AA/UIC GLOBAL WORKSHOP 21 June–5 July 2013, London ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
table of contents
Welcome to the 2013 AA/UIC Global Workshop! In this packet you’ll find information regarding the programme, the workshop culture, the school, and other resources for you to look through before you arrive. Please read this information carefully and contact me should you have any questions. The programme will begin Friday, 21st June 2013 at 1:45pm in Rembrandt Gardens (Warwick Ave & Blomfield Rd), Little Venice, London W9 2PF, where we will depart on our city tour that will end up at the Architectural Association School of Architecture for the 2013 AA Projects Review opening party. I’m looking forward to meeting all of you! Kind regards, Kirk Wooller Director, AA/UIC Global Workshop
overview programme workshop culture architectural association life in london contacts sponsors
overview
Campaigning Architecture The workshop will campaign architecture for strategies that engage the city like no other. Campaign strategies—from the London Cycling Campaign to provide a collective voice for the City’s cyclists; to the cross-party campaign to bring London’s air quality into compliance with World Health Organization standards; to London’s successful bid for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games—are executed as an amalgamation of military-like precision and haphazard logic. We will mine the effectiveness of campaigning to enable architecture to successfully navigate the social, political, and economic networks that make a city tick.
of the workshop, with participants when necessary splitting into smaller subgroups to develop different aspects of the project. Campaigning a Hedonistic Reactivation The workshop will campaign new modes of urban intervention for a hedonistic reactivation of a fatigued site in London’s East End. Workshop participants will combine the potential of design intelligence with the strategic power of propaganda in order to campaign provocative changes to our urban environment.
Campaigning the Creative Commons The traditional marriage between copyright law and designs that aim to create significant change often leads to ineffective Workshop participants will work towards a collective project. The scenarios. This must change. So while the workshop will focus exact site and design scope will be determined by the workshop on a particular site, we will also campaign the Creative Commons participants. The workshop will begin with a visit to several to make it possible for this project to be copied, adapted, possible sites. This will be followed by a series of rampant idea generation discussions, which will critiqued and edited to shape a distributed, and deployed elsewhere. formal proposal. This proposal will then be developed for the rest
programme
workshop culture
Atmosphere The atmosphere at the AA/UIC Global Workshop is decidedly casual for almost every event. You may want to pack a slightly more formal outfit for your final presentation. Preparation Before you arrive at the AA/UIC Global Workshop you will be sent a link to a dropbox folder containing material to be read and videos to watch.
In Addition The following websites, magazines, and books are good starting points to explore architecture and design and what’s going on at both the AA and UIC Schools of Architecture. Participants will have access to the AA Library, which has a strong collection that you can take advantage of during the workshop. AA School: www.aaschool.ac.uk Archinect: www.archinect.com ArchDaily: www.archdaily.com Architizer: www.architizer.com BLDGBLOG: www.bldgblog.blogspot.com Dezeen: http://dezeen.com Fresh Meat (UIC student journal): www.freshmeat.org MARK magazine: www.mark-magazine.com UIC School of Architecture: www.arch.uic.edu Volume: www.volumeproject.org
architectural association
Unique, dynamic, independent, and international, the Architectural Association School of Architecture was originally set up in 1847 as a public forum and learned society, in/famously founded by ‘a pack of troublesome students’. But the AA is much more than the UK’s oldest school of architecture – the school is the nexus of a global conglomeration of contemporary architectural culture.
Having been founded in 1847, the AA opened as a day school in 1901 and moved to Bedford Square in 1917. The school that originally occupied 34–35 Bedford Square now inhabits 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39 Bedford Square, and 4 and 16 Morwell Street (behind Bedford Square). The ten-building campus of 68,000 square feet means that for the first time in 50 years all students and staff are located at Bedford Square.
life in london
Weather The London summer is a little unpredictable and a spell of rain is always a possibility. Temperatures typically range between 11C (52F) and 20C (68F). With this in mind, layers are recommended. Finally, you can expect to do a lot of walking during the first couple of days, so be sure to pack comfortable shoes! What to Bring Water-resistant, comfortable shoes Folding umbrella Light all-purpose jacket Bag for daily use Laptop computer Digital camera Cell phone Paper/notepad/sketchbook Pens/pencils
Transport The London Underground railway (“tube”) is the quickest and most popular form of transport. Services run approximately 6am to midnight every day except Sundays and bank holidays. The “Oyster card” is the best and cheapest way to pay. Full information can be obtained on www.tfl.gov.uk. Buses are an alternative to the tube and again Oyster cards are the most convenient and cheapest way of paying. Night buses are the way many Londoners to get home if they are out late and these run until about 4.30am. The service for night buses is more frequent within the inner London area and these usually run at half hour intervals. Taxi/black cabs are the most expensive way to travel in London, but can be useful in an emergency or if you are travelling with friends and can share the cost. Please note that it is not adviseable to use mini cabs as these are not officially licensed vehicles.
contacts Kirk Wooller Director, AA/UIC Global Workshop kirkw@uic.edu Christopher Pierce AA Visiting School Director Priji Balakrishnan AA Visiting School Coordinator T: +44 20 7887 4014 F: +44 20 7414 0782 E: visitingschool@aaschool.ac.uk Architectural Association School of Architecture 36 Bedford Square London, WC1B 3ES www.aaschool.ac.uk
sponsors