BAADE/BAASO

Geoffrey Makstutis will be giving a short talk to celebrate the launch of his new book "Architecture: An Introduction".

This lunchtime event will be held at the CSM Innovation Gallery and the book's publisher, Lawrence King, will be selling copies of the book at a special discount.

Please join us to celebrate the launch on:

Tuesday, 9 March, 1-2pm

thu 11 february

9AM start, be in early to pin-up

7PM stage 1 meeting+feedback handed back+site hand-out

8PM post review drinks

On the front page of the Portal, you may have noticed a new block in left column - "Hot or Not?".

Do you know of a fantastic piece of design? Something that you might see everyday and think "wow, that is simply perfect."

There has been a considerable drop in attendance since the beginning of the academic year. Many students are either not attending or are being very selective of what they do attend. This is not only a problem for those who do not attend, but for those who do attend.

Stage 1 and Stage 2 students, further to the presentation and discussions on Monday morning, I am pleased to inform you that voting is now open for you to give your response on the implementation of proposed changes to the course structure.

The Foundation for Future, Design, Education, Talents and Exchange have announced that the :output awards are open for registration.

We have developed a new news site to help you keep abreast of what's happening in design, architecture, world news, the environment, technology, jobs and competitions.

It is commonly held belief that the New Year is a time to make changes. We make New Year resolutions. We say to ourselves "ughh, I'm never going to eat that much again" (as we finish off the last bits of leftover turkey) or "I swear, I won't ever drink that much again" (as we nurse that hangover on January 1st).

Well, here at the BAADE/BAASO Command Centre, we've started to ring in the changes already.

Another term has ended. And, ended very well! Stage 1 students showed committment and skill in the preparation and launch of a wonderful models exhibition. Stage 2 presented some exciting and challenging proposals for the village of Birzeit in Palestine. Stage 3 successfully completed their dissertations.

Well done to all!

 Vacation Opening

Christmas and New Year vaction opening hours 2009/2010 for Southampton Row and Charing Cross library

 + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

 Monday 14th December to Friday 18th December

Choreograph Frederic Flamand is strangely unknown to the general public.

the best way to predict your future is to create it

29th & 30th June 2010

Nicholls & Clarke Building, Shoreditch

We are delighted to let you know that the first creative industries opportunities festival is taking place in London on 29th-30th June next year. The Futurising festival is led by UAL and will be specifically tailored to the needs of all UK creative industries graduates. Below you will find full information and details on this very relevant event for students, new graduates and entrants into the creative industries.

University of the Arts IT Services have informed us that work is planned at a University location which may affect the delivery of the services listed below.

A presentation by Thomas Wiesner

Since 2005 Thomas Wiesner has maintained the videoblog Spacetwo:Patalab under the guise of his web moniker Sam Renseiw. The videos posted to the blog are oblique essays uncovering detail in architectural environments and events with a clinical yet subjective, inquisitive gaze. With more than 700 videos produced to date, it has become one of most prolific videoblogs on the web.

An international conference took place at the end of last week exploring the future of cities. It was one of a sequence of conferences to explore the issues. The site contains a lot of information on urban analysis, various global cities and research findings as well as methods of communicating and presenting information. Check it out.

http://www.urban-age.net/conferences/istanbul/

There are an interesting range of architecture related films on in the coming weeks as part of an RIBA / BFI mini festival. http://www.bfi.org.uk/whatson/bfi_southbank/film_programme/november_seasons/of_dreams_and_cities

ALL STAGE 1 students will be required to go through 3 workshop inductions: Wood/Metal/Plastic. These will take place on Fri 06 Nov - Tue 10 Nov.

This Thursday 05 November at 10AM we will be forming 6 groups of 15-16 students for the workshop inductions, and we will ask you to sign up in Bricklane site groups. Please see schedule below for details of date/time/location of each group. IMPORTANT: Please also note that groups E+F have the inductions on the Mon 09+ Tue 10 Nov and will be reserved for site groups with students who are working on Fridays only. Sign-up on a first come-first served basis.

The Daiwa Scholarship is a unique 19-month programme of language study, work placement and homestay in Japan.

Daiwa Scholarships offer young and talented UK citizens with strong leadership potential, the opportunity to acquire Japanese language skills, and to access expertise and knowledge relevant to their career goals.

NO PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE OF JAPAN OR JAPANESE IS NECESSARY.

The following students must visit the 6th Floor Library URGENTLY. Your email addresses have problems and these must be corrected.

