Christmas Do!

This year Studio Weave had its inaugural Christmas (fon)Do! So much cheese…

 

December 21st, 2011

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3 Nations

Studio Weave was invited to join architects from England, Scotland and the Netherlands as part of an event to encourage collaboration between emerging practices across these three nations. Organised by Buro Happold and the Dutch Embassy in London, Maria and Je attended the one-day event jampacked with engaging presentations and debate, and the inspired cohort decided to continue discussion at the pub. It’s always nice to hear about the sorts of projects other architects find themselves involved in and the tales certainly became more interesting as the night went on.

November 28th, 2011

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Drum roll please…

Everybody meet Esme, here enthroned between Maria and Jane (and you can just about see a reflection of Je in his green t-shirt taking the picture). Esme is the newest addition to Studio Weave (since Theodore). She studied architecture at Dundee and Nottingham and in addition to her marvellous design skills, Esme is a writer and regularly contributes to architectural publications.

November 3rd, 2011

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Lights, Camera, Action!

Today we enjoyed the surreal experience of being filmed for French and Germal tv channel ARTE. Here we are pretending to work hard for the cameras.

Lukily there wasn’t too much pressure to be word perfect as we’re going to be dubbed!

May 24th, 2011

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Jane and Theodore

Drum roll please…

Studio Weave are exceedingly proud to introduce two new co-conspiritors: Jane and Theodore.

One of them was knitted by Maria’s talented sister, Halinka.

One of them studied illustration at Central Saint Martin’s and then architecture at King’s College Cambridge.

They both secretly love Beyonce.

Peer closely at your screen and see if can’t tell which is which…

March 5th, 2011

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A Tale of Two Towns

An Opera of Buildings

(part of the ICA‘s Live Weekends Series)

In collaboration with clarinettist and music teacher Kazia Smith, Studio Weave were proud to present, for one night only, a unique Opera of Buildings.

Taking as a starting point our practice design methodologies of making up fairytales, personifying buildings and landscapes, and discovering the important imaginary relationships between buildings in the city, we made building-costumes and in them performed a Building Opera of nursery rhymes as you’ve never heard them before.

Twenty children thought to themselves: “If I were a building, what kind of building would I be?” Results included the Hotel Magnificent, a country house, a princess palace, a turreted stone castle, twin skyscrapers with green roof gardens and many more…

And as if re-inventing yourself as a building isn’t enough for one evening, we then re-learnt old nursery rhymes with new words and performed an opera telling the tale of two towns who discovered each other and became the best friends two towns have ever been.

Thanks to Kazia, the ICA and everyone who took part, it was a strange and wonderful evening!

May 16th, 2010

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Studio in the Woods

This summer Studio Weave will be heading to the Isle of Wight for Studio in the Woods, an outdoor summer workshop aimed at architecture students, practicing architects and anyone with an interest in place, landscape and the direct experience of making and working with materials to hand.

We have teamed up with Tim Lucas, a partner at Price & Myers.

More information and registration here.

March 25th, 2010

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Christmas Chorals

On the 11th December the MUSARC / ASD Choir performed in the beautiful St Bartholomew’s at West Smithfield. More about the concert here. We performed works by Orazio Vecchi, Orlando di Lasso, Gavin Bryars, Anton Bruckner as well as spirituals and traditional carols from the 15th century to the present.

Before and after the concert, the audience played on an amazing Gas Organ, invented by Lou Smith. This consists of glass tubes and propane torches. Sound is generated when the heat from the propane flame causes the air in the tube to heat up and vibrate.

In the middle of the concert Trio Tambourine, a wind trio (whose clarinetist is Maria’s sister) played some Martinon and Milhaud.

December 12th, 2009

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Istanbul

Studio Weave were invited along with David Kohn Architects and 00:/ to travel to Istanbul as part of the Architecture Foundation‘s International Exchange Programme between new young practices here and abroad. This was a very exchangeful experience both between us and the Istanbul practices: Asli Kiyak Ingin, ddrlp, and Tuspa NK as well as between Studio Weave and our neighbours in London. Getting to know 00:/ and the newly YAYA-ded David Kohn better was fascinating, at times quite hilarious, and also uncovered the secret to a great old legend…

Our visit included presenting at Istanbul Technical University, attending the lectures and book launches, visiting our Turkish counterparts’ offices, and of course wondering about and finding treasures such as a road devoted to trophy making!

We also visited Sulukule, a 550-year-old Roma district now mostly demolished. The Guardian ran an article last July on the the area.

Discussions with the Istanbul practices revealed very interesting issues around small practices winning public clients and influencing a city’s developement and also models of collaborative working. Another key topic was the division of academia from practice and the negative (and perhaps occasionally positive? discuss?!) effects this is having on architectural education.

We couldn’t help but be distracted by the many furry little pussycats that make this city their home. They seem much friendlier than our neighbour’s cat!

