Join the free online talk with Candy Blackham who will explore the green spaces and their history in the two boroughs. She will lead us into corners beyond Greenwich Park and the Heath.
Members will be sent the link to join the meeting.
Meet at 10.30 at the Marylebone Lane exit from Bond Street tube station.
Distance 3 miles ending at Baker Street, we will pass through Regents Park and learn about Edward Gibbon, HG Wells, James Boswell, Elizabeth Browning and visit the church where she was married. Discover how Wilkie Collins was inspired to write “The Woman In White”. We have selected an excellent place for coffee and a variety of venues for lunch. Do join us for a good walk
Tickets £5. Please book your place via the link to Eventbrite.
Meet at 10:00 at Osborn Terrace SE3 9DR j/w Lee Road, close to the Blueberry Café. Bus 202.
We walk to Lewisham, roughly following Lee High Road and the River Quaggy. Length about 2 miles.
There is plenty of interesting history along the way -- you will hear inter alia about an unsuccessful aeronaut, Thatcher's squeeze, Waterloo, the world's worst cricketer, Kate Bush, slavery, Boone's Chapel, Hocum Pokum, WSPU, a fernery, a murder and a church-going horse. Delicious coffee stop at Manor House Gardens.
Tickets £5. To reserve your place please follow the link to Eventbrite.
Meet at 6.45 for a glass of wine in the Crypt of St Margaret’s. Starting at 7pm we will hear from the team that has been involved with this exciting project on the restoration of the beautiful but neglected tombs in the grave yard. Among others we will hear from the Craftsmen and the Conservation Officer for Lewisham as to what has been undertaken and how the works will progress. All welcome.
This is by kind invitation of the Church a free event, but please reserve your place as usual via Eventbrite. Please click the link below.
08 MAY 2025, Thursday
7.00pm for 7.30pm start
Annual Lecture to be held at St Michael’s Church, Pond Road, Blackheath, SE3 9JL
By Simon Bayliss, partner at HTA Design
Join us for our annual lecture as we welcome Simon Bayliss, managing partner at HTA. We will be learning more about the current challenges in achieving good design whilst delivering council housing.
‘HTA Design is a practice of creative designers and innovative thinkers dedicated to making great homes and more sustainable places to live.’
HTA are the architects for the local social housing development in Kidbrooke Park Road for Greenwich Builds/ Greenwich Council as well as Cator Park and many others award winning residential projects, in Barnet, Enfield, Canary Wharf and many other places in the UK.
The Kidbrooke Park Road masterplan, aims to achieve 100% homes for social rent. The regeneration of this local brownfield site, by Thomas Talis secondary school, ‘will create 450 homes, of which 122 will be delivered in the first phase, with public realm and a nursery that caters to both residents and the public. The new homes will be delivered across four new blocks, providing a range of housing typologies and sizes.’ This is Greenwich Council’s biggest social housing development in recent years.
Tickets £15 includes wine, available via Eventbrite. Click on the link below. Students £5 payable on the door.
Thursday, 15th May 12.30
Meet & Eat at The Princess of Wales, Blackheath Village.
Join other members for a chat over a drink and/or lunch. No need to book just come along, we will be pleased to see you.
Meet at the flower stall by Embankment tube Station.
For most members of the Blackheath Society, Charing Cross station is a gateway to central London. But how many are familiar with the fascinating history of the area? Society member Paul Wright will conduct a walk around this fascinating area. Starting with Hungerford Market previously on the site of the station and the location of Dickens’ famous spell in the blacking factory, the walk will continue past the station itself, down St Martin’s Lane to Seven Dials and then return down Charing Cross Road. Hear about property disputes with Kings, the birth of the British film industry, one of the worst rookeries in London, key moments in the history of London theatre and the 84 Charing Cross Road story. Not to mention the site of the first murder to be solved using identikit.
