London Architecture Diary

Editor's Choice

Previous Editors:

Guest Editor, March 2010
Justin McGuirk
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As the first African World Cup approaches, we’re starting to see the mood infiltrate London’s cultural programming. Throughout March the RIBA is holding talks on The Art of Mud Building, focusing on the city of Djenné in Mali. Mid-month, Francis Kéré, an architect from Burkina Faso who’s been attracting international attention for his school designs, is in town to give a lecture in the RIBA’s International Dialogues series. And on the last day of the month David Adjaye opens a show at the Design Museum dedicated to his photographs of Urban Africa. And about time, too. A football tournament comes along and suddenly everyone wakes up to an entire continent – opportunists! Um, look out for a special African issue of icon in May.

The Design Museum is also announcing the winners of its Brit Insurance Designs of the Year awards. Will an architect win the battle of the disciplines and take the overall prize this year?

There are two lectures organised by the Royal Academy of Arts that could be good. Benedetta Tagliabue will be talking about the design of the public library in Spain named after her late husband, Enric Miralles. And Hans Ulrich Obrist is discussing Cedric Price’s Fun Palace. Obrist, a walking archive machine, taped several conversations with Price, so he should have some interesting insights into the legendary unbuildable building.

Finally, as part of its Architecture on Film series, the Architecture Foundation is showing José Luis Guerin’s En Construccion. Guerin’s movie uses the construction of an apartment block in Barcelona to muse on the speed at which the city was changing. But if none of that takes your fancy then the Van Doesburg show is still on at Tate Modern (skip the Mondrians and just soak up the typography). That, or you could go and see Jeff Bridges play a washed up country singer in Crazy Heart. Hell, architecture’s not everything.

Editor's Choice:
Fri 12th February 2010 - Sun 28th March 2010
Florian Hecker 64 Chisenhale Road , E3 5QZ. Organised by: Chisenhale Gallery
Wed 17th February 2010 - Sun 6th June 2010
Brit Insurance Designs of the Year Awards Design Museum, Shad Thames, SE1 2YD. Organised by: Design Museum
Mon 8th March 2010
The Future of Mud: Tales of Houses and Lives in Djenné SOAS, Russell Square, WC1H 0XG. Organised by: RIBA
Thu 11th March 2010
Restoring Mud Mosques in Mopti, Djenné and Timbuktu The Ismaili Centre, Cromwell Road, SW7 2SL. Organised by: RIBA
Tue 16th March 2010
Step by Step: Sustainable Buildings in Africa - Francis Kéré RIBA, 66 Portland Place, W1B 1AD. Organised by: RIBA Trust
Thu 18th March 2010
Restoring the Splendour of Djenné SOAS, Russell Square, WC1H 0XG. Organised by: RIBA

Public library Enric Miralles and other projects Geological Society, W1. Organised by: Royal Academy of Arts
Mon 22nd March 2010
Hans Ulrich Obrist: Fun Palacen by Cedric Price Geological Society, W1. Organised by: Royal Academy of Arts
Thu 25th March 2010
Behind the Façade in Djenné SOAS, Russell Square, WC1H 0XG. Organised by: RIBA
Wed 31st March 2010 - Sun 5th September 2010
Urban Africa - A Photographic Journey by David Adjaye Design Museum, Shad Thames, SE1 2YD. Organised by: Design Museum


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