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IAS 2014

International Residencies

IAS 2014 Balfron Tower, Poplar. Photo: British Council

Balfron Tower, Poplar. Photo: British Council

The annual International Architecture Showcase is a diverse programme of international exhibitions and events led by London’s embassies and cultural institutes as part of the London Festival of Architecture.

 In 2014, we will be launching a new format for the event by inviting international architects to participate in residencies with London-based practices.

The International Architecture Showcase will explore the influence of émigré architecture on London. During the 20th century, émigrés to London had a significant impact on British architecture, bringing with them ideas that connected directly to International Modernism. British architecture continues to thrive on its international connections.

The iconic Balfron Tower, a forerunner to the Trellick Tower, was designed by Hungarian-born architect Ernö Goldfinger in 1963. Balfron will be a hub for the International Residency Programme, and working in partnership with Bow Arts Trust we will explore the impact Goldfinger’s work had on architecture and the East End of London.

We are interested to look at other examples of émigré architects, who may also have had an impact in London, or whose work may be little-known and ripe for discovery. We will also explore the importance of mobility in architecture, and the role that ‘outsiders’ play in shaping a national architecture.

The programme will connect with the LFA’s overall theme of ‘Capital’ and will also address the theme of the national pavilions at Venice Architecture Biennale, which runs alongside LFA - Absorbing Modernity 1914-2014. It will culminate in a symposium, a publication and a series of events organised by embassies and cultural institutes.

 

IAS 2014 Outcomes: Possible Futures for Poplar

Culture – Limehouse Cut | Delvendahl Martin (UK) and GAISS Architects (Latvia)  Delvendahl Martin and GAISS Architects

Delvendahl Martin and GAISS Architects

Culture – Limehouse Cut | Delvendahl Martin (UK) and GAISS Architects (Latvia)
Housing – Bromley by Bow site | DK:CM (UK) and b210 (Estonia)  DK:CM and b210

DK:CM and b210

Housing – Bromley by Bow site | DK:CM (UK) and b210 (Estonia)
Housing – Bromley by Bow site | Duggan Morris (UK) and ZAV Architects (Iran)  Duggan Morris and ZAV Architects

Duggan Morris and ZAV Architects

Housing – Bromley by Bow site | Duggan Morris (UK) and ZAV Architects (Iran)
Nature – Leven Road Gas Works | Friend & Company (UK) and Jonathan Nsubuga (Uganda)  Friend & Company  and Jonathan Nsubuga

Friend & Company and Jonathan Nsubuga

Nature – Leven Road Gas Works | Friend & Company (UK) and Jonathan Nsubuga (Uganda)
Town Centres – Bromley-by-Bow Site | The Decorators (UK) and ISSSresearch&architecture (Austria)   The Decorators and ISSSresearch&architecture

The Decorators and ISSSresearch&architecture

Town Centres – Bromley-by-Bow Site | The Decorators (UK) and ISSSresearch&architecture (Austria)
Housing – Bromley by Bow site | Karakusevic Carson Architects (UK) and BCVA (Denmark)  Karakusevic Carson Architects and BCVA

Karakusevic Carson Architects and BCVA

Housing – Bromley by Bow site | Karakusevic Carson Architects (UK) and BCVA (Denmark)
Culture – Limehouse Cut | Muf (UK) and MoVe (Chile)  Muf and MoVe

Muf and MoVe

Culture – Limehouse Cut | Muf (UK) and MoVe (Chile)
Transition – Empson Street Industrial Area | Natasha Reid (UK) and Urbanworks Architecture and Urbanism (South Africa)  Natasha Reid and Urbanworks Architecture and Urbanism

Natasha Reid and Urbanworks Architecture and Urbanism

Transition – Empson Street Industrial Area | Natasha Reid (UK) and Urbanworks Architecture and Urbanism (South Africa)
Transition – Empson Street Industrial Area | Sarah Wigglesworth Architects (UK) and Kane Yanagawa (Taiwan)  Sarah Wigglesworth Architects  and Kane Yanagawa

Sarah Wigglesworth Architects and Kane Yanagawa

Transition – Empson Street Industrial Area | Sarah Wigglesworth Architects (UK) and Kane Yanagawa (Taiwan)
Town Centres – Bromley-by-Bow Site | Studio TILT (UK) and MOE + (Nigeria)  Studio TILT and MOE +

Studio TILT and MOE +

Town Centres – Bromley-by-Bow Site | Studio TILT (UK) and MOE + (Nigeria)

10 July 2014

The International Architecture Showcase 2014 was curated as a series of residencies in partnership with Bow Arts Trust, ten visiting architects from Austria, Chile, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Nigeria, South Africa, Taiwan, Uganda, and Iran were paired with ten UK-based practices. These collaborative teams worked together over a two week period to propose new ideas for specific sites across Poplar. 

The project, which was designed to celebrate the new perspectives that international architects can bring to London, promoted collaboration and exchange by asking each team of architects to analyse a different theme – Culture, Housing, Nature, Town Centres and Transition. The teams explored how these issues were tackled in international contexts and how this might translate to solutions for four key sites across Poplar.

Full documentation of the residency and outcomes is documented in the publication Possible Futures: 7 Days in Poplar. Below is a summary of the team's ideas.  

Housing – Bromley by Bow site

DK:CM (UK) and b210 (Estonia)

As London grapples with the growing housing crisis, DK:CM and b210 propose ‘Crisis Point’, a high-rise tower on the banks of Lee Navigation inspired by the iconic Centre Point of 1963. Working with the emerging East London typology of the residential tower, this new high-rise suggests an alternative way of living and working together that reflects co-operative models from around the world.

