AIA UK STUDENT CHARRETTE 2015

On Saturday November 7th, 2015, AIA UK held its 21st annual Student Charrette – a juried, one-day design competition for UK students of architecture.

Kent School of Architecture students with mentor Francis Hur AIA

Taking place at the Zaha Hadid designed Roca London Galley, the Charrette gave students the opportunity to design collaboratively whilst being mentored by an experienced practising AIA UK architect.  The one-day event is intended to encourage students to work as a team and to represent their school or university. The competition, which is also open to individual students, took place in conjunction with the Roca London Gallery exhibition, Childhood Re-Collections: Memory in Design, featuring exhibits from Daniel Libeskind, Kengo Kuma, Zaha Hadid and others.

University of East London students with mentor Pierre Baillargeon AIA

“The AIA Student Charrette is an opportunity for architecture students from across the UK to work together in a fun, creative and competitive environment,” comments Robert Rhodes AIA, organiser of the Charrette, past 

 AIA UK President and current Zone 1 Director of the AIA International Region. “The Charrette is a cad-free event.  Students are required to produce only drawn, modelled or collaged presentations.  Students must rely on essential drawing and modelling skills to communicate their ideas and produce something substantial in a very limited time.  The event enables the tradition of the “charrette” as a friendly, productive competition to continue and gives participants something real to take away at the end of it.” 

University of East London students presenting to the jury

The annual competition is open to all second and third year students enrolled in any UK school of architecture. More than 50 students participated from universities from London, Liverpool, Sheffield and  around the UK. The theme this year was dubbed, “Interrupted Connections” and was focused on civic art, public space, way-finding and identity.  Groups were given the exercise of making sense of the neighborhood surrounding the Roca London Gallery, called the Chelsea Design Quarter.

The jury (R to L) Patrick Lynch, Nicholas Gilliland, Karin Templin

The wining team, mentored by AIA UK Director Bea Sennewald AIA, hailed from The University of the Creative Arts in Canterbury, Kent – with one student joining from University of Kingston (London). The competition was juried by an esteemed panel, chaired by architect and educator Patrick Lynch PhD RIBA (Lynch Architects, London).  Other jurors were Karin Templin, Design Fellow at University of Cambridge Faculty of Architecture and AIA CE member, Nicholas Gilliland AIA of Tolila + Gilliland Atelier d’Architecture (Paris).   

Winning Team University of the Creative Arts + Kingston presenting to jury

This year’s competition was made possible thanks to long-time AIA UK and AIA CE sponsor Laufen, and the generosity of the Roca London Gallery. 

Winners – University of the Creative Arts students, at the pub after the Charrette

Authors: Frederick Grier and Robert Rhodes

AIA UK CHAPTER ARCHITECT WINS AIA CONTINENTAL EUROPE’S “ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN AWARD”

On 3rd Oct 2015 at the Continental Europe (“CE”) Vienna Conference, Continental Europe’s Design Award for Environmental Design was received by Kevin Flanagan, AIA, for PLP Architecture’s Amsterdam project, the Edge.   Kevin is a partner at PLP Architecture and long-time AIA UK Chapter Director and past President in 2007. 

Edge – developed by OVG Real Estate as the headquarters for Deloitte – was designed in collaboration with Ron Bakker, the PLP founding partner, and PLP key designers Natalia Kafassis and, Nicki Faratouri, along with Arianne Barendregt from OeverZaaijer Architectuur NL.   

The building has been described as the world’s most wired, connected and collaborative working environment given its potential to integrate with emerging technology.  The media company, Bloomberg, has gone so far as to rate the Edge as “officially the greenest office building in the world” having been certified with a BREEAM NL “Outstanding” score of 98.4%. Click here to see the full video.

In addition to its carbon neutral credentials and progressive implementation of environmental technologies, CE’s jury described the Edge as “forward looking inside and out,” and praised its “very dramatic and comfortable interiors”.  The Edge is a shining example of UK based, US led design.

