2021 Mid-Year Review

Despite new variants of Covid-19 I sense we are mostly feeling optimistic about returning to some levels of normality. With this in mind we are planning a (late) Summer Party at ‘Upstairs' in the Department Store on Monday 27th September.

Our membership remains stable with 331 members:
Female : Architects: 51, Non Architects: 31,
Male : Architects: 151, Non Architects: 78

As ever, the Committee welcomes a diverse range of nominations for potential new members who wish to actively engage with the Club. Nominations can be sent to either myself and/or Rowena - office@architectureclub.co.uk. The Club's remit is for a 50/50 balance of architects and non-architects.

Nominations are reviewed at the quarterly Committee Meetings, the next meeting is - Monday, 6 September.


The first half of this year has seen us host four very different on-line events;

At the beginning of the year over three successive weeks, master cameraman Paul Mottram taught us the art and technicalities of making our own mobile phone videos (log into the website to view). Dispelling the 'point and shoot first, then make it into a video later’ myth by emphasising that it's all about the story, how it's edited and then take the pictures to fit.
Think of making a video as radio with pictures. Plus the reminder to shoot in landscape!

Club member, Celeste Bolte has inspired our current ongoing blog - 'Local notes : Stories of our Neighbourhood’.
We've spent so much of the last eighteen months within a small area, here members are sharing what they have discovered and love within their locale.

This year’s Spring Forum - Gentle Radicalism, was curated and organised by Committee member Sarah Featherstone. The session was thought-provoking and informative illustrating how villages can, and are growing, into viable communities. The event was Chaired by Prof. Flora Samuel with speakers: Robbie Kerr, ADAM Architecture; Rob Hopkins, Transition Towns; Petra Marko, VeloCity; and Ben Rawlence, Black Mountains College.

All our events and blogs are on The Architecture Club website, if you only have time to look at one, do visit the blog entry to view the gallery of works members produced from an evening with Narinder Sagoo of 'Guided Sketching’. Narinder is a Senior Partner at Foster + Partners where he leads the Design Communications Team. Narinder explored with the attendees different aspects of freehand sketching, from loosening up scribbles, to portraits, landscapes and finally works from memory.

Thanks to all of our Club members who have proposed, co-ordinated or led events for us so far this year. If you have an event that you would like to see on the Club’s calendar then do send in your suggestions.

Looking ahead, we are planning a number of events for the autumn which we hope will be be in real life. However we do have one more online event planned with Foster + Partners.
Club members Katy Harris and Spencer de Grey will be bringing us a very special virtual tour of Narbo, Musee de la Romanite. This is scheduled for Monday, 4 October.

Thanks, as ever to Rowena, for holding everything together, Kim for keeping the finances in order, and the Committee for their ideas and the generosity of their time.

Finally thank you all for your continuing support.

Looking forward, fingers crossed, to seeing you in September!

With best wishes,
Lynne