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STORIES OF EARTH: ECHOES IN ARCHITECTURE

AUGUST 2024

Stories of Earth: Echoes in Architecture

On the 14th September Níall will be speaking at Stories of Earth: Echoes in Architecture at the University of Technology in Sydney. Níall's talk is titled About Time.

'A place is somewhere we return to. This is what sets it apart from the continuous flow of topography. Our connection to a place is renewed with each visit. Therefore, it has a special connection with time. We might say that the concept of place has as much to do with time as with area. Archaeologists researching the earliest permanent houses look for a telltale sign: one hearth built above another as an act of conscious representation. It tells us that some little band, family, or community saw their bonds lasting over a longer duration. This was something that could be given material presence. The first houses gave us a history. They encouraged us to believe that we could jointly invest in more ambitious activities whose returns were not immediately available. This expanded horizon transformed human culture. It also gave us our present conception of architecture, which is, above all, a representation of temporal depth. Níall will speak about architecture as a material embodiment of time.'

Níall will be joined by Rick Joy, Marina Tabassum Marusa Zorec and Peter Stuchbury.

The event page can be accessed here.

OXFORD INDIA CENTRE FOR SOMERVILLE COLLEGE

NOVEMBER 2013

Oxford India Centre for Somerville College

Niall McLaughlin Architects are pleased to be continuing their work for Somerville College, Oxford with the design of the Oxford India Centre, which will house the Indira Gandhi Centre for Sustainable Development. The new building forms part of the redevelopment of the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter and is to be positioned at the north west corner of the College, adjacent to the new Blavatnik School of Government building designed by Herzog de Meuron. The design includes a theatre, exhibition and teaching space, new postgraduate accommodation, as well as a new archway entrance to the College.