Xiao Deng
Previn Naidoo
Sultana Chowdhury
Kyounghun Ryu
Jack Elliot Cardno
Dong Zi Yang
Josefine Roth
Wai Yuen Wong
Rui Shen
Maria Agnieszka Czajczynska
Marina Andronescu
Neyla Ahmed Sayed Ebrahim Abdulla Alsada
Richard Grenfell
Xi Luo
Natasha Tenriana Putri Abbas

We have now setup a series of sign-up tutorials for Tuesdays. These are open to any student who wishes to have a tutorial about their work. The tutorials will be in groups (max. 6 per group) and will last for no more than one hour. You can signup by visiting the calendar and clicking on the event or by following the links below:

Some Stage 2 students are probably wondering what the Tuesday tutorials are about...

In the past, the Elective has meant that we were unable to schedule any other activity for Stage 2, because we don't know at the start of the year which electives students will be taking and what time their elective seminars will be held. Previously, this left a gap in the timetable.

We have created discussion forums for Tutor Groups related to Stage 1 & 2. These will be available for Tutor Group Leaders to make information available to all members of their Tutor Group. You can visit your Tutor Group Forum here.

Students should check their forums regularly.

Thank you for some interesting presentations and discussion today. For those whose presentations I was not able to see, please accept my apologies.

This year, we are having a special 2 day Welcome event. This will be an opportunity for new and returning students to begin the year with activities and events to meet each other as well as receive key information about the year ahead. These events will be taking place, in part, outside of the College.

Are you moving up to Stage 3 this year?

Hope you've been thinking about your projects and dissertation. Maybe you've started your research or been doing some reading?

Well, on Thursday 8 October you'll have your chance to tell us about how things are going. We are asking all Stage 3 students to prepare a short presentation on your work-in-progress.

Don't panic!

If you are joinging Architecture: Spaces and Objects this year and are wondering what you might need to do to get ready, here are a few tips.

If you are progressing to stage 2 of your course in the autumn you will be participating in Unit 7 Electives. The Electives are a cultural studies programme and are taught to all BA and FdA Byam Shaw students at CSM which together total around 1,000 students.

University of the Arts Housing Services are pleased to announce Opal 4, a brand new student accommodation development will open in September 2009. All bedrooms are fully furnished to a high specification and have en-suite and internet facilities.

Attention all Architecture Students!!!

Please remember that the RIBA Visiting Board will be meeting with you on Friday, 3 July, at 9:45am. We ask that you arrive by 9:30am so that we can begin on time.

From the start of the new academic year, 2009/10, all communication to students will be via their UAL email addresses.

For some time now, we have been asking for nominations for next year’s course reps. So far, we have had nominations from 6 people.

The future doesn't always turn out the way we plan. But, sometimes it turns out better.

To all of the Stage 3 students, a hearty congratulations! No matter what your final degree classification, you have achieved something special. To have studied for 3 years at Central Saint Martins is an achievement in itself. To have succeeded, at whatever level, means that you have grown and changed tremendously. The future will bring you new challenges and you will continue to grow. It is our hope that the time you have spent with us in BAADE will have given you a way of seeing the world, and your place in the world, that will carry you forward to even greater heights.

GHM Rock Townsend Architects London are currently recruiting for full-time, paid Part 1 / 2 Architectural Assistants to start this September.

This is an ideal opportunity for Stage 3 architecture students to get a year-out placement.

For more information visit: http://www.baade.org/content/ghmrt-09pdf

Just a reminder that our summer opening hours from Monday 29th June at Southampton Row Library and Charing Cross library are as follows:

We are running a survey to get your input on the appropriateness of our software offer.

There is a wealth of different software packages that are used in architecture and design practices across the UK and internationally. We currently offer tuition in:

• Bentley Microstation (http://www.bentley.com) - for 2D CAD/Technical Drawing
• McNeel Rhino3D (http://www.rhino3d.com) - 3D Modelling & Visualisation
• Google Sketchup (http://sketchup.google.com) - for 3D Massing Models

But, are these the right tools?

To help us in planning for the future, please give us your response to the survey. Visit http://baade.org/content/which-cadmodelling-software

The current economic climate has placed extreme pressure on the housing market. People are not buying houses. Fewer new houses are being built. The market is stagnant.

Mass-market private housing providers face a difficult time. While the market is stagnant, society is changing. Social values, environmental concerns, and a host of other shifts are taking place within the public; particularly in the 18-30 age range. How will these housebuilders innovate their business and their 'product' to meet the needs of a new public?

Social housing, in the form of the modernist tower-block, has largely failed in the UK and across Europe. The social engineering and planning that accompanied the post war housing boom, has not kept pace with the changes in social structure and values. Across Europe existing social housing stock is being torn down. What will the new social housing be?

