Talks & exhibitions
Victorian Society Lectures
29.01.2020 18:30–20:00, The Art Workers' Guild
Re-engaging with the Past: New Architectural Approaches In the third lecture of The Victorian Society winter lecture series The Victorian Society, in which Alison Brooks discusses the role of archetype as a critical physical and conceptual framework for human experience.
Re-engaging with the Past: New Architectural Approaches In the third lecture of The Victorian Society winter lecture series The Victorian Society, in which Alison Brooks discusses the role of archetype as a critical physical and conceptual framework for human experience.
Alison will explained how she transforms these models into an experimental, culturally specific architecture. Works discussed include her seminal new Quadrangle for Exeter College, Oxford; a competition-winning scheme for York Castle Museum; a new Maggie’s Centre in Somerset; and a private house in Hampstead. Each of these projects engages in a dialogue with historic forms, materials and patterns in search of a contemporary iconography. The ongoing debate about how to adapt and reuse old buildings has reached an exciting stage. A new approach to reconciling old and new in architecture has emerged in recent years, one that is neither purely conservationist nor historicist but instead adopts a fresh, innovative approach. In this Victorian Society lecture series seven leading architects discuss this new trend and what it means in their work.
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Sto-Foundation: November Talks
19.11.2019, University of Stuttgart
Alison delivered a presentation to the University of Stuttgart for the Sto-Foundation November Talks season. She began her lecture entitled “Making it real – Archetypes and Ecosystems” by reading a statement on today’s crises in which she commented: “We overuse the word crisis”.
Alison delivered a presentation to the University of Stuttgart for the Sto-Foundation November Talks season. She began her lecture entitled “Making it real – Archetypes and Ecosystems” by reading a statement on today’s crises in which she commented: “We overuse the word crisis”.
Alison Brooks – November Talks
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Wood In Architeture, Florence
14.11.2019 16:00, Palazzo Pucci, Florence
Michael Mueller delivered a lecture at the Palazzo Pucci in Florence, on ABA’s approach to designing with timber. The event was organised by The Plan Magazine and AHEC (American Hardwood Export Council).
Michael Mueller delivered a lecture at the Palazzo Pucci in Florence, on ABA’s approach to designing with timber. The event was organised by The Plan Magazine and AHEC (American Hardwood Export Council).
The hall of the Palazzo was packed with about 400 architects – some had to stand throughout the more than 2 hours event.
David Venables (AHEC) described the variety of American hardwood species: they are now trying to introduce more red oak to construction. He also discussed new ways of mapping deforestation and growth of forests and explained how quick the American hardwood regrows, even with harvested timber.
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This Is Not A Fake, Bartlett International Lecture Series
23.10.2019 18:30, Bartlett School of Architecture
In the context of a contemporary culture saturated with the virtual and the illusory, Alison Brooks delivered a lecture to the Bartlett on both the agency of the architect and the role of architecture as a critical grounding force. She described the ways in which memory, conscious and sub-conscious experiences of ‘real’ places contribute to instinctive creativity (a fundamental human characteristic and critical form of authorship in architecture).
In the context of a contemporary culture saturated with the virtual and the illusory, Alison Brooks delivered a lecture to the Bartlett on both the agency of the architect and the role of architecture as a critical grounding force. She described the ways in which memory, conscious and sub-conscious experiences of ‘real’ places contribute to instinctive creativity (a fundamental human characteristic and critical form of authorship in architecture).
Introduction to Lecture:
This Is Not A Fake
‘I thought I should start by explaining what I mean by this lecture title. I’m sure everyone in this room is aware of the number of crises we’re facing as a society, and as human culture in general.
There is the climate crisis. We’ve finally realised that the artificial division between “human culture” and “nature” carried down through centuries of so-called “human progress” must be reversed. This a huge project that should bring together all of humanity, and in which architecture must play a very big part.
There is the crisis of truth. Facts are manipulated by biases of many kinds, by political, religious, or commercial agendas. What is real? There is even a crisis in the overuse of the word crisis! We are simultaneously becoming immune and over-sensitised to transgressions of behaviour and language, to natural and man-made disasters, to image bombardment that digital communication has enabled.
So where does that leave architecture?
I’d like to put forward a declaration of optimism. That, although we are operating in a maelstrom of information and disinformation, the work of the architect is not a fake.
Problem solving, imagining, detailing, producing instructions for building: these acts although sometimes dream-like are commitments to the real, the solid, the permanent, the instrumental. We are tied to the fundamentals of being: we make places for people to spend time, share experiences, form memories and collectively flourish.
