|
|
|
|
The Mid-Summer Night’s Gala
by Frederick Grier, AIA on Aug 01, 2016
This year’s ever popular AIA UK Summer Gala was held on 21st of June (mid-summer) in the enchanting conservatory terrace at the Barbican. The Mid-Summer Night’s theme, honouring the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare, echoed in the raffle prizes which included a themed experience at The Globe Theatre, London Eye tickets, furniture and many more generous donations from AIA UK sponsors. Prizes were entertainingly raffled this year, with sales proceeds supporting the work of the chapter.
Dinner was served a’la carte via “street food” stalls set up around the terrace and allowed guests to wander the gardens whilst enjoying their food and drinks. It was a rare beautiful day following a string of rainy days; the enclosed terrace must have insured against the rain. Guests enjoyed a beautiful sunset through the glazed interior, and were able to socialise with a wide variety of industry professionals.
Guests proclaimed the Gala a huge success. To improve upon it in the future, we would like to offer reduced entry tickets for emerging professionals, and invite guests from an even wider variety of professionals including developers and potential clients.
|
|
Walk On Air – Brighton’s New Vertical Promenade Pier
by Yevgeniy Beylkin, Int'l. Assoc. AIA on Nov 01, 2016
AIA UK is delighted to have supported a sold out lecture entitled “Walk on air – Brighton’s new Vertical Promenade Pier”. The joint AIA, RIBA, IStructE event took place on Tuesday the 18th of October 2016 at the RIBA’s Jarvis Auditorium. The focus of the talk was the recently completed British Airways i360 (BAi360) in Brighton, the world’s tallest moving observation tower. David Marks and Julia Barfield of Marks Barfield Architects and Dr John Roberts of Jacobs explained the thinking behind its concept, design, engineering and construction.
It is thought that this was only the second time Architects and Engineers have shared the platform at RIBA to talk jointly about a project. Julia Barfield referred to the collaboration as a “great example of the symbiotic relationship between Architecture and Engineering”. [...]
|
|
Continental Europe Conference: Girne / Kyrenia, Communicating across Culture
by Lorraine King, AIA on Oct 24, 2016
AIA Continental Europe held its latest bi-annual conference in Girne, North Cyprus, from 29 Sep to 2 Oct 2016. Whereas this latest CE event generally followed the traditional conference format – a series of tours, seminars and lectures interspersed with lunches, dinners and networking opportunities – the Girne Conference also added a new, parallel event to the format, while North Cyprus lent its own particular flavour to the mix.
Student Charrette - The CE Chapter held its first Student Design Charrette during the Girne Conference at the nearby Girne American University. [...]
North Cyprus – Girne is a city with a long and fascinating history. Perhaps better known by its English name, Kyrenia, the Mediterranean harbour town has been home successively to ancient Egyptians, Hittites, Persians, Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Lusignans, Genevans, Venetians, Ottomans and most recently the British. [...]
|
|
Chapter Board Members Meet AIA President
by Michael Lischer, FAIA on Oct 12, 2016
While in London for meetings with the RIBA, National AIA President Russell Davidson, FAIA took the opportunity to meet with AIA UK board members. Bea Sennewald, Robert Rhodes, and Michael Lischer, all AIA UK past presidents and Fatos Peja, current AIA UK president elect met with Russell for a lunch meeting on the 3rd of October.
Russell described the AIA's efforts to raise the profile of the profession and make the AIA more inclusive. Efforts include launching programs for kindergarten through 12th grade students to introduce them to the profession and the importance of good design. This program is particularly appropriate for Russell as his 35 person New York practice specializes in education. [...]
|
|
AIA/UK and Armstrong Pub Quiz
by Bea Sennewald, AIA on Dec 09, 2016
For those in the know, there was only one place to spend the evening of the 15th of November: the Yorkshire Grey pub and the amazing Pub Quiz. Emceed by Justin and Bea, question followed tricky question on architecture, films, space and that treacherous area known as ‘general knowledge’, the contestants’ eyebrows were furrowed, pens were scratching paper and smoke was rising from exhausted brains that could only be counteracted by pints of ale and bitter.
