MAY 2004
Beijing, China
Architectural Forum
A RIBA-USA delegation will travel to Beijing in May 2004 as
guests of a Chinese Government agency. The delegation, which
will be led by RIBA-USA President Tim Clark, will have the
following participation:
George Ferguson, President RIBA
Angela Brady, Chair RIBA Women in Architecture
Zoka Zola Chair RIBA-USA Mid West
Jonathan Wimpenny Chair RIBA-USA New York /Vice President
RIBA-USA
Caroline Davies Photographic adviser to RIBA USA California
Tim Clark Chair RIBA-USA California
The delegation will be the focal point of an architectural
Forum in Beijing May 17th. The group will present papers on
the following subjects at the Forum: Sustainable Design and
Vital Architecture; Diversity in Architecture, The Modern
House, Interiors, Contermporary representation in Architectural
Photography and RIBA membership in the Global Arena. The delegation
will also judge an all-China architectural competition and
open a related exhibition on May 18th. Similar events are
planned for a second Chinese City, details of which are still
being planned.
The Mission will promote the work of British Architects and
their allies on the international stage, RIBA-USA being an
exemplary case in point. The mission will showcase efforts
in the UK and elsewhere to advance the role of women and minorities
in the field of architecture to address that huge new development
pressures and demographic shifts that China exemplifies. One
of China's largest developers, SOHO, will host the "DiverseCity"
exhibition which shows how professionals have been responding
to these latter challenges. More details are available at
http://www.sohochina.com
Inquiries about the RIBA-USA China Visit in 2004 may be made
to riba-usa@anet.net
attention Tim Clark.
RESULTS
From January 11th-Jan 23rd the fruits of RIBA-USA's very successful
delegation to China in May 2004 became apparent when a delegation
from China made a return visit to RIBA and its EU partner
institutions. The Chinese group was led by Charles Qin, Chief
Liaison Officer of CCPIT (China Council for the Promotion
of International Trade), who masterminded RIBA-USA's 2004
China visit. With him came heads of large Design Institutes
(each with up to 3000 staff) from the Beijing area:- Zhao
Hong, Liu Bing Bing, Qin Shan and Zhao Yong, together with
the Chief Planner of central Beijing Ma Shuxin and the Designer
Ms Wen Ya who is currently on a six month study visit to Leeds
UK. Pictured standing outside the Architecture Gallery at
the V+A are (from left) Hong (who was also joint winner of
RIBA-USA's "DiverseCity Competiton), Bing, Qin and Shuxin,
with the Gallery's Curator Charles Hind (second from right)
RIBA-USA Presiding Chair, Tim Clark (to his right) and RIBA
President George Ferguson (to his left). The second picture
shows the group in the Chinese Room where Clark and Ferguson
were joined by Angela Brady, Chair of RIBA Women in Architecture
and Zhao Yong (standing on the left).
As another RIBA-USA-inspired mission is completed in April
2006, this time to North East China, we continue to reflect
on how this important new relationship that began in 2004
has blossomed so successfully. In November 2005, our Chinese
counterparts approached Tim Clark to ask whether a "RIBA"-led
mission could move beyond our culture-shifting engagement
in 2004 into the domain of demonstration projects. Our first
reaction was to consult with colleagues at RIBA London to
see how our profession as a whole (not just RIBA-USA) could
be showcased within this vision. As a result, the most recent
mission, led this time by RIBA International Vice President
David Falla, is to engage with a vast sustainable development
challenge in the region of Linyi, a large city located at
the confluence of the Yellow River and one of its major tributaries.
The mission has two major objectives, the first is to further
develop RIBA's relationship with Beijing using the contacts
that RIBA-USA has built up and the second is to develop models
of collaborative design to help China to improve the sustainability
of its built solutions.
So how did all of this start? In May 2004, a RIBA-USA delegation
traveled to Beijing as guests of a Chinese Government agency.
The guest of honor of the 2004 delegation was the then RIBA
President, George Ferguson and was led by the then RIBA-USA
President Tim Clark with the following additional participation:
Angela Brady, Chair RIBA Women in Architecture
Zoka Zola Chair RIBA-USA Mid West
Jonathan Wimpenny Chair RIBA-USA New York /Vice President
RIBA-USA
Caroline Davies Photographic adviser to RIBA USA California
Annie Chu of Chu+Gooding Architects Los Angeles, winner of
the RIBA-USA Diversity Competition
The delegation was the focal point of an architectural Forum
in Beijing May 17th. The group presented papers on the following
subjects : Sustainable Design and Vital Architecture; Diversity
in Architecture, The Modern House, Interiors, Contemporary
representation in Architectural Photography and RIBA membership
in the Global Arena. The delegation also judged an all-China
architectural competition and opened a related exhibition
on May 18th. Similar events occurred in Zhengzhou China, capital
of Henan Province, where the delegation arrived by police
escort and was welcomed by the Mayor and Governor of this
eight most populous state in the world. (see photograph).
