Category: News

Critical Subjects Spring Architecture School | Competition submissions by Thursday, November 16, 2023

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

To attend, please send your competition submission by 16 November 2023

CRITICAL SUBJECTS: ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN SCHOOL

This event takes place on 8-9th February 2024 in London. 

Cost: £20 (students). Includes hostel accommodation for the duration, breakfasts, materials, certificates, networks, tote bag, (potential) prizes, etc.

This short course is for architecture & design students, as well as graduate architects & designers.

See below (and attached poster).

_____________________

COMPETITION

APPLICATIONS OPEN FOR STUDENTS, YOUNG ARCHITECTS & DESIGNERS.
“Critical Subjects: Spring Architecture & Design School” in central London
Entry submissions are due by 16 November 2023 

Details on How to Enter, here. 

APPLICATIONS FOR ENTRY:

To win a place you need to submit a 2-minute (max) video of architectural critique – to arrive by 16 November – that addresses ONE of the following provocations:

• Should we build on the Greenbelt?

or

• Whatever happened to the Space Age?

or

• We need fewer architects, more builders.

Videos must present a cogent, critical, persuasive argument on one of those topics; whatever side you take. Submissions will be judged by a respected, international jury of architects, academics and designers.*

Send ENTRIES to: futurecitiesproject@gmail.com

Details: http://futurecities.org.uk/2023/08/17/how-to-submit-your-entry/

Costs for the 2-day school: £27 total (£20 student concessionary rate) that includes the 2-day school, hostel accommodation and breakfast, materials, certificates and (potential) prizes.

Day 1 (8th February 2024): A day of debates at AHMM offices

Evening debate: “Global Futures” at BDP offices

Day 2 (9th February 2024): A day of making at Heatherwick Studio

Full details here:  http://futurecities.org.uk/critical-subjects/

Please forward to your students and network. It would be appreciated!

*Judges include:

Will Hunter, senior researcher, MIT & founder, London School of Architecture

Glenn Howells, partner, Howells

Andrew Nahum, principal curator of Technology and Engineering, The Science Museum

Alex Lifschutz, director, Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands

Alan Dunlop, director, Alan Dunlop Architect

Simon Allford, PRIBA & founder AHMM

Kim Quazi, director, Arup

Stefanie Schneider, UN Participatory Slum Upgrading Programme

Benjamin Spaeth, professor of Digital Design, Technische Hochschule Lübeck

Zhanet Mishineva, project architect, Clive Chapman Architects

Robert Adam, architect/writer

Azhar Azhar, founder, Azhar Architecture

Darryl Chen, Urban Design lead, Hawkins Brown

Patrik Schumacher, principal, Zaha Hadid Architects

Simhika Rao, associate director, HebHomes, Glasgow

Xing Ruan, dean, School of Design, Shanghai Jiaotong University, China

… additional names on the website

ArCCAT Student Representatives + Square Mile Farms: How to farm vegetables from hydroponic wall installed at Marylebone Campus

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

In 2022, the students in the School of Architecture + Cities received the funding from the Green Fund Scheme to install the hydroponic (green) wall at Marylebone Campus. The University of Westminster’s Centre for Education and Teaching Innovation (CETI) set up the Green Fund Award together with the Sustainability Team to support the students’ sustainability related projects.

The hydroponic wall demonstrates a sustainable method of growing plants without soil, by using water through which nutrients are pumped. This method produces crops quicker and uses 90% less water than soil-based growing methods, as well as requiring no pesticides. The ability to grow plants indoors also allows ‘farmers’ to control temperatures and lighting schedules to improve plant production.

This year, the ArCCAT student reps have been trained by Dhiresh Tailor, Farm Operations Manager at Square Mile Farms, to look after the hydroponic wall, including how to carefully monitor the nutrient solution, and adjust iron and PH levels weekly.