Karakusevic Carson Architects (UK) and BCVA (Denmark)

Producing a new master plan, Karakusevic Carson Architects and BCVA investigated the potential that this site had for unlocking under-occupied housing across the borough and looked at how it may better connect with its surroundings. With eight percent of housing stock in Tower Hamlets under-occupied and 23,500 households waiting for social housing, this scheme proposes new ways that housing can be configured and plays with ideas of scale and densification in inner London.

Duggan Morris (UK) and ZAV Architects (IRAN)

Working collaboratively to source ideas from around the world, Duggan Morris and ZAV Architects produced a large-scale mind map of ideas for the site at Bromley-by-Bow that investigated the history and culture of the idea to propose new possibilities for future developments.

 

Town Centres – Bromley-by-Bow Site

Studio TILT (UK) and MOE + (Nigeria)

Comparing and contrasting the formal and informal natures of London and Lagos, Studio TILT and MOE + took inspiration from the spontaneity found in Lagos, overlaying this on their site in Bromley-by-Bow to create a framework for a self-organising model. This fusing of forms allows for invention, immediacy, interaction, perforation and unique identifiable places that allow London to grow as a ‘mega city’.

The Decorators (UK) and ISSSresearch&architecture (Austria)

Through on-the-ground investigation and discussions with members of the public and business-owners in the area The Decorators and ISSSresearch&architecture sought to discover the hidden narratives of the site, unlocking what was already there and exploring how development on this site is being played out. Through this exploration, a game was devised that allows participants to engage with and inform the multiple possible futures of Bromley-by-Bow.

Nature – Leven Road Gas Works

Friend & Company and Jonathan Nsubuga (Uganda)

Working on the site of the decommissioned gas works at Leven Road, Friend & Company and Jonathan Nsubuga explored ways that this area could be ‘re-wilded’: building habitats for wildlife to thrive and encouraging traditional species such as eels and otters back into this area of London. The gasworks were suggested as spaces for culture and activation, while there were notions of swamping parts of the park in order to create these new habitats.

Culture – Limehouse Cut

Muf Architecture (UK) and MoVe (Chile)

Through an analysis of the ‘usable’ areas along the Limehouse Cut, Muf and MoVe suggested ways that these spaces could be used for activation, linking the left and right banks of the canal and bringing informal spectacle to the banks of this waterway. This proposal would act as a new extended civic balcony for the cut and would make space for things that – at present – there seems to be no room for.

Delvendahl Martin (UK) and GAISS Architects (Latvia)

By identifying natural spaces along the Limehouse Cut that could allow for culture and exchange, Delvendahl Martin and GAISS Architects suggested that through temporary interventions and an annual festival, this waterway could be animated through activities and events. By designing platforms, stages and seating, people would be encouraged to again engage with the water through increased access to it.

 

Transition – Empson Street Industrial Area

Sarah Wigglesworth Architects and Kane Yanagawa (Taiwan)

After analysing this industrial cluster, Sarah Wigglesworth Architects and Kane Yanagawa suggested the introduction of a Creative Fabrication Forum to encourage exchange between neighbouring industrial, residential, and artistic communities. By introducing an industrial arts zone that can make use of the existing trades and businesses on the site, it was suggested that this area could remain industrial, yet evolve to a new way of working.

Natasha Reid (UK) and Urbanworks Architecture and Urbanism (South Africa)

By investigating the way transition can be negotiated, Natasha Reid and Urbanworks Architecture and Urbanism suggested a new constitution that put the rights of those working on the site at the centre. A series of proposals from craft and making clusters to self-build initiatives were suggested to allow the site to remain industrial yet evolve.

28 July 2014

Publication: Possible Futures - 7 Days in Poplar

Publication: Possible Futures - 7 Days in Poplar  Front Cover. Design by Joseph Pochodzaj

Front Cover. Design by Joseph Pochodzaj

21 July 2014

Film: New Perspectives a Celebration at Balfron

Film: New Perspectives a Celebration at Balfron  Still from New Perspectives: A Celebration at Balfron film

Still from New Perspectives: A Celebration at Balfron film

10 July 2014

IAS 2014 Outcomes: Possible Futures for Poplar

IAS 2014 Outcomes: Possible Futures for Poplar Natasha Reid and Urbanworks Architecture and Urbanism

Natasha Reid and Urbanworks Architecture and Urbanism

10 July 2014

New Perspectives: A Celebration at Balfron

New Perspectives: A Celebration at Balfron Photo by Mike Massaro

Photo by Mike Massaro

16 June 2014

Special Edition of Chrisp Street on Air for IAS

Special Edition of Chrisp Street on Air for IAS © Dosfotos

© Dosfotos

16 June 2014

More events announced for New Perspectives: A Celebration at Balfron

More events announced for New Perspectives: A Celebration at Balfron  © Delvendahl Martin & Arnita Melzoba, GAISS

© Delvendahl Martin & Arnita Melzoba, GAISS

6 June 2014

New Perspectives: A Celebration at Balfron

New Perspectives: A Celebration at Balfron  RIBA Library Photographs Collection

RIBA Library Photographs Collection

27 May 2014

Launch of London Festival of Architecture 2014

Launch of London Festival of Architecture 2014 © London Festival of Architecture

© London Festival of Architecture

11 May 2014

International Architecture Showcase, LFA 2014

International Architecture Showcase, LFA 2014 © GRANT SMITH

© GRANT SMITH

11 March 2014

Open Call: International Residencies for London Festival of Architecture 2014

Open Call: International Residencies for London Festival of Architecture 2014 Simon Terrill

Simon Terrill