybrid event, for both in-person attendees and those who may wish to attend online (via Zoom).  

The celebratory event will be followed by contributions from each of the participating courses (paired with the School’s annual student awards), and will close with a musical performance.

The physical exhibition will be supported by an online iteration – MORE 2022 – which will also launch on the evening of Friday 23 September at http://www.openstudiowestminster.org/more2022/

Register for the opening night via Eventbrite

OPEN2022 continues until Monday, July 11 in our Marylebone studios

When: June 17 – July 11, daily from 9am-5pm

Where: School of Architecture + Cities, University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Rd, NW1 5LS London

OPEN 2022 is a hybrid exhibition of projects that reflect the varied design approaches of the University of Westminster’s School of Architecture + Cities, its diverse students, and their place at the heart of London. The show celebrates the openness and diversity of the University of Westminster’s Architecture and Design students and includes an extensive range of creative student work from first year to graduation, drawing on the vast body of developmental and finished work imagined and realised over the course of the last academic year.

The exhibition features work from:

  • Architecture BA
  • Architecture and Environmental Design BSc
  • Architectural Technology BSc
  • Designing Cities BA
  • Interior Architecture BA
  • MArch (RIBA Part II)

The exhibition continues in our Marylebone studios until Monday, July 11. It is available for viewing from 9am to 5pm, daily. For those unable to visit us in person, the online version of the exhibition can be accessed here.

https://vimeo.com/724434953
OPEN2022 BA Architecture | Film by Bodhi Horton from DS3.4

Photography by Rory Lindsay

LFA 2022 | Make Design Matter Talk: Article 25 & Hayes Davidson “Kao La Amani Children’s Village” | Thursday, June 30, 2022 at 18:30 (BST) at Hayes Davidson Studio

When: Thursday, 30th of June 2022 at 6.30pm (BST)

Where: Hayes Davidson Studio, Studio A, 21 Conduit Place, London W2 1HS

In Tanzania, roughly 8% of children under the age of 18 are orphaned with an estimated 90,000 orphans in the northern region of Kilimanjaro alone.

Over fifteen years of humanitarian architectural experience have shown them how architecture can create a positive lasting impact. The Kao La Amani Children’s Village in Tanzania (https://www.article-25.org/project-kao-la-amani) is the focus of this month’s talk addressing how they build communities in places like Boma Ng’ombe which upon completion will replace an existing orphanage. From intimate living and study spaces to expansive areas for sport and play, the village is designed as a safe place where children of different ages can grow and develop together. Operable off-grid, the sustainability features allow the school to run at minimal costs while protecting its natural resources and ensuring the Children’s Village can continue to provide to children in this area for decades to come. 

Hayes Davidson is co-presenting and hosting this Make Design Matter Talk. Hayes Davidson supported on-the-ground charity Tír na nÓg Childrens Foundation CLG, by providing a visual narrative which would both engage the community of Boma in the design process, and also help secure funding for the construction of the project. They designed an immersive VR experience, using a playful ‘picture book’ aesthetic to appeal particularly to children. Their visuals reference the materials and colours of the local environment, and even the children’s existing school uniform, to create a process of engagement which is accessible, familiar and encourages participation. 

Hayes Davidson is a studio bringing architecture to life through powerful, emotive, and immersive artworks in various media and delighted to have partnered with humanitarian architecture charity Article 25 for the Kao La Amani project.

MAKE DESIGN MATTER is a series of monthly inspirational talks for humanitarians. Article 25 brings together outstanding design professionals who work with and support local communities through international development. These inspiring monthly panel discussions consider the pursuit of progressive, sustainable architecture, which focuses on the communities they serve. 

Register for this live talk here.

London Festival of Architecture

Article 25 is a small charity that relies on the support of built environment professionals and others to help fund our work. Please make a donation in support of their work.