Category: Events

Shape to Fabrication 2023 [ STF #8 ] | Workshops: 22nd – 24th April 2023 | Conference: 26th-27th April 2023 at the University of Westminster, Marylebone Campus

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

When: Workshops on Saturday 22nd, Sunday 23rd, and Monday 24th of April 2023 | Conference on Wednesday 26th and Thursday 27th 2023

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

The School of Architecture + Cities is hosting Shape To Fabrication 2023. This is the first time that the industry leading event has been hosted by a university. The conference sessions are co-moderated by Arthur Mamou Mani (MArch DS10 tutor).

Shape to Fabrication is an Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) and Design focused conference, presenting innovative real world projects going beyond the theoretical. Focus is on proven application and evidence based project delivery.

Presenters at the conference represent an international field of Architects, Engineers, Designers, Fabricators and Software Developers, all working at the cutting-edge of their industries within AEC and Design.

The 8th iteration of Shape to Fabrication is presented in partnership with the School of Architecture and Cities, University of Westminster, and the 2-day conference takes place at the University of Westminster’s Marylebone Campus, London, on the 26th & 27th April 2023.

For more information and to book tickets please go here.

University of Westminster staff and students, to book please use the links below:

Featured Image: Shape to Fabrication, Brian Gillespie, Robert McNeel and Associates, 2018

Supercrit #9: Sauerbruch Hutton present GSW Berlin | May 3, 2023 in M416, Marylebone Campus, University of Westminster at 15:00

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

When: Wednesday, 3rd of May 2023 at 3pm

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

To book you place via Eventbrite, please go here.

The acclaimed Supercrits series returns on May 3, with Louisa Hutton, Matthias Sauerbruch and Juan Lucas Young presenting Sauerbruch Hutton’s groundbreaking project GSW, completed in 1999, for a ‘crit’ by a panel of international critics and a public and student audience.

Built in ‘the magic (but brief) moment after the fall of the Berlin Wall, when the potential future was stronger than all of the present’, GSW suggested a new, progressive, environmentally responsible and beautiful architecture which could relink the severed halves of the city. An assembly of different parts and forms relating history and future, it pioneered an environmental approach as an expressive part of its architecture, notably in its beautifully coloured, adjustable, solar-shuttered facade, which acts as a ‘dynamic painting’ in reds and pinks, fusing occupancy and sustainability.

The panel of critics will include:

  • – Paul Finch, director of the World Architecture Festival;
  • – Susannah Hagan, founding director of RED (Research into Environment and Design) and Emerita Professor University of Westminster;
  • – Dirk van den Heuvel, Associate Professor of Architecture at TU Delft;
  • – Jennifer O’Donnell, founder of Plattenbau Studio;
  • – Oliver Wainwright, architecture and design critic at the Guardian.

The event will be chaired by Kester Rattenbury, Paolo Zaide and Conor Sheehan (Studio MASH).

Devised in 2003 by the research group EXP at the University of Westminster, Supercrits invites the world’s most influential architects ‘back to school’ to present a well known project to an expert panel and student audience. Former Supercrits have been Cedric Price: Potteries ThinkBelt; Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown: Learning From Las Vegas; Richard Rogers: The Pompidou Centre; Bernard Tschumi: Parc de la Villette; Rem Koolhaas: Delirious New York; Leon Krier: Poundbury; Michael Wilford: Neue Staatsgalerie; and Will Alsop: Le Grand Bleu.

More information on previous Supercrits can be found at:

website www.supercrits.com

books https://www.routledge.com/Supercrit/book-series/SUPERCRITS

instagram @supercrits

The event is free to attend, however places are limited and a valid ticket will be required for entry.

Architecture History + Theory Guest Lecture: Hélène Binet, “The Making of a Photograph” | Thursday, March 30 at 18:00 (BST) in Robin Evans Room (M416)

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

When: Thursday, 30th of March 2023 at 6pm (BST)

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

“The making of a photograph is constructing a microworld: it has its own technique, craft and aim. Through this lecture, we will explore thirty-five years in the making.”

Over a period of more than thirty-five years Hélène Binet has captured both contemporary and historic architecture. She is a fervent advocate of analogue photography, working exclusively with film, and a firm believer that ‘the soul of photography is its relationship with the instant’.

Binet’s work has been exhibited in both national and international exhibitions, including a solo exhibition at the Power Station of Art, Shanghai, in 2019. She was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 2007 and in 2015 was the recipient of the Julius Shulman Institute Excellence in Photography Award. She was also the recipient of the 2019 Ada Louise Huxtable Prize, awarded to a woman who has made a major contribution to architecture, and is one of the Royal Photographic Society’s Hundred Heroines.

