BIENNALE ARCHITETTURA 2016
FEBRUARY 2016
Preparations for Biennale Architettura 2016 have begun in earnest: concepts advanced; collaborators recruited; designs developed. Niall and Yeoryia (Manolopoulou, of AY Architects) have met with a number of experts on the subject of dementia and design, including scientists at UCL; the Centre Manager at the Alzheimer’s Centre in Dublin; the Vice-Chair of the European Working Group of People with Dementia and experts from the Dementia Services Development Centre at the University of Stirling. We are excited by the emerging details of the various elements of this year’s exhibition, and look forward to unveiling our contribution in May.
A+U FEATURE ON SOMERVILLE COLLEGE ACCOMMODATION
MAY 2014
The Japanese journal a+u has published an account of the practice’s student accommodation for Somerville College, Oxford. The theme of this month’s publication is ‘New Landscapes of Wooden Architecture’ and features an international selection of projects that explore new aspects of wood technology and its potential within cities. The article gives a description on the themes and processes behind the project, placing it within the context of the historic university city and the surrounding Radcliffe Infirmary Quarter.
It is illustrated with working details of the bespoke timber glazing for the stair tower lanterns, as well as the prefabricated timber projecting bay window units for the student bedrooms, with their integral desk and bench seat overlooking the street.
‘We chose to make the glazed elements in the stair towers and student rooms in wood because we wanted them to be like warm lanterns, internally lit in the evening, bringing light to the narrow street…Wood allowed us to make more three-dimensional details…we owe a debt to Louis Kahn’s work at Philip Exeter Academy Library.’ NM