Tickets £5. Please reserve your place via the link below
Thursday, 26th June at 7 for 7.30pm
The Blackheath Society AGM at St Mary’s Halls, Cresswell Park, SE3 9RD. No need to book. All members and prospective members welcome.
Thursday, 10th July, 7 for 7.30pm
Meet at The Bakehouse, Bennett Park, SE3 9RA
Bennett Park in Blackheath was developed in the nineteenth century by a colourful family of noted clockmakers. The street has since been the home of several noteworthy and interesting characters including a pioneer of astrophysics, a saucy postcard artist, a pantomime dame, film makers and musicians. Paul Wright will discuss the history of the street and some of its memorable residents.
Tickets £15 include a glass of wine. Please reserve your place via Evenbrite and click the link below.
Friday, 11th July, time tbc
Visit to ‘Textile House’, Crooms Hill Grove, Greenwich by 31/44 Architects
For members only
In November 2024 the we visited the work-in-progress of this unique new home build on the site of 6 derelict garages. We look forward to returning to see the finished result, whilst learning further about the planning and construction challenges and successes of this new build.
Tickets £10. Please reserve your place via the Eventbrite link below
Tuesday, 22nd July at 12.30
Meet & Eat at The Princess of Wales, Blackheath Village. Join other members for a chat over a drink and/or lunch. No need to book just come along we will be pleased to see you.
Join us to celebrate the open space of the Heath with the traditional flying of kites.
Come fly your kite alongside the enthusiastic Kent Kite Flyers who will bring their splendid big kites. The main arena will be near Talbot Place, more details to follow nearer the date.
Free event to be enjoyed by all.
We will be switching on the Christmas Lights at 4.30pm in Blackheath Village.
Details of the associated celebrations to be announced.
Meet & Eat at The Princess of Wales, Blackheath Village.
Join other members for a chat over a drink and/or lunch. No need to book just come along we will be pleased to see you.
Visit to House for Two Artists by Nick Hill Architects
Meet at 76 Kidbrooke Grove, SE3 0LG for 10am start
Blackheath Society members join us for a visit with architect Nick Hill of an exemplary local refurbishment and upgrade project completed in 2023.
‘Through sympathetic choice of materials and careful detailing, the finished project reinstates a sense of quiet dignity and cohesion throughout the house and creates intrigue by leaving ambiguous what is original, what has been altered, and what is entirely new.
The project is an exemplar of retrofit in a time of climate emergency when views on what is best practice are shifting, and considerations of building conservation, or renewal, are ever more closely measured against their environmental costs.’
Tickets £10. Limited space for members only, please reserve your place through Eventbrite. Click on the link below
Zoom talk to be given by Society Member Jonathan Causer on PG Wodehouse started his literary career writing for the Gaiety Theatre. He knew all about the mésalliances which sprang up between the Gaiety Girls and their admirers the Stage Door Johnnies, to the dismay of the latters' families. Bertie's first task, imposed of course by Aunt Agatha, was to "rescue" Cousin Augustus: naturally he failed, and carried on doing so for another fifty years.
Members will be sent the link to join the meeting.
'Two Temple Place, sitting on the Victoria embankment and commissioned by and built for William Waldorf Astor in the 1890s was both an ornate historical and literary fantasy and a working office. It retains that unusual public-private mode to this day. It is the home of the Bulldog Trust, a social impact charity using Two Temple Place for a key tool in its cultural, community and educational work, making it available for public and private use.'
This remarkable building is a living conservation project, in constant development. Join us for a visit and learn more about Astors’ back story of how they came by their remarkable fortune, the building's rise from the ashes of WWII bombing and its modern history culminating in its current vital charity role.
Our visit starts at 2pm prompt. You can choose to visit the current exhibition before or afterwards: 'Lives Less Ordinary - Working-class Britain re-seen'. this is included in the price of our Tour ticket.
Meet at 2 Temple Place, London WC2R 3BD. Nearest tube is Temple or 15 minute walk through Embankment Gardens from Charing Cross station.