The Mission promoted the international work of British Architects
as an organized profession, RIBA-USA being an exemplary case
in point. The mission showcased efforts in the UK and elsewhere
to advance the role of women and minorities in the field of
architecture whose special contributions are needed to address
the huge new development pressures within China. One of China's
largest developers, SOHO, was host to the "DiverseCity"
exhibition which shows how professionals have been responding
to these latter challenges. More details are available at
http://www.sohochina.com
Inquiries about the RIBA-USA China Visit in 2004 may be made
to riba-usa@anet.net attention Tim Clark.
New York
The Crafts in Britain after 1945
10th May 2004, 6:00 pm
Venue: NYDC 200 Lexington Avenue, New York
New York
UK Company opens in NYC
17th March - 6.00pm
British company Citizen: Citizen will launch its first US
showroom, featuring furniture, lighting, ceramics, and home
accessories by contemporary British designers, May 15 2004.
There will be an official launch party in the evening of May
17, from 6pm-9pm The showroom opens during ICFF & NY design
week (May 15-18 2004) with an exhibition of unique collections
from London-based designers Ian Stallard and Patrik Fredrikson
Located in the heart of Williamsburg, Citizen's New York showroom
will showcase a selection of contemporary, emerging and progressive
British designers in the coming months. Citizen is organizing
a sister showroom in London, to expose contemporary New York
design to the UK. The prelude to this will be an exhibition
to be held in London late September 2004
New York
The Devonshire Inheritance: Five Centuries of Collecting at
Chatsworth illustration
Thro' June 20, 2004
Venue: The Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative
Arts, Design, and Culture
The Devonshire Inheritance: Five Centuries of Collecting at
Chatsworth illustration: Grand Canal from Piazzetta Venice
Canaletto c.1760
From March 18 through June 20, 2004, The Bard Graduate Center
for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture is
presenting The Devonshire Inheritance: Five Centuries of Collecting
at Chatsworth, an exhibition of material from Chatsworth,
the primary home of the Cavendish family - the earls and then
dukes of Devonshire - since the 16th century.
The Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts,
Design, and Culture 18 West 86th Street New York, NY, USA
For Further Details see:
http://www.bgc.bard.edu/exhibit/exhibits/devonshire/press_release.html
New York
South Wales Police RFC - USA Charity Tour
May 16, 2004
Join RIBA-USA members in Central Park at 3.00 pm for a rugby
match between the South Wales Police Rugby Football Club and
the New York District Football Club. The trip is being undertaken
by 45 serving and retired members of the force, all of whom
have paid their own way from the UK and will be taking their
own annual leave. They are raising money for two 9/11 disaster
funds "New York Police and Fire Widows and Children's Benefit
Fund" and also the "British Memorial Garden".
For further info on The South Wales Police RFC see:
http://south-wales-police-rfc.8m.com/
for further info on the match in Central Park Contact: p_a_brown@hotmail.com
New York
Totally Somewhere else: Defining Cultural Diversity in 21st
Century British Design
24th May 2004, 6:00 pm
Venue: NYDC 200 Lexington Avenue, New York
Boston
Totally Somewhere else: Defining Cultural Diversity in 21st
Century British Design
27th May 2004, 5:30 pm
Venue: BSA, Broad Street, Boston, MA
Alan Balfour RIBA , Dean of the School of Architecture at
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Troy, New York, and
former chairman of the AA in London will join The BSA Urban
Design Committee to discuss his books on the history of cities
including Shanghai, New York and Berlin. Balfour is the 2000
AIA Topaz Laureate (the highest recognition given in North
America to an academic in architecture) and is an outstanding
speaker. The BSA’s Urban Design Committee, Young Architects
Committee and Women in Design Network are pleased to host
Balfour May 27, 5:30 pm at The Architects Building and invite
all to come including members and non-members. Write/call
bsa@architects.org / 617-951-1433x221 to rsvp so we can order
plenty of food and beverage.
http://www.alanbalfour.com/biography/cv.html for photos
http://www.alanbalfour.com/ for image of his book
New York
May 2004
The New York Chapter is organizing a tour of the exhibition
"THINK OF ENGLAND" - Photographs of the London artist MARTIN
PARR Email: Jonathan Wimpenny at wimpenny@rcn.com for further
information The Janet Borden Gallery, Janet Borden Inc 560
Broadway New York The exhibition runs tho' May 28th 2004
New York
May 2004
Memorial to British Victims of 9/11
The British Memorial Garden have announced the winner of their
competition to complete the design of the Garden, not far
from the WTC site, formerly Hanover Square. The 19' tall sculpture
can be seen here sculpted of a block of black granite and
designed by British sculptor, Anish Kapoor...in his own statement:
"The proposed memorial is for an object roughly 6 meters high
by 2.5 meters wide by 1.5 meters deep. It is a block of black
granite into which a vertical chamber is carved of approximately
1 meter by 2.5 meters by 80 centimeters in depth. The inner
chamber is polished to give a mirrored surface. The chamber
reflects light so as to form a column, which hovers, ghost-like,
in the void of the stone. This very physically monolithic
object then appears to create within itself an ephemeral reflection
akin to an eternal flame."
For Further Information see: http://www.britishmemorialgarden.org/design.html
