SCHOOL/
WORK
Architectural Conversations between Pedagogy and Practice
INTRODUCTION
The Cass, London Metropolitan University presents School/Work: Architectural Conversations between Pedagogy and Practice, a new exhibition that focuses on the relationship between the theoretical world of university and the applied world of practice and making in architecture.
“Each generation of architects is aware of their predecessors; at the Cass the interaction between the generations invigorates both the established architect’s work and the learning journey of the up-and-coming architects. The collection of selected works in this show will reveal this dialogue between tutors and students, demonstrating how highly these successful practices value their
teaching.”
teaching.”
EXHIBITION SPACE
THE EXHIBITION
The exhibition features the work of five award-winning architects who teach at the school Assemble, Caruso St John, Cottrell + Vermeulen Architecture, Feilden Fowles Architect and Takero Shimazaki Architects. School/Work presents architectural models, drawings, photography and archival material exploring how studio culture meets academia.
The Cass is known for its “grounded-in-reality” attitude to teaching architecture, which is a direct influence of the many architects tutoring at the school. Each of the exhibiting practices leads an undergraduate studio or postgraduate unit, with their skills as professional architects translating into the diverse teaching and research approaches that contribute to The Cass’s unique character.
The Cass is known for its “grounded-in-reality” attitude to teaching architecture, which is a direct influence of the many architects tutoring at the school. Each of the exhibiting practices leads an undergraduate studio or postgraduate unit, with their skills as professional architects translating into the diverse teaching and research approaches that contribute to The Cass’s unique character.
As part of the curatorial process, the architects were asked four questions about their attitudes towards teaching, life in practise and experiences at the school. These interviews will be shown alongside their own professional work in order to convey the exchanges between pedagogy and practice.
EXHIBITORS
Assemble:
A collective based in London who work across the fields of art, architecture anddesign. They began working together in 2010 and are comprised of 18 members. Assemble’sworking practice seeks to address the typical disconnection between the public and the process bywhich places are made. Assemble champion a working practice that is interdependent and
collaborative, seeking to actively involve the public as both participant and collaborator in the on-going realisation of the work.
Caruso St John:
Established in 1990 by Adam Caruso and Peter St John, and have since gained aninternational reputation for excellence in designing contemporary projects in the public realm. Thepractice gained an international reputation for the New Art Gallery in Walsall which opened to widepublic acclaim in 2000. Many cultural sector commissions have followed, including the MillbankProject for Tate Britain and the practice was awarded the RIBA Stirling Prize for the Newport StreetGallery in 2016. The practice is consciously international in its outlook, with approximately 25people working from an open studio in a 1930s factory in east London that the practice convertedfor their use. In 2010 a second office was opened in Zurich.
Cottrell & Vermeulen Architecture:
An award winning RIBA Chartered Practice with more than twodecades of design experience. Their portfolio includes the design of educational facilities,community centres, residential schemes and projects for museums, churches and galleries andtheir expertise encompasses refurbishments, new build projects, landscape design andmasterplanning. Cottrell & Vermeulen Architecture’s work is characterised by an extensivecollaboration process through workshops and consultations with both clients and users and thepractice maintains a particular interest in sustainable design, with the improvement of building’s
environmental performance always at the forefront of their developments.
Takero Shimazaki Architects:
An architectural atelier focused on producing work ofenduring tactile quality. Its methodology deeply engages with the character and materiality of eachproject, taking into account the existing built fabric, its details, city, landscape as well as the storiesand the narratives of the client and the inhabitants. t-sa believes in working with what alreadyexists on site in the most economical means, delivering enriched and renewed built-life to eachproject. The notion of renewal is researched and investigated within the practice and throughteaching at t-sa forum, the practice’s independently run research school. From refurbishment of spaces to new build projects, t-sa seeks for the core essence of each architectural challengeand aims to create timeless architecture with clarity and sensitive subtleties. It is helping toconstruct the future heritage of our built environment and landscapes.
Feilden Fowles Architects:
Feilden Fowles is an award-winning, London-based architecture studio, founded in 2009 by FergusFeilden and Edmund Fowles who recognised their complementary talents through early studentcollaborations while studying at the University of Cambridge. The practice now delivers a range ofbuildings across the UK and was recently named Young Architect of the Year 2016, recognisingtheir expertise and innovation in design across sectors including education, culture, arts,masterplanning and heritage. Their approach is both academic and hands-on and buildingsemerge from a clear concept and legible diagram, which in turn informs and drives the detaileddesign process. Projects are underpinned by a strategy of longevity over short-termism, throughthe use of robust yet adaptable structures. The practice’s ambition is to make fine buildings withintegrity that are both tectonic in their expression and above all socially and environmentallyresponsible.
The featured projects in School/Work are:
Granby Winter Garden, Liverpool, England, 2016 by Assemble
Veemgebouw Strijp S, Eindhoven, Netherlands, 2007- on going, by Caruso St John
Broadway Academy by Cottrell and Vermeulen
Feilden Fowles Studio, London, England, 2016 by Feilden Fowles Architects
Curzon Bloomsbury Cinema, London, England, by Takero Shimazaki Architects
The exhibition is curated by Rita Adamo, a former architecture student at The Cass.