Tickets £10, reserve by clicking the link below
27th Feb 2025, Thursday
7.00pm for a 7.30 start
St Michael’s Church
By Clementine Fletcher-Smith, of Speirs Major Light Architecture
Clementine is a partner at SPEIRS MAJOR, an award-winning international design practice that uses light and darkness to enhance the visual environment. She says:
“Light Architecture is about transformation. The coming together of the solid and the immaterial to create something that transforms perception, atmosphere and subsequently people’s behaviour.”
Clementine will talk with us about two recent projects: the redevelopment of Battersea Power Station and the Macallan Distillery in Scotland.
Tickets £15, includes a drink. Please book via the link to Eventbrite.
‘Murder Most Foul’: The Origins and Evolution of the Detective in Fiction
Join us for a fascinating zoom in which Professor Alan Downie, who for many years taught a detective story course to undergraduates at Goldsmiths, will trace the development of the detective story from its earliest beginnings to its current position as the most popular genre among book buyers in the UK.
In this talk Alan Downie, Emeritus Professor of English, will explain the importance of the detective in the origins and evolution of the detective story from Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, and Dorothy L. Sayers’ Lord Peter Wimsey via ‘hard-boiled’ police men like Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe to more recent police detectives such as Morse and Rebus.
Members will receive notification of how to join the Meeting.
Join Society Members on this winter walk led by Howard Shields. We will meet at the church porch of St Mary’s Ladywell and follow the River Ravensbourne initially. We will then cross Blyth meadows, go via Honor Oak, One Tree Hill and down to Hilly Fields. About 5 miles in total passing great views, an interesting cemetery and good cafes.
We will not be going far from Lewisham and Blackheath, there will be points you can leave the walk before the end, if necessary.
As the title of the walk suggests there are some ups and downs, but a hard surface not mud.
Please reserve you place via the Eventbrite link. Then if we have to make changes due to the weather we can contact you. link.. Donations go to the Blackheath Society.
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/walk-talk-a-winter-walk-brockley-three-peaks-tickets-1134601667129?
Lynne Dixon, Mycenae House member will tell the remarkable story of John Julius Angerstein, his legacy to the nation and the local neighbourhood. How he was an insurance broker, philanthropist and art collector. He lived at Woodlands House, Greenwich and 100 Pall Mall.
Members will be sent the link to join the meeting.
Angerstein Wharf
The talk and broadcast will start at 7.30pm. People joining us online should be able to click the link from Blackheath High School here:
Meeting ID: 382 012 698 43
Passcode: 5Gu7Ef7n
A live talk and zoom to be given by architect Ana Sutherland on architect Teresa Forrest’s embroidery work, with a focus on her pieces depicting street scapes, buildings and landscapes. Unique original designs are worked in intricate and detailed patterns. Her work has been exhibited at the Royal Academy.
‘ I enjoy the freedom of the outline designs and I develop the intricacies as I go along. I watch them grow and develop, similar to working on a painting.’
Teresa Forrest (b. 1933) is an architect who was a local resident for many years. While based in Blackheath Teresa and her husband Jack worked for Sir Frederick Gibberd on Hull College’s Queen’s Gardens building and the Metropolitan Cathedral project in Liverpool. She went on to have a successful architecture practice while Jack remained at Gibberds as a partner. Sadly her their daughter Lucy was a victim of violencee and caused them to move.
Following retirement, Forrest became a prolific embroiderer and exhibited her work at the Royal Academy twice. Her embroidery, heavily influenced by her architectural background, consists largely of street scapes and city scapes. Unique original designs are worked in intricate and detailed patterns to create the effect of different materials, windows, the sky, ironwork, trees, water, light, shadow, etc. The embroidery types used are mainly black work and needlepoint.
Last year Teresa published a fascinating book “Amazing Embroidery” in order to raise funds for the Lucy Forrest Scholarship Fund at Blackheath High School.
