London Festival of Architecture 2008: Kensington, Chelsea & Knightsbridge Hub

Date:

25 April 2008

Press office contact:

Mina Vadon
T: +44 (0)207 307 3761
E: mina.vadon@riba.org

Kensington and Chelsea's architecture will be highlighted this summer when the London Festival of Architecture (LFA2008) launches on 20 June. The Festival focuses on five 'Hubs' across London over five weekends, with the Kensington, Chelsea and Knightsbridge Hub, curated by the RIBA Trust, kicking off the Festival.

The Hub is focused around Exhibition Road which, on Midsummer's Day, 21 June, will be temporarily closed to traffic to host 'Explore Sites and Sounds', when LFA2008 teams up with Music Day to present a vibrant celebration of architecture and music. The road will be transformed with performances, events and pavilions, showing the potential of the radical 'shared space' traffic-calming scheme for the street envisaged by Dixon Jones Architects and the local authorities to create a more pedestrian friendly thoroughfare.

For the rest of the Festival, talks, exhibitions, events and debates in and around Exhibition Road, and across Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster will give visitors other opportunities to explore architecture, while walking, cycling and self-guided tours will reveal both the history and future of this part of London.

Councillor Daniel Moylan, Deputy Leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council and Chairman of LFA2008 Kensington, Chelsea and Knightsbridge Hub Advisory Group said:

"Kensington and Chelsea is renowned for its architectural gems. I hope that as many people as possible take advantage of the programme of events and activities organised during the London Festival of Architecture. The closing of Exhibition Road will provide an interesting insight into what life might be like when the road is not dominated by cars."

Charles Knevitt, Director of the RIBA Trust said:

"The RIBA Trust sees the London Festival of Architecture as a great opportunity to show how architecture happens, the creative ideas, the different influences and factors that come together to make great buildings. Exhibition Road is a fantastic place to do this in, surrounded as it is by institutions that represent the best in art and design, technology, music and cultural diversity. We are really excited to be working with some of the UK's leading architectural practices to enable visitors and residents to discover some of its magic and see London through a different perspective."

Events in the Kensington, Chelsea & Knightsbridge Hub include:

20 / 24 June - Blueprint Big Breakfasts with Julia Peyton Jones, director of the Serpentine Gallery, and Sir Michael Bichard, chairman of the Design Council at the Royal Geographical Society.

21 June - Temporary pedestrianisation of Exhibition Road, animated with Music Day performances; a structure by Foster and Partners (who designed Imperial College entrance) with Buro Happold; a Fresh Flower pavilion by Tonkin Liu (designers of China Design Now at the V&A) for Corus; modular seating by 6a Architects for Brompton Estates, installations by Virginia Tech, the Royal College of Art and London Metropolitan University; Penoyre & Prasad's aerial representation of part of the original Crystal Palace; the Pachamama Toilet – a low-tech system created for shanty towns in Peru; and family friendly activities hosted by neighbouring museums.

24 June - Tour of the Cremorne Riverside Centre by Sarah Wigglesworth Architects - a new canoeing facility for children on the Thames.

25 June - The emergence of a 'Snow City' – talk and installation at the Dana Centre led by Superfusionlab.

30 June - Intelligence Squared / RIBA Trust debate titled 'Prince Charles was right: modern architecture is still all glass stumps and carbuncles' with speakers including Alain de Botton, Will Alsop, Simon Jenkins, Leon Krier, Stephen Bayley and Roger Scruton.

Projects and ongoing exhibitions include:

Storefront for Art and Architecture (New York) 'pop up' exhibition in the Brompton Design Quarter.
Portavilion – a pavilion designed by artist Dan Graham in Holland Park.
Zaha Hadid's 'Swarm' chandelier at the V&A created from 16,000 crystals.
Sonic Walks and Sonic Garden – a walk to collect sounds and 'plant' them in a Sonic Garden installation.
An installation in the V&A garden by leading Chinese artist Yung Ho Chang.
Unseen Hands: 100 Years of Structural Engineering – an exhibition at the V&A celebrating the contribution that structural engineers have made to the built environment

For further press information please contact:

Lucy Wilson or Rachael Smith at Theresa Simon & Partners

(020) 7734 4800 lucy@theresasimon.com|

Mina Vadon at the RIBA Press Office 020 7307 3761 mina.vadon@inst.riba.org|

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Go to www.theresasimon.com/press|, sign in with name and email, click on London Festival of Architecture Kensington, Chelsea and Knightsbridge Hub and download the relevant pictures.

Notes to editors

1. London Festival of Architecture

www.lfa2008.org|

London Festival of Architecture 2008 will be one of the world's major celebrations of architecture and the built environment. London's landscape will be transformed during the spectacular month-long festival, which will include over 500 events for visitors as well as architecture professionals. Organised in association with Design for London, events including exhibitions, architect-designed pavilions, film-screenings will take place at national cultural institutions like the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum high profile outdoor public spaces, and places of architectural interest across the capital

In association with the British Council, LFA2008 will also include an international Embassies Project to link this celebration of London's architectural activity with that from over twenty countries around the world, and a National Student Architecture Festival where temporary structures will spring up across the city, offering shelter and demonstrating how unused spaces can be transformed.

2. London Festival of Architecture Hubs

Five Festival Hubs across the capital will be defined areas of concentrated activity where events will take place, where people will congregate and where the buzz of major events will be evident. They are:

Kensington, Chelsea & Knightsbridge Hub – focusing on museums and galleries in South Kensington, and on the proposed 'shared space' public realm scheme in Exhibition Road by Dixon Jones.
Canary Wharf, Stratford & Greenwich Peninsula Hub – debates on the future of East London in light of planned major development, a major lecture by a world renowned architect, and open air events exploring the area's docklands and rivers.
King's Cross, Bloomsbury & Covent Garden Hub – exploring the new masterplan for Bloomsbury, a network of public spaces between the British Museum and the new St Pancras International terminal and talks at New London Architecture.
South Bank & Southwark Hub – including evening events on the Riverside Walk and exhibitions and talks in cultural venues including the Design Museum, and a new public space from Witherford Watson Mann's Bankside Urban Forest strategy.
Clerkenwell & City of London Hub – including events exploring high-tech sustainable architecture and the future of work places, installations in Paternoster Square, Smithfield Market, Clerkenwell Green, and a 'medieval market' on Cheapside, London's first high street.
Headquarters

The LFA2008 information centre and headquarters will be at NLA at the Building Centre, 26 Store Street, London WC1E 7BT.

3. RIBA Trust (curator of Kensington, Chelsea and Knightsbridge Hub)www.architecture.com |

The RIBA Trust manages the cultural assets of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), including the internationally recognised collections of the British Architectural Library. It is the UK's national architecture centre, delivering the RIBA Awards and RIBA Stirling Prize (live on Channel 4); the Royal Gold Medal; International and Honorary Fellowships; a full programme of lectures, exhibitions, tours and other events and an education programme.

4. Music Day

www.exhibitionroadmusicday.org |

www.exhibitionroad.com |

The Music Day on 21 June is an annual event organised by Exhibition Road Cultural Group, a group made up of the 15 leading cultural and educational organisations situated in and around Exhibition Road and the two local authorities. Exhibition Road is the premiere culture and learning quarter for London and the Exhibition Road Cultural Group is responsible for the development and management of the joint cultural and educational programme for the area.