Since 2006, each year the LFA has selected a theme which helps to set the direction of the festival. And each year our amazing community of event organisers put on events which respond to that year’s theme.
Having a theme means that the vast majority of our events are unique, timely and relevant – and have been created especially for the festival.
Now is your chance to propose the theme for the 2022 LFA.
The LFA has a mission to democratise the discussion of architecture and our festival is run by a diverse community of event organisers.
Rather than select the 2021 theme ourselves, for the first time we opened up the process and asked our community of both existing and new event organisers to propose a theme for the festival.
The LFA team whittled these down to a shortlist of six proposed themes, from which our Curation Panel made the final selection – selecting ‘care’ as the theme for the 2021 festival.
Following the enthusiasm and success of the theme open call, for 2022 we will again be opening up the process of proposing the theme for the festival. Our Curation Panel will be announced in September and the final theme will be announced later this year, followed by our call for events in early 2022.
So what makes a good theme?
We’re looking for potential themes that are relevant and timely to the discussion of architecture in London, and which will be particularly relevant in June 2022. We want a theme that allows the widest possible audience to engage in the discussion about architecture and our city. The theme should allow both the profession and wider public to engage in the festival by attending events. And for those who want to get more involved, staging their own events.
What are the most pressing ideas that architects should be thinking about? What problems are the public hoping architects will solve? What are the challenges London faces with it’s buildings? And what should we be celebrating? There are serious issues to be considered and debated, but how can the theme let people have fun too? A festival is supposed to be a celebration after all!
Our previous themes have been: Care in 2021, Power in 2020, Boundaries in 2019, Identity 2018, Memory in 2017 and Community in 2016. You can read more about the history of the festival here,
The deadline for submitting a theme idea is 15th September 2021. Our 2022 theme will be announced later this year, shortly followed by our call for events.
How to propose a theme
Whether you’ve previously run events for the LFA, or are interested in doing so in the future, we’re keen to hear your ideas for our next theme.
Theme proposals can be submitted from within the LFA account. Existing LFA event organisers can log on to the LFA website using their LFA account. From the account section, just click ‘propose a theme’. Those who are new to the festival can create an organiser account for free on the website (you’ll need this if you want to run an event in the future). You only need one account per organisation. If a number of people from your organisation want to submit a proposal they can do so from your organisers’ account. The LFA team will approve each account within 24 hours, and you’ll then be able to propose a theme.
If you’re not part of an organisation you can also create an account in your own name.
You’ll then just need your theme and a short paragraph explaining your proposal. If you want, you can also submit a photo which illustrates your theme.
Next Steps
Like last this year, the LFA team will select a shortlist of six proposed themes for the curation panel to consider. They will be shown the proposed themes and background text (we won’t show them who has submitted the proposed theme).
After reaching a decision, each member of the curation panel will then share their thoughts and interpretation of the theme, in the hope this inspires ideas for the 2022 programme.
Deadline for submission 15th September 2021 – SUBMISSIONS ARE NOW CLOSED.