We hope projects and clients will offer us opportunities for poetic licence and, as a result, enrich others’ lives with meaning. We all know this is a privileged role that comes with huge responsibilities to current and future generations, institutions, corporate entities and the planet.
Maybe the most important role that being an architect allows us, within limits, is to express our individual conscience. Architects Declare, that I have signed up to, is fundamentally an expression of conscience. It is a catalyst for change in personal behavior and working practice. Therefore my position is that through our individual expertise, poetic instincts and collective conscience, architects are uniquely able to commit to, and act on, a better common future. We humans are part of the real and natural world and our project, as architects, is to prove it.’
This Is Not A Fake, BD Magazine
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BASE – Big Architecture and Sustainability
7.10.2019—7.10.2019, The Venue, De Montfort University
More than 700 Architecture and Arts students from De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) gathered for the first week of the academic year to take part in BASE (Big Architecture and Sustainability Event) where the discussed their future impact on sustainable design and communities. Alison Brooks presented a lecture on Experimental Sustainable Archetypes.
More than 700 Architecture and Arts students from De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) gathered for the first week of the academic year to take part in BASE (Big Architecture and Sustainability Event) where the discussed their future impact on sustainable design and communities. Alison Brooks presented a lecture on Experimental Sustainable Archetypes.
As well as the lectures, which also featured presentations by Matthew Barnett Howland, Oliver Wilton and Louise Palomba, a series of workshops involved students getting together in groups to think and work creatively, such as dreaming up a perfect building for a celebrity and designing the structure in miniature out of paper straws, or coming up with ideas of how society can work in a more sustainable way.
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Public Housing: A London Renaissance
16.05.2019—18.07.2019, NLA, The Building Centre
The opening of a new exhibition at the NLA this week at London’s Building Centre. A review of current trends in London Estate housing.
The opening of a new exhibition at the NLA this week at London’s Building Centre. A review of current trends in London Estate housing.
“This exhibition shows how London boroughs are working to deliver high-quality, pleasant and affordable homes on estates, smaller sites and large-scale areas of regeneration across London, to create places that can also support the sustainable growth of the capital.”
Alison Brooks Architects have contributed a number of our projects in Kilburn including Ely Court.
The exhibition will open from 16 May to 18 July 2019, at The Building Centre.
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Forest of Fabrication Symposium on ‘Re-Imagining Timber’
3.04.2019 14:00, The Building Centre
Alison presented our work in relation to the innovative use and the future potential of wood in architectural construction, alongside Alex de Rijke of drMM Architects and Amin Taha.
Alison presented our work in relation to the innovative use and the future potential of wood in architectural construction, alongside Alex de Rijke of drMM Architects and Amin Taha.
Other speakers included: David Venables of the American Hardwood Council, our client for The Smile project; and Johannes Rebhahn of specialist timber contractor Wiehag. Thanks to the host of the event, Vanessa Norwood of The Building Centre for facilitating such an interesting discussion that touched on wide ranging themes from technical design, the future of wood as a material in construction, well-being and the management of the world’s forests to provide a sustainable source of construction materials.
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University of Manitoba
21.03.2019 18:00, John A. Russell Building
Alison Brooks is providing a lecture titled ‘Ideals, then Ideas: Authenticity, Generosity, Civicness and Beauty’ at the University of Manitoba on 21 March 2019.
Alison Brooks is providing a lecture titled ‘Ideals, then Ideas: Authenticity, Generosity, Civicness and Beauty’ at the University of Manitoba on 21 March 2019.
In her talk she will discuss her practice philosophy, architectural approach and the ideals of ‘authenticity, generosity, civicness and beauty’ relating her current and recently completed projects. These include the new Cohen Quadrangle for Exeter College, Oxford University and new models for urban housing such as Ely Court, shortlisted for the 2017 Mies Award for Contemporary European Architecture.
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Farrell Review: 5th Anniversary Event
21.02.2019 13:30–19:30, Royal Institute of British Architects
To celebrate the 5th Anniversary of the Farrell Review of Architecture and the Built Environment Alison will be taking part in a panel discussion, reflecting on its recent achievements.
To celebrate the 5th Anniversary of the Farrell Review of Architecture and the Built Environment Alison will be taking part in a panel discussion, reflecting on its recent achievements.
