Article 25’s 10 x 10 Art Auction 2019

On October 20, 2019 By davidemmanuelnoelIn Visual Art & MusicLeave a comment

I’m looking forward to Article 25’s 10 x 10 Art Auction 2019 at the Royal Institute of British Architects. The event supports ongoing work with vulnerable communities around the world. Article 25 is an architecture charity based in London that has worked on more than 90 projects in 34 countries, making it arguably one of the most influential architectural NGOs in the world. It uses design to improve health, livelihood, and resilience to disasters and is driven by Article 25 of the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that everyone has the right to adequate and dignified shelter. The charity’s vision is a world where all communities have access to better housing, safe school buildings and effective clinics and hospitals, and they provide the skills and expertise needed to make this a reality.

The ’10×10 London’ event is the charity’s flagship fundraising event. It is a unique concept, bringing together 100 prominent artists, designers, and architects to create 100 pieces of art, offering 100 unique reflections on the constantly changing landscape of the city. The initiative covers a grid of 100 squares across London’s Isle of Dogs, parts of Greenwich and Poplar, so as not to miss out on the architectural riches on display in these neighboring parts of the city. The Isle of Dogs has a long history of change. It was a major shipping market hub for London acting as a gateway for international shipping both imports and exports for the capital. Today Canary Wharf sits proudly at the center of the same Isle of Dogs location, exporting global financial services, real estate development and associated corporate consulting services. The theme encourages artists and architects to illustrate the rich tapestry of historic landmarks, diverse communities and cultures, and champions of commerce past and present.

The event takes place at the Royal Institute of British Architects, Portland Place 66 Portland Place London, England, W1B INR on Monday, November 18, 2019, from 19:00

For ticket sales, further information on Article 25 or artwork to be auctioned please visit the Article 25 website.

African and Diaporan Voices on African Architecture

On October 8, 2018October 8, 2018 By davidemmanuelnoelIn Visual Art & MusicLeave a comment

During the UK Black History month of October, I’m privileged once again to introduce another guest blog by fellow creative Livingstone Mukusa on his current project celebrating African architects and architecture.

People, locale, environment. These components of a landscape are interrelated, and in the hands of a sensitive practitioner, are approached collectively when considering design intervention. In Sub Saharan Africa, however, this is the exception, rather than the rule.

Colonialism introduced to Sub Saharan Africa new means of construction and building aesthetics. Dominated by industrialized, mass produced materials, this new architectural language spread, permeating rapidly through previously distinct architectural landscapes to creating a region replete with architectural expressions reduced to basic physical attributes that are divorced from their environments, and social meaning of those who inhabit them.

Traditionally, African architecture, much like its art, has always been a verb rather than a noun. It was a language of ritual rather than objectification, a language of climactic response, a language of resource availability.

Patterns, tessellations, fractal designs, and numerous other elements were generally not for the embellishment and decoration that ordinarily meets today’s eye, but carried with them specific meaning and purpose. While the Western tradition of compartmentalized knowledge, combined with the modernist concept of the exploration of each medium in isolation, led to a virtually complete separation of art and architecture. The integration of art or craft and architecture, on the other hand, was and remains an essential part indigenous African cultures— a result of the experience of unity between art and life.

Today, architecture throughout Sub Saharan Africa, and its Diaspora is more of a testament to expressions and materiality borrowed from elsewhere. Occasionally, a nod or two is given to the locality and culture, forms and techniques that speak of the place and the people. Where does this place the idea of an African Architecture? In our attempts to frame, within a modern day context, what African architecture is, how can we bridge the huge chasm of a dichotomy between African architecture of old and new African architectural expressions? What frames African architecture? Should it even be framed?

Sub-Saharan Africa is incredibly diverse in landscape, climate zones, ethnicities, cultures, and economies. And the answers to these questions are as complex, contradictory even, as this diversity. But these are questions worth examining. To this end, I am seeking an assortment of UK and Europe based architects, artists, activists and scholars to lend their thoughts for an upcoming publication.

Interested parties please contact the author.

Livingstone Mukasa, founder of Afritecture, a blog focused on the contextual engagement, and exploration of the African vernacular in modern architecture. He can be reached with Twitter: @livmuk, or email: mukasa@yahoo.com

ICA Hosts The Architects for Social Housing

On August 13, 2017 By davidemmanuelnoelIn Society & Politics, Visual Art & MusicLeave a comment

For colleagues and blog followers in the UK, the Architects for Social Housing (ASH) collective take up residence in London’s ICA Upper Galleries. ASH are exhibiting their designs and work, including a map of London’s existing estate regenerations, at public open days on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 August, and they host informal discussions about different aspects of the housing crisis every evening of the week. As an ongoing presence, the group embodies the application of cultural practice within social activism. Established in 2015, ASH is a working collective of architects, urban designers, engineers, surveyors, planners, filmmakers, photographers, web designers, artists, writers and housing campaigners operating with developing ideas under set principles.