ALL WELCOME

Exhibition + Symposium: “Le Corbusier’s Models of Worldmaking”, Dr. Hamed Khosravi and Prof. Igea Troiani | Thursday, March 30, 2023, 17:30-20:30 (BST) | London South Bank University (LSBU)

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

The exhibition of models is open to the public from 21th of March to 6th April 2023 and is the foyer of the Keyworth Centre, LSBU. 

The Symposium will take place in: Lecture Theatre A, Keyworth Centre, London South Bank University (LSBU), Keyworth Street, London SE1 6NG

To register please go here.

Since the early 20th century Le Corbusier’s projects have been unavoidable points of reference in architectural knowledge and practice. Their roles, however, have changed historically from avant-garde and polemic statements of icons of the modernist movement, to stigmatised and politically charged constructions, and, in recent years, to contested grounds for reflections on ethical, socially-aware, and ecologically-just practices. His projects, whether built or unbuilt, operate in the tension between architecture imagined and architecture conceived. This space in-between is precisely the quality that turns them into the driving force for progression and reconsideration of the field of architecture. Their discursive, imaginative, and projective qualities have produced socio-spatial imaginaries and expressible fantasies. 

The symposium celebrates an exhibition of 150+ models of Le Corbusier’s built and unbuilt projects proposed for 13 countries. It brings together researchers, architects, and scholars to revisit Le Corbusier’s Models of Worldmaking examined through various architectural, pedagogical, and theoretical perspectives. The speakers outline a systematic form of enquiry reflecting on key experimental and methodological applications of Le Corbusier’s work, ones that could be catalysts of change or critical reflection on our radically changing profession.

Convened by Dr. Hamed Khosravi and Prof. Igea Troiani

Guest Speakers: Brigitte Bouvier (Director, Fondation Le Corbusier), Prof. Alan Powers (London School of Architecture), Prof. Tim Benton (Open University), Rene Tan (Director, RT+Q), Layton Reid (Visiting Prof. at University of West London)

VR Design Summer School: “Re-Imagining Coral Reefs” run by John Zhang | June 19-28, 2023

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

Re-Imagining Coral Reefs is a VR Design Summer School that invites student co-creators to contribute to an immersive VR installation that communicates the vital climate science of coral reef restoration to a wider audience. Working with marine biologists from ZSL London, students will explore the vital scientific research on coral reefs, an ecosystem that provides habitats to 25% of the world’s marine species. 

Using 3D scans and audio data of coral reefs collected from the field in Indonesia, students will create their own 3D VR interpretations of coral reef models that engage the public in a more empathic understanding of the climate science. They will also be re-designing new forms of reef restoration structures in collaboration with the scientists. Through these activities, students will be learning to use the Meta Quest VR headset as a design tool, as well as a range of digital tools typically deployed in spatial and game design, such as Grasshopper, Unity, Gravity Sketch, as well as fabricating their creation via 3D printing. The output from the summer school will be part of an London Festival of Architecture Exhibition/Event.

The Summer School is open to all students within the school, including final year students. Places are limited, so an interview process will be implemented. Once we have received your application, we will be in touch with further instructions. 

Briefing Session 1: 31st  March 1pm M327

Briefing Session 2: 27th of April 1pm M306

Apply at: https://tinyurl.com/yc5dtufy

Contact: John Zhang at zhangj@westminster.ac.uk

Gresham College Lectures: “The Future of Tall Buildings” by Roger Ridsdill Smith, Foster + Partners | Thursday, April 27, 2023 at 18:00 (BST) | Barnard’s Inn Hall or Online

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

When: Thursday, 27th of April 2023 at 6pm (BST)

Where: Gresham College, Barnard’s Inn Hall, or Online/ Watch Later

Ticketed, free

This lecture will explore the technologies that make tall buildings possible. With the current climate crisis in mind, what is the carbon footprint of a building, and how can it be reduced?

Finally, the lecturer will present some recent projects by Foster + Partners, and set out his vision for the future of tall buildings, the new technologies that are improving them, and the benefits they offer to society.

For more information and to register please go here.