In the end the Quiz Maniacs won first prize, a bottle of champagne. Best of all Armstrong raffled off two tickets to a football game – a great end to the evening
|
|
Mentorship Update: One-on-Ones and Meet and Greet 2
by Katharine Storr, AIA on Nov 17, 2016
On 27 June AIA UK Mentorship Program held its second event. The group of emerging professionals and seasoned architects were hosted by Herman Miller for one-on-one speed mentoring. The evening began with nibbles and refreshments. Karen Fugle, an Executive Coach specialising in work with designers, was to present an introduction to mentorship and coaching, but was unable to attend due to illness so Katharine Storr stepped in to explain the mentoring process. Stephan Reinke, Lester Korzilius, Lorraine King, Michael Lischer, Fred Geiger and Dragan Krstevski then introduced themselves as the night’s mentors and spoke briefly of their experiences.
For the rest of the evening, the mentors dispersed themselves across the various Herman Miller landscapes on display. [...]
|
|
King's Cross Gasholders Tour
by Michael Lischer, FAIA on Sep 16, 2016
On Friday the 9th of September 2016, AIA UK members and guests met at Argent's King's Cross redevelopment scheme to tour the Gasholder residential buildings. Designed by Wilkinson Eyre, the three building 145 unit apartment project is scheduled for completion early next year. The tour was led by Wilkinson Eyre's project architect, Jeff Lee. Tour attendees earned 1 continuing education learning unit for participation.
The Gasholder project is the "jewel in the crown" for developer Argent and provides the developments high end luxury residential offer. The estimated construction cost for the three buildings is circa £125m. This figure includes £16m for the restoration of four gasholder structures. Studio apartments start at £800,000 and prices rise to over £10m for a three bed penthouse. [...]
|
|
Exchange House Lecture and Visit
by Chris Kimball, AIA on Nov 24, 2016
AIA/UK gathered at Skidmore Owings & Merrill’s London office on the 20th of September to celebrate the 2015 AIA 25-year award given to Exchange House. The evening featured a presentation on the project by Kent Jackson, Dmitri Jajich, and Graham Wiseman, all of SOM representing the architectural, structural and master planning aspects of the multidisciplinary design. The group then visited Exchange House (adjacent to SOM’s office), including a tour of the lobby, award plaque recently installed on the building , and drinks in Exchange Square.
The project was selected for the award by AIA National for its clear and elegant solution to the constraints of the site which spans over railroad tracks of Liverpool Street Station. [...]
|
|
Bike Tour - Windsor and The Thames
by Alex Miller, AIA on Aug 17, 2016
Departing from the recently restored grandeur of Paddington station, this year’s attendees arrived at Slough station for the first leg of the trip.
Arriving at often-derided Slough, we began unceremoniously with the recent improvements including the bus station, and the new cultural centre, the Curve. From there, we passed onwards towards Eton and noted the brief and sharp transition to more picturesque surroundings as we cross the bridge with its views of Eton College Chapel. [...]
|
|
Movie Night - The Price of Desire
by Christopher Musangi, AIA on Nov 17, 2016
The 2016 Autumn series kicked off with the much anticipated movie The Price of Desire, which we were finally able to get from Munro Films. Many thanks to them for all their assistance.
The Price Of Desire is the controversial story of the bisexual Irish artist Eileen Gray and how her influential contribution to 20th century architecture and design was almost wiped from history by the egotistical ‘Father of Modernism’, Le Corbusier. The film unfolds how her relationship with philanderer Jean Badovici, editor of influential L’Architecture Vivante, and the man who made Le Corbusier famous, further fuelled the rift between the two architects, and consigned her legacy to a century of neglect and long-overdue recognition [...]
|
|
Member News: A Review of AIA UK Women Presidents
by Lorraine King, AIA on Oct 26, 2016
This article has been written as part of the AIA Newsletter’s commitment to up-to-date member news. If you are aware of UK Chapter members’ involvement in other newsworthy projects or events, please bring them to our attention via a “comment” follow up note at the end of the full article and we will endeavour to publish further feature articles.
