The Architecture Foundation: The Latest Architecture and News

Belgium's renowned architectural practice OFFICE KGDVS joins The Architecture Foundation to discuss their recent projects and urbanist design.

Hear from Swiss architecture practice Sauter von Moos as they lecture on their practice's works.

Join us as the founders of the Swiss architecture practice present their recent work.

The Dutch architect and urbanist Hans van der Heijden will speak about his recent projects and their engagement with the city and its streets.

The practice of acclaimed Swiss architect duo Christ and Gantenbein will join together on stage to discuss past and future projects.

David Kohn, founder of his own architectural practice, will discuss past and future projects from his office. 

Eyal Weizman, director of Forensic Architecture, will lecture at the Barbican in cooperation with The Architecture Foundation discuss the group's practice combining architecture and digital forensics.

The Finnish Institute in London and The Architecture Foundation have unveiled Viewpoint, a floating platform on Regent's Canal in the centre of Camley Street Natural Park, London. Designed by Erkko Aarti, Arto Ollila and Mikki Ristola of Finnish practice AOR, the platform will be operated by the London Wildlife Trust. The permanent structure is intended to bring visitors to London's most central nature reserve, connecting them with the wildlife of the park and the Regent’s Canal. In addition, it will also provide the park with an additional workshop space and learning facility, becoming "an architectural focal point of King’s Cross."

In February 2014, The Architecture Foundation will present Exploration Architecture: Designing with Nature, the first ever solo show of Exploration, a thought-leading architecture and design practice working in the field of biomimicry.

A striking 3D printed installation will showcase a selection of four projects and prototypes from the studio’s cutting-edge research on sustainable, nature-inspired design, including two new, previously unpublished designs. Study models, sketches and specially commissioned short films introducing Exploration’s projects will be presented alongside a myriad of natural specimens that inspired the designs – offering unique insight into the studio’s practice of learning from nature in order to deliver future-facing solutions for architecture, systems design and materials production that address the major challenges of our age.

Having wrapped up their three part series And the Winner is...?, The Architecture Foundation has launched another trio of evening discussions, this time around the ever-encroaching commercial values which are increasingly threatening cultural venues in London. The series, entitled Culture + Commerce, will explore how culture can fight against commercial homogeneity in the face of reduced public funding.

Read on to find out more about the Culture + Commerce series

Opening October 4, The Architecture Foundation in London is delighted to present 'Futures in the Making,' a group exhibition showcasing prospective architectural futures explored in the work of recent architecture graduates. From spectacular pollution capturing facades to innovative agrarian settlements, projects will include a global range of case studies that test new ideas for architecture and infrastructure by a rising generation of architectural talent. The exhibition will be on display until November 13. For more information, please visit here.

The Architecture Foundation recently launched their annual international Open Call for innovative independent exhibitions and installations for its central London Project Space. Intended as an incubator for independent positions and architectural experimentation, projects selected through the Open Call will punctuate the AF’s ongoing curated program. This program, competitively selected through a jury process, will give space to individuals or organizations to activate the AF Project Space as a testing ground for modes of exhibition and 1:1 scale spatial experimentation, an open studio, a public residency or other diverse formats. The foundation's recent initiative, 'We Made That', was a project selected through the 2012 Open Call. The deadline for submissions is May 10. For more information, please visit here.

Architectural Competitions may be regarded as an opportunity or a burden. There are numerous architectural practices that gained significant attention for their submissions and winnings in highly publicized competitions, but the reality is that architectural competitions are expensive and do not guarantee reward. And yet, they are an opportunity to engage in a critical dialogue about the projects at hand, and may be approached with more creative and imaginative risk than when working directly with a client, which is probably why they are so popular and numerous. They are also an opportunity to bring the public into conversations about architecture in the public forum . These are just some of the considerations that The Architecture Foundation hopes to tackle in its new series, "And the Winner is...?".

Throughout 2013, The Architecture Foundation will be hosting a three-series of critical and polemic explorations into the culture of architecture awards, competitions and festivals. The first in the series, "Competitive Advantages" will be a discussion considering the nature of architecture competitions and their advantages and disadvantages as they pertain to the clients and the public, established architectural firms and emerging practices.

More on the event after the break.

The Architecture Foundation has recently launched a month-long initiative named The Open Office. The scheme, which is described as “part 'Citizens Urban Advice Bureau', and part functioning practice” is the brainchild of London-based practice We Made That and will take place in the offices of The Architecture Foundation in Southwark, London until 22nd March. Operating on a walk-in basis, and displaying all work openly, The Open Office aims to engage and educate local communities on issues of architecture, urbanism and planning.

Read more about The Open Office scheme after the break.