Future Architecture Practice Seminar Series

Future Architecture Practice Series

The Future Architecture Practice Seminar Series, hosted by UG10, invites you to explore the diverse and innovative landscape of architecture beyond traditional norms. Throughout the 2023-24 academic year, the unit will host a series of three talks each term culminating in a seminar and workshop during The Bartlett Summer Show.

Led by students and supported by staff, the Future Architecture Practice project brings together Year 2 and Year 3 Architecture BSc students to discover the groundbreaking work of architects from the global majority. This initiative aims to amplify the voices and talents of often underrepresented practitioners, inspiring students with their visionary approaches and establishing them as role models for the next generation of architects.

UG10's core mission is to broaden the architectural curriculum by incorporating global majority perspectives, drawing inspiration from diverse environments, architects, pedagogies, cultural and social phenomena, and applying these insights to design solutions for London.

The Architecture BSc unit, UG10, is co-led by Neba Sere and Pedro Gil.

Join us as we redefine the boundaries of architecture and embrace the transformative power of alternative practices

This event is first come, first served with limited capacity. 

30 Nov | 15:00 - 18:00 | Imagining Futures | 6 Floor Landing

Seminar 1: Multiverse: Imagining Futures 

This seminar brings together UG10 students and internationally renowned architecture practitioners to explore the role of design practice in creating alternative visions for the world.

In a rapidly changing world grappling with pressing social, environmental, and political issues, architecture must adapt and expand to address societal needs effectively. This seminar delves into how artists, designers, and practitioners are utilizing their practice to drive positive change.

Award-winning architect Olalekan Jeyifous joins us from New York City to share his insights and experiences, offering a unique perspective on the intersection of architecture, social responsibility, and innovation.

UG10 students will also share their work, showcasing their explorations of alternative worldviews through the lens of decolonization and decarbonization. They are currently at the initial stages of their project journeys, defining the themes and concepts that will shape their alternative multiverses, drawing inspiration from their research on Mexico.

This seminar should be stimulating a discussions about the future of architecture and its potential to shape a more sustainable, equitable, and just world.

15:00 – Arrival & Networking

16:00 – Student introduction to UG10 & project sharing

17:00 – Olalekan Jeyifous Talk Online

18:00 - End

Speaker Biographies 

UG10 Students: Across the year the students of UG10 have been developing their own practice through design. This year the case study based in the country of Mexico, exploring ways to decarbonise and decolonise Western architectural practices.

Olalekan Jeyifous received a BArch from Cornell University and is a Brooklyn-based artist whose work re-imagines social spaces that examine the relationships between architecture, community, and the environment. He has exhibited at esteemed venues including the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Vitra Design Museum, the Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain, and the Museum of Modern Art, where his artwork is featured in the permanent collection of the Department of Architecture and Design.

In addition to an extensive exhibition history, Olalekan has spent over a decade creating large-scale installations for a variety of public spaces and was co-commissioned to design a monument for congresswoman Shirley Chisholm as part of the City of New York's "She Built NYC" initiative.

Olalekan has garnered numerous awards, including the notable Silver Lion at the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale. Additionally, he is a recipient of the 2021 Fellowship by the United States Artists and has been a Wilder Green Fellow at the MacDowell Colony and completed artist residencies at the Bellagio Center, supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Drawing Center's Open Sessions program.

8 Mar | 10:00 - 16:00 | Visual Storytelling | 6 Floor Landing

Seminar 2: Multiverse: Visual Storytelling

"Multiverse: Visual Storytelling," brings together UG10 students and internationally renowned artists and design practitioners to explore the role of design practice in creating alternative visions for the world.

In a rapidly changing world grappling with pressing social, environmental, and political issues, architecture must adapt and expand to address societal needs effectively. This seminar delves into how artists, designers, and practitioners are utilising their practice to drive positive change.

Animator and Animation Director Andrew Clarke will lead the morning session to share his journey into animation, discuss how he engages in alternative world building exercises and creative visioning. Students will then be asked to develop their own story telling visuals which will be commented on by Andrew after.

In the afternoon, from 2pm, UG10 alumni students Dominik Do and Allyah Mitra Nandy will also share their work and creative design process and be available for questions and queries from students.

This seminar should be stimulating a discussion about the future of architecture and its potential to shape a more sustainable, equitable, and just world.

10:00 – Arrival & networking

10:30 – Andrew Clarke presentation

12:00 – Student exercise

13:00 – Discussion round

14:00 – UG10 alumni student workshop

Speaker Biographies 

UG10 Students and Alumni: Across the year the students of UG10 have been developing their own practice through design. This year the case study based in the country of Mexico, exploring ways to decarbonise and decolonise Western architectural practices.

Andrew Clarke is a North London based freelance 2D Animator and Animation Director who worked on prominent and world-renowned projects ranging from short films, television production, commercial advertising, music videos and apps for the likes of musician Drake and Marvel Studios.

15 Mar | 10:00 - 16:00 | Designing for Culture | G.09 

Seminar 2: Multiverse: Designing for Culture 

"Multiverse: Designing for Culture," brings together UG10 students and internationally renowned artists and design practitioners to explore the role of design practice in creating alternative visions for the world. This seminar delves into how artists, designers, and practitioners are utilizing their practice to drive positive change.

The event will start with presentations by Issi Nanabeyin and Dele Adeyemo who will share their journey into Architecture and their current practice. To follow, current students; Tabatha Crook, The Bartlett School of Architecture and Temi Ajayi, The Royal College of Art will present their university work and engage in discussions with attending students who may delve deeper to understand the creative methodologies and processes behind their current projects. 

10:00-12:00: Presentations by Issi Nanabeyin and Dele Adeyemo

Break 

14:00-16:00: Workshops 

Speaker Biographies 

UG10 Students: Across the year the students of UG10 have been developing their own practice through design. This year the case study based in the country of Mexico, exploring ways to decarbonise and decolonise Western architectural practices.

Issi Nanabeyin is a multidisciplinary designer trained in Architecture, based and raised in East London. Issi's work builds diasporic identities into (digital) forms, visuals, text and spatial interventions. Issi’s practice is a refusal to accept architecture as singular or stagnant. Illustrated by a coming together of his own architectural, ancestral and digital narratives, his practice breaches the binaries of cultural separation to form architectural reimaginations for the contemporary diaspora.

Dele Adeyemo is a Scottish / Nigerian artist, architect, and critical urban theorist based in London and Lagos. In his creative practice, research and pedagogy he interrogates the racialising processes embedded in the production of space.

Image: Andrew Clarke, Showreel, Nothing But Thieves, Blink Productions, 2022