In partnership with the British Council, the London Festival of Architecture (LFA2008) will present The Embassies Project to showcase the work of international architects and designers in embassies and diplomatic residencies across London from 20 June to 20 July, 2008.
The Embassies Project is a spectacular range of international exhibitions, installations, events and debates sited in some of London’s most elegant and historically significant properties. Twenty-seven foreign embassies have responded ambitiously to the Festival theme, Fresh!, and will present the best of architecture from their countries. The Embassies Project looks at fresh talent and ideas in architectural thinking from around the world and will celebrate the growing global understanding of the significance of good design in architecture and urban spaces.
Festival visitors can expect to see the changing face of Vancouver, Canada; radical propositions for the future of Brazilian lifestyle; dramatic changes to the urban fabric of Bogota, Columbia; and sustainable architecture propositions from Denmark and Italy and much more.
British Council Design and Architecture Advisor, Catherine Ince, said: ‘As the UK’s international body for cultural relations, we are delighted to be working with such a large number of embassies to bring a truly international flavour to the festival this year. It is of immense value to see fresh thinking around some of the big architectural challenges of today from such a large range of countries in one city’.
LFA2008 Director Peter Murray said: ‘Not only will The Embassies Project offer the public an opportunity to see some of the world’s most exciting new architecture in one city, but it will also offer access to major embassy buildings that are often not generally open. The partnership between LFA2008 and the British Council demonstrates a fresh approach to presenting the work of the best new talent on the international scene’.
For the third year running, the biennial London Festival of Architecture 2008, organised in association with Design for London, will be one of the world’s major celebrations of architecture and the built environment. London’s landscape will be transformed during the spectacular month-long festival, which will include over 500 events for visitors as well as architecture professionals. Across five London ‘hubs’ over five weekends visitors can see exhibitions, architect-designed pavilions, talks, performances, film screenings, large scale street animations and installations and go on cycle tours, walks and boat trips along the Thames.
Embassies participating in the Project are located across the Festival Hubs and reveal a particular and fascinating map of London. The Embassies Project includes: Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Georgia, Guatemala, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Peru, Romania, Spain, Sweden, and the USA. At the British Council building just off Trafalgar Square, a window installation presents information on individual Embassies Projects and a map showing their locations.
Alongside this installation, the British Council presents 'Cityscapers' an exhibition exploring the connections between Edinburgh and Glasgow. The research ideas were developed by Scottish and East and Pacific Asian students in a two week studio workshop in Scotland this Spring, lead by Professor Richard Goodwin from the University of New South Wales and Dr Stephen Cairns from Edinburgh University. The project is part of the British Council’s Creative Cities initiative which brings together the next generation of artists and designers to tackle the growth of urban centres in the UK and East and Pacific Asia.
For further information about the Embassy Project, please contact Catherine Ince on +44 (0)20 7389 3155 or catherine.ince@britishcouncil.org. For full details on all Embassies Projects please visit www.lfa2008.org/embassies.php
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