Last call: make the most of the London Festival of Architecture’s closing events

‘Constructing Communities’ at the RIBA
RIBA's ‘Constructing Communities’ project is composed of three ambitious 1:1 installations. Presented across sites in Peckham and at the RIBA’s headquarters on Portland Place, the projects – selected via an open call – include submissions by large and small practices, as well as student work, all tackling the central theme of how architecture can influence and create communities.
Royal Institute of British Architects, 66 Portland Place, W1B 1AD, 21 June – 4 August
Click here to look back at London Festival of Architecture's mid-month highlights, or browse through our final week picks above.
Assemble's keynote
Assemble's keynote
London-based collective and 2015 Turner Prize winners Assemble work across the fields of architecture, art and design and will provide this year's LFA keynote. The group's aim is to ‘champion a working practice that is interdependent and collaborative’ and to involve the public as the key participant in their ongoing projects. The talk will be led by the studio's Paloma Strelitz and James Binning, who will initiate a dialogue centered around London and its relationship with Assemble’s work.
IET London, 2 Savoy Place, WC2R 0BL, 30 June, 6.30pm – 8pm
'A View of the Future' at Somerset House
'A View of the Future' at Somerset House
Marking the 350th anniversary of 1666’s Great Fire of London, this installation is part of the Somerset House festival 'Utopia 2016: A Year of Imagination and Possibility'. The installation will explore how buildings were once erected and how the future of construction can draw inspiration from its past. The innovative viewing platform and exhibition – constructed using traditional techniques – is situated in Somerset House’s courtyard and has been initiated by London Timber Frame: a company specialising in the restoration and preservation of historic timber-framed buildings.
Somerset House, Courtyard, WC2R 1LA, 24 June – 26 June
’Architecture, You Ask The Questions’ at the Royal Academy
'Architecture, You Ask The Questions' at the Royal Academy
In the LFA headline debate, 'Architecture, You Ask The Questions', speakers from the architecture world and beyond will answer questions posed by the audience. Chaired by the BBC's Razia Iqbal, the discussion includes a panel of architects, observers and commentators, such as Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy; David Twohig, chief development officer and head of design and placemaking for the Battersea Power Station Development Company; architect Asif Khan; Amanda Levete, architect and founder of AL_A; and Evening Standard editor Sarah Sands. The panelists will cover issues of infrastructure, heritage, the pressures shaping London’s skyline and the city’s development in future years.
Royal Academy of Arts, Royal Society of Chemistry, Burlington House, W1J 0BA, 27 June, 6.30pm – 8pm
'Show RCA: Graduate Exhibition'
'Show RCA: Graduate Exhibition'
This year’s 'Show RCA: Graduate Exhibition', organised by the Royal College of Art and the School of Architecture, will present a thought-provoking vision of our globalised and international context. The student projects span locations such as Manila, Indonesia, India, South Africa, Bolivia, Japan and the United States. The works set out to present different architectural solutions, while challenging existing paradigms and proposing new possibilities for everyday life. They experiment with human interaction, communication and technologies, intergenerational living, energy use and agricultural production.
Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore, SW7 2EU, 26 June – 3 July
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Mikhail Riches' ‘Stories'
Mikhail Riches' ‘Stories'
London-based architecture firm Mikhail Riches presents ‘Stories’, an exhibition which will provide the narrative behind its most recently commissioned housing projects. The selection will include an in-depth look onto a series of row houses, situated within the redevelopment of BBC Television Centre in White City and the second phase of refurbishment of Park Hill in Sheffield. Investigating the ways the practice generates its ideas, the show will offer insight into the design process. Included is a recreation of wall graphics created for one of the flats at Park Hill, part of the firm’s winning bid for the project.
10–11 Clerkenwell Green, EC1R 0DP, 28–30 June
'Build Your Own Pavilion: Young Architects Competition'
'Build Your Own Pavilion: Young Architects Competition'
Calling all budding architects, the 'Build Your Own Pavilion: Young Architects Competition' is back for a second year and is open to 8–14 year-olds worldwide. After a successful pilot year, which garnered over 650 entries from the UK alone, the competition sets out to teach youngsters about the architectural process behind the famous Serpentine pavilion. Sign up online to download the brief and creative pack, or even attend one of the gallery's upcoming workshops. The winners will be chosen at a later date by none other than the designer of this year’s pavilion, the Bjarke Ingels Group
INFORMATION
The London Festival of Architecture runs until 30 June. For more information, visit the LFA website
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Beloved British screenwriter Dennis Potter inspires an exhibition with a difference at Studio Voltaire
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Insert here: London Design Festival gets intimate with insertable design
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Postcard from Helsinki Design Week 2025
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The new 2025 London Open House Festival tours to book
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The wait is over – the RIBA Stirling Prize 2025 shortlist is here
The restored home of Big Ben, creative housing for different needs, and a centre for medical innovation – the RIBA Stirling Prize 2025 shortlist has just been announced, and its six entries are as diverse as they can be
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Slides, clouds and a box of presents: it’s the Dulwich Picture Gallery’s quirky new pavilion
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Bay House brings restrained modern forms and low-energy design to the Devon coast
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A whopping 92% of this slick London office fit-out came from reused materials
Could PLP Architecture's new workspace provide a new model for circularity?
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Meet the landscape studio reviving the eco-brutalist Barbican Conservatory
London-based Harris Bugg Studio is working on refreshing the Barbican Conservatory as part of the brutalist icon's ongoing renewal; we meet the landscape designers to find out more
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A refreshed Victorian home in London is soft, elegant and primed for hosting
Sobremesa house by architects Studio McW shows off its renovation and extension, designed for entertaining
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15 years of Assemble, the community-driven British architecture collective
Rich in information and visuals, 'Assemble: Building Collective' is a new book celebrating the Turner Prize-winning architecture collective, its community-driven hits and its challenges