Architecture + Urbanism recommends 'Louis Kahn: The Power of Architecture'

LOUIS KAHN: THE POWER OF ARCHITECTURE

Design Museum, London

09 July 2014 – 12 October 2014

The American architect LOUIS KAHN (1901-1974) is regarded as one of the great master builders of the Twentieth Century. Kahn created buildings of monumental beauty with powerful universal symbolism.

This exhibition encompasses an unprecedented and diverse range of architectural models, original drawings, travel sketches, photographs and films. Highlights of the exhibition include a four-metre-high model of the spectacular City Tower designed for Philadelphia (1952-57). Each project is fully represented in this timely exhibition, which seeks to bring one of the twentieth century’s greatest master builders to a new audience.

MA A+U London Visit

February 13 saw MA A+U brave the inclement weather to visit a couple of architectural exhibitions in London. Our first stop was to THE BRITS WHO BUILT THE MODERN WORLD at RIBA. Over lunch in Chinatown a variety of views were shared among the students

Meisoon thought the visit to 66 Portland Place was a long-awaited dream come true

Jason was very excited to see the model of KK 100 Tower in Shenzhen and get the bird's eye view

Aidin expected the exhibition to be more analytical and interactive

Joanne would have liked to see even more sketches and design process for the buildings

David was hoping to see more original drawings

Vincent thought the exhibition was good but smaller than he expected, and wanted to see more design in process

Reece observed that the exhibition wasn't as ego-inflating as he'd anticipated

Charles was very impressed with the Allies & Morison model of Beirut in the 'New British Works' exhibition

Our lunchtime stroll through John Nash's London culminated in a visit to the Royal Academy and our second exhibition

SENSING SPACES: ARCHITECTURE REIMAGINED which we all agreed was a stunning and engaging experience

Where 4 are they now?

Luke Butcher graduated from MA A+U with Distinction in 2011 and completed his professional architectural education with a Bachelor of Architecture degree in 2012, achieving another Distinction and receiving the Hays Award for "Outstanding Achievement in Professional Studies". Luke is currently on the Graduate Management Training Programme at Mace in London. Luke says 'The Graduate Management Training Programme is an exciting opportunity that allows me to work alongside programme and project managers, specialists in construction delivery and cost consultancy, and facilities managers.'  Luke's MA A+U thesis The Architecture of the Profession is available to purchase here

From Spade to Olympic Torch

MA A+U are delighted to see that Richard Reynolds, the Guerilla Gardener, who spoke at the inaugural MA A+U Symposium in 2010 will be carrying the Olympic Torch at 12.00 noon on Thursday 26 July from Havil Street London SE5 along Peckham Road on its journey towards the Olympic Stadium. Here is a clip of Richard speaking at the Symposium.

Architecture + Urbanism recommends 'Building the Revolution: Soviet Art and Architecture 1915-1935'

Building the Revolution: Soviet Art and Architecture 1915-1935

Royal Academy of Arts, London until 22 January 2012

This exhibition examines Russian avant-garde architecture made during a brief but intense period of design and construction that took place from c.1922 to 1935. Fired by the Constructivist art that emerged in Russia from c.1915, architects transformed this radical artistic language into three dimensions, creating structures whose innovative style embodied the energy and optimism of the new Soviet Socialist state.

Exhibition website

A 1:40 scale recreation of Vladimir Tatlin's 1919 Monument to the Third International is displayed in the courtyard of Burlington House

Architecture + Urbanism recommends 'Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970-1990'

Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970-1990



at the Victoria and Albert Museum London 23 September 2011- 15 January 2012



Of all movements in art and design history, postmodernism is perhaps the most controversial. This era defies definition, but it is a perfect subject for an exhibition. Postmodernism was an unstable mix of the theatrical and theoretical. It was visually thrilling, a multifaceted style that ranged from the colourful to the ruinous, the ludicrous to the luxurious.



What they all had in common was a drastic departure from modernism’s utopian visions, which had been based on clarity and simplicity. The modernists wanted to open a window onto a new world. Postmodernism, by contrast, was more like a broken mirror, a reflecting surface made of many fragments. Its key principles were complexity and contradiction. It was meant to resist authority, yet over the course of two decades, from about 1970 to 1990, it became enmeshed in the very circuits of money and influence that it had initially sought to dismantle.



Postmodernism shattered established ideas about style. It brought a radical freedom to art and design, through gestures that were often funny, sometimes confrontational and occasionally absurd. Most of all, postmodernism brought a new self-awareness about style itself.

Graduate presentation at The Architecture Foundation

Nandi Marshal Han who graduated from MA Architecture + Urbanism in 2009 will be presenting his award winning project for the 2010 Kohn Pedersen Fox / Architecture Foundation Student Travel Award at The Architecture Foundation, London on 15 September 7.00 - 8.30 PM.

The event is free but booking is essential. Booking details here

The Greatest City Debate

Today BBC Radio 4 hosted The Greatest City Debate between Istanbul, London, Mumbai and New York