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Architect Norman Foster is reviving a plan for creating expansive temporary facilities to be used by the parliament of the United Kingdom while the Palace of Westminster undergoes significant restoration.The £300 million proposal calls for a erecting an amorphous, 151-meter-long glass-wrapped... View full entry
the government is tearing up the national rule book that has been in place since the second world war to ensure the best use of land, and replacing it with three simple classifications. From now on, all land in England will be designated for either “growth”, with automatic planning permission, “renewal”, with permission subject to some basic checks, or “protection”, preserving the sacrosanct status of the green belt. — BBC
Among the drastic streamlining of the planning approval process proposed is a system of automatic approvals that privileges pattern book-style developments that make use of readymade designs similar to those already used in Bath, Belgravia and Bournville, BBC reports. View full entry
Henning Larsen Architects has been selected to design a new 2.6-hectare redevelopment scheme for the areas surrounding a currently underutilized stretch of Belfast's River Lagan waterfront. The project, recently approved by the Belfast City Council, will bring a mix of offices, housing, and... View full entry
Despite the fact that mass timber testing has consistently shown that the material performs better than required in fire and structural situations, the government of the United Kingdom is considering imposing new height limitations for mass timber structures in the aftermath of the Grenfell... View full entry
In a pursuit to create the most accurate floor plan of Buckingham Palace available on the internet, HomeAdvisor embarked on a research project to scour every available photo and video of the palace interiors to uncover the layout of every room. Researchers then collected additional information... View full entry
Build UK and the Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA) have said the UK construction industry is set to become ‘dramatically and severely affected’ from Coronavirus. In a joint statement released today, the two organizations warned the situation had ‘accelerated’ over the weekend.
They warned that construction sites across the country will have to close if the UK government chooses to put the country into ‘lockdown’ and takes measures to restrict the movement of UK citizens.
— The Scaffolding Magazine
According to The Scaffolding Magazine, Build UK said, the impact on construction’s supply chain, consisting of multiple layers of businesses, many of them small businesses with a significant amount of self-employed workers will be "catastrophic and unavoidable." Build UK and the CECA... View full entry
A 360-year-old passageway once used by British monarchs has been rediscovered inside Parliament, revealing a piece of history that was thought to have been permanently covered up after World War II.
[...] access to the passage had remained hidden in plain sight for about 70 years.
— The New York Times
As the Houses of Parliament in the United Kingdom undergo a $5 billion renovation and restoration project by architecture studio BDP, an archival team has rediscovered a hidden passageway once used by British monarchs, members of Parliament, and dignitaries like Benjamin Franklin that dates to the... View full entry
Piers Taylor of Invisible Studio said the newly elected government: [...] "We are left now with our country in tatters, and no hope, no future and no sense that our government will ever be anything other than a horrendous concoction of idiotic, self-interested, self-serving and morally bankrupt half-wits. We deserved better: we had our chance, and we’ve blown it. Now for two decades or more of discontent." — Architect's Journal
Architects in the United Kingdom are not taking kindly to the electoral rout taken by the nation's liberal political parties in this week's election. The conservative electoral victory guarantees that Brexit will finally come to pass; UK Architects have strongly opposed the measure... View full entry
In May 2011, the UK Government issued a mandate stating that all centrally-procured government projects must utilize "fully collaborative 3D BIM," which produced a ripple effect in industry adoption of the technology across the region. Some wonder if the US will follow a similar pattern by... View full entry
Legislation that would force developers and landlords to comply with rigorous new safety standards will be announced in the Queen’s speech on Monday with the aim of preventing a repeat of the Grenfell Tower disaster.
Ministers say that the creation of a new buildings safety regulator will be the biggest reform of the sector in 40 years, imposing far stronger obligations on those responsible for the safety of high-rise buildings throughout design, construction and occupation.
— The Guardian
The creation of a new national building safety regulator comes as the UK government prepares to release a report investigating the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire that killed 79 people. The report is set to be released on October 30th. View full entry
The Architectural Association (AA) in London has been granted the power to award bachelor's and master's degrees for the first time in its history. Despite boasting a formidable roster of globe-trotting alumni, including Zaha Hadid, Rem Koolhaas, Florence Knoll Bassett, Richard Rogers, and... View full entry
It's a big day in the United Kingdom! The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has just announced the winner of the 2019 Stirling Prize: Goldsmith Street housing by Mikhail Riches and Cathy Hawley! The project was created for the Norwich City Council and features over 100 two-story... View full entry
The London School of Architecture (LSA) has unveiled its latest edition of Citizen Magazine, the school's new quarterly publication. The magazine, created "for everybody engaged in the challenge of creating the future city" aims to inspire and promote the work of people "designing innovative... View full entry
Tom Bennett of Studio Bark was charged with breaching section 14 of the 1986 Public Order Act after his arrest earlier this year for his role in the mass demonstrations highlighting the planet’s growing climate emergency.
Arrested during XR’s blockade of Waterloo Bridge on Saturday 20 April, Bennett was among about 60 climate change activists entering their pleas for similar offences at the City of London Magistrates’ Court on (August 30th).
UK Architect Tom Bennett of Studio Bark was arrested during the April 20th Extinction Rebellion-led (XR) climate protests that gripped London and other cities. The protests, part of an "international rebellion" organized against climate inaction, were met with a heavy police presence in London and... View full entry
We are concerned that at present our education does not give sufficient weight to the inherently ecological and political basis of architecture, nor to our responsibility to meet our uncertain future with socially and environmentally informed practice.
We appreciate and applaud the efforts of contemporary practitioners, but we ask you to join us in using the freedom and particular responsibility of academic institutions to push our discipline further in this direction.
— Architecture Education Declares
Over 1,663 academics, professors, and administrators, mostly from the United Kingdom, have signed on to an open letter aimed at the architectural community that calls for a "curriculum change" in how architectural educators view their positions relative to the ongoing ecological crisis. The... View full entry