The AIA Continental Europe Chapter inaugurated its “Honors & Awards Program” in 2015 in line with its 20th anniversary.  Its aim was to recognise CE’s positon as part of the “global village on one hand, and promoting site specific projects on the other.”  The Awards Committee – led by Chair Yael S Kinsky, FAIA, and including Sandra Zettersten, AIA; Alireza Razavi, AIA; Rada Doytcheva, AIA; Sergio Accatino, Int’l Assoc AIA; and Marie Jeanne van Engelen, Prof Affiliate AIA – deserve particular recognition for setting up the Awards after years of inactivity on the subject.  In particular, the range of winning projects – from Montana to Azerbaijan – fulfils the Committee’s global village ambitions.

Unlike the UK Chapter’s Design Awards, which are based simply on Design Excellence alone, Continental Europe’s Awards were submitted in specific categories.

The winner of the Architectural Design Award was Tabanlioglu Architects for the Loft Gardens in Istanbul, designed by Melkan Gursel and Murat Tabanlioglu Ihsan, Int’l Assoc AIA.  The jury described the project as a “wonderful development of the loft concept into a different building form with … patios, creating a very successful new urban form”.  

There were three Honorary Mentions in the Architectural Design category:

• Cigler Marani Architects - Marani Vincent, AIA for the Villa Dolni Brezany in the Czech Republic.  

• Bitner Architects - Thomas Bitnar, FAIA, for the complete renovation of a 1904 mansion and contemporary addition in Montana, USA.

• Pickard Chilton Architects – Jon Pickard, FAIA; Willian Chilton, FAIA, RIBA; Anthony Markese, AIA, RIBA, for Eaton House in Ireland.

An Honorary Mention was also awarded in the Unbuilt category to Tabanlioglu Architects for their Astana Train Station planned for Azarbijan.

ŞANALarc with the designers Murat Sanal, AIA, Alexis Sanal, AIA, was the winner of both the Urban Design Award for its Şişhane Park project in Beyoglu, Istanbul and the Interior Design Award for its SALT Research Centre, Istanbul.

Whereas the AIA UK Chapter Design Awards are open to all architects anywhere in the world for projects in the UK and to all UK-located architects for projects anywhere in the world, Continental Europe’s Awards are for AIA members only but they are for projects built anywhere in the world.  However, all AIA members outside of Continental Europe are eligible for projects built in Continental Europe’s jurisdiction.  For the record, CE’s jurisdiction includes the following countries (not all of which are in Europe), but excludes the UK:

Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldavia, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and Ukraine.

AIA UK Members should check their eligibility and be on the lookout for next year’s Continental Chapter Honor & Awards Programme.  

AIA UK 2015 KEYNOTE LECTURE

On November 3rd, the AIA UK Chapter in conjunction with RIBA re-launched the Annual AIA/RIBA Keynote Lecture. Since its inauguration, the AIA/RIBA Keynote Lecture series has brought renowned architects, including William Pedersen, Antoine Predock, Peter Eisenman, and Ricardo Legorreta, to the UK.

This year’s event, organized by Lester Korzilius, AIA, RIBA, and Amrita Raja, Assoc. AIA, took place at Jarvis Auditorium at the RIBA Headquarters, and featured a talk by Tod Williams and Billie Tsien. Their eponymous firm, TWBTA, is known for site-sensitive and well-crafted buildings, encompassing a wide range of types and geographies, from a single family residence in Long Island, NY, to a technology campus in Mumbai, India. Their work has received numerous awards and international recognition, most recently earning the RIBA International Fellowship (2014) and the AIA Architecture Firm Award (2013) - and even achieved infamy, when MoMA’s 2014 demolition of their much-loved American Folk Art Museum, less than 20 years after its completion, had the architectural community up in arms.

