This week, though July is still struggling to shine through the grey, London’s cultural scene is heating up nicely. London Art Week brings with it an incredible chance not only to see some interesting work, but to meet and discuss ideas with a wonderful group of people. Though many will have already jetted off to explore overseas, summer exhibitions in London can be a ‘get-away’ in themselves.

Check back regularly to keep up to date with London's latest happenings and our weekly recommendations!

Alternative Careers in Architecture: Writing and Journalism | July 7

It is a phrase often repeated, especially to graduates: not all those who studied architecture go on to design buildings.

This series of talks explores the paths less travelled by those leaving architectural education. Thursday’s talk is the fourth in this series and will be exploring the current state of writing in the architecture field. The season of talks have been varied in theme, and informative; giving voice to the alternatives pathways to design.

“The speakers will address how their studies in architecture and work in practice informed their current career and what are the benefits — or potential pitfalls — of writing about architecture from the perspective of the architect.”

London Art Week | Open now until July 8

London Art Week is a wonderful gallery-based celebration of pre-contemporary art, taking over Mayfair and St. James’s this week.

“Presenting a wide array of art from antiquity to the 20th century, including a number of rediscoveries and works rarely, if ever, seen in public, highlights this year include exhibitions dedicated to a wide range of specialist subjects including ancient arms and armour, 16th century stained glass, Dutch flower paintings,ancient Greek coins, artist’s sketches and sketchbook pages, neoclassicism through the centuries, medieval and Renaissance sculpture, British Impressionism, and European portraiture.”

London Art Week is known globally for its galleries and museums, housing some of the most important art works. One of the fantastic things about this week, is that it quite literally opens the doors of London’s galleries to all; London Art Week is a chance to celebrate these collections, and to make them accessible to everyone. For those interested in Art this is a great chance to see incredible pieces in fantastic settings.

BP Art Exchange | Open now until July 14

As part of the new Tate opening events, the BP Art Exchange will be showcasing pieces created by communities, students, and refugees, and is on display at the Switch House, the new extension to the Tate Modern.

“This BPArt Exchange display documents participatory interventions devised by refugees,students and communities working alongside artist Albert Potrony in India, Denmark and the UK. These combine with a series of photographs by Ben Smith pairing refugees with new friends made in Denmark and the UK and students portraits of fishermen after connecting with them and their families in Kochi, India. Each portrait is shot by the sea or water to allude to migration and transience and includes an object chosen by the subject to signify belonging whether this is:a team shirt, diary excerpt or even a favourite fish.”

This predominantly photography-based exhibition is in collaboration with Ben Smith, who is mostly known for his lifestyle and candid photography, which documents the overwhelming complexity of everyday life. It tackles the ideas of belonging, and explores what it is to be a refugee.

Streets of Doha | Open now until July 15

Visit Allies & Morrison’s studios to enjoy an exhibition on the outcomes from the Unlimited Doha Design Prize (UDDP) residency organised by British Council earlier this year.

“Participants in the UDDP were tasked with developing proposals that would enhance accessibility in the Doha Al Jadeeda and Al Ghanem neighbourhoods in inner Doha. They used the emerging quarter of Msheireb Downtown Doha, widely considered an exemplar for sustainable urban development in the region, as a case study to learn from. Allies and Morrison has a sitewide role as the ‘architectural voice’ within the masterplan team and is the architect for a number of buildings within Msheireb.”

The People’s Brick Company | Open now until August 28

The Greenwich Peninsula is a hotbed for development, and plans for its evolution have been discussed and scrutinized in the streets and studios. The People’s Brick Company are offering the opportunity to become part of this development; come and make a brick.

Join Something & Son, a practice known for their artistic collaborations, in the NOW Gallery as they aim to create a folly of entirely public-made bricks, showing that architecture can be raw, simplistic,and made with community involvement.

“In the early 19th century the Peninsula was primarily used as a brickfield site to facilitate local land development with the construction of the first brick buildings in the area. Through a simple combination of fire, mud and sweat, brick making was a cheap and hands-on method of creating beautiful architecture. The installation will invite visitors to use the same vernacular architectural processes used in the past by providing the opportunity for people to quarry the clay, mould the clay into bricks, dry the brick and finally fire all the individual bricks in a large kiln at the end of the summer.”

The chance to make these bricks is available to all, on selected days until August 4th. The project will end with a mass firing of the bricks on 17th September and a brick picnic for all those who have made a brick in Peninsula Garden.

At Home in Britain: Designing the House of Tomorrow | Open now until August 29

Photo: Philip Vile

This event (which partners British giants BBC and RIBA) focuses on the way we live in Britain. From the cottage to the high rise flat, At Home in Britain explore show we have changed our dwellings through both this exhibition and accompanying BBC television series (available online).

A common question, covered by seemingly every source from AJ small projects to Venice biennale, is that of the "housing crisis". This exhibition and TV collaboration tackles the issue from the root, examining the lack of social and affordable housing in London.

Presenting mostly speculative schemes, the project provides “creative responses to contemporary life — from the trend for working from home to the need for shared childcare — rather than fully realised solutions….Themes emerge across the show: the balance between shared and private space, the preference for controlled densification over urban sprawl and the importance of outdoor space.”

Including work from international architecture practices such as Mecanoo and Mae, this event has already attracted crowds, and is open to the public until 29th August.

City Nomads | Open now until September 23

From Atomik Architecture and the British Council comes City Nomads, an exhibition on heritage, design and belonging. The exhibition aims to explore how migration and soviet propaganda can affect design; visit for "striking and unique results in fashion, music, design, film and art", and how this has evolved over generations.

“Against a background of global change and centuries of colonial rule Kazakhstan has had to quickly adapt to the realities of becoming a 21st Century nation... Today we see the first generation of Kazakhstanis for almost one hundred years to be born into an independent country to freely begin to rethink the past and refer to it as a source of inspiration and strength… They naturally own instruments offered by global society, access to which had previously been prohibited and punishable by law.”

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Also keep track of our weekly event picks for New York City and Los Angeles.