Ideas for the summer

All architectural ideas welcome:

1. The Petrified Music of Architecture: Sir Herbert Oakeley's Collection of Cathedral Models 8 April to 25 June 2011 Sir John Soane's Museum, London. FREE

2. James Stirling: Notes from the Archive

5 April – 21 August 2011 Tate Britain FREE

Bournetropolis

Bournemouth bids for Queen's Jubilee city status

BBC Dorset 25th May 2011

Bournemouth would become the first city in Dorset if granted city status in 2012

Bournemouth will bid for city status in a competition to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee next year, a Dorset council has announced.

The government said towns bidding for city status should be "vibrant, welcoming communities".

The deadline for bids is Friday, with only one new city expected to be chosen early next year.

Pam Donnellan, chief executive of the borough council, said Bournemouth has a "strong case".

'Bold ambitions'

"Bournemouth is a successful, well established vibrant town with bold ambitions for our future," she added.

"We have a rich history and enjoy a diverse culture, an international reputation and strong economy.

"Previous winners have reported a boost in investment in their city, a rise in jobs, improved profile and reputation, and an increase in their opportunity to bid for additional and external sources of funding.

"Submitting a bid for city status is low cost, but the return from a successful bid would be immense."

Bournemouth did not enter the last city status competition to mark the Queen's Golden Jubilee in 2002. Poole entered but was unsuccessful.

A spokesperson from the Borough of Poole said it will not bid to become a city on this occasion.

Bournemouth would become the first city in Dorset if granted city status in 2012.

Other towns competing for city status include Luton, Milton Keynes, Middlesbrough, Medway, Reading, Bolton, Swindon, Chelmsford, Stockport, Perth, Gateshead, Ballymena, Guildford, Southend-on-sea, Ipswich, Wrexham, Croydon and St Austell.

BD news 12th May 2011

Zogolovitch launches mews housing scheme in south-east London

Developer Roger Zogolovitch has announced his latest project, a private mews of three detached, contemporary houses designed by local practice MW Architects in south-east London.

It is the third project by Solidspace, the developer led by Zogolovitch and his son Gus.

Its first, One Centaur Street, designed by dRMM, won the RIBA best building award, while the second, the Zog House, was shortlisted.

The latest, Essex Mews in Crystal Palace, is a modern take on the local Victorian and 1930s vernacular from the outside: slim-line brickwork and modern chimneys under slate roofs, and timber casement windows.

But inside, the houses couldn’t be more different from their neighbours.

Each measures 115sq m and has a split-section layout with a central staircase that aims to eliminate the dark corridors of a standard Victorian terrace.

The design centres on a large kitchen-diner which opens on to a back garden, with a living room half a storey up and a galleried study above that. The houses are topped off with the bedrooms and bathrooms.

Roger Zogolovitch said: ”All my friends want to live in my house, which I take as a good sign.

“Great architecture is not just about what a building looks like from the outside, but the feeling you get when you’re inside. Modern life demands flexible and bright spaces. For me, whatever I’m designing, it’s about creating moments of delight so we like to collaborate with young, up and coming architectural practices.”

images: Solidspace

TAKTAL at TESTBED – 21.05.11

PLEASE NOTE: EXHIBITION TIMES HAVE CHANGED FROM THAT LISTED
EVENT RUNS: 2PM to 9PM

Shadow Puppet Performance 7.3 – 8
Free Admission

TAKTAL invites the people of Wandsworth to visit and engage with the experimental art space Testbed1 as part of the Wandsworth Arts Festival 2011.. The ex dairy warehouse complex is a stunning sequence of spaces beside Ransomes Dockwhich is largely unknown. Through the construction of a series of large scale interactive installations we propose to transform Testbed1 into a space of visual splendor. A combination of Architecture and Visual Arts each installation will play with and manipulate with the spatial qualities within the Testbed1 complex enticing users to engage with the space and have fun. The exhibition will be a collaboration between ex-students from the Bartlett School of Architecture, Westminster School of Architecture and the Glasgow School of Art.

The doodle bar will be open in the courtyard all day so come down and enjoy the view by the Dock