The programme will continue with the Istanbul practices visiting London next year. Meanwhile, I will leave you with something very special…

November 9th, 2009

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We Have Moved!

Studio Weave have moved to the lovely Hackney Central.
Now we get nice leafy shadows like this on our clock.
Click on “Contact” in the blue box above for our new address.

October 11th, 2009

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The Big Egg Hunt

Remember all those colourful elephants that adorned London’s streets back in 2010? Well, now it’s time for the city to be overrun by oversized eggs for a 40-day, great Big Egg Hunt, organised by Elephant Family and Action for Children. We relished the opportunity to craft one of the 200 eggs, which will form part of this eggcellent adventure! (sorry, couldn’t resist)

The fruits, or egg, of our labour will be revealed in all its glory at a mystery location on 21 February, joining eggs by Chapman Brothers, Nicholas Grimshaw, Bompas & Parr, Ridley Scott and many, many more… Following Easter, all the eggs will be auctioned off to raise money for the two charities.

January 25th, 2012

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2012 Civic Trust Awards

We were delighted to hear that The Longest Bench, Littlehampton has been included on the shortlist of winning projects for the 2012 Civic Trust Awards. The final results will be announced by TV architect George Clarke in Edinburgh on March 2nd.

The Civic Trust Awards celebrate projects that have made an outstanding contribution to the quality and appearance of the built environment and are universally inclusive for all users.

More on the project here.

January 16th, 2012

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The Story of the Kebab is Revealed!

On a cold December morning in Willesden Green, the action-packed history of the kebab was revealed in the form of giant, golden, kebab-shaped window illustrations. Our transformation of new kebab restaurant, Real Charcoal also includes a second golden kebab depicting the ingredients and processes of making the perfect kebab, a window display unit that frames the real rotating doners and houses fresh herbs, Turkish tea sets and a row of the distinctive Turkish double decker tea pots.

The project is part of The Architecture Foundation‘s New Windows on Willesden Green. An Outer London Fund project, NWoWG is being delivered for Brent Council and Design for London by The Architecture Foundation in collaboration with Meanwhile Space and Blue Consulting. The project paired local shop owners with designers to produce an advent calendar of window displays.

More on the project here.

December 16th, 2011

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New Windows on Willesden Green

Studio Weave has been selected to be one of 25 designers involved in animating shop fronts along Willesden High Road in the run up to Christmas – a giant advent calendar if you will. We must admit to not expecting a kebab restaurant as our allocated shop but it’s certainly given us lots of food for thought. The project has a very quick turnaround and all our kebab efforts will be revealed on Friday 16th December!

New Windows on Willesden Green is ‘an initiative funded by GLA’s Outer London Fund that is being delivered for Brent Council and Design for London by the Architecture Foundation in collaboration with Meanwhile Space’.

November 25th, 2011

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St Pancras Church Garden Goes On Site

Wood carvers at City & Guilds have been beavering away all summer crafting the pew-like furniture for our St Pancras Church Garden project and now works have commenced on site to transform this forgotten corner of the City.

We’ve been working on this project for two and a half years now and so are very excited indeed to see it finally emerge into the real world! Watch this space for further news as it develops…

October 31st, 2011

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European Copper in Architecture Awards

Freya’s got a new award, the “Judge’s special prize” in European Copper in Architecture 15. She must’ve been very scared standing next to much, I really mean MUCH, bigger fellow contestants. But then again, she does get around…

October 5th, 2011

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Three Mills Play-space

Studio Weave with Wayward Plants are one of four teams shortlisted for the Architecture Foundation’s Three Mills Play-space Competition. “The competition, which is being organised by The Architecture Foundation on behalf of a collaborative Partnership including the Olympic Park Legacy Company, The Legacy List charity and the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority (who own the land), solicited over 60 submissions of interest from practices and design teams from around the world.”

August 25th, 2011

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Sussex Heritage Trust Awards

Now one year old, The Longest Bench has been Highly Commended in the Sussex Heritage Trust Awards’ Public and Community category. What a great first birthday present! Read the article in the Littlehampton Gazette here.

August 1st, 2011

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Studio in the Woods!

(Well actually studio-on-top-of-a-hill-with-horizontal-rain-and-plentiful-sheep-poo but still wonderful!)

We have just returned from the Isle of Wight where for the second year running we led a team of construction-keen architects, architects-to-be and architect-adjacents in building a timber structure in just 2 days. This year we made The Landscope, a structure infinitely large from the front and infinitely long from the side to allow giants and smaller creatures to communciate eye to eye. Just what every farm needs. See more here.

July 21st, 2011

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Photo by David Barbour

Cast your vote for Condé Nast

The Longest Bench has been shortlisted for a Condé Nast Traveller’s Innovation & Design Award 2011!
The awards celebrate design and innovative thinking that enhances travel and adventure. The Longest Bench is in the Infrastructure category.

Cast your vote here

April 12th, 2011

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