Constructing Realities Lecture Series 2024-25

This lecture will be held at 18:30–20:00 in G6 LT Archaeology, 31-34 Gordon Square, Bloomsbury. 

Professor Philip Beesley is one of the global pioneers in living architecture design and research, widely known for his immersive “sentient” physical environments. Since his first experimental presentations, he has worked within collaborative groups. His 2010 Hylozoic Ground project has become a fixture across contemporary international architecture curricula. His current research focuses on the architectural implications of dissipative adaptation and biogenesis at the boundary between mineral and organic realms, revealing fertile qualities. His installations were presented twice at the Venice Biennale for Architecture and are currently touring Europe and Oceania.  A multi-year collaboration with TU Delft reaches across multiple departments and research groups. His collaborations with haute couture designer Iris van Herpen have resulted in 15 collections. 

The lecture will discuss these far-reaching integrative probes include poetic expressions, elemental kits and pattern languages that are providing paradigms, tools and frameworks for the emerging discipline of living architecture.

Can architecture integrate living functions? Could future buildings think, and care? The Living Architecture Systems Group brings together research­ers and industry partners in a multidisciplinary research cluster dedicated to developing built environments with qualities that come close to life. The research of LAS has the potential to change how we build by transform­ing the physical structures that support buildings and the technical systems that control them. 

‘the holistic breadth, depth, and synthesis of the elements of architecture’

This lecture will be held at 13:00–14:00 in Room 400, UCL East Marshgate 

For over four decades, Stephen Kieran and James Timberlake, the founder’s of KieranTimberlake, have pursued a design practice, informed by deep research, providing outcomes to the built environment that have pushed innovation, embraced innovation in practices, procedures, tools and workflows and the integration of systems. Their award-winning architecture has consistently broken boundaries and norms, while resulting in beautiful, sophisticated and useful outcomes. James Timberlake will speak to the depth of these outcomes, using FULLNESS, a book of KieranTimberlake works completed in 2019, including the US Embassy, London, several houses, and renewal projects, and the research and development behind them.

James Timberlake's work reflects his belief in beautifully crafted, thoughtfully made buildings holistically integrated to site, program, and people.

James breaks new ground with projects that explore some of today's most important design topics—among them, innovative construction methods, resource conservation strategies, and novel use of building materials. Examples include the Melvin J. & Claire Levine Hall at the University of Pennsylvania, which employs the first actively ventilated curtainwall of its type in North America; SmartWrap™, a mass-customizable building envelope exhibited at the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum; Cellophane House™, a fully recyclable, energy-gathering dwelling exhibited at The Museum of Modern Art in New York; and the Embassy of the United States in London, which employs strategies to significantly reduce energy consumption and sets an agenda to achieve carbon neutrality.

Under his guidance, the firm has received nearly 300 design citations, including the AIA Firm Award in 2008 and the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award in 2010. James and partner Stephen Kieran were the inaugural recipients of the Benjamin Latrobe Fellowship for architectural design research from the AIA College of Fellows in 2001. Since 2002, they have co-authored seven books on architecture, including the seminal manifesto refabricating Architecture and their newest monograph, KieranTimberlake: FULLNESS.

In addition to his architectural practice, James has held visiting professorships at the University of Pennsylvania, School of Design, the University of Washington, Yale University, the University of Michigan, and the University of Texas at Austin, among other institutions. In 2012, he was appointed by the Obama Administration to serve on the Board of the National Institute of Building Sciences.

Founded in 1984, KieranTimberlake brings together the experience and talents of over 90 professionals of diverse backgrounds and abilities in a practice that is recognized worldwide. Design, innovation, and invention in architecture form our practice. Projects span educational institutions, civic projects, arts and culture venues, governmental buildings, private residences, and more. We also renovate and transform existing structures and bring historic buildings into the modern era. Research is at the core of and integral to our work on every project. In addition to deep investigations into site, program, climate, ecology, resources, and environment that are seamlessly integrated into the design phase, research projects can be commissioned by clients for specific applications.

This lecture will be held at 13:00–14:00 in Room 400, UCL East Marshgate 

Artists and visitors like to see fine art displayed under natural light. In many traditional and modern galleries, it also provides character and gives form to the architecture. But daylight’s spectrum and variability can make it a tricky ingredient when designing spaces for light sensitive artworks.

This talk will describe some of the history and science of using daylight in museums and galleries and will use a series of case studies from North America and Europe to examine a variety of approaches to dealing with, and enjoying, the natural variability of daylight.

Andrew Sedgwick has worked for Arup for more than 40 years and has contributed to the design of more than fifty museums and galleries in North America, Europe and the Far East. His particular expertise is the daylighting of fine art museums, and in creating stable environments for the long-term conservation of collections with the minimum use of energy and other resources. His previous projects include Tate Modern (both phases), the Whitney in New York, the Broad in Los Angeles, Louvre Lens and the expansion of the St Louis Art Museum. Recent project completions include Istanbul Modern, Sydney Modern and new galleries at the Royal Academy in London.