University of Westminster News

The ArCCAT student reps who took part in this initiative are Anna Prideaux, Architecture and Environmental Design BSc Honours; Julie Beech, Interior Architecture BA Honours; Antoni Canyelles, Architecture BA Honours; Maja Kurantowicz, Architecture MA; and Marie Laura Polselli, Interior Architecture MA student.

To find out more about this event please visit here.

ArCCAT members took part in University of Westminster’s inaugural annual Sustainable Development Goals Workshop

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

Westminster academics, University colleagues and postgraduate researchers came together on Tuesday 6 June to explore what the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) mean to them, to share best practice and to discuss ideas on how to overcome challenges while embedding them into the curriculum and their work. The University also announced a new commitment to Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship at the event. 

University of Westminster website

The ArCCAT Lead, Dr Ro Spankie worked with Professor Dibyesh Anand, Dr Pooja Basnett, and Morgan Lirette the Sustainable Development Advisor to organise the inaugural SDG Workshop.

5 ArCCAT Reps – Antoni Canyelles, Maja Kurantowicz, Rowan Isles, Pious Prosper Keku, and Maria Laura Poselli – helped organise the activities and host the occasion.

To read more about the event please visit here.

Professor of Politics, International Relations, and Critical Interdisciplinary Studies Nitasha Kaul debating with ArCCAT Student Rep Maria Laura Polselli 

OPEN2023: MArch Exhibition Videos by Kevin Wong from DS10

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

Now that OPEN2023 has closed, please enjoy these wonderful videos of the MArch design studios at this year’s graduating students’ exhibition. They were made by our talented 1st year MArch student Kevin Wong from DS10.

Credits (videos + featured image):

Email: wongkevin2020@gmail.com

Instagram: Kevinwth

Web: www.wthproduction.work

OPEN2023 continues until Sunday, July 2 in our Marylebone studios

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

When: Friday, June 16 – Sunday, July 2 (Monday-Friday: 10am-6pm; Saturday-Sunday: 10am-4pm)

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

On Thursday, June 16 we launched OPEN2023, our graduating students’ degree show, featuring work from: 

  • Architecture BA
  • Architecture and Environmental Design BSc
  • Architectural Technology BSc
  • Designing Cities BA
  • Interior Architecture BA
  • MArch

The School is committed to its Polytechnic inheritance, and its aim remains to offer ‘a transformative higher education for all’. We view the diversity of our students drawn from across London and the world as key to our success, and we see difference, and a mix of experiences and views, as critical to our exploration of architecture and place. The impact of our student-staff initiatives, such as our Equity Forum and climate action taskforce, ArCCAT, can be seen increasingly in how the School’s projects contribute to meeting our societal and planetary challenges. We embed London practitioners in our core teaching teams to keep us alive to the dynamism of contemporary practice, and continue  to develop cross-disciplinary collaborations, such as with Imperial College Medical School and Westminster Council, and our Live Design Practice – currently on show at Cody Dock. That, in turn, our students are so valued by practices is hugely gratifying.

Harry Charrington, Head of School of Architecture + Cities, OPEN2023

The show was opened by Philomena Wales and it’s a part of the London Festival of Architecture. It continues daily in our Marylebone studios until July 2.

For those unable to visit us in person, the online version of the exhibition can be accessed here.

Photography by Rory Lindsay

Fire Experience Day – Fire Service College, Moreton-in-Marsh

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

On May 22, 2023 a group of staff and students from four courses within the School of Architecture + Cities, University of Westminster attended a Fire Experience Training Day hosted by the Fire Service Training College. The day was sponsored by Axa Insurance, Fire Protection Association (FPA) and School of Architecture + Cities, UoW. The experience and information gathered was particularly useful with regard to the new Building Safety Bill and the developing RIBA/ARB criteria on Design for Fire and Life Safety.