Teresa founded the Lucy Forrest Scholarship, a Sixth Form scholarship scheme at Blackheath High School, set up in honour of her daughter Lucy, to support talented students in art or mathematics as Lucy was an aspiring student due to start University when she died. More than 75 students have since benefited from this which allows them to discover their passions and find their future paths.
The School warmly invite you to join us for the talk and refreshments at 7pm on Tuesday 14 January 2025, at Blackheath High Junior School, Wemyss Road SE3 0TF. The talk will start at 7.30 pm.
The event is free of charge, but we welcome donations, which will go towards the Lucy Forrest Scholarship Fund to continue supporting students who share Lucy's passions. You can make your donation through the link here: Lucy Forrest Scholarship Fund
We also have a limited number of Teresa's fascinating book “Amazing Embroidery” available to purchase for a donation of £35 or above. It is a coffee table type of book, of 187 pages of sheer delight.
This meeting will be a online and a live event at Blackheath High School, Juniors. Please register via the Eventbrite link, if you plan to attend in person or via zoom, so that all can receive the link.
Continuing his series of walks on 'Gateways to London' Paul Wright will be leading a walk around London Bridge and Borough High Street. This will cover the history of the bridge itself, London Bridge station and a number of other interesting sites in Southwark, Borough High Street and Guys Hospital.
Please book your place via the link,
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1067337307619?aff=oddtdtcreator
Join us for the traditional Switching on of the Christmas Lights in Blackheath Village there are many festive activities happening in the Village.
This year we will be having one large Christmas tree on Montpelier Green (outside Zero Degrees). What3words location https://w3w.co/soup.caves.jelly
The slip road will be closed for the afternoon, so that we can all gather safely to celebrate together.
The programme of events on Montpelier Green (outside Zero Degrees)
From mid day: The Mean Old Timers Car Show
2.30 Singing from Peter Savison
3.00 Dancing from The Blackheath Morris Men and The Diwali Dancers from the Everest
3.45 Live band, Laurance O ’n’ the Blistered Mirrors
4.15 The children’s choir from St Michael’s & All Angels Church singing carols
4.25 The Count Down Ceremony for Switching On the Lights on the tree with The Chairman of the Blackheath Society, Paul Watts, Father Nicholas from All Saint’s Church and actor Nicholas Day.
4.30 THE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS GO ON
4.31 Celebrate with the live band, Laurence O ‘n’ the Blistered Mirrors
See you on Montpelier Green with a glass of Mulled wine and hot chocolate!
All day many of the Traders in the Village are joining in with the Vintage Trail. Go to Blackheath Creatives for details, where there is Lantern Making and Messages on a Disc to be enjoyed.
3.30 pm Carol Singing with the Children’s Choir of St. Michael’s & All Angels who will then process through the Village to Montpelier Green. You are welcome to join in.
Treowe in Brigade Street have a special choir coming for the evening.
5.00 pm onwards The Crown will host the band Amelia Street
The Princess of Wales pub will serve Mulled Wine and Hot Chocolate!
The Village Traders are enjoying decorating their shop windows this year in a gentle competition. The winner will be announced at the Switch On of the Lights.
COME AND JOIN US!
Postponed until Tuesday, 14th January.
Please see further details under Events for 14th January.
Paul Wright will continue his series of walks around our gateways to London with a walk around London Bridge and Borough High Street. Hear about the Great Fire of Southwark, Keats and his contemporaries at Guys, the Cross Bones burial ground and much more.
Meet at London Bridge Station outside Hamley’s in the shopping arcade at 10.15. Please reserve your place via the link below
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Join other members for a drink or meal and a chat at The Princess of Wales, Blackheath. All welcome, no need to book.
