Follow this tag to curate your own personalized Activity Stream and email alerts.
Exciting news in the museum world as the first site of the long-awaited Victoria & Albert Museum’s East extension has officially topped out as of this week. The new V&A East has been years in the making. After overcoming roadblocks which threatened its existence beginning with sharp public... View full entry
While some were delighted that at least a small part of the architectural heritage of Robin Hood Gardens was being preserved for posterity, others were furious that the V&A – a so-called ‘arms-length’ body, governed by a Board of Trustees appointed by the Prime Minister – considered the estate valuable enough to collect, but not valuable enough to help save from demolition in the first instance. — frieze.com
The story behind London's brutalist Robin Hood Gardens reveals issues pertinent to our current housing crisis. Crystal Bennes unpacks the V&A's decision to preserve and display a section of demolished housing in this year's Venice Architecture Biennale, revealing condemnation of the building... View full entry
The Design Society, China’s first dedicated cultural design hub, opened its doors this weekend in Shenzhen. Established by China Merchants Shekou (CMSK), the group aims to create a platform for global collaboration and creativity giving China a center point for design and innovation. The opening... View full entry
Ten years after a Dundee V&A museum was first considered, the finishing touches are being applied to the exterior of the £80.1m building ahead of its opening next summer. [...]
No amount of artist's impressions and computer-generated fly-throughs could have prepared the city for the true size and scale of the imposing design of Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, who will inspect the building on Wednesday.
— BBC
Kengo Kuma was in Scotland today to inspect construction progress on the impressive V&A Museum of Design Dundee he designed. Video via V&A Dundee on YouTube He seemed very pleased, stating: "As an architect, seeing a completed building can be stressful, as some times the quality isn’t... View full entry
Museum creation has increasingly become a major cultural export for countries. The controversial Louvre Abu Dhabi is slated to open later this year and the Guggenheim has made attempts in recent years to open up satellite museums in both Helsinki and Abu Dhabi, to name a few. Now, the... View full entry
The bold addition features the world's first all-porcelain public courtyard, paved with 11,000 handmade porcelain tiles in 15 different patterns. The tiles were manufactured by Koninklijke Tichelaar Makkum, the Netherlands' oldest registered company, established in 1572. — CNN
After six years of construction, the Exhibition Road Quarter, AL_A-designed courtyard space opened yesterday in London's Victoria and Albert Museum, adding 11,840 square feet of column-free flexible gallery space to the museum to help accommodate the V&A's headline exhibitions. Intended as a... View full entry
The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) has revealed a rendering and the name of a major sponsor for its new Photography Centre. The former, by David Kohn Architects (DKA), showcase a redesigned gallery space that more than doubles the space previously allocated to the display of photography. The... View full entry
Tristram Hunt, the former shadow education secretary, has announced that he will resign as a Labour MP to become the director of the Victoria and Albert Museum. The move, which will come with a salary of over £145,000, will also trigger a by-election in Stoke, a constituency that is vulnerable to... View full entry
The main shop in the V&A is being redesigned to create a more lively and flexible retail space at the centre of the gallery. Friend and Company Architects, with Milimetre and RA Projects were selected from a shortlist of six practices, which included Ab Rogers Design, Brinkworth, Edge... View full entry
Todays, pavilions are an omnipresent type of building. Unburdened to a certain degree from constraints of conventional architectures, such as program or function, pavilion designs offer architects a reign of technological and formal possibilities. Architects are commissioned for designs, in which... View full entry
“He was so much more than an engineer,” says the V&A’s Zofia Trafas White, who co-curated the show with Maria Nicanor. We are walking through a corridor of the Dane’s dreamy doodles, which forms a slightly surreal start to the show [...]
“Designing,” Arup said, “is defining a sensible way of building.” Noticeably, all the projects on show trumpet their engineering credentials at full volume, as the (seemingly) logical expression of how they were made.
— Oliver Wainwright | the Guardian
For more on Ove Arup and his firm, check out these links:Ove Arup celebrated with new show at the V&AOur cities must adapt to climate change and growing populations within a single generation, according to the head of ArupArup Germany/SolarLeaf, Studio Tamassociati, and Elemental win in... View full entry
The show, curated by the V&A’s Maria Nicanor and Zofia Trafas White, is a fascinating exploration of the 20th century engineer’s life and work, and how it has influenced today’s practices in his field. Arup, fittingly argue the curators, was a true pioneer, championing real collaboration with architects, using a computer for the first time during the Sydney Opera House project in the 1960s – a hefty but fascinating machine called 'Pegasus', on display at the show. — wallpaper.com
Read more UK news here:This week's picks for London architecture and design eventsMuseum of London design shortlist revealedAuthor of 'Interactive Architecture' on the built environment in the age of ubiquitous computing View full entry
A key part of the V&A’s expanding family of sites dedicated to the past, present and future of the designed world, V&A East is a brand new civic space and cultural destination that will form part of the Olympic legacy project taking shape at Stratford Waterfront.The seven-storey building... View full entry
London’s inaugural Design Biennale is set to open at Somerset House this September, based around the idea of Utopia to coincide with the venue’s year-long events programme.
The biennale is headed up by London Design Festival director Ben Evans, biennale director Christopher Turner, former editor of Icon, and London Design Festival co-founder Sir John Sorrell. More than 30 countries are taking part in the event.
— itsnicethat.com
Representing the UK will be the design duo Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby best known for designing the London 2012 Olympic Games Torch and their work with Vitra. Their installation will be curated by London's Victoria and Albert Museum. View full entry
Robots will take over the courtyard of London’s V&A Museum this summer to build a pavilion inspired by flying beetles.
The installation – designed by architect Achim Menges – features an undulating canopy of tightly woven carbon fibre cells, drawing on the shells of insects called elytra. Visitors will also be able to watch the robots in action over the course of the summer as they continue to add new sections to the evolving ‘Elytra Filament Pavilion’.
— the Spaces
For more robo-news, check out these links:The dawn of construction worker robots?3D printing will recreate destroyed Palmyra archMIT presents 3D printer that can print 10 materials simultaneously without breaking the bankAnother study warns that 3D-printers pose potential health risks for usersNew... View full entry