Staff attending:

  • Scott Batty
  • Paolo Zaide
  • Wilfred Achille
  • Adam Thwaites
  • Stefania Boccaletti

Students from, BA Architecture: Umi Sakai-Stoute, Rowan Isles, Oscar Chainey, Eric Turner

Students from, MA Architecture: Galina Dimova, Ramzi Ramzi, Simon McLanaghan

Students from BSc Architecture + Environmental Design: Anastasia Suzdaltseva Kazakova, Elspeth Prowse, Michelle Lai, Sara Stabiglieri

Students from Architectural Technology: Pascal Golda, Amjad Butt, Velina Drakalieva, T’Sean Blake

Congratulations to Rūta Perminaitė from MArch DS22 on being selected as one of 12 finalists for the EU Mies Van der Rohe Young Architecture Talent Award 2023

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

The School of Architecture + Cities is dighted to announce that the shortlisted project of Rūta Perminaitė, MArch student from last year’s DS22 cohort, has gone to the next stage and has been selected as one of the 12 finalist projects for the prestigious EU Mies Van der Rohe Young Architecture Talent Award, an EU prize for Contemporary Architecture. 

You can view Rūta’s project here.

The announcement has taken place in Venice and the project is currently being exhibited as part of the Laboratory of Education in Venice Biennial.

The finalists will go to the third stage where 4 finalists and a winner are to be announced. 

The Awards Ceremony will take place on 29th of June in Venice, in Palazzo Michiel. 

About the Young Talent Architecture Award (YTAA) 

The Young Talent Architecture Award (YTAA) aims to support the talent of recently graduated Architects, Urban Planners and Landscape Architects who will be responsible for transforming our environment in the future. YTAA has emerged from curiosity about and interest in the initial stages in these students’ development and a desire to support their talent as they enter into the professional world.

The winning projects will be distinguished for their excellence, authenticity and innovative nature, as well as their sustainable approach.

The winners will receive a financial reward and will become part of the network of awarded architects of the Prize. Moreover, they will have the opportunity to travel, visit and experience the best examples of architecture.

Featured image: “Paradise on the Edge” by Ruta Perminaite

Dr Paolo Zaide gives keynote speech on Architectural Education at United Architects of the Philippines convention

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

Dr Paolo Zaide, a Filipino-British architect and Course Leader of the School of Architecture + Cities’ Architecture BA Honours course, has presented his ideas on Rethinking Architectural Education at the 48th UAP National Convention on 19-22 April 2023 in Manila.

His talk explored how schools of Architecture in the Philippines could step up to the extreme immediate and long-term challenges of the region and the impact of future trends on the design of the 21st Century City. Through examples from his own teaching and curating practice he spoke about communities, circularity and craft and the importance of architects’ cultural and ecological imagination. […]

University of Westminster News

Read the full article here.

Bursaries available for Vernacular Architecture Group conference, April 11-15, 2023 | Deadline for application: March 3, 2023

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

Three bursaries are offered to assist registered students or professionals in the early years of their career to attend the Vernacular Architecture Group’s spring conference in the Greater Manchester area on 11-15 April 2023. During three full days, delegates will tour the locality, visiting and interpreting lesser traditional buildings. Lectures and discussions will be held in the evenings. 

Details of how to apply can be found at https://www.vag.org.uk/spring-bursary-letter.pdf – please note that the application deadline has been extended to 3 March 2023. 

University of Westminster SA+C: Architecture + Cities Research Studentships | Deadline: 5pm on Friday, May 19, 2023

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

The School of Architecture + Cities at the University of Westminster is pleased to offer three full time studentships and three full time fee waivers only, for three and a half years, for prospective PhD students starting in October 2023 or February 2024. Amongst others, we welcome applicants looking to undertake joint PhDs in partnership with practice, industry and/or business.

Located in the heart of London, the School of Architecture + Cities is a flourishing, cross- and inter-disciplinary school with a reputation for research excellence in architecture and urbanism across a range of disciplines. In the 2021 Research Excellence Framework, our research was judged seventh overall in research power in our Unit of Assessment, a measure of overall number of researchers submitted and overall GPA and research staff involved in supervising PhDs are internationally recognised as leaders in their fields. Our research is organised in five research groups and four research centres. Successful applicants will be aligned with one of these entities and contribute to their research and public engagement activities.