Gresham College Lectures: “Architects and Engineers: Making Infrastructure Beautiful” by Sadie Morgan OBE, dRMM Architects and School of Architecture + Cities | Tuesday, April 25, 2023 at 18:00 (BST) | Barnard’s Inn Hall or Online

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

When: Tuesday, 25th of April 2023 at 6pm (BST)

Where: Gresham College, Barnard’s Inn Hall, or Online/ Watch Later

Ticketed, free

Design excellence should be at the heart of all development. But what makes design good or bad? How can you build in beauty and longevity? Looking at both policy and projects, from the National Infrastructure Strategy policy document for the NIC, to the Birmingham Curzon Street Station for HS2, this lecture will examine the elements behind making good design happen.

For more information and to register please go here.

Architecture History + Theory Guest Lecture: Joseph Cook, “Ethnography and Architecture” | Thursday, March 16 at 6pm (GMT) in Robin Evans Room (M416) + online

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

When: Thursday, 16th of March at 18:00 (GMT)

Where: Robin Evans Room (M416), University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Rd, NW1 5LS + online

Due to the rail strike this lecture will also be live streamed via MS Teams:

Click here to join the lecture online via MS Teams

In this lecture, Joseph Cook (UCL Anthropology) will introduce links between anthropology and architectural practice going back to the turn of the 20th century, from studying lighting levels in Chicago, to turning the tables on Margaret Mead to design the office of the future. The second half of the lecture will focus on ways in which taking a more ethnographic approach to design could lead to both an improved built environment, and a more considerate culture of design education.

Joseph Cook is a former BA Architecture student at Westminster, currently completing his PhD at UCL Anthropology, having undertaken an ethnography within a multinational design firm. He also works with UCL Urban Laboratory and is a Research Assistant with the School of Population Health at Queen Mary University of London.

Featured image: Participant testing a Herman Miller Office Nap Pad in 1964.

Architecture + Cities Research Seminar: Nick Beech “Translating Ferro/Transforming Knowledge: Sergio Ferro, William Morris and a new field ” | Wednesday, March 8 at 1pm (GMT) | Online

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

When: Wednesday, 8th of March at 13:00 (GMT)

Where: Online (link below)

The next Architecture + Cities Research Seminar will be given by Nick Beech, Senior Lecturer in the History and Theory of Architecture, a member of the Architectural Humanities Research Group and Co-Director of the Centre for the Study of the Production of the Built Environment (ProBE), at 13.00 online, on March 8. The topic of the seminar is: 

      Translating Ferro/Transforming Knowledge: Sergio Ferro, William Morris and a new field (details below). 

The link to the seminar is here. 

School of Architecture + Cities: Gender Ecologies Symposium | March 14-15, 2023

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

When: Tuesday, 14th of March, 13:30 (GMT) – Wednesday, 15th March, 16:30 (GMT)

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

Gender Ecologies is a programme of the British Council launched to support the development and delivery of projects that explore the intersection of women, climate change and arts, demonstrating how arts can be a catalyst for positive change, action and impact in environmental issues. The programme promotes collaboration and mutual exchange of crossdisciplinary knowledge and skills between Pakistan and the UK.

Book your tickets on Eventbrite

Please note: when booking your tickets for the conference, please note you will need to reserve tickets for both days (14 and 15 March) if you intend to be present at both.  

Should you be interested in attending the Cody Dock event on 12th March, please contact Corinna

ITINERARY: OFF SITE/ON SITE WORKSHOP

Sunday 12 March 11 am – 4.30 pm

Location: Cody Dock, Lower Lea Valley

Grounding Landscapes: embodied mapping led by choreographers Claire Burrell and Carolyn Deby from Sirenscrossing with a response from Pakistani based Performance Artist Abuzar Madhu. The Cody Dock resident ecologist will draw observations of the local primary species as part of the workshop.

Tuesday 14 March 1.30 pm -4.30 pm

Location: University of Westminster, Marylebone Road, London, Room 204.

Roundtable symposium where Marvi Mazhar (architect) with Zohaib Kazi (filmmaker) and Abuzar Madhu (performance artist) will be discussing their recent filming of activist fisherwomen, around the Indus River, Pakistan. The documentary will be a visual investigation to open questions about the significance of land and water protection in times of climate crisis. Corinna Dean will respond with her research along the River Lea which looks at the role of contamination and remediation as agency.

Wednesday 15 March 1.30 pm – 4.30 pm

Location: University of Westminster, Marylebone Road, London, Room 204.

The Gender Ecologies team will be joined by Lindsay Bremner, (Professor, architect, writer, head of research UoW) Carolyn Deby, (Sirenscrossing), Claire Burrell (Choreographer) and Kate McMillan (artist, author, King’s College) to discuss how art and research methodologies can raise awareness of environmental issues and environmental justice.