With the dramatic increase in economic disparity across the UK, there is a heightened need to find sustainable solutions to the housing ‘crisis’. ASH’s work responds to a lack of support for social housing and the communities they home. First among the principles they work to is the conviction that increasing the housing capacity on existing council estates, rather than redeveloping them as luxury apartments, is a more sustainable solution to London’s housing needs than the demolition of social housing, enabling the continued existence of the communities they house.

The residency runs from August 15th to 20th. For further info please visit the ICA website.

Creation from Catastrophe – How Architecture Rebuilds Communities

On February 17, 2016February 17, 2016 By davidemmanuelnoelIn Society & Politics1 Comment

This week I had the pleasure of catching up with a friend at the Royal Institute of British Architects and visiting the exhibition entitled ‘Creation From Catastrophe’

The destruction of cities, whether manmade or natural, can present unique opportunities to radically rethink townscapes. The exhibition ‘Creation from Catastrophe – how Architecture rebuilds Communities’ explores the varying and sometimes magical ways that cities and communities have been re-imagined in the aftermath of disasters. It considers the evolving relationship between man, architecture and nature and asks whether we are now facing a paradigm shift in how we live and build in the 21st century.

Starting with the five alternative plans for London created after the Great Fire of 1666, the exhibition takes the audience on a journey through 18th century Lisbon, 19th century Chicago, 20th century Skopje, ending in current day Nepal, Nigeria, Japan, Chile, Pakistan and USA. The show has been running from January 27^th and end on April 24^th. If you are in London during this time it’s worth seeing. For further info please visit the RIBA website

Afritecture: Showing Architecture As the Most Visible Art Form.

On February 22, 2015February 22, 2015 By davidemmanuelnoelIn Visual Art & Music2 Comments

The relationship between art and architecture remains strong. For me, they are the same. Moreover, the value and credit of creative professionals, particularly from the African diaspora is often underplayed, undervalued and misrepresented. The term ‘Western Architecture’ conjures up images ranging from Greek Temples to Post Modern high rises for many. However, African architecture tends to be viewed through a very narrow prism; a stereotypical hut is usually what comes to mind. Moreover, African architecture is rarely observed with reference to antiquity or to exemplary contemporary architecture. Unfortunately some African architecture is seen by some as predominantly non-African influenced and executed by external cultures . For example, Ancient Egyptian architecture despite history and this region’s origins as part of a larger Ethiopian nation of pyramid builders comes to mind. It’s fascinating to see the surprise look on some people’s faces on being informed of other pyramids in Africa. We can explore and debate the way in which history is written as we know there can be bias in its recording. Moving forward, it is very important for me to highlight the efforts of Architect Livingstone Mukasa, currently documenting innovative, functional and sustainable designs emerging across the African continent. Livingstone kindly answered a few questions I posed to him regarding the Afritecture initiative:

Royal Netherlands Emabassy - Addis Ababa — Royal Netherlands Emabassy – Addis Ababa

Why did you start Afritecture.org ?

Afritecture as an idea is quite old. I have always been toying around with the concept of showcasing examples of successful architectural projects that had a strong African vernacular. The website itself was launched in 2009. The term Afritecture, implying Africa in architecture – rather than African architecture, came to mind almost immediately when I decided a web resource would be the best way to house these projects.

How long have you been collating resources of design and master planning projects from the continent?

The cataloging began while an undergraduate in architecture school. I was thinking of ways to impart on my projects certain stylistic elements from my background. I found much of the celebrated work we had to study bland and not representative of the world from which I came from, or the ways many people I knew lived and built their environments. This was 20 years ago and I am still at it.

Africa’s social, political and economic development continues to have a rather distorted image in the media. How far do you feel you can support a more positive and progressive picture of what Africa is really like?

Architecture is the most visible art form. Everywhere you go, you experience it. And over the centuries Africa has contributed immensely to the architectural world, even as recently as the modernist era. It is this recent influence that remains largely unknown, or under reported.

From the late 1800s, thousands of African sculptures began arriving in European museums in the aftermath of exploratory expeditions and colonial plunder. The aesthetics of these traditional sculptures soon became a powerful and well-documented influence among avant-garde artists like Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso. At the time, these artists didn’t understand the meaning and functional nature of these sculptures, but they instantly recognised the spiritual aspect of the composition and quickly adapted these qualities to their own efforts to move beyond the naturalism that had defined Western art since the Renaissance. So art that was previously labeled and regarded as primitive anchored the modern art movement.

This influence soon transcended into architecture. Trailblazing European architects like Le Corbusier, one of the founders of modern architecture, and De Stijl pioneer Theo Van Doesburg used well-organised geometric and cubical forms from African art and West African spacial organisation in much of their notable works giving rise to the International Style – then considered unconventional, unprecedented and innovative.

Yes, [western] media has its preferences when it comes to reporting not only on the continent but also on communities of African descent wherever they may be. But anyone curious about something knows not to seek information from a single source. So it is incumbent on all of us with stories to tell to develop and maintain multiple sources of information that can, collectively, change the prevailing narrative.

For further information please visit Afritecture.org

A Day In the life of an Artist: David Emmanuel Noel

Tag: Architecture