25 years ago Prince Charles was either villified by the architectural press or lauded by the 'red top' tabloids. Why? Because he dared to say what a lot of the public thought - that modern architecture and architects had lost touch with people's lives. Unfortunately he did this by attacking the (then) proposed extension to the National Gallery (by Robert Venturi & Denise Scott Brown); referring to it as a "monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend." This followed with his continued advocacy of 'traditional' approaches to architecture and urbanism in projects like Poundbury - the 'new village' built on Duchy of Cornwall land, designed by Leon Krier and (in my opinion) looking like a well-built Disney 'imagineered' vision of rural England. In short, the Prince didn't make many friends in the contemporary architecture scene.

Last night, 25 years later, the Prince gave another speech to the RIBA. This time celebrating the 175th anniversary of the founding of the RIBA, and it seems he's still not looking for new friends. While some of his comments were seemingly intended to deflect some of the criticism that still remains from his 1984 speech, he remains outspoken on issues related to modern design. But, what is he really saying?

 What elephant?

The UK government has set an ambitious and necessary target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050. The carbon footprint of buildings is the source of over 50% of greenhouse gas emissions in the UK (DCLG). 75% of commercial buildings that will be standing in 2030 have already been built (Carbon Trust). Existing buildings hold the key to transforming the real estate sector in a responsible manner and helping the government meet its target.

What competition?

Whether you are a student studying engineering, architecture, economics, social work or teaching, we are looking for you to use your imagination and your knowledge to re-think the design of these buildings.

For many years there has been an ongoing issue with web browsers in relation to compliance with W3C standards. The use of standards in the development of web pages means that they will appear the same no matter what browser you use.

At least that is the theory...

However, some browsers don't implement the standards in their 'rendering engine' and this means what you see in one browser won't look the same in another. Typically, the company that has been the most difficult in this has been Microsoft. For many years their Internet Explorer browser did not comply with W3C standards. With the recent shift to Internet Explorer 8, this has been addressed and their browser is largely W3C compliant.

POUSSIN GALLERY

Dear all, please find attached (as promised\)  a list of recent purchases for BA ADE/Architecture made during the last few months. It's not exhaustive due to the number of items regularily purchased. It also includes items I've ordered for other courses (such as MA Industrial Design) where I think the design issues & topics are relevant to this course.

HOW TO USE THE LIST

On the left of the page are numbers beginning with 9 e.g. 9781847960016. If you copy and paste these numbers onto the Library Catalogue  you'll be able to see their current staus. Use the KEYWORD or ISBN search to copy the numbers into. If you have any problems finding any items please feel free to email me n.lloyd@csm.arts.ac.uk 

Nick Lloyd - BA ADE/Architecture Subject Librarian

A very big congratulations to all of the participants of the Olympic Seating Workshop! The range, quality and creativity of the proposals was a credit to your ability to work together as teams on a very short deadline!

The judges for the final proposals were extremely impressed with the presentations and the ideas that were put forward. It was felt that all of the proposals could have been implemented for the seating of the handball, basketball and waterpolo stadia. Everyone involved should feel very proud of the achievement.

It was a difficult project to judge and, in many ways, we would have liked to have been able to have 5 winners! In the end, however, it was felt that we should stick to the brief and seek a proposal that met the criteria in a way that made it stand out. This was no easy feat! With five different, challenging and interesting proposals there was a good deal of discussion about the merits of each.

17 February, 2009 - 7:00pm

Cochrane Theatre

Work - An Evening with Will Alsop

BAADE/BAASO are pleased to announce that Will Alsop will be giving a talk about his recent work.

Alsop has become one of the UK's most renowned architects. With projects ranging from art schools to public buildings and office space, his approach remains unique and dynamic. Often controversial, always challenging, Alsop remains a force within the design field around the world.

This is a unique opportunity to see the work of his practice and hear from Alsop about the highs, lows, and challenges of remaining at the front of an ever-changing design market.

The lecture is free and open to all, so invite your friends and colleagues.

For many, Tuesday (3 February) remains a difficult day for travel. No doubt many of our students were either unable to get into college or found it a very long journey. For my part, what is normally a 45 minute cycle ride took me 2.5 hours on a variety of buses and tube trains.

So, Monday was a 'write-off', and that means that we've lost some tutorials and other activities. Please be assured that the Course Team is reviewing the situation and trying to establish ways to ensure that no one is left without having had sufficient tutorial-time, workshop access, seminar, lecture, etc. We will be emailing out any changes to the schedule over the next 24 hours.

Please be patient. While the snow may be melting, one day lost has a knock-on effect. We will aim to make sure that everything runs as smoothly as possible, but there be changes at short-notice as we try to ensure that everything is covered.

Well, first, TED isn't a person. "TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader." (TED, http://www.ted.com/index.php/pages/view/id/5). To find out more visit http://www.ted.com.

