Since its conception in 2004, the London Festival of Architecture has provided the perfect platform for a city-wide opportunity to celebrate the capital’s thriving architectural scene. Now marking its ninth year, the festival has blossomed, transforming from a bi-annual, 10-day affair into an annual, month-long showcase, highlighting the country’s top architectural talent through a series of exhibitions, talks, and open studios.
With London in the midst of an unprecedented period of change, the city faces an ongoing dialogue concerning its urban future and how it will continue to evolve, regenerate and accommodate its expanding population. This year’s installment, which takes place throughout the month of June, will present a programme of over 200 events centered around the theme of ‘community’, providing a welcome connection between the capital’s residents and its ever-growing architecture scene.
The LFA’s programme revolves around six thematic groups. Events within ‘International Comparators’ will investigate London’s relationship with its international counterparts; ‘New Communities’ will explore the city’s newest regenerative projects; ‘Creative Workspaces’ will question an area’s ability to engage and inspire the capital’s creatives; meanwhile, ‘Housing Estate Regeneration’,‘Green Communities’, and ‘Community Effort’ events will set out to discover the way in which campaigners and volunteers create change, the immediate effects of the inner city housing crisis, and how communities can change with the introduction of green areas.
Deconstructing and examining the notion of ‘community’, the LFA aims to capture the city’s diversity and and its multiple layers with its comprehensive programme. Highlights include ‘Architecture on screen’, a series of screenings held at the BFI; ‘Papers’, a one day event regarding refugee culture organised by the Architecture Foundation and held at the Barbican; and ‘The Art of Designing Civic Spaces’, where speakers from the Battersea Development company will join Kai-Uwe Bergmann (partner at Bjarke Ingels Group) to discuss the firm’s involvement in the development and their approach to formulating public spaces.
