Off The Drawing Board Podcast

In this episode we chat with Italian architect Franco Audrito to share his knowledge on practicing aboard and gain an insight into his wealth of professional experience. Franco's practice Studio 65 was formed in 1965 in Turin by architecture and art students disillusioned by the stagnation of post war society urging for radical political and social reform that was expressed in their evocative artworks, manifestos and buildings. Today Studio 65 has offices in Turin, Riyadh and Jeddah with work spanning from Bali to the Middle East. The practice is globally recognised for provoking salient issues and raising important debates through designing playful furniture in close collaboration to their architecture.

At the recent Built Environment Summit in London, we sat down with Andrew Waugh, co-founder of Waugh Thistleton Architects. Waugh Thistleton are eager proponents in making the case for engineered timber as the only realistic, environmentally friendly alternative to energy intensive steel and concrete to tackle our global housing shortage. Their landmark projects include Dalston Works in London, that was when it was built the largest Cross Laminated Timber Building in the world, and the Bushey Cemetery in Hertfordshire which was shortlisted for the 2018 Stirling Prize. Waugh Thistleton helped organise this Built Environment Summit to bring more interconnected and joined up dialogue across the construction industries as we together rise to the challenge of the climate emergency. To get the lowdown on Andrew's anger with mushroom architecture listen on!

We recently attended the Built Environment Summit at the RIBA in Portland Place, London. It was a global conference serving as a call to action, bringing together professionals from across the international built environment sector to address the urgent need to drive changes in behaviour to reduce carbon emissions. In this podcast we discuss sustainable cities with Labour councillor Vincent Stops Chair of the Planning Committee at Hackney Council with 20 years experience in street policy, who has been a key driver in encouraging more innovative housing and timber construction schemes in the borough. We also catch up with Paul Brannen Director of Public Affairs at CEIBois, The European Confederation of the Woodworking Industries and a former Member of the European Parliament, who sat on the Agriculture and Environment committees, to discuss climate conscious construction and the role of timber. To get the lowdown on Vincent's bicycle outrage and Paul's call for a timber revolution listen on!

This week we have the pleasure of welcoming two amazing guests in Alice Grant and Rosa Turner Wood of MatriArch as part of our final event in what has been an amazing week celebrating feminist practice in the built environment. MatriArch currently work between SSoA, after graduating, and practice. Cofounded by Alice and Rosa, campaigning for a more accessible learning and professional environment. They make space for marginalised voices to be heard in architectural discourse. They have recently completed their showcase for International Women's Day, a celebration of incredible student work from across the world.  Access to the brilliant SSoA Feminist library can be found here: https://feministssoa.group.shef.ac.uk/?p=1628 

Last year's Call to Action was an open letter using first hand experiences of Black and Asian students, demonstrating how SSoA had been complicit in systemic racism. In part two, we continue conversation with current students Anu, Aisha and Aayushi, and graduates Aisha, Connie, Jasmin, Emma and Lucie; discussing anti racism in the studio course and the future of the conversation. If you're a student and you want to get involved with the EDI committee, contact our social media so we can give you the details. The Call to Action Letter can be read on the schools feminist library, alongside other incredible pieces of feminist work. https://feministssoa.group.shef.ac.uk/?p=1628 

Last year's Call to Action was an open letter using first hand experiences of Black and Asian students, demonstrating how SSoA had been complicit in systemic racism. In part one of this two-part episode, we speak to Professor Karim Hadjri, head of school at Sheffield to understand the actions taken in response to the letter. We will also be starting the conversation with current students Anu, Aisha and Aayushi, and former students Aisha, Connie, Jasmin, Emma and Lucie to discuss how we can create an anti-racist school of architecture. If you're a student and you want to get involved with the EDI committee, contact our social media so we can give you the details. 

In our second episode we are joined by Dr. Leslie Kern, author of the book 'Feminist City: Claiming Space in a Man-Made World' and Rosa Tully, a sociology student at the University of Sheffield, writing her dissertation on how to make Sheffield a more feminist city. Now more than ever a rethink about how we design our cities is required to make them a safer, more equal place for all. We discussed what makes a feminist city, what is needed to achieve one and if it is possible under capitalism and privatisation of housing and public space?

In our first episode, we will be speaking to Akil Scafe-Smith, one third of Resolve Collective, about what work they do, community engagement during coronavirus, our role as designers, keeping the faith and being locked in the Arts Tower for the rest of his life.