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This post is brought to you by Vision 2017.Vision 2017 has announced its programme, including some of the biggest names across the built environment industry, alongside the brightest start-ups and world-renowned experts. A series of talks, debates and... View full entry
With a focus on the housing market and the future of living in London, the topics covered in this week's events vary from flying cars and future regeneration, to DIY and the celebration of existing structures. Be sure to take the time to visit exhibitions which are coming to a close within the... View full entry
Brought up in Richmond, the oldest of three children, she showed her independent spirit early on, and left school at 16. She discovered architecture while on a Foundation year at art school and was offered a place at the Architectural Association, even though her portfolio didn't feature a single drawing of a building. — BBC-Desert Island Discs
Desert Island Discs is a long running radio program broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Each episode, a guest is asked to choose eight recordings, a book and a luxury item that they would want if they were stranded on a desert island. Amanda Levete, the Stirling Prize-winning British architect was a recent... View full entry
This week's focus is on how design can affect our cities, ourselves, and our environment. From insights into the Moses-Jacobs urban battle in mid-century New York, to exploring the future of social housing in our European cities, this week is full of future-facing events to explore how designers... View full entry
With the start of May comes book launches and exhibition openings, not to mention Clerkenwell Design Week to look forward to at the end of the month. Keep yourself busy on this, another 4-day week, with exhibitions, Saturday Architecture School and cinematic celebrations of great... View full entry
And still they come. The Gherkins, Shards, Walkie-Talkies, Cheesegraters, Scalpels, giant iPhones, Bird’s Nest stadiums, flying tabletops, big pants. Like the conveyor belt of consumer items that older readers will remember in Bruce Forsyth’s Generation Game, the supply of funny-looking buildings with funny names seems never-ending. Nicknames are converted into brands; satire and marketing merge. — Rowan Moore / The Guardian
There has been an era of architectural invention like few others, combined with a sense of hollowness, the feeling of not knowing what it’s all for. View full entry
This post is brought to you by Clerkenwell Design Week.Clerkenwell Design Week is less than a month away and with the festival celebrating its 8th year in May 2017 (23-25), it will be quite the celebration! CDW has firmly established itself as the UK’s leading independent design festival and... View full entry
The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has finally pulled the plug on the controversial plan for a garden bridge across the Thames, announcing that he would not provide the vital financial guarantees needed for construction to begin.
In a letter to the Garden Bridge Trust, the charity leading the much-delayed project, Khan said he was taking the decision because of a continuing shortfall in fundraising for the scheme, and a lack of the necessary land use agreements despite three years of talks.
— The Guardian
Good walls make good neighbours – but not, it seems, when they are made entirely of glass. Five residents of the multi-million-pound Neo Bankside towers, which loom behind Tate Modern like a crystalline bar chart of inflated land values, have filed a legal claim against the museum to have part of its viewing platform shut down. They claim that its 10th-floor public terrace has put their homes into a state of “near constant surveillance”. — The Guardian
In an apparent case of art interfering with life, the owners of the apartments next to the Tate Modern's viewing platform are trying to legally erect some kind of visual barrier between them and the visitors of the museum (although the exotic technology of curtains has apparently not yet made it... View full entry
Britain’s largest architectural firm, Foster + Partners, plans to lay off nearly 100 people, and blamed the uncertainty around construction projects caused by last summer’s Brexit vote.
The company, whose London projects have included the Millennium Bridge, the Great Hall redevelopment at the British Museum and the Gherkin tower, said the cuts would mainly affect staff at its headquarters in Battersea, south-west London.
— The Guardian
Returning once again, the Tate opens its doors wide this Friday night to mark the end the month. Expect the usual views and sunsets from the Switch House tower, as well as workshops and talks throughout the building. What better start to the bank holiday?The Bartlett's talk New London... View full entry
This post is brought to you by Vision 2017.Aimed at architects, designers, specifiers and their clients, Vision 2017 provides an international focus for innovative products and building solutions, bringing together some of the best designs and leading figures from across Western Europe. Across... View full entry
As we move into another four day week for us in London, we can think ahead to the weekend sooner than normal. The RA has a late night on Saturday themed around the American Dream, and Sunday has a family day packed full of activities at The Japanese House exhibition. If you find some spare time... View full entry
The garden bridge, proposed to cross the Thames from the South Bank to Temple, is nothing if not a landmark of the post-truth era. It has wrung tens of millions out of the public purse on the basis of deceptions, distortions and facts that proved to be fake. First sold as “a gift to the people of London”, entirely paid for by private sector donations, it is now due to cost a minimum of £60m in public money. Its estimated total cost has gone from £60m to “north of £200 million”. — Rowan Moore
Its claims to fundraising prowess are exaggerated, its promised transport benefits minimal. Its backers assert overwhelming public support on the basis of a poll that told those polled nothing of the costs and drawbacks of the project. View full entry
The Heygate Estate in London was torn down in 2014, forcing tenants out of their homes with compensation that was less than 40% of market value. Supposedly, the replacement building would have affordable housing as well. But, according to Vice, 100% of the properties sold in the building so far... View full entry