From 1 to 30 June 2019 the V&A+RIBA Architecture Partnership will be collaborating with the London Festival of Architecture to host installations, talks and events across RIBA’s London locations and at the V&A, responding to the festival's annual theme of ‘Boundaries’.
Highlights include a new commission for the RIBA Architecture Gallery, Playing the Picturesque by architectural design studio You+ Pea, an interactive installation which explores the boundaries between virtual and physical space; a lecture by Juhani Pallasmaa on the role of the image in architecture; the RIBA + VitrA Intergenerational Talk between Grafton Architects and Brazilian practice Aleph Zero, winners of the 2016 and 2018 RIBA International Prize respectively; and a family fun day for all ages exploring the boundaries we face in everyday life.
Further information about all the events is below and online.
Exhibitions/installations
Playing the Picturesque – an installation by You + Pea
The Architecture Gallery, RIBA 66 Portland Place, Free entrance
4 June to 7 September 2019
Playing the Picturesque is an interactive installation exploring the boundaries between virtual and physical space. It takes the form of a series of scaled folly structures extracted from real picturesque landscapes by 19th century architect John Nash and extended into interactive virtual game environments. By exploring the interface between the physical and virtual realms, it asks whether such boundaries are now so fluid that we can consider virtual worlds as sites for realising architecture in their own right.
You+Pea is the architectural design studio of Sandra Youkhana and Luke Caspar Pearson. Their work explores the integration of video game technologies into architectural design.
Walk the Line: The Distributed Vertical Border
The Practice Space, RIBA 66 Portland Place, Free entrance
3 June – 6 July 2019
The reactivation of the railway system in Mexico opened an informal channel for thousands of migrants from the North Triangle of Central America, fleeing an environment of violence and extreme poverty. The train network known as "La Bestia" became the means by which nearly half a million migrants who entered Mexico each year could travel through the country anonymously and directly, thus constituting a sort of vertical border that is distributed throughout the country.
This exhibition explores how the movement and pauses of migrants affect the physical and imaginary environment of the territory they navigate. Focusing on the seven cities that initiate the distributed vertical border through Mexico, the exhibition spatialises trade, labour, screening, protection violence and obstruction through a coordinates system that traces the architectural objects that constitute the route.
The exhibition is developed by Proyector, a curatorial platform based in Mexico City, dedicated to promoting emerging voices in contemporary architectural research.
Above and Beyond – a new installation by Etcetera Studio
First Floor Gallery RIBA 66 Portland Place, Free entrance
3 June - 6 July 2019
100 years ago, the Cenotaph was revealed to the public. A timeless eternal structure, Sir Edwin Lutyens’ design traces the arc of a sphere 100m below the earth and tapers to a point 300m into the sky. It is an architecture that speaks to memory, revealing only a fragment of a much larger imagined geometry, crossing the boundaries of space, time and memory.
Playing on the notion of illusionary assemblies, this installation of a sculptural fragment transcends the gallery space, providing clues for the visitor and allowing them to imagine a space where alternative futures may be possible.
Etcetera Studio is the collaborative practice of architect Tom Parsons and artist Edward Crooks.
Talks and events
Juhani Pallasmaa – The Colin Rowe Lecture Series
Tuesday 4 June, 6.30pm – 8pm, RIBA 66 Portland Place
£5 standard; £3 for students, RIBA member and RIBA Friends – booking essential
A lecture and conversation on the role of the image in architecture
Pushing Boundaries – LFA Small Talks
Thursday 6 June and Thursday 20 June: 6-9pm, RIBA 66 Portland Place, Free
Join RIBA London for two informal nights (6 and 20 June) of inspirational, short talks delivered by our London members. Discover the many ways London’s architectural practices are breaking down boundaries with their revolutionary projects, digital innovation, progressive working methods and pioneering ways of envisaging London’s built environment.
Architectural Photo Walk: Kings Cross St Pancras
8 June 2019, 10.30am to 4pm – from £50
Starting at: RIBA 66 Portland Place
Late opening: launching three exhibitions
11 June 2019, 6.00 – 9.30pm, RIBA 66 Portland Place, Free
Join us for a special evening celebrating the opening of three new exhibitions and installations at RIBA London. Hear talks by the commissioned architects You + Pea for the exhibition Playing the Picturesque and etcetera Studio for Above and Beyond while enjoying a drink from our cash bar. This is a free event. Full event programme to be confirmed.
RIBA + VitrA Talk: Intergenerational dialogues – Aleph Zero and Grafton Architects
18 June 2019, 7.00pm to 8.30pm, RIBA 66 Portland Place, Tickets: £12 Standard, £6 RIBA Member
For this special talk we are bringing together 2016 RIBA International Prize winners Grafton Architects and Aleph Zero, who won the prestigious prize in 2018. They will be discussing their award-winning education projects in South America, where the design of both projects is informed by the unique environmental context. The RIBA + VitrA series is sponsored by VitrA Bathrooms.
Shifting Boundaries with Photography
22 June 2019, 10am to 5pm
RIBA, 66 Portland Place, Tickets from £70
Challenge conventional ideas of boundaries through photography. Taking inspiration from the RIBA’s photographic collections and through playful interventions with a professional dancer and parkour athlete, you’ll explore the dynamic relationship between photography, the human body and architectural space. For ages 18+ and all abilities.
Family Fun Day: Breaking Boundaries – Making Connections
22 June 2019, 11am to 4pm, RIBA 66 Portland Place – Free, registration required
What boundaries do you encounter in your daily life? Are there any you wish didn’t exist? How could you overcome and challenge these? Join us as we think beyond the boundaries and start making connections instead.
ARCHFILMFEST London | Mario Botta. The Space Beyond
25 June 2019, 7pm to 9pm, RIBA 66 Portland Place, £12 Standard, £6 RIBA Member
The evening will begin with a screening of Mario Botta. The Space Beyond in the Jarvis Hall. After the screening Mario Botta will engage in a conversation about the film and his work, followed by a Q&A with the audience.
This event is produced in partnership with the Architecture Film Festival, and generously supported by the Swiss Embassy in London and the London Festival of Architecture 2019.
- ENDS -
Notes to Editors:
- For further information contact Beatrice Cooke in the RIBA press office: beatrice.cooke@riba.org; 020 7307 3813.
- Images.
- The Press View for the three installations will be held on Tuesday 4 June, 09.30 at RIBA.
- The London Festival of Architecture celebrates London as the global hub for architecture. The festival returns to the capital from 1-30 June 2019 with a lively and diverse programme of public events across London exploring the theme of ‘boundaries’. Further information on all events here.
- The installations at RIBA are open from 10am – 5pm Monday to Saturday and until 8pm every Tuesday. It is closed on Sundays. Free entrance. RIBA is at 66 Portland Place, London, W1B 1AD. Nearest tubes are Oxford Circus, Regent’s Park and Great Portland Street. The exhibition is part of a RIBA season of wide-ranging events and workshops, designed for all ages and experience levels.
- The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a global professional membership body that serves its members and society in order to deliver better buildings and places, stronger communities and a sustainable environment. www.architecture.com
- The RIBA is a registered charity and it relies on the generosity of individuals, companies, trusts and foundations to preserve its world-class collections, to maintain free public access to its exhibitions and develop a diverse and exciting public events programme.
- Follow @RIBA on Twitter for regular updates www.twitter.com/RIBA
