Final week of The International Architecture and Design Showcase 2012 - Part two
17 September 2012
A global gathering of architecture and design from around the world
Part two of The International Architecture and Design Showcase has continued with a journey around the world, exhibiting in London innovative design and architecture from countries across the globe.
The British Council presents the showcase in partnership with London Design Festival, this year celebrating its 10th anniversary, as a unique opportunity to exchange ideas about the importance of architecture and design, revealing ways of working rarely seen before in London.
Vicky Richardson, Director of Architecture, Design and Fashion at the British Council says: ‘This is a unique opportunity to experience design and architecture from across the globe. With so many countries gathering in one city, it places London at the centre of the global debate about design ideas, drawing inspiration from both well and lesser known cultures.’
Highlights
Zoo-Topia, a day-long symposium hosted by the Hungarian cultural centre, explores zoos as sites of national representation and showcases of modernist architecture. The unique project will explore the story of London’s first hippo, arriving from Cairo in 1850 in exchange for four greyhounds and will feature a screening of short films, a publication launch and a pop-up exhibition at the ZSL London Zoo. There will be a special focus on the Budapest Zoo and the works of the Hungarian architect Károly Kós. László Moholy-Nagy’s short film The New Architecture and the London Zoo (1936) will be one of the highlights of the screenings.
The British Council has opened its new public gallery space with an exhibition presenting the work of architect Lina Bo Bardi whose modernist, social architecture has had great influence in Brazil. The exhibition, curated by Noemi Blager, recreates the experience of Lina’s buildings consisting of a display of artefacts by Madelon Vriesendorp and a film installation by Tapio Snellman.
International Exhibitions
Part two of the showcase features the Peruvian Embassy and Tip Arquitectura examining the developing infrastructure of Lima through a social media campaign, with commentary collated by the architectural community within the city. At London Metropolitan University, the faculty of Architecture and Spatial Design examine Sierra Leone’s Freetown neighbourhoods in this post-conflict region.
The changing city vistas of Uzbekistan will be the focus of a photography exhibition at the Embassy of Uzbekistan, looking at the relationship between the developing modern architecture and the traditional towering minarets. The rich and textural glass products of ECAL (University of Art and Design, Lausanne, Switzerland) students will be presented in ‘Hot Tools’ At Libby Sellers Gallery.
Japan’s Embassy building is being used to recreate the iconic Kintaikyõ, or ‘Brocade-Sash Bridge’ first built in 1673CE. A masterful example of engineering in wood, the bridge is rebuilt every 20 years, so the knowledge is passed from generation to generation, and now presented for a new generation in London.
At Printworks Trust, Brixton, a unique opportunity to see one of Burkina Faso’s Mosse Master Weavers in residence on a full scale loom, accompanied by an exhibition illustrating the ambitions of ‘Projet de Tissage’ to secure the survival of dying traditional skills. While on Cromwell road the results of an exchange between Kingston University the Lupane Women’s Centre of Zimbabwe will be presented in an exhibition of craft and weaved baskets.
Talks, Film Screenings and Workshops
ANZA Magazine is in residence at Allies and Morrison Architects studio over London Design Festival, launching the third issue of the magazine My City, focusing on relations between metropolises and their inhabitants in cities such as Kampala, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Kigali and Bujumbura.
A specially commissioned documentary, from filmmaker Frederique Cifuentes, about the world’s newest nation, South Sudan, will be screened at Riverside Studios. Our Bright Stars documents the South Sudanese peoples’ expectations for the future of their country and their efforts to build a new nation.
The last in the Finnish Institutes talk series, HEL/LO will take place at DesignJunction debating pressing issues for tomorrow’s architecture and design world, while Flanders House have invited architects of various generations to discuss the emergence of a design and research trend in practice, and the quintessential architecture of this European region.
International Pavilions
There is no shortage of international furniture and products at this years Design Festival showcase hubs including, 100% Design, Tent London and DesignJunction. 100% Norway will relocate to Tent London with designers including Oscar Narud, Caroline Olsson and Magnus Pettersen.
Other countries showcasing at the hubs include the Netherlands with their exhibition Connecting the Dots, Hungarian Designers in Look, Love, Keep in Mind: Here comes Hungarian Designers and Fresh Sense – Taiwan showcasing 18 local brands from the region.
Czech Designers, among others, will be at 100% Design where a series of breakfast design seminars will also be taking place. While at DesignJunction, Lerival and Bernhardt Design will present America Made Me, a celebration of contemporary American design ahead of New York’s first design week scheduled for 2013.
Partners
Especially for 2012, the International Architecture and Design Showcase will be part of the London Design Festival, and are also partnering with 100% Design, The African and African-Caribbean Design Diaspora at the 2012 Bargehouse Festival and Open-City. The closing weekend of the showcase will see Open House London present a special focus on London’s Embassies and High Commissions, some of whom will open their doors for the public to explore these marvellous buildings.
http://backoftheenvelope.britishcouncil.org/
For more information please contact Alex Bratt, Senior Press Officer on 020 7389 4872 or email alex.bratt@britishcouncil.org
Notes to Editors:
The British Council’s International Architecture and Design Showcase 2012 – Part 2 will run until the 23rd September. Inspired by the international focus on London for 2012 and produced in partnership with the London Festival of Architecture and the London Design Festival, the International Architecture and Design Showcase will be represented within the London 2012 Festival, the culmination of the Cultural Olympiad. The Silver Pigeon award for architecture will be presented to the best international showcase project during the London Festival of Architecture.
London Design Festival
First staged in 2003, the London Design Festival is one of the world’s most important annual design events. The Festival programme is made up of more than 300 events and exhibitions staged by hundreds of partner organisations across the design spectrum from around the world.
http://www.londondesignfestival.com/
London Festival of Architecture
The LFA’s mission, since its origins in 2004, has been to reveal the potentials latent within the city, in particular its public realm, by increasing access and suggesting alternative positive uses. The 2012 Festival is run by five co-directors: Peter Murray (Founding Director), Nick McKeogh (NLA), Sarah Ichioka (AF), Vicky Richardson (British Council), and Tamsie Thomson (RIBA London), advised by a Festival Committee representing London’s key cultural institutions and built environment disciplines.
The British Council creates international opportunities for the people of the UK and other countries and builds trust between them worldwide. We are a Royal Charter charity, established as the UK’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. Our 7000 staff in over 100 countries work with thousands of professionals and policy makers and millions of young people every year through English, arts, education and society programmes. We earn over 75% of our annual turnover of nearly £700 million from services which customers pay for, education and development contracts we bid for and from partnerships. A UK Government grant provides the remaining 25%. We match every £1 of core public funding with over £3 earned in pursuit of our charitable purpose. For more information, please visit: www.britishcouncil.org or call our Press Office on +44 (0)20 7389 4268. You can also keep in touch with the British Council through http://twitter.com/britishcouncil and http://blog.britishcouncil.org/.
