Peter St John's London Met Unit will investigate the theme of Second Life. The term comes from the artist and social activist Theaster Gates, who states that almost everything can be reused. This is evident in his work which has involved collating discarded objects and materials, as well as salvaging and refurbishing whole buildings.
Students will look at the question of how to renew buildings; how construction can be less energy-demanding and creating systems where buildings are indivisible components in a regenerating ecological system.
The unit will visit forests and quarries in Europe to understand more about the source and flow of natural resources through the economy. The main project will be the design of a timber building for a Housing Collective in South London.
The course will be taught by Peter St John, Fabienne Sommer, Ben Speltz and James Hand.
Photo © Saunders Seasonings
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What is the interest in being together in the centre of the city today, of social interaction, performance and display?
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Peter St John will be the keynote speaker at the annual Solemn Opening Ceremony of the Order of Architects in Belgium. He will discuss Caruso St John’s work on transforming existing buildings in Europe.
In this lecture, Adam Caruso will ask whether architecture has the capacity to attend to wider forms of value, less obvious than financial ones, but with longer and more complex histories. Can an architectural project recall the social histories of a site, can it transform existing material and energy into something surprising and relevant. Can architecture once again provide a bridge between the physical and cultural qualities of contemporary society.
Peter St John will be the keynote speaker at THFxDenkmalwerkstatt conference on the conservation management of Tempelhof Airport and will present examples of good practice in working with heritage and existing buildings.
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Lecture
All Buildings Are Beautiful
Museum of Contemporary Art in Warsaw
Warsaw, Poland
5th January 2025
Adam Caruso will give a lecture on the practice's recent work with existing buildings, and how the contemporary necessity for architecture to embrace circularity requires that we find new kinds of beauty in the world around us.