In June 2019, the London Festival of Architecture rolls into town once again. The theme is 'boundary': of people, buildings, places and experiences. The metaphorical, physical and literal connotations of 'boundary' will be explored through architecture and its multitude of forms across the capital.
From exhibitions, installations, open studios, talks and debates, to cycle rides and guided walking tours across renovated London estates, London Festival of Architecture celebrates the many meanings of boundary. Each year there are more than 400 events to choose from across the capital, so plan ahead.
Highlights - Installations
Yinka Ilori: Happy Street
Thessaly Road Bridge, Thessaly Road, London, SW8 4EJ
London-based designer Yinka Ilori equates joy with colour. For him then, there was no more fitting title than Happy Street for his new design of an underpass in Thessaly Road which sees a once drab looking railway bridge transformed through colour. Ilori’s distinct bold patterns and colour blocking style seems to be plastered all over the city this summer with an exhibition inspired by Happy Street called Types of Happiness presented at StudioRCA until 23 June and his colossal Colour Palace for the Dulwich Pavilion 2019 which will be unveiled on 12 June.
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City Parklets
Locations across the City of London, 1 June – 30 June
If you’re in the City, heading outside on your lunch break is a good way to soak up the best of the capital’s modern architecture. But be aware that you might actually be sitting on it when you find somewhere to perch and to eat your Pret sandwich this June. Three design studios have create ‘parklets’, miniature landscaped spaces, to be installed across the City of London during LFA. These installations provide an oasis of calm in one of London’s busiest areas. Look out for three the parklets by Fatkin on Billieter Street, PARTI on West Smithfield and Patrick McEvoy on St Martin’s Le Grand.
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Lunch Break
Cheapside, London, EC1A 4EU, 1 June – 30 June
Creative architecture studio KHBT and the German artist Ottmar Hörl have won a design competition to create a heavenly work for the ‘St Paul’s Plinth’ outside St Paul’s tube station. Lunch Break installs 35 gilded angels sitting on a metal grid which was first created by ScottWhitbyStudio and Arup for last year's festival.
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The Wooden Parliament
Granary Square, Kings Cross, London, N1C 4AA, 3 June – 30 June
Granary Square will have a new imposing wooden structure in its environs. A 7 metre open-air wooden pavilion by Spanish architects Cristina Díaz Moreno and Efrén Ga Grinda of the Madrid-based practice AMID.cero9 in collaboration with BAC ecg / evolve structural consultants aims to address the festival theme ‘Boundary’ by being a ‘a displacement of a private interior in a public space’.
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Highlights - Exhibitions
Giant Doll’s House
V&A Museum of Childhood, Cambridge Heath Road , London E2 9PA 14 June - 23 June, 10:00 -17:45
Enter a wondrous miniature world on a large scale. The Dolls’ House project was founded by architect Catja de Haas as a collaborative arts projects to engage with local communities and raise money for homelessness. For the festival, she teamed up with Oxfam to create a special work as part of Refugee Week and the London Festival of Architecture. The team travelled to Jordan where they spent four days working with Syrian refugees, who were each given a shoe box to decorate and tell a story for the exhibition visitors. See scenes of life from the Za’atari camp or some handmade renditions of the makers' memories and dreams.
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Beyond Borders
Victoria and Albert Museum Cromwell Road London SW7 2RL, 1 June – 30 June, 10:00 -17:45
Step into a surreal sonic landscape at the V&A created by Unknown Works. Beyond Borders seeks to transcend the act of listening through boundaries by recreating a number of live musical performances and ‘sounds of territories around the world’ played through a field of speakers.
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Highlights - Events
RA Lego Architecture Challenge
Fine Rooms, Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0BD, 23 June, 14:00 -16:00
Who knows hows how many architects first developed their talents through the humble Lego block. Watch three of the UK’s leading architectural practices go back to basics as they battle it out to create a structure that marries both historic and contemporary design.
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Late at Pitzhanger
Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery, Mattock Lane, London, W5 5EQ, 18:30 – 22:00
As well as modern architecture, the festival also pays homage to the treasures of London’s historic buildings. Pitzhanger Manor was recently restored by by Jestico + Whiles and opened as a gallery this year with an inaugural exhibition by Anish Kapoor and the evening offers visitors the chance to tour the show with curator John Leslie. But those looking for a calm evening of art and architecture should take heed – the evening will have a supernatural twist. Artist Seth Kriebe will perform The Unbuilt Room – part séance, part game and part theatrical performance.
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Volo: Dreams of Flight
18 June – 22 June, 11:00 – 19:00
If you’ve ever had dreams of being able to fly, now you can experience it through VR. Volo: Dreams of Flight is a virtual reality swing experience by Studio Go Go taking place in four locations across the City of London. Viewers sit on a swing whilst wearing a VR headset and are given the sensation of flying whilst being transported through a dream-like experience. The interactive installation has been inspired by Leonardo Da Vinci’s studies of flight.
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| What | London Festival of Architecture 2019 |
| Where | Various Locations | MAP |
| When |
01 Jun 19 – 30 Jun 19, Times vary between events |
| Price | £Prices vary |
| Website | Click here for more details |
