David Adjaye Talk May 20th

Dream Builders: David Adjaye

20 May 2014 

7:00 PM - 8:30 PM

Venue: RIBA, 66 Portland Place London W1B 1AD

"David Adjaye has been described as an architect with an 'artist's sensibility'. His internationally renowned buildings are defined by his bold use of innovative materials and a diverse colour palette which reflect an equally strong interest in landscape and terrain.

From his pioneering 'Ideas Store' library buildings in the UK, to the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver , to The Bernie Grant Arts Centre in Tottenham, London, to the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo and the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum for African American History and Culture in Washington DC, his work is imbued with, and inspired by, the stories of people and dynamics of place.

In 2007, he was awarded an OBE for services to architecture and in 2013 he topped the Guardian's "Powerlist" of Britain’s most influential black people. He currently has projects underway in Ghana, Nigeria, America, China and the Middle East.

In partnership with the BBC, the RIBA brings you an opportunity to direct questions to David Adjaye as he is interviewed by Razia Iqbal about his approach to building, his many journeys and the projects and experiences that have defined him.

A recording of the event will be broadcast by the BBC World Service."

Fees: £5 Standard

Tickets here.

'Ruin Lust' at Tate Britain, 4 March-18 May 2014

Ruin Lust
Tate Britain
4 March – 18 May 2014
Adult £11.00 (without donation £10.00)
Concession £9.50 (without donation £8.60)

Ruin Lust, an exhibition at Tate Britain from 4 March 2014, offers a guide to the mournful, thrilling, comic and perverse uses of ruins in art from the seventeenth century to the present day. The exhibition is the widest-ranging on the subject to date and includes over 100 works by artists such as J.M.W. Turner, John Constable, John Martin, Eduardo Paolozzi, Rachel Whiteread and Tacita Dean.

Dutch Architects Dus: Large Scale 3D Printing

"Working on site for three weeks, the architects have so far produced a 3m-high sample corner of their future house, printed as a single piece weighing 180kg. It is one of the building blocks that will be stacked up like Lego bricks over the next three years to form a 13-room complex, modelled on a traditional Dutch gabled canal house, but with hand-laid bricks replaced by a faceted plastic facade, scripted by computer software."

From the Gaurdian.

The xx's Temporary Performance Space in the Park Avenue Armory

London-based band xx is doing a series of shows in a temporary installation in New York's Park Avenue Armory.  This video describes the design as well as past installations in the building.  It also describes the building itself, parts of which recently were renovated by Herzog and deMeuron.

Chthonic churches at Lalibela

Lalibela is a town in northern Ethiopia that is famous for its monolithic rock-cutchurches. This rural town is known around the world for its churches carved from the living rock, which play an important part in the history of rock-cut architecture. Though the dating of the churches is not well established, most are thought to have been built during the reign of Lalibela, namely during the 12th and 13th centuries.

Thanks to 2nd year critic Quynh Vantu for bringing up this reference during Monday's crit.

'The Dictionary of Details' Lecture by Wayne Head

The Dictionary of Details

When: Thursday 20th March 18.00

Where: University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5LS

Architect and director of BDP, Wayne Head has produced a Dictionary of Details and will give a lecture at the University of Westminster prior to its forthcoming publication by Routledge. The book looks in depth at details in architecture and explores whether they are mere ornaments or structural ideals representing larger principles. Illustrated examples range from the simplest to the most innovative through drawings, diagrams, photographs and text.

David Rockwell's temporary bespoke theater for TED 2014

"TED, the nonprofit enthusiastic to ‘ideas worth spreading’, has invited the rockwell group to build the stage for the 30th anniversary of the conference, in vancouver. set in the vancouver convention centre, the portable and temporary theater is constructed with 600 pieces and assembled onsite for the five day festival. the intimacy of the space is realized by instilling a sense of community while having singularity in form. the individual and the collective are showcased in unison as the arena becomes a manifestation of the organization’s core principles. in addition to david rockwell’s observations, from being an attendee over the years, further inspiration for the theater was gathered from historic organizational spaces such as campfires and other non permanent commons. comprised mostly from locally harvested douglas fir wood sourced from the pacific northwest, the seating ‘bowl’ also includes a walkway along the perimeter with lattice-like platforms and handrails. 16 different seating options are present, and vary from lounge groupings, rows of benches, and beanbags. a standing room area in the back allows viewers to access personal electronic devices, without disturbing the rest of the audience. aided by an electronic cutting machine, the event construction company, nussli, fashioned the structure (along with the custom furniture and steelcase fabrication) to be easily disassembled back into 8’ x 10’ x 12’ boxes, and possibly reused for upcoming events."

from designboom

Models by Naomi Kasahara

Naomi Kasahara is a set designer based in Long Beach, California.  Her excellent models, especially when photographed well as they are above, show materiality, equipment, structure, lights, and people (including actors and audience).

new issue of a+t Reclaim: Domestic Actions

The new issue  of a+t Reclaim, "Domestic Actions", contains 54 actions that strip and boil down the home to its most basic roots. They have lightened the load, made up for previous mistakes and taken away the aesthetic preconceptions that until now had put strain on these type of interventions.

Reclaim - Domestic Actions classifies these actions into three Re- processes: Reduce, Retrieve and Remove. The recent additions refer to refusal and relinquishment options about the current living environment. After having undergone a series of material, formal, technical and economical adjustments, the role of inhabiting a space is viewed with a fresh perspective. Lastly, the issue adds a fourth process: Simulate, a valuable partner for times of crisis.

The volume forms part of the RECLAIM series.

You can read a sample here and see more here.

​Matina Kousidi Lecture on March 11th at 1PM

"Architecture sur Mesure. Habitat | Abito"

Matina attained her Ph.D. in Architecture (2013) from Sapienza University of Rome, after a one year research stay at London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London. Currently, she is developing her individual research on the role of dress and textiles in early modern architecture, jointly at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, the Dessau Institute of Architecture, and the Bauhaus archives. Matina is a registered architect, peeking into the world of dress through the act of building.

The lecture will take place in the Marylebone building, room to be announced.

Sections by Antoine Desgodetz (drawn in 1682)

Antoine Desgodetz studied under François Blondel at the Academy of Architecture in Paris between 1672 and 1674, and was then dispatched to Rome by Louis XIV’s minister, Colbert, in order to study ancient buildings. The result was a book, Ancient Edifices of Rome, dedicated to Colbert and published at the king’s expense. Composed of accurate drawings of Rome’s main ancient buildings (as well as the amphitheater in Verona) accompanied by commentaries, the goal of the book was to provide the first precise description of ancient Roman architecture, thereby correcting errors committed by the likes of Andrea Palladio, Sebastiano Serlio, and Antonio Labacco. It remained an authoritative reference work on ancient architecture until the end of the 18th century.

'Material Imagination' Lecture by Dean David Dernie March 12th 6PM

"As we move towards a digital age of building, where we design, model, procure and even build digitally, architecture is inevitably propelled into a virtual realm. At the same time, we all know that the material conditions of our environment still matter and this lecture will argue that the architecture is first and foremost a physical thing: an architect’s palette comprises of material forms and light. In foregrounding shape and surface, design software promotes a technical (or otherwise fragmentary) knowledge of material."

When: Wednesday 12 March at 6pm
Where: Fyvie Hall, 309 Regent Street, London W1B 2UW


Find out more and book your place