THE WORLD ARCHITECTURE FESTIVAL
NOVEMBER 2015
World Architecture Festival 2015 will bring together over 2,000 architects and designers to Singapore for 3 days of presentations, debates and celebration. On the 4th November Niall will be taking part in a debate to discuss ‘why and how can architecture be discussed in terms of aesthetics? What does the practice of architecture contribute to the discourse of the aesthetic? And, are aesthetic values ‘eternal’ or contingent?’ On the main stage Niall will also be taking part in a presentation on Designing for Age.
A+U FEATURE ON SOMERVILLE COLLEGE ACCOMMODATION
MAY 2014
The Japanese journal a+u has published an account of the practice’s student accommodation for Somerville College, Oxford. The theme of this month’s publication is ‘New Landscapes of Wooden Architecture’ and features an international selection of projects that explore new aspects of wood technology and its potential within cities. The article gives a description on the themes and processes behind the project, placing it within the context of the historic university city and the surrounding Radcliffe Infirmary Quarter.
It is illustrated with working details of the bespoke timber glazing for the stair tower lanterns, as well as the prefabricated timber projecting bay window units for the student bedrooms, with their integral desk and bench seat overlooking the street.
‘We chose to make the glazed elements in the stair towers and student rooms in wood because we wanted them to be like warm lanterns, internally lit in the evening, bringing light to the narrow street…Wood allowed us to make more three-dimensional details…we owe a debt to Louis Kahn’s work at Philip Exeter Academy Library.’ NM