Come along and join the team for our annual Heath Clean Up. Meet at Talbot Place at 2pm. Tbc
Come along and join this very popular event of Kite Flying on the Heath. The Kent Kite Flyers will bring their big kites and be on hand to offer advice for you to fly your own. The children of Grinling Gibbons and Lucas Vale schools will play their steel pans at 2 o’clock. The arena will be close to Talbot Place.
Join Liz and other members for this enjoyable Autumn Walk from Severndroog Castle with its amazing views, through lovely, ancient Oxleas Wood to Eltham Palace. We will partly follow the Green Chain Walk as we go through Eltham North and South Parks, admire the stunning views and ponds to reach Eltham Palace. The walk is a mix of woods and open spaces, meadows and parks. We can discuss the long, interesting history of the area as we walk. It is about 3 to 4 miles and takes about two and half hours. We pass two park cafes, where we can make a stop. It is not a circular walk, as we finish in Eltham, there are spots where you can leave the walk if you are flagging. Eltham Palace is beautiful, now managed by English Heritage and has an excellent cafe and shop.
Meet at 10.15 at The Green Chain post, it is very obvious, over towards the woods on Eltham Common opposite the Red Lion Lane bus stop. The bus stop is directly after the old Police Station at the junction of Shooter’s Hill Road and Well Hall Road (A205), SE18 3RN.
Please reserve your place by clicking the following link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/blackheath-society-autumn-walk-from-severndroog-castle-to-eltham-palace-tickets-998384313357
Donations go to the Blackheath Society.
Directions from Blackheath Village, take 89 bus alighting at The Red Lion Lane bus stop on Shooter's Hill. Cross the road and meet at the tall Green Chain Walk marker on the green Eltham Common opposite. Return journey can be made using buses from Eltham High Street or train from Eltham station.
The Open House website has full details of all events in the local area, www.openhouse.org.uk
The Span Houses, Cator Estate, Blackheath
Architect Ana Sutherland and author of a newly published book 'Modern Buildings in Blackheath and Greenwich' will lead a guided tour of the Cator Estate. Covering Eric Lyons' Span estates and unique modernist homes designed by architects Patrick Gwynne, Peter Moro and Walter Greaves.
Please book a place via openhouse.org.uk
St Margaret’s Church, Lee.
The Church was built in 1839/41 as a white 'Hall-Church'. The 1870s Gothic Revivalism was overseen to a very high standard, by James Brooks and helped by 10 top craftsmen of the day. We also have a WWI Memorial by Violet Pinwill. No need to book.
St Margaret’s Ancient Churchyard, Lee
Paul Wright (presenter of ‘Forgotten Neighbours’) will present an illustrated talk on some of the notable residents of the ancient churchyard of St Margaret’s. We will visit the graves of an Astronomer Royal, an early parachutist who fell to Earth and a disgraced local dignitary and talk about other residents including a Restoration actress, a Royal lutenist and the subject of a celebrated eighteenth century trial.
The walks/talks will take place at the old churchyard opposite St Margaret’s Church, Lee Terrace, London SE13 5DL on Saturday 21st September at 11.00am and 2.00pm and Sunday 22nd September at 11.45 am and 2.00 pm. All are welcome, no need to book.
Join members for a chat, drink and may be lunch at the Princess of Wales pub on Blackheath. All welcome.
THE 8th WONDER OF THE WORLD?
A story of genius and human frailty: politics, ideas, art & engineering.
Join us for an illustrated talk by Professor. Richard Frewer FRIBA, who was close to the project and its construction. He will describe the controversial & painful progress to the realisation of a modern icon.
As a young architect in Arup Associates, with Sir Philip Dowson, Richard Frewer designed a house for the Zunz Family: 2a Drax Avenue, Wimbledon (listed Grade 2).
Sir Jack Zunz was a Director of Ove Arup and Partners and later Chair of ARUP. He was responsible for the engineering design and construction of Jorn Utzon’s Sydney Opera House. Through Richard’s closeness to Zunz and to a number of the key players in the design, he witnessed the unfolding of the drama surrounding the project from the inside.