Andy is a regular collaborator on museum projects with Renzo Piano Building Workshop, David Chipperfield Architects, Herzog & de Meuron, Diller Scofidio + Renfro and many others. He lectures regularly at architectural schools including The Bartlett, Cooper Union and Cal Poly.

This lecture will be held at 13:00–14:00 in Room 400, UCL East Marshgate 

What does it mean to be an architect or an engineer in a post-Grenfell world? This presentation will discuss the role of fire safety competency in architecture as defined by the Phase II Grenfell Tower Inquiry report. The role and responsibilities of the architect will be presented and contextualise within the concept of intrinsically safe design.

Professor José L. Torero is Professor Civil Engineering and Head of the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering at University College London. He works in the field of fire safety where he specializes in complex environments such as complex urban environments, novel architectures, new construction materials, critical infrastructure, aircraft, and spacecraft. José is a Chartered Engineer (UK), a Registered Professional Engineer in Queensland, a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (UK), The Royal Society of Edinburgh (UK), The Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering, the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (USA), the Institution of Fire Engineers (UK) and the Institution of Civil Engineers (UK).

This lecture will be held at 13:00–14:00 in Room 400, UCL East Marshgate 

The lecture "Lost in Translation?" explores the intersection of art, architecture, and engineering, highlighting the design engineer's role as both a translator and interpreter. Design engineers must effectively bridge ideas across different parties and disciplines, including structural engineering, art, and architecture. This ability is especially critical in the creation of exceptional structures, such as experimental art installations or innovative design pavilions, where engineers must think beyond conventional solutions and embrace new challenges. The lecture will demonstrate how cutting-edge methods, tools, and models—developed through collaborations with visionaries like Tomás Saraceno, Solano Benitez, and Olafur Eliasson—serve as catalysts for applied research and how these insights are applied to large-scale architectural projects and their complexities.

Klaas De Rycke is a Belgian civil engineer and architect. He is a senior lecturer at The Architecture School of Versailles (ENSA-V, France), where he is also a researcher as part of the LEAV lab. Since 2017, Klaas is also active as an associate professor and researcher at The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL. He dedicates his time and energy to the academic world in parallel with his professional activities. Klaas joined Bollinger+Grohmann in 2003. The company was originally founded in Frankfurt by the German engineers Prof. Dr Klaus Bollinger and Prof. Ing. Manfred Grohmann who shares the same passion for architectural engineering. As a partner at Bollinger+Grohmann Holding AG, Klaas heads the offices in Paris and Brussels that specialise in complex structures, façades, and parametric design. He is solicited to work on morphologically complex projects.

This lecture will be held at 13:00–14:00 in Room 400, UCL East Marshgate.

Not everyone 'gets' design, and that is why it is often defined as a short stage in a process, set apart from and following other activities. This is dangerous as design is a creative response that is influenced by everything that comes before it. Great design improves people’s lives, adds value and is long-lasting, but architects must understand the whole process and control key stages to achieve the best results.

This is particularly important in infrastructure projects where the architectural role may not be continuous or may be secondary to that of the engineer. This presentation will explore the critical importance of creating consensus in defining, procuring and protecting architectural design quality, illustrated using recent bridge projects in the UK and Sweden.

Martin Knight is one of the leading UK architects specialising in the design of bridges and transport infrastructure and is a Fellow of the RIBA and the Institution of Civil Engineers and an Honorary Fellow of IStructE. 

He founded international bridge designers Knight Architects in 2006, and his award-winning practice has completed more than seventy bridges in the UK and internationally. Their approach to design has been hailed as exemplary by bodies including the National Infrastructure Commission and the Design Council in the UK and Baukultur Bundesstiftung in Germany. 

Martin frequently serves as a client and industry advisor, including as a member of the Design Review Panel of the Design Commission for Wales since 2006. He is a member of the National Highways’ Strategic Design Panel, was appointed a Design Council Ambassador in 2021 and is a judge for the BCIA Awards and the Structural Awards. 

This lecture will be held at 13:00–14:00 in Room 400, UCL East Marshgate.

What do curators and visitors look for in an art space?

Architect Jamie Fobert is responsible for the reconfiguration of the National Portrait Gallery and the extension to Tate St Ives, both shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize, as well as the reconfiguration of Kettle’s Yard House and Gallery in Cambridge.

He will talk about his practice’s contributions to UK museum design and consider what it takes to design spaces for art, which are absolutely functional and beautiful at the same time.  

Jamie Fobert is a London-based architect and designer. Born in Canada, he arrived in London as a young architect in 1988 before establishing Jamie Fobert Architects in 1996. Since then, Jamie and his team have consistently produced innovative and inspiring architecture in projects ranging from individual houses to high quality retail and significant public buildings for the arts. 

Jamie’s two largest cultural projects were both shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize: the redevelopment of the National Portrait Gallery in 2024 and the extension to Tate St Ives in 2018. His practice’s current projects include the redevelopment of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, new learning facilities for the Tower of London and a new Maggie’s Centre for cancer care in Coventry. 

Jamie lectures and teaches widely and has a deep involvement in the arts. He is Chair of Trustees for the Architecture Foundation and a Trustee for Camden Arts Centre. He was appointed CBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours 2020.