After introductions by Brianne Hamilton, AIA UK Chapter President, and Stephen Hodder, RIBA Past-President, to whom the AIA presented a Certificate of Appreciation for his support of our chapter, the architectural duo took the stage, leading the the audience on an introspective journey, from private residential interiors to significant cultural work.  Beginning with an investigation of their own New York apartment, Williams/Tsien expressed their growing interest in interiority and the effect of light on spatial perception.  In their early work, they discovered an affinity for the handmade, and for inverting relationships between the building and its natural context through the use of light and captured landscapes.  

During the second half of the lecture, Williams/Tsien presented their projects within this framework of light and interiority.  Of the many works shown, two stand as exemplary of their architectural ethos, the Cranbrook Natatorium and the Barnes Foundation.  Both projects generate their own interior landscape, kept hidden from the exterior, a surprise for guests to discover.  The Natatorium, engulfed by conifers, contains a jewel of a space, where above the pool, lightwells with operable roofs open up to bring the outdoors in, from rain to the scent of the adjacent forest.  Likewise, the Barnes’ stone exterior reveals nothing of the light-filled volumes within.  There, strict constraints required them to reproduce the collection’s existing sequence of rooms.  In inverting the concept of ‘gallery in a garden’ found in the collections original context, to ‘garden in a gallery’, Williams/Tsien inserted two voids within gaps in the visitor narrative. Each houses a meeting space connected to the landscape via a lightwell, creating a new interior context for the collection.

The duo’s camaraderie was evident on stage, as they took turns elaborating on the work and making a few choice ‘revisions’ to the other’s interpretation of events - generating a few laughs along the way.  The lecture concluded with a few questions from the audience, and the conversation continued in the adjacent room over glasses of wine. The evening was an inspirational insight into the work of two formidable architects.  Many thanks to Tod Williams and Billie Tsien for coming to London to share their exceptional work, and to the team at RIBA without whose hard work this event would not have been possible.   

Author: Amrita Raja

EXHIBITION TOUR: THE WORLD OF CHARLES AND RAY EAMES

Image: Tristan Fewings - Getty Images

Over 40 people turned out for the AIA UK’s private tour of The World of Charles and Ray Eames at the Barbican Art Gallery. Curator Charlotte Dew provided two groups with a more in depth history and examination of the exhibit, taking us through the early days of Eames’ collaboration through their trials and successes and imminent stardom. Fortunately our group had sufficient time to enjoy such an extensive exhibit, spread over two floors and many rooms.

The exhibit explores the lives of these two visionary American designers, with over 380 original works – hand sketches, graphic designs, early bent plywood projects and proto-types, multi-media communication concepts and of course chairs! Working in the post-war era of modernism, the exhibit examines the importance of their work and the timeless quality of their designs. With a wealth of materials from their private archives, viral-quality videos from Herman Miller, and even a newly constructed model of their infamous house in California, the exhibit presents a well-rounded profile of these two internationally celebrated designers.

The AIA UK Chapter will be planning more of these private tours, following this success. However, if you could not make it to see The World of Charles and Ray Eames with us this time, you should book your tickets before the exhibit closes in February. 

Image: Tristan Fewings - Getty Images

Image: Tristan Fewings - Getty Images

Image: Tristan Fewings - Getty Images

Image: Frederick Grier

Author: Frederick Grier

AIA FILM NIGHT | 21 OCTOBER 2015

We started off the Autumn movie series screening ‘How Much Does Your Building Weigh, Mr. Foster?’ This film traces the rise of one of London's and indeed the world’s premier architects, Norman Foster, and his unending quest to improve the quality of life through design.

The title is taken from a question put to him by his hero, American architect Buckminster Fuller, referring to the Sainsbury Centre next to UEA, a quirky question designed to get him and us thinking about the concept of mass in architecture. Portrayed are Foster’s origins and how his dreams and influences inspired the design of projects such as the largest building in the world Beijing Airport, the Reichstag, the Hearst Building in New York and works such as the tallest bridge ever, in Millau France. The attendees loved the movie, unfortunately the weather wasn’t that good on the night of the screening and this seems to have prevented some people who had purchased tickets from attending the screening.