Richard moved, with his wife, Carolyn, to North Several, Blackheath in 2021. He studied architecture in Cambridge and at the Architectural Association in London. Richard was a partner of Arup Associates from 1977-1991, Chair of Architecture at the University of Bath (1990-2000) and Chair at the University of Hong Kong (2000-2005). He has served internationally on several working groups, judging panels and research forums.
7 for 7.30 pm start at St Michael’s Church Hall, Pond Road, Blackheath, SE3 9JL.
Tickets: £15 includes a drink. Click the following link:
CANCELLED
The Society’s cricket match against the Greenwich Society in Greenwich Park on Saturday August 24 has been cancelled due to burst water pipes under the ground very close to the pitches. Water is bubbling up in the area and the Park authorities have cancelled all remaining cricket games for the rest of the season. We are sorry for the late change and hope to resume our attempt to regain the Golden Elephant prize next year.
Join members as we take a wander through Brockley & Ladywell Cemetery led by Robin Firminger. Originally the cemeteries for Lewisham and Deptford there are many interesting and notable residents. The distinguished Blackheath artist Sir John Gilbert, RA who began his career as an Estate Agent in business next to the Princess of Wales; among his accomplishments he sketched 19th century Lewisham. Others include Margaret McMillan, educational reformer, the tragic Jane Coulson and many surprises.
The cemetery is also well known as a wildlife haven, a delightful place to walk and is good for butterflies at this time of year.
Meet at 10.30 at the War Memorial by the cemetery gates on the junction of Brockley Grove and Ivy Road. Alternatively, meet at 9.50 at the cafe by Ladywell Station, Le Delice and then walk up to the Cemetery with Liz and other members.
The 54 bus goes from Blackheath to Ladywell (the site of the Old Swimming Pool) and then walk up Ladywell Road to Brockley Grove & Ivy Road, or from Lewisham Station the P4 bus, goes past the cemetery.
Please reserve your place through clicking on the link
Join other members for an informal chat, drink and something to eat at the Princess of Wales pub, Blackheath. No need to book, just come
Join other members for a gentle stroll round Blackheath lead by Robin Firminger. The route will include colourful Bennett Park, Blackheath Park, the Ganges Pond statue, Nathanial Hawthorne’s House, the Paragon and finish on Montpelier Row. Robin will have illustrations and stories to tell along the way.
Meet at Blackheath Station ticket office.
Book launch & talk - Modern Buildings in Blackheath and Greenwich 1950-2000
7pm, Thursday 27 June 2024 - St Michaels Church, 1 Pond Road, SE3 9JL
A lively book launch and talk about Span and other extraordinary mid-century buildings in Blackheath and Greenwich. Book tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/book-launch-talk-modern-buildings-in-blackheath-and-greenwich-1950-2000-tickets-913992354737
Join Society member Robert Maurice Williams on a Literary trail from Bond Street, through Marylebone and Regent’s Park to Baker Street. A distance of about 2 miles. We will look at the blue plaques and residences of the well known, including Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Boswell, Conan Doyle, HG Wells ,Wilkie Collins and Edward Gibbon.
Meet at 10.30 at Bond Street tube station, outside the Disney Store on the north side of Oxford Street.
Please book your place via Evenbrite. The link below connects directly with the booking page.
Visit to Bere Architects, 54a Newington Green, N5 2SH
The Muse is an energy-efficient solar family home built as an ongoing project. It is an experimental self-build being Justin Bere's own home and studio, designed to set a standard for future housing with an apparently effortless amalgamation of environmentally responsible solutions with beautiful forms. This began some years before the first Passivhaus was certified in the UK.