With the selection of a woman Prime Minister in the UK , the increasing number of other female heads of state elsewhere around the world as well as the recent, brave attempt to elect a woman President in the US, there has been an increasing focus on the growing potential for women to assume more and more senior leadership roles worldwide.
Looking closer to home, we can report that the AIA UK Chapter anticipated this leadership trend with women playing a significant role both in creating the Chapter and maintaining it over the past 25 years. Although the UK Chapter was not the first AIA chapter to elect a female leader, it has led the way in the quantity and consistent quality of its past women presidents and board directors. To be fully appreciated, this achievement needs to be put into historical perspective. [...]
|
|
AIA UK Membership Reaches 230
by Michael Lischer, FAIA on Aug 23, 2016
The AIA UK continues to grow and reached a new high of 230 members in August! The Board of Directors would like to welcome the following 30 people that joined so far in 2016. We look forward to seeing you all at an upcoming event!
Keith Cady AIA // Yi-han Cao AIA // Samantha Cooke AIA // Andrew Court Int'l Assoc, AIA // Ozlem Tugba Ergen Int'l Assoc, AIA // Carolina Filippini Int'l Assoc, AIA // Paul Fincken Prof. Aff, AIA // Saumya Ganguli AIA // Karen Hassey AIA // Kevin Hayes AIA // Ashraf Ismail Int'l Assoc, AIA // Eric Kirwan Prof. Aff, AIA // Dragan Krstevski Assoc. AIA // Benjamin Lee AIA // Dong Min Lee Assoc. AIA // Ting Li Assoc. AIA // Patrick Magness AIA // Wai Sem Morris Int'l Assoc, AIA // Takeshi Obata AIA // James O'Callaghan Prof. Aff, AIA // Jose Marcos Silva // Casimiro Palma AIA // Sara Pearce Prof. Aff, AIA // Nicole W. Portieri Int'l Assoc, AIA // Anna Reiter Assoc. AIA // Frederick Shands Assoc. AIA // Lucy Swift Other // Natalie Ward AIA // Lulu Yang Assoc. AIA // Madani Y. Zakri Int'l Assoc, AIA // Thomas Zapoticzny AIA
|
|
Construction Payment Charter Updated - A Missed Opportunity?
by Will Buckby and Andrew Croft, Beale & Company Solicitors LLP
The Government’s Construction Leadership Council has published an updated Construction Supply Chain Payment Charter to reflect commitments in the original charter. In our view much more could have been done to strengthen the updated charter; the onus remains very much on the industry to tackle the issue of late payment.
To read our article which details what's new and what impact the new charter will have, please click on the link here.
|
|
AIA UK - Annual General Meeting 2016
Wednesday, 18 January, 6:30pm
Herman Miller Showroom 61 Aldwych London, WC2B 4AE
Dear Members,
We invite you to join us for the AIA UK's 2017 Annual General Meeting to celebrate the year just gone and look forward to the year ahead.
Our longest serving sponsor, Herman Miller, will generously host a drinks and canapé reception and make a special presentation worth 1.0 CEUs.
Essential AIA business will include:
- election of the 2017 Board Officers and Directors,
- approval of the 2016 Annual Accounts,
- acceptance of Chapter Bylaw changes, and
- review of our Events Calendar past and future.
Attendance
Attendance is not absolutely mandatory; however, this is your opportunity to have a say in the governance of the Chapter as well as to enjoy a lively social/educational event in the Herman Miller showrooms.
Call for Nominations
If you are interested in getting involved with the AIA UK Chapter, please consider nominating yourself for a position on the 2017 board of directors. You are welcome to make nominations for the board of directors and the four officer positions. The officer positions are ideally held by a US licensed architects, but we will accept foreign licensed architects for nominations as well.
The only requirement for a board of director’s positions is enthusiasm and a willingness to help with events and other chapter activities throughout the year. If you would like to find out more about the positions, Please contact Michael Lischer, FAIA at membership@aiauk.org. We look forward to hearing from you!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