The final movie of year shall be ‘The Socialist, The Architect and the Twisted Tower’ which we shall screen at the BFI on 18 November  at 1900hrs. We look forward to seeing you there!

Author: Chris Musangi 

AIA UK 2015 Exellence in Design Awards, Noel Hill Travel Award

Arriving into a hot, humid, Cambodian day, we were greeted by our destination and the place to which we would call home for the next two months. Taking the day to adjust to the time and climate differences we talked over the project in preparation for work the next day.

Waking up in darkness began the early morning routine throughout the project. An ambitious two month time scale had been set to complete the build. Making our way to site which was located adjacent to where we were living in the slum we started work on foundations. To our surprise we found that the demolition company whom we had hired to demolish the existing concrete framed building on site had forgotten to tell us that they had not removed the foundations of the previously existing school the week before our arrival. Being unable to start our build without this job being completed, we hired an excavator on site to simultaneously dig our pad foundation whilst removing the foundations of the previous building. Whilst this was underway on site half of the team set to assembling the vast amount of steel reinforcement cages which had to be assembled for the foundations and full concrete structure.

tarting the second week we prepared for what would be our first experience of pouring concrete foundations by hand on a constrained site. Access to the site was limited. We anticipated that the ready mix concrete truck would not be able to squeeze up the tight dirt path to our site therefore we had to devise a way to procure the concrete on site. This came with the employment of two flat bed trucks and hundreds of recycled twenty five litre paint buckets. The buckets were filled individually in the flat beds at the bottom of the access path, transported to the top of the site where the use of a human chain would send them to the specific pad foundation. This process would repeat throughout the build and become a regular occurrence on each concrete pour. Completing the first concrete pour over two days, with a day of rain delay in-between, we were ready to start on the timber falsework which would support the pour of our main concrete structure.

Our main structure was to be poured in reinforced concrete using an unconventional formwork made from a geo-textile fabric. By using a fabric formwork we saved ourselves an extensive amount of timber, this was beneficial for the build due to the lack of sustainable timber which can be found in Cambodia. The geo textile however required a timber falsework which creates tension in the fabric whilst the concrete is being poured, vibrated and cured. Erecting this structure of timber falsework and fabric formwork created a puzzling maze on site which had to be expertly navigated whilst the concrete structure was curing.

When revealing the concrete structure once it had dried we found that it had a few wobbles due to the manual pouring technique and only being able to hand tighten the fabric formwork in it’s falsework clamps. With the concrete still being structurally sound we noticed that when taking a closer look at the detail that the geo textile formwork had left a fascinating gridded texture in the structure.

Finishing the concrete frame sped the build up exponentially. We moved on to the upper steel ring beams and roof trusses which were manually lifted using a pulley system and welded into place. Following this the insulated aluminium roofing panels arrived on site, again being manually lifted onto the roof and secured intoplace. The site started to become busier with the final push getting near. A team of masons arrived on site 

completing the retaining walls which created raised areas within the playground as well as the perforated brick gable walls, these acted as a double skin meaning that there will always be a cooling air flow around the building. Whilst this was happening electricians wired up the lighting, sliding doors were hung and the brick floor was laid. The building started to come together and we gained a glimpse of the community centre which we had designed.

With the finish line close working days got later and we pushed through to make sure that the school would be ready to move into by the time we left. Working up to the very last minute, we tied the last pieces of bamboo to the doors, stopped and enjoyed the celebration with the local community. Most of the team left the following morning so to say goodbye we joined together in the classroom of the centre with some of the Cambodian workers, with whom we had became close friends throughout the project, for a final meal and time to reflect and dream of what would come next in our architectural adventure.

Author: Ryan McGaffney and Jennifer Taggart