Started on site in 2002, when it is eventually completed it will be one of the most holistically ecological buildings in the UK. It was initially designed a few years before Justin discovered the work of the German physicist Wolfgang Feist, and five years before the UK's first Passive House building was certified by the Passive House Institute in Darmstadt. Justin started on site with a building that almost exactly complies with the requirements of Passive House certification (correct wall and roof u-values, design against thermal bridging, triple glazed windows throughout, air-tight construction membranes and the installation of a heat recovery ventilation unit), and with a few technical upgrades would be eligible for certification.
The house is also one of the early examples in the UK of a house covered in bio diverse green roofs with varying soil depths for native ecological habitats which include two wildflower meadows with a thriving bee colony, a hazel coppice and a hawthorn thicket. Located immediately behind a terrace of four Grade 1 Listed heritage houses, the roofs contain a verdant oasis for residents in the neighbouring buildings to watch wildlife and the changing seasons.
A primary objective of this project is to redefine the language of architecture by the development of forms that are directly generated by the acceptance of the ecological imperatives of the 21st century.
Directions: Train to London Bridge, plus a 141 bus to Newington Green . The bus stop is “Newington Green”. Meet at Lizzi’s on the Green Cafe which is directly opposite the Bere offices at 10.30am.
Tickets £10. To book your place please follow the link:
Join David Whittaker and other members who will be looking at the Maidenstone Hill area of Greenwich and the public houses that have disappeared over the years, many without trace. In a very small locality, we have lost a dozen or so, mostly during the 20th century, without any being replaced. We'll see some of the individuals and organisations who used these pubs, their role in the community, the effect of changing licensing laws, how problems arising from alcohol consumption were dealt with, and the influence of the temperance movement and why they ended up closing down.
Meeting at 5pm at The Richard l pub in Royal Hill, Greenwich where they still serve a good pint. David will give a short introduction and then take the group on an interesting walk round the area.
Tickets £5, please reserve your place through Eventbrite. The link will take you directly to the booking page.
Join other members for an informal chat, drink and something to eat at the Princess of Wales pub, Blackheath. No need to book, just come.
Venue: St Michael & All Angels Church, 1 Pond Road, London SE3 9J
‘Never demolish, never remove or replace, always add, transform, and reuse!... Demolishing is a decision of easiness and short term… It is a waste of many things – a waste of energy, a waste of material, and a waste of history. Moreover, it has a very negative social impact. For us, it is an act of violence.’
Lacaton and Vassal when receiving the Pritzker Prize, 2021
The 2023-24 Architecture Group programme of visits is focused on the theme of Re-use and so is our annual lecture. We are absolutely delighted to have Professor Graeme Brooker speaking to us on the subject.
Graeme is the head of Interior Design at the Royal College of Art’s School of Architecture. In 2021 published 50|50 WORDS FOR REUSE – A minifesto, by Canalside Press. This was the fifteenth book Graeme has published on the histories and theories of inside spaces, many of which focus on the reuse of existing artefacts, buildings and cities.
‘50|50 WORDS is a collection of language to describe reuse. Each word is an instrument; a contrivance chosen deliberately in order to activate another 50 associations. Words are like buildings. They reflect cultures and embody continuous change.’
Graeme has written extensively on the interior and in particular the philosophical and theoretical implications of reworking existing spaces and buildings. This includes the subjects of waste and redundancy. Other work includes the exploration of the numerous narratives that underpin the history of the interior and the ambiguity of the subject field and the impact of this condition on the discipline through its research, education, practice and the agents undertaking it.
Graeme has taught in various institutions in America, Europe and Asia, and has been a visiting professor in Antwerp and Milan, and has been an external examiner in over 25 institutions including in Hong Kong, Moscow and Chicago.
Graeme is a provocative and inspiring educator and public speaker. You do not want to miss this lecture!
At 7pm Drinks will be served and copies of the book will be available.
Lecture begins at 7.30 pm
Tickets £15 available from Eventbrite. Click on the link to go directly to the booking page.
Student discount £10 available at the door.
Parking available, obtain a permit on arrival from the Church.