Some of the Farrell Review’s main achievements include;
- Architecture moving from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG)
- The House of Lords establishing the first ever Select Committee on the Built Environment
- The Government recruiting a Chief Architect
- The Greater London Authority (GLA) and LB Croydon setting up PLACE Review panels
- Public Practice placing architects and urban designers into local authority planning departments
- More than 15 Urban Rooms throughout the country, where anyone can go to find out about the past, present and future of their place
- The Place Alliance being established as a movement campaigning for place quality
- The London School of Architecture creating a new model for architectural education
- The National Arts and Place Consortium promoting the role of the arts in the built environment
The half day conference will be held at the Royal Institute for British Architects on Thursday 21st February, tickets can be purchased here.
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Surface Design Show: PechaKucha Evening
6.02.2019 18:30–20:30, Business Design Centre
Alison Brooks will be presenting at the Surface Design Show’s PechaKucha evening on the subject ‘Identitites and Boundaries – Site Specific Responses to Modern Architecture’.
Alison Brooks will be presenting at the Surface Design Show’s PechaKucha evening on the subject ‘Identitites and Boundaries – Site Specific Responses to Modern Architecture’.
The evening hosted by Chris Dyson will include: Lucia Berasaluce, Hantic Architects; Ben Cousins, Cousins & Cousins Architects; Simon Fraser, Hopkins Architects; Soraya Khan, Theis and Khan Architects; Nigel Ostime, Hawkins Brown; Stuart Piercy, Piercy and Co and Alex Scott-Whitby, ScottWhitbySTUDIO.
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University of Toronto: Home and Away Lecture Series
21.11.2018 18:30–20:00, John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design
Alison Brooks has been invited by the University of Toronto to provide a public lecture as part of the Daniels’ Home and Away lecture series.
Alison Brooks has been invited by the University of Toronto to provide a public lecture as part of the Daniels’ Home and Away lecture series.
Engaging broad, timely topics the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design’s Home and Away lecture series connects the wealth of expertise within the Daniels Faculty community with an international, multidisciplinary network of designers, scholars, artists, and curators.
In Alison’s guest lecture she will be joined by Brigitte Shim, Professor at John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture and Principal of Shim-Sutcliffe Architects, widely regarded as one of the most innovative and successful architectural practices in Canada.
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PRACTICE: Outside In | Inside Out
12.10.2018 14:00–18:00, Harvard GSD, Gund Hall Piper Auditorium
Alison Brooks is taking part in Harvard GSD’s public symposium on ‘Building Practice: Ethics, Agency, and Labour’.
Alison Brooks is taking part in Harvard GSD’s public symposium on ‘Building Practice: Ethics, Agency, and Labour’.
The symposium will consider discourse on contemporary issues of design practice in two parts: the external pressures of economic, environmental, and political systems, and internal forces of tools, techniques, and strategies for design.
Alison Brooks will be on the first panel discussion, addressing the current systems of value in contemporary design practice for the management and creation of labour, the evaluation of risk, and the mediation of underlying economic and social dynamics in the design of the built environment. Focusing on the duties of the designer in the current culture of production, this will be a critical discussion on the external forces affecting practice and the growing crisis of the marginalisation of the design disciplines. The evolution of practice will be examined through historical, ethnographic, and other qualitative lenses, revealing complex systems of relations between key players in the creation of the built environment.
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Melbourne School of Design: Dulux Dean’s Lecture Series 2018
2.10.2018 19:00–20:00, Melbourne School of Design
Alison Brooks has been invited by the Melbourne School of Design to give a public lecture at the University of Melbourne.
Alison Brooks has been invited by the Melbourne School of Design to give a public lecture at the University of Melbourne.
Titled “Ideals, then Ideas: Authenticity, Generosity, Civicness, Beauty” Alison’s talk will feature the new Cohen Quadrangle for Exeter College, Oxford University; a new Maggie’s Cancer Care Centre; and new models for urban housing such as Ely Court, shortlisted for the 2017 Mies Award for Contemporary European Architecture.
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ReCasting at 100% Design ReCasting
21.09.2018 14:00–15:00, Olympia London
Associate Michael Mueller will be presenting ‘ReCasting’ our large scale, immersive installation for the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale at 100% Design.
Associate Michael Mueller will be presenting ‘ReCasting’ our large scale, immersive installation for the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale at 100% Design.
Presenting alongside our collaborators Benchmark and Arup, the session will explore this immense project both visually and through conversation. From its initial abstract conception, they will discuss the process of realising this installation and bringing methodologies of furniture making to an architectural scale.
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Harvard University Graduate School of Design Public Lecture
17.09.2018 18:30–20:00, Harvard GSD, Gund Hall Piper Auditorium
Alison Brooks is providing a public lecture at Harvard GSD, Boston on “Model Building Model: Making Oxford’s New Collegiate Architecture”.
Alison Brooks is providing a public lecture at Harvard GSD, Boston on “Model Building Model: Making Oxford’s New Collegiate Architecture”.
During her lecture Alison will discuss the recently completed Exeter College Cohen Quadrangle and her design methodology that transforms archetypal social, pedagogical and architectural ‘models’ into new tectonic and spatial paradigms. She will also present our large scale installation ‘ReCasting’ which acts as a sensorial model of our built work.
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Living Accordia: 10 Years on Accordia Sky Villas Accordia Brass Building
11.09.2018 15:00–18:30, Accordia, Cambridge
To celebrate 10 years since winning the the RIBA Stirling Prize, Projects Director Michael Woodford provided a public walking tour and lecture of Accordia alongside Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios and Maccreanor Lavington.
To celebrate 10 years since winning the the RIBA Stirling Prize, Projects Director Michael Woodford provided a public walking tour and lecture of Accordia alongside Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios and Maccreanor Lavington.
This event organised by the Cambridge Association of Architects in conjunction with RIBA East, returned to the award winning housing scheme in Cambridge to consider its success and the project’s impact on housing both locally and nationally.
“This is high density housing at its very best… The whole scheme is about relationships: between architect and developer / contractor / client; between three very different firms of architects; and between private and public external spaces” – Stirling Prize judges, 2008
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Alison Brooks, John T. Dunlop Design Critic in Architecture, Harvard GSD
Alison Brooks will be teaching a Master in Architecture Design Studio ‘New Formations for the Social Metropolis’ at Harvard University, Graduate School of Design this Autumn.
Alison Brooks will be teaching a Master in Architecture Design Studio ‘New Formations for the Social Metropolis’ at Harvard University, Graduate School of Design this Autumn.
Her studio will explore housing architecture’s latent potential to transform the global project of urbanisation to one of productivity, inclusivity, hybridity and resilience. Students will explore an emerging condition of urban re-industrialisation where new methods of creative production, distribution and exchange are diffused and reconfigured through virtual and spatial networks.
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MCH: Master in Collective Housing
2.07.2018—6.07.2018, Universidad Politécnica of Madrid
Alison Brooks taught a one-week workshop “Ideal Formats for Future Urban Life” as part of the Master of Architecture in Collective Housing (MCH) in Madrid.
Alison Brooks taught a one-week workshop “Ideal Formats for Future Urban Life” as part of the Master of Architecture in Collective Housing (MCH) in Madrid.
The postgraduate professional program of advanced architecture design, presented by Universidad Politécnica of Madrid (UPM) and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) focuses on housing, city and energy studies.
Alison’s brief used an existing City masterplan and a central site in Madrid where students were required to design an urban housing regeneration scheme embedding productive, creative or cultural uses: new formats for Collective Urban Life.
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Norwood Property Lunch
29.06.2018, London Hilton, Park Lane
Alison Brooks was part of a panel discussion at Norwood’s 19th Annual Charity Lunch which raised £550,000.
Alison Brooks was part of a panel discussion at Norwood’s 19th Annual Charity Lunch which raised £550,000.
Alison Brooks alongside AHMM and Coffey Architects discussed the key problems and opportunities facing London’s residential and commercial sectors.
Norwood is the largest Jewish charity in the UK supporting vulnerable children and their families, children with special educational needs and people with learning disabilities and autism. Their annual charity lunch is one of the UK’s largest charity networking events in the property industry. This year the event saw over 750 guests come together to celebrate industry leaders while raising vital funds for the community-based charity.
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York Festival of Ideas: Technology & Transport Ely Court Kilburn Quarter East Parkside Audi Urban Future Initiative
17.06.2018—17.06.2018 12:00–13:30, York
Alison Brooks provided the keynote lecture at the York Festival of Ideas on the subject ‘Technology & Transport’.
Alison Brooks provided the keynote lecture at the York Festival of Ideas on the subject ‘Technology & Transport’.
The theme of the event “re imagining the city” focused on how architecture, technology and transport underpin urban living and how they impact on the environment, our lives, health and happiness. Within Alison’s keynote speech, she addressed the theme using our estate regeneration and large scale housing projects London including Ely Court, Kilburn Quarter, King’s Cross and Greenwich Peninsula.
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