LFA & SA+C: Re-Imagining Coral Reefs | Wednesday – Friday, June 28-30, 2023 from 10:00 to 19:00 (BST) daily | MG28, Marylebone Campus, University of Westminster

When: Wednesday – Friday, 28th – 30th of June 2023, 10am-7pm daily

Where: Ground Floor Learning Platform Room MG28, University of Westminster Marylebone Campus, 35 Marylebone Road, London, NW1 5LS

We are delighted to invite you to Re-Imagining Coral Reefs – a virtual reality (VR) experience aimed at communicating the climate science of coral reef research to a wider audience.

Part of the London Festival of Architecture (LFA)’s programme of events, Re-Imagining Coral Reefs is funded by the QHT Small Grant, and co-created with students from across the School of Architecture and Cities.

Read more about the event here.

Register:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/re-imagining-coral-reefs-tickets-633628308327

Background:

Hosted at the University of Westminster and as part of the London Festival of Architecture, visitors to the event venue are invited to try on VR headsets and experience healthy, degraded and re-imagined coral reefs from both human and non-human perspectives. Their virtual experiences are projected in real-time in the event space, which also contains 3D printed models of the virtual corals they’re experiencing. Coral reefs are vital ecosystems that sustain 30% of all ocean species. Their degradation is a visceral example of the Climate Crisis. Research into and restoration of these rich habitats constitute a critical enterprise that bring together the scientific community, local citizens, designers, governments, and NGOs, towards the common goal of preserving our biodiversity. Created via a range of digital tools typically deployed in spatial and game design, and utilising the audio and 3D photogrammetry data collected from the field in Indonesia, the installation is a collaborative creation between design students, marine biologists, and architects.

Technical Studies Lecture Series: “Recent Projects” by Andy Watts, Grimshaw Architects | Thursday, November 11, 2021 at 18:00 (GMT), Room M416, Marylebone Campus + Online

When: Thursday, 11th of November at 6pm (GMT)

Where: M416, Marylebone Campus, School of Architecture and Cities, University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5LS 

Andy Watts is Grimshaw’s Director of Design Technology and oversees the application and exploration of innovative technological approaches across all Grimshaw studios, covering areas such as computational design, BIM, virtual and augmented reality technology, data-driven intelligence and DfMA.  

Andy strives to bring the benefits of design technology to as many Grimshaw projects as possible. He has worked to introduce these approaches to a range of their projects at various scales, with a range of different agendas.  

Beyond Grimshaw, Andy actively engages with the digital technology industry as well as representing the work of Grimshaw at various industry and academic events. He teaches at the Architectural Association in London and has taught at the Universities of Westminster, Lincoln, and Dundee and has organised educational workshops in Dubai and with the Pratt Institute in New York. Andy is also on the organising committee for the London VR/AR User Group which offers a platform to share Grimshaw’s leading knowledge in the field of VR with other architectural firms.  

Grimshaw was founded by Sir Nicholas Grimshaw in 1980. The practice became a Partnership in 2007 and operates worldwide with offices in four continents employing over 650 staff. Nicholas Grimshaw received the RIBA Gold medal in 2019. Notable practice projects include The Eden Project, the International Terminal at Waterloo and the Fulton Project, New York. 

https://technicalstudies.tumblr.com/