Boundaries shift. Architecture is often viewed with a sense of permanence but time brings a fluidity to the physical fabric of our cities. Boundaries are not erased with each new community that settles but reclaimed, repositioned and repurposed. Architecture adapts.…
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I did two things this week in preparation for LFA 2019. The first was to visit a hospital-based project in Waterloo that intercepts young victims of gang violence and then works with them for 6 months back home. The second…
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The West End Project is a splendid thing. It involves widening the pavements of Tottenham Court Road, excluding all motor vehicles except for buses. Gower Street will revert to two lanes for traffic and will be enhanced by a segregated…
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Where does one place end and another begin? The nature of commercial development in cities like London means that sites are almost always developed in complete isolation. The need to deliver independently viable schemes drives development language: ‘Our scheme in…
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Del Hossain is Managing Director of Adrem Group. Del is an Architect, a Wellbeing Psychologist, a former London Business Mentor of the Year and has been a Managing Editor for Business publications for the RIBA. In this essay he shares…
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Peter Murray is the founder of the London Festival of Architecture and the chairman of New London Architecture. In this essay he shares his thoughts on our 2019 theme of boundaries. London grew and flourished because of its river, but…
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Meneesha Kellay is public programmes curator at the Royal Institute of British Architects and was previously curator at the Museum of Architecture and assistant director of the Architectural Association Night School. She is also a member of our curation panel.…
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Tom Guy is a partner at Guy Piper Architects and the founder of the Architecture LGBT+ network, and this year worked with the LFA on a competition to design a float for the 2018 Pride in London parade. He is also…
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Sarah Castle is a founding director of IF_DO, an award-winning architecture practice, and is a chapter lead for Urbanistas, a network supporting women working in the built environment. She is also a member of our curation panel. In this essay…
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Sumitra Upham is curator of public programmes at the Design Museum. Previously, she was design curator at Oxo Tower Wharf, associate curator at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London and part of the exhibitions team at White Cube, London. She’s…
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David Ogunmuyiwa is founder of ArchitectureDoingPlace. He is unique in the UK having worked as an estate officer for social landlords including Lambeth, Southwark, Tower Hamlets and Circle 33, before retraining as an architect. He is also a member of…
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Robert Bevan is architecture critic for the London Evening Standard. He’s also a member of our Curation Panel. In this essay he shares his thoughts on our 2019 theme of boundaries. We live in a London that is in danger…
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In this essay, Jamie Sherman, Partner at Kingston Smith, shares his memories of the 2018 London Festival of Architecture. Kingston Smith is a Benefactor of the LFA. So it turns out architects have more fun than I realised! When Kingston…
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This essay by George Saumarez Smith, Director at Adam Architecture, was commissioned as part of a series of essays on identity and architecture for this year’s LFA. Classicism runs deep in the veins of London. A long walk across the…
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This essay from Rt Hon Ed Vaizey MP is part of a series of essays on identity and architecture commissioned by the LFA. Identity is the theme of this year’s festival. The Houses of Parliament have had a rough ride…
READ MOREWhite cube or blank box? Listed building or reused space? Is there ever an ideal setting in which to view artworks? Wednesday evening’s event ‘Art Galleries in Reclaimed or Listed Buildings’ brought together four creative industry professionals to discuss various…
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As the Thames flows through the heart of the city, it takes with it decades of architectural history and industrial heritage. Whilst once acting as London’s superhighway for coal and power, it now exists as a pathway for development, infrastructure…
READ MOREAfter sitting in an office without air con on a warm day your enthusiasm for events can sometimes wane. This one was touch and go – it was fully booked, I hadn’t registered, a cold glass of wine by the…
READ MOREBattling past hordes of after work drinkers and summer sun seekers, I found myself in front of a beautifully gilded shop front, one of the many along the West End’s Sicilian Avenue. This was to be the setting for Hutchinson…
READ MOREThis essay from young people involved in Leap Confronting Conflict is part of a series of essays on identity and architecture commissioned by the LFA. Leap Confronting Conflict is a national youth charity that provides conflict management training and support…
READ MOREAs the day finally started to cool down, a small group gathered on a Venetian-inspired Altana and looked out over the Regents Canal and the buses sliding past along Mare Street. We were reflecting on an evening of heated debate…
READ MORELast Saturday saw the return of the Great Architectural Bake Off! Now in its fourth year, the annual event is an opportunity for those working across the architectural and design worlds to don their aprons, dust off their cake tins…
READ MOREFirstly, I must apologise to the receptionist at KPF. I was rather perplexed when I rushed over to see the Iñigo Bujedo-Aguirre exhibition ‘castles in the air’and was told to wait while they found out if it was open to…
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This essay from Emma Dent Coad, MP for Kensington and Chelsea, is part of a series of essays on identity and architecture commissioned by the LFA. It can take me half an hour to buy a pint of milk from my…
READ MOREThis essay from Dave Hill, Editor of On London, is part of a series of essays on identity and architecture commissioned by the LFA. London’s buildings tell compelling stories of the capital’s identity, not because they express some fixed essence…
READ MORECatching sight of LFA pink while walking through the city is enchanting. I like to think of members of the public who aren’t engaged with the festival stumbling across an installation or fortuitously wandering into a party. London is full…
READ MOREThis year’s London Festival of Architecture programme raises a host of questions surrounding the identity of our capital and of London’s status as a global city of culture. How do we read a city? What does a post-industrial city look…
READ MOREIt seems like only a few months since we last enjoyed giant sandcastles, pop-up choirs, secret gigs and one volcano jacuzzi but the London Festival of Architecture is back. The Memory theme in 2017 gave us the chance to look…
READ MOREWelcome to this year's LFA Blog. We've got a huge programme of over 450 events this June by a record 260 organisations. It's virtually impossible to see everything in the festival (trust us we've tried) but never fear, our team…
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