Hana has reviewed 'Revisiting Postmodernism' by Terry Farrell and Adam Nathaniel (published by RIBA) for the February edition of ArchitectureToday. She finds that whilst not without its problems, "this necessary book rightly reinstates the best of postmodern architecture as a serious design response to an increasingly diverse cultural context." The full review can be read HERE.
As part of this excellent summit hosted in Great Yarmouth exploring the role of creatives (individuals and organisations) in creating great places and how creative workspaces can help make the most of a town's potential, HAT Projects will be presenting a talk upon how architecture can affect place.
Taking place at St George's Theatre in Great Yarmouth on 20th April, other speakers will include:
Creative Foundation (Folkestone)
East Street Arts (Leeds)
Focal Point Gallery and Southend Borough Council (Southend)
Outset (London/ UK)
MAIA (Birmingham)
Paradise Works (Manchester)
OUTPOST (Norwich)
Dove Street Studios (Norwich)
originalprojects (Great Yarmouth)
Smiths Row (Bury St Edmunds)
Mazi Reverso (independent networking)
with a keynote speech from Charles Landry.
Further information is available HERE.
Hana has been invited to speak at 'Beyond Participation', a conference in Dublin on 9th March organised by the Irish Architecture Foundation and curated by Tara Kennedy. It is billed as a vital discussion about architecture and community, bringing together "innovators, provocateurs and activists it challenges us to think about democracy, consequence, responsibility and the meaning of the things we design."
Also speaking will be Killian Doherty of Architectural (Field) Office, Ana Jara and Lucinda Correia of Artéria, Stefan Laxness of Forensic Architecture, Alex de Rijke of dRMM and more, chaired by Diarmaid Lawlor, Director of Place at Architecture + Design Scotland. Further information and tickets are available here.
'Architects: Portraits' by Ivan Jones is a photographic portrait series which acknowledges the faces of contemporary architectural practice and will be exhibited at the Jerwood Gallery from 27th January to 15th April.
The exhibition includes a cross-section of female European architects. A statement of equality Jones explains that there are no special concessions to femininity or “femaleness”; these are architects. They just happen to be women.
Jones has photographed each of the architects at the heart of a key building they have been pivotal in creating. Each full-colour image sets the person among the materials and physical environments which form the public face of their work.
Further information to be found here.
We're delighted that our new centre for the Science Museum's supporters, which will be known as the Smith Centre, has received planning permission and will be starting on site in Spring 2018. It repurposes a former Victorian Post Office sorting office and delivery yard, behind the Museum's main concourse, into a series of beautiful salon spaces for everyday use, events and lectures.
HAT director Hana Loftus has been invited to join the teaching team this year for the Urban Studies module at the London School of Architecture. The cohort will be looking at the borough of Southwark through research, data visualisation, mapping and strategic proposals.
We're all excited to see Cleefold coming to life on the Shropshire hills. Wonderful curved copper roofing details being beautifully realised by the contractor, and sheep coming up to inspect, just as intended. The curved glulam beams will be exposed internally, giving rhythm and scale to the living spaces. It already feels very much part of the landscape, which was one of the main ambitions for the design.
We're delighted to have been selected as the architects for Ely Museum's redevelopment. We're passionate about the role of local museums as, for many people, their first heritage or museum experience. At Ely, the museum is a fantastically rich resource - telling compelling stories through both its collection and its building.
The museum is housed in a Grade 2 listed building that was formerly the Bishop of Ely's jail, and includes a courtyard garden in what was the felon's exercise yard. We're excited to be charged with its renovation and extension to create better exhibition, education and event spaces. With the museum having successfully gained Stage 1 HLF support, we will be working towards a planning application and Stage 2 HLF submission mid next year. Our winning team includes Max Fordham LLP, Momentum Engineering and People Friendly Design.
In a continuation of our work with the V&A Museum, we've been quietly helping over the last few months, to tidy up some of the peripheral areas connected with the Exhibition Road project. The Sackler Centre - the education centre that has been the contractor's site offices for the last few years - was, not surprisingly, in need of some upgrading.
We've overhauled the all-important WCs, created the new John Lyon's Charity Community Gallery out of a foyer area that became redundant as a result of the new museum extension, and refurbished other areas to bring them up to the standards of design and detail for which the V&A is rightly proud.
We're delighted to have been a part of this exciting next chapter in the Museum's history, and to have brought the project in on a very quick timeframe, ready for the opening celebrations last night.
Hana is speaking at the influential Future Cities Forum on Art and Science Regeneration, on the 13th June at Burlington House. Other speakers include Tristram Hunt, director of the V&A, Duncan Wilson, chief executive of Historic England, Professor Flora Samuel from the University of Reading, and Sharon Ament, director of the Museum of London.
Hana will be speaking about arts regeneration in cities and our thoughts about how a healthy arts ecology is supported by planning and policy.