NEWS: Stirling Prize Winner

Sainsbury Laboratory by Stanton Williams,
thanks to Archinect

Link

Royal Academy Evening Lecture

18 Oct 2012 6.30-7.45, followed by drinks reception!

At the Geological Society, Piccadilly

Jarmund/Vigsnæs

Summer House, Vestfold, Norway, 2007-09 by Jarmund/Vigsnæs Photo: Nils Petter DaleOslo-based architectural practice Jarmund/Vigsnæs are renowned for architecture which subtly relates to its surroundings while consistently challenging the imagination. They create architecture which is both sensual and provoking, reflected in such works as the Svalbard Science Centre, Gullesfjord Weight Control Station and stunning housing projects such as the recent Dune House on the Suffolk coast.

http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/events/talks/jarmund-vigsnaes,2226,EV.html

Yeoryia and Space and Time...

Many thanks to Yeoryia for her talk last Thursday, find a link through to her website here;

ay architects

One observation of Yeoryia's was that we should think of the city as a permanently evolving entity, taking this as an starting point for design would be a great idea for temporary interventions.

Take a look at this interview with Vito Acconci on Dezeen.

Vito Acconci interview: “Architecture is not about space but about time”

Exchange London

BSc Unit 0: Exchange London            

Murray Fraser, Kenny Kinugasa Tsui, Justin C K Lau

Unit theme:     

We want our students this year to think about and research into the concept of ‘exchange’. This term obviously carries many meanings. Exchange is the principle for the trade of goods and services, initially on a barter system, later of financial transaction between buyer and seller -- whether in terms of currency, commodities, or information data in modern communication technologies. Yet it also refers to an exchange of ideas, or of bodily contact, or (in globalisation terms) as the cultural interchange between ethnic groups or nations around the world. We regard architecture as a discipline which is fully rooted in the exchange of ideas and material expressions across multiple cultural strata. Today, in our fast moving digital-techno-media culture, many fragments of the 'foreign', both material and psychological, penetrate into our daily lives. Instead of viewing this as loss of cultural authenticity, or as a process of homogenisation, we want to treat global exchange in architecture as creative and positive. It can be traced in many ways: building aesthetics, economic forces, construction techniques,

 inside/outside thresholds, feedback system cycles, user adjustments, etc.

Main project:     

Your site can be somewhere of your own choosing in London, although we will also suggest a range of optional sites of different sizes in the area north of Oxford Street which sit among areas of business, shopping, education, dwelling, media, manufacture, etc. What might your chosen site become as a place of exchange for the future? How might global influences shape a new identity for the site as well as for surrounding London? Students’ projects will therefore explore the notion of exchange to propose new building uses that are able to enhance forms of urban and cultural interaction.

Initial project:    

To start the year, students will be asked to examine cultural interchange by studying Chinese artefacts in the British Museum and Victoria & Albert Museum. They will split up into groups to research into designated themes, before designing/making individual models/installations to explore the concept of exchange. Full-scale prototypes will combine fixed methods of representation (models, photos, sketches, paintings) with time-based media (video, film). Throughout the year there will be an emphasis on research as a vital element in architectural design, and encompassing many fields: