fete des lumieres

MAAV Students head to the Fete des Lumieres in Lyon

MA Architectural Visualisation (MAAV) students returned to Lyon following the successful inaugural trip in 2016. The study tour to Lyon specifically complements two modules; AR822 Virtual Cities and AR846 Architectural Photography. The schedule was designed to take advantage of the rich architecture during the daytime, whilst allowing students to explore the illuminations during the night.

The Lumières festival was varied this year, and differed in style and range from the previous year. Highlights of the festival included an animation focused on the history of film and cinema in the Place des Terreaux, many of the references to which, the students could understand from their work in AR821 Film & Architecture.

This year, the trip to Lyon was incredibly important, providing an opportunity for the students to see first-hand the ways in which buildings can be animated through projection mapping. The research was directly fed into their own projection work for AR822 Virtual Cities at the recent Cheriton Light Festival in February. This module allows the students to bridge the boundaries between architectures; the actual and the virtual. The quality of their work was, without doubt, aided by the visit to France.

MAAV student feedback;
“The Lyon trip was a great experience! It developed my technique of finding interesting photographic subjects. As we toured the sites, we came across a lot of buildings that would perhaps be deemed unattractive, but their geometry made for some of the best photographs. It definitely helped me redefine my photographic eye. The Light show was incredibly inspiring and I have not experienced anything like it; I was so inspired by our trip, I am making efforts to recreate something for my local community, whom many may not be able to get the opportunity to experience what I had”
“…A very positive and useful trip toward my technical knowledge in projection mapping, where we had the chance to see real projects which were produced by known professional artists and companies. That experience helped me a lot to know what the real impact of projection mapping on people is, what works well and what is not”
“…This trip helped me a lot to strengthen my relationship with my colleagues, it’s made me feel like I have real friends on my course, which I need as an international student…”

Professor Marialena Nikolopoulou to give talk at Wageningen University

Professor Marialena Nikolopoulou will be talking about her leading research on human thermal perception and climate adaptation in cities in a talk entitled ‘Open spaces in the 21st century city: from the thermal dimension of space to climate change’ as Visiting Professor at Wageningen University, in the Netherlands,  funded by the Wageningen Institute for Environment and Climate Research on Tuesday 28th November 2017.

For further information: https://www.wur.nl/en/Expertise-Services/Chair-groups/Environmental-Sciences/Landscape-Architecture-Group/Show/lecture-Niolopoulou.htm

Lesbos, Greece

Dr Nikos Karydis investigates earthquake-resistant building technology in Greece

Dr Nikolaos Karydis, director of the MSc Programme in Architectural Conservation, visited the island of Lesvos, to study the behaviour of vernacular structures in the recent earthquake (6.3R). There, he discovered the use of an advanced earthquake-resistant system. This discovery has major implications for the forthcoming repair of historic buildings on Lesvos. Preliminary research findings are summarised in the article published on 3 August in Greece’s “Journalists’ Newspaper” (Εφημερίδα των Συντακτών).

 

[Feature picture by wehunts. CC BY-SA 2.0. Cropped from original.]

Board of Architects Malaysia visits Kent School of Architecture

Kent School of Architecture is currently hosting the validation panel from Lembaga Arkitek Malaysia / Board of Architects Malaysia. As part of their trip, the visiting panel have been given a private tour of the KSA Summer Show 2017 which is opening to the public today, Friday 16th June, at 6PM.

The initial discussion has been positive and a report will be submitted to the Lembaga Arkitek Malaysia for approval next month.

Patrick O’Keeffe is the British School at Rome Worsley Fellow, 2017-18

Stage 5 student Patrick O’Keeffe has been awarded the 2017 British School at Rome Giles Worsley Fellowship. The Fellowship was inaugurated in honour of Giles Worsley, the distinguished historian of neo-classical architecture, and offers an opportunity for outstanding young architects and architectural historians to experience and learn from the architecture of Rome and to contribute to the lively scholarly atmosphere of the School.

Patrick’s research will look at the use of musical harmony as a means of investigating and interpreting architectural harmony in Renaissance Rome. He will travel to Rome for three months from October 2017.

‘I am delighted to have been offered this fantastic opportunity to pursue my research in Rome with the support of the Worsley family and the British School at Rome’, Patrick said.

Patrick is the second KSA MArch student to win a major national award.  In 2014 Keith Diplock joined a select handful of students from the Architectural Association, the Royal College of Art and the Bartlett as the winner of an RIBAWren Insurance Association Scholarship.

Dr Manolo Guerci to give lecture at ‘Mazarin, Rome et l’Italie’ conference

Dr Manolo Guerci will give a lecture on the artistic relationships between Italy and France through the analysis of the style of the Palazzo Mancini in Rome at the international conference ‘Mazarin, Rome et l’Italie’, to be held at the Bibliotheque Mazarin and the Ecole des Chartes in Paris, 11 to 13 May. This is part of Dr Guerci’s longstanding studies on the two contexts, which he has also been comparing with the English one.

Dr Luciano Cardellicchio participates at Open House Rome 2017

Dr Luciano Cardellicchio will be the official guide for the Hertziana Library during the Open House on Saturday 6th of May in Rome. Luciano will show around the new library designed by the Spanish architect Juan Navarro Baldeweg, highlighting the cutting-edge structural solution and the complexity of the building process of this contemporary masterpiece. Following the results of his research, Luciano will help the visitors to understand how this building would have an impact for future contemporary interventions in historical environments constrained by archeological ruins.

For further info, please visit: http://www.openhouseroma.org/2017/sito/biblioteca-hertziana-istituto-max-planck-la-storia-dell’arte.html

Timothy Brittain-Catlin speaks at ETH Zurich, 17th November 2016

Timothy Brittain-Catlin was invited to address this year’s Annual Colloquium of Doctoral Students of the Institute of Technology (ITA) and the History and Theory of Architecture (GTA) at ETH Zurich, alongside Professor Peggy Deamer of the Yale School of Architecture, on the theme of ‘Professionalism’. Brittain-Catlin spoke on 17th November about the traditions and sources of architectural history-writing in Britain, and in particular about the role that amenity societies play in generating new narratives about buildings which in turn emphasise their wider importance and cultural value. The colloquium further comprised a seminar afternoon and a day of graduate presentations.

Brittain-Catlin’s lecture, ‘The Success of Failure’, is available on KAR at https://kar.kent.ac.uk/58810/