About the Project

Architectural Humanities: Proposals that consider contemporary critical questions about architecture and its contexts, employing humanities-based and/or interdisciplinary methods, such as archival and documentary analysis; oral histories; film and visual analysis; drawing; participatory research; installations; and exhibitions. For further information contact Kate Jordan, k.jordan@westminster.ac.uk or Davide Deriu, d.deriu@westminster.ac.uk or visit the research group’s webpage.

Emerging Territories: For further information contact Krysallia Kamvasinou, k.kamvasinou@westminster.ac.uk or Giulio Verdini, g.verdini@westminster.ac.uk or visit the research group’s webpage.

Making and Practice: Proposals that involve either the use of design or practice based methods and processes within their research, or on testing and evaluating design performance for climate change and human or non- human comfort in the built environment. Research methods may include drawing, fabrication, prototyping, live projects, installations, exhibitions, environmental design and analysis, or materials research. For further information contact John Zhang, j.zhang1@westminster.ac.uk or Paolo Zaide, p.zaide@westminster.ac.uk or visit the research group’s webpage.

Place and Experience: For further information contact Stroma Cole, s.cole@westminster.ac.uk or Ilaria Pappalepore, i.pappalepore@westminster.ac.uk or visit the research group’s webpage.

Transport and Mobilities: Proposals that contribute to research into making transport systems and mobilities safe, sustainable, equitable, accessible to all and promoting of health and wellbeing. Focus areas may include active travel; transport equity; sustainable freight and logistics; air traffic management. For further information contact Enrica Papa, e.papa@westminster.ac.uk or Gerald Gurtner, g.gurtner@westminster.ac.uk or visit the research group’s webpage.

Proposals

Proposals are invited that contribute to one or more of the following research areas. You are strongly advised to discuss your proposal with a research group convenor or potential supervisor before submission.

  • – Proposals that address the interface of planning, urbanism, landscape and architecture, focusing on the societal and environmental challenges faced by cities and territories in relation to climate change and social and environmental injustice.
  • – Proposals that contribute new understandings of decolonising architecture and planning, new critical perspectives of international development, diversity and social inclusion, and health and well-being are particularly encouraged.
  • – Proposals that address questions related to tourism, leisure and events; including city tourism and destination experiences; mega events, festivals, and event design; community-based tourism, tourism / gender, and responsible travel. Research should contribute to knowledge of places and experiences by engaging with wider fields: architecture and urban design; sociology, development studies; anthropology; or cultural geography.

For current research group news see: http://www.openresearchwestminster.org/

Applications are invited for the following awards, which are tenable for up to three and a half years of full-time study subject to minimum enrolment periods:*

One of three studentship awards comprising:

  • – A full-time stipend of £18,062 per annum for three and a half years.
  • – A fee waiver at Home or International rates for three years.** One of three fee waiver only awards comprising

• A fee waiver at Home or International rates for three years.**

Proposals that broaden the school’s commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and / or deal with matters relating to climate change will be prioritised. Home and international applications will be considered for funding and supported at appropriate rates.

The academic staff member responsible for PhD admissions in the School is Dr Kate Jordan who can be contacted by email via: k.jordan@westminster.ac.uk.

Entry requirements and how to apply

Candidates should normally have a minimum classification of 2.1 in their Bachelor Degree or equivalent and preferably a Masters degree. Applicants whose secondary level education has not been conducted in the medium of English should also demonstrate evidence of appropriate English language proficiency normally defined as IELTS: 6.5 (overall score with not less than 6.0 in any of the individual elements).

Read more about out entry requirements here: https://www.westminster.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/research-degrees/how-to-apply-for-a-research-degree

The closing date for applications is 5pm on Friday 19 May 2023. Interviews will be held on Thursday 15 or Friday 16 June either online or in person.

The Studentship title is A+C Research Studentship.