London Branch Newsletter March - April 2009
Hello All,
It has been a long time since we contacted you and put a newsletter together, but with the onset of the New Year, the winter appearing to thaw out and the days starting to get longer we thought it would be a good idea to get back in touch.
We want to share news with you about things happening around the region that may be of interest, events that are coming up that offer a chance to meet with your colleagues and other interested parties.
Everyone seems to be working harder and for longer hours than ever, if they are managing to keep their jobs, and – let’s not beat around the bush - we know not everyone’s been able to. So we would love to see more of you: make sure you keep in touch, let us know what you’d like your branch to offer, come along to events and/or committee meetings and get involved.
We hope that you find this newsletter of interest and we would like to hear from you about news, events and other items of interest that we can share with regional members. Please contact us at Mail.London@LandscapeInstitute.org
Regional News
The Mayor believes parks and open spaces are key to the capital’s quality of life, and will invest £6 million into improving the quality and safety of London's parks, funded by efficiency savings. Further details here
Events
We had our first monthly pub social on Wednesday 18th February at the Antelope Pub, near Sloane Square (and the New Saatchi Gallery). It was great to catch up with familiar faces and eat some great sausages as well as engage with someone anticipating a career change to Landscape Architecture, who had a chance to quiz us all.
We aim to make this a regular event so please come and join us for an evening social. Join your colleagues to catch up on all the news and gossip, have a few drinks and relax after work – or network if you’re between jobs. No need to book or confirm - come for half an hour, or stay all night. We look forward to seeing you!
Other events coming up include;
Wednesday 01 April - Pub social at The Founders Arms
6:30pm
52 Hopton Street, London SE1 9JH
On the riverside in front of Tate Modern
Free
Nearest Tube stations: Blackfriars, Southwark and London Waterloo
6th May - AGM AND Shared Spaces
An introduction to case studies with Lindsey Whitelaw & Ben Hamilton-Bailie
Provisionally 7:15pm - 9:15pm
The Gallery, 77 Cowcross St., London, EC1M 6EL
FREE
Nearest Tube stations: Farringdon, Barbican, Chancery Lane
Refreshments will be provided
Committee Snapshot
The LI London committee has recently been debating the issues around the LI’s financial difficulties, in particular the attempts to save the Library and archive. We are, of course, more likely to visit the library in person than other branches, and encouraged CMLIs to vote at January’s EGM.
We have adapted the branch’s financial planning for the coming financial year to take account of the downturn, with differential pricing of events depending on professional status when we have to charge. We hope this will be fair to all, as we are particularly keen to maintain and extend the involvement of more of our members in these challenging times.
On the positive side, we have a great team of committed people who continue to volunteer their time and help shape the way that the Landscape Architecture profession is perceived in the capital. Now we have our newsletter too, and we’d like to make things even better in the future, so if you’ve got some ideas and would like to join us, do contact us at Mail.London@LandscapeInstitute.org
Past Event: 2008 London Open House Weekend - Landscape Walks
As part of the 2008 'London Open House' weekend we ran two highly successful guided walks along London's South Bank exploring a fascinating range of historic and recent landscapes to be found between The Royal Festival Hall and Tower Bridge. Both tours were fully booked and covered the diverse themes of 'Pottery, politics, prison and power' and 'Theatre, festivals, beef cubes and bridges'.
Despite a very wet run-through earlier in the week the weather on both days was fine and our volunteer guides did an admirable job despite having to cope with a background accompaniment of police sirens, street buskers, cathedral bells and low flying helicopters although this was relatively peaceful compared with the 2007 walk when we had to compete with the Thames Festival! Our thanks to the many volunteers who helped make the 2008 walks so successful - more landscape walks are planned for the 2009 London Open House on 19th and 20th September so we will be looking for volunteers to act both as guides and helpers.
LI London Open House Guided Walks - September 2008
Extra Curricular
Le Corbusier (1887-1965), widely acclaimed as the most influential architect of the 20th century, was also a celebrated thinker, writer and artist - a multi-faceted ‘renaissance man’. His architecture and radical ideas for reinventing modern living, from private villas to large scale social housing to utopian urban plans, still resonate today.
Further details here
London Fashion Week already has a longstanding reputation for creative exuberance. But today it became clear that the city was gunning for a more grown-up label too: that of the most ethical of the four major fashion capitals.
Further details here
Picasso, the most prolific of twentieth-century artists was as much a cultural cannibal and old-master magpie as he was a radical innovator of form in painting. See him cribbing from the best when compared with examples from the National Gallery's historic collection.
Further details at http://www.timeout.com/london/art/event/128475/picasso-challenging-the-past.html
Westminster is renowned for its outstanding heritage with the largest number of listed buildings and conservation areas of any London Borough. Its townscape is a record London’s growth and history, but it is also a living community that embraces change and innovation.
Further details here
Constuction Industry Council's (CIC) Professional Development Programme is a free five day training course developed by CIC which aims to expand the skills that employers are looking for in their staff.
Further download the pdf flyer here
Edited by Tim Spain and Daniel Rea, contributions by Susan Lowenthal and Jan Anderson