We are pleased to be able to provide direct access, vie the Portal, to all of the recorded TED Talks. "  began as a simple attempt to share what happens at TED with the world. Under the moniker "ideas worth spreading," talks were released online. They rapidly attracted a global audience in the millions. Indeed, the reaction was so enthusiastic that the entire TED website has been reengineered around TEDTalks, with the goal of giving everyone on-demand access to the world's most inspiring voices." (TED, http://www.ted.com/index.php/pages/view/id/5)

News is back up and working.

You can now:

Check headlines from the BBC and the Guardian... Get environmental news from the Environmental News Network, BBC, and the Guardian... See jobs available around the UK and the world. (from Trovit, Building Design, AJ, and more)... Check on the latest competitions. (from Death by Architecture, Dezeen, insider.com...) Get architecture blogs and news from the UK and the world (AJ, Building Design, Archidose, and more)... See design news and projects (from Core77, Dezeen, Yanko, 3rings...) 

Some of you may have noticed KultureFlash appearing in your email. We hope that you've found it a good source of information about what's happening in London.

We are aware that there are currently problems with attaching files to portal postings (particularly within the forums).

The problem is being reviewed now to find a solution. We hope to have this sorted out this weekend.

Happy New Year!

We hope that everyone has had a good holiday break and is ready for a new year, new projects, new challenges and ...

A new look Portal!

I don't know about the rest of you, but to me, that term seemed to go by very quickly!

I hope that everyone has enjoyed at least some of the things that have been happening. You've all worked very hard (both staff and students) and it looks to have paid off. We've seen some very good work and had some very exciting times.

Stage 2 and 3 students are asked to attend meetings on 3 December with the Associate Dean of the School of Graphic & Industrial Design.

These meetings are an opportunity to explore students' responses to last year's University Student Satisfaction Survey.

The Associate Dean will be discussing the results and exploring the underlying issues related to responses to the questions of the survey. The aim is to develop a series of actions that will help to address those issues where we can make a difference.

 We have created a new service on the Portal, which we hope will help students to find things around London.

'Resources' are intended to be links to places, services, printing, shops, clubs, restaurants, ... Anything that you think would be useful to others you can add to the portal. And, to make it even more useful, when you put in the address and postcode, the Portal will auto-magically generate a Google Map with the location of your Resource shown so that others can home in on the place.

We've started to add places that we think might be useful, but we need your help to make the Resources area useful.

"If you think you can design something that is practical, contemporary, aspirational with commercial appeal that is representative of the dwell brand, then enter the 2009 design for dwell competititon.

What we are looking for:

• Innovation, creativity and practicality
• Commercial appeal
• Representative of the dwell brand
• The thought process behind the design
• Clear written descriptions to accompany drawing/model
• An understanding of modern manufacturing processes."

Another day, another set of projects tested.

Well done to all of the Stage 1 students who have been so busy over the last couple of weeks; working on their towers. It's amazing to see what you have managed to achieve with some satay skewers, blu-tack and paper. Some of the designs were really wonderful to see - and not all of those were the ones that were still standing!

It is hoped that all of the students will take the time to consider the reasons why some towers could stand up with, what appeared to be, very little 'fixed' structure; while others, with that had very strong looking structural elements did not fare as well. Once again, we should never underestimate the importance of testing to failure. What we learn from things that fall down is how to keep things from falling down! For an architect, that is a pretty important thing to learn!

PLEASE NOTE THAT YOU MUST USE OUTLOOK WEB ACCESS, THROUGH MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER ON A PC (NOT A MAC) TO BE ABLE TO SETUP YOUR EMAIL FORWARDING.

There are several reasons why it is important for all students to use their UAL email. First, it is the best way for the University to ensure that it has accurate email addresses for all students without having to compile lists of alternative email addresses. Second, it is the primary way that the University will use to send information to students about things that are happening within the University. Finally, it is the best way for the University to ensure that it is able to provide support where and when you need.

However, we recognise that many students have other email accounts that they are already checking regularly and that checking more than one account can be a nuisance. For this reason, we have enabled the UAL email system to forward email to any account that you define. This means that all the UAL email can go directly to your choice of email addresses.

We have created a 'Digital Drop Box' for students to leave comments about how things are going and to make suggestions on how we may enhance the course.

The aim of the 'Drop Box' is to provide a way for us to get continuous feedback on how things are developing. We need to know when things have gone well and where there are areas for improvement.

It's not enough to just have a Portal account. You also need to define your 'Profile'.

The Profile holds a variety of information that will help us to keep in touch with you and to make the way you appear on the Portal a bit more friendly (like using your real name rather than your username.

It only takes a few minutes to create your profile. Visit your Account page by clicking on the 'My Account' link and then click the link to create your profile.

It's that time again. It seems only a few days ago that we were ending one academic year, now we are beginning another. In reality it's been several months, but so much has been happening over the summer that it feels as if we've kept right on going.

This year will see many changes to the course, staff and curriculum. We hope that these will make for a better experience for students and the course team.