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?The Future of Building? in Birmingham

Subscribe to RSS RSSThursday, 13th May, 2010

Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery is hosting an exciting exhibition on The Future of Building from 4th May to 18th June. Local in its focus, but global in its context, the exhibition has invited contributions from architects, artists and civil engineers in the city. Working in close collaboration with Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, they offer their perspectives on how the built environment can and must evolve in the next 50 years. Over half of the world?s six billion people now live in cities. By 2050, 80% of the world's population will live in cities; the future is urban.

Multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy, Buro Happold, is sponsoring the exhibition, which aims to provide insight into the minds of those who will conceive, engineer and design the future of building. This event forms part of the ongoing Paper Project (www.paperproject.wordpress.com) which seeks to promote public understanding of the engineer?s contribution to a sustainable built environment.

James Thomson from Buro Happold has led the development of the exhibition and comments: ?The nature of the sustainability challenge facing society requires that conceptual thinking be married to pragmatic design and practical implementation. These three strands are embodied by the artist, architect and engineer at this pivotal moment when national public interest in 'sustainability' is at a peak.?

A team of young members from the Institution of Civil Engineers has developed an installation which explores the application of engineering skill to waste materials in producing future buildings. The team's intention was to create the world?s largest newspaper structure.

Anna Cottle, a Fine Art student at Birmingham City University, has created a gritty, surreal video installation looking at the development of Birmingham and its architecture, its historical buildings and how the city will look in the future. Architecture graduates Andy Wolfe, Gavin Traylor, Kumaraguru Muniandy and Chris Bravington showcase work completed as part of the University?s Postgraduate Diploma in Architecture, in which clues from present-day culture and society are used to speculate on what our urban future will be.

Glenn Howells Architects has created an installation which explores the contemporary use of traditional building materials, and investigates how architects and engineers can use low-tech materials, such as timber, to create innovative and beautiful designs.

Bryant Priest Newman Architects explores the balance between technological advancements and lifestyle that will be the key to the future of building, with a focus on adapting and reusing existing building stock to meet the ever-increasing need for sustainable habitation. Alongside their display is related work by Birmingham City University student, Andy Rose.

The Future of Building is open to the public at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery until 18th June.