It's really interesting to see all the work going on in studio this week, especially the cross-unit, extra curricular work. Right now is a great time to get involved with OSA Magazine. We're looking for members in leadership roles next year, so if you're first or second year undergraduate, or first year masters, come along to one of our meetings at 1pm in studios on Fridays, to find out more. SPECS Knitting Session On Thursday, SPECS met to have a session investigating architectural knitting and crochet. SPECS aims to bring together students from different years, specialisms, and design studios to create synergy and new ideas. The tutors were Luisa Pereira Pires from AAD, Emily Walsh from Zo

Weston Williamson and Partners is an architectural firm which is usually associated with large infrastructure projects, but Nick McGough’s lecture focused on their research and development side of the practice. The IF_Lab asks questions of what architecture can be to push the practice further. Their Future Retail Destinations project, for the Crown Estate in partnership with the Architects Journal, looked at the potential of out of town retail parks as shopping moves online. The Crown Estate owns several retail parks, and so are concerned about the future of these spaces. Nick explained that these spaces are about convenience rather than experience, but they now cannot compete with the conve

Alexandros’ Egg Architecture Lecture provided us with a rich overview of the potential of computer assimilated ghost-in-the-(egg)shell EDM-Techno Cyborg AI Architecture. In his presentation, Alexandros gave us an overview of the projects that he has been involved in at ZAHA, such as The Morocco Theatre, and has also given us an insight into the experience of being a part of a team through his AA Athens Visiting School. From the generative phase of a design project all the way to fabrication the human is aided and enhanced by computation. Creating feedback loops between different specializations is key to make these advancements in coordination with each other. Ultimately, Alexandros recommen

This week, OSA are bringing out our call for submissions for our next magazine! The Annual X2 is our second unthemed annual magazine, and will be published in full colour. We will launch at the end of year exhibition, so it's a great opportunity to showcase your academic work. What's On If you fancy a holiday, consider Amsterdam for your easter trip. The Rijksmuseum's Alle Rembrandts exhibition is showing Rembrandt etchings that can only see the light once every decade - and so is not to be missed! Student of the Week This week, our student of the week is Matt Jordan, from Zone 5. The design studio concentrates on VR, and related to that Matt has been photoscanning iconic parts of Oxford, in

Heatherwick studio is a globally recognised, highly creative and experimental, multidisciplinary practice with a wide range of expertise. Today's lecture, the first in the series, presented to us by Rebeca Ramos, project leader at Heatherwick studio, took us through their company and design ethos and how this is implemented within their work through both design and work processes. First up, project inception; finding the idea. She asks “what is the main problem we need to solve?” The example given was the recently completed coal department yard in London, just north of Kings Cross. The idea behind this project was how to create a place where people want to stay for a while. Rebeca then took

6A is a practice best known for its contemporary art galleries, educational buildings, artists’ studios and residential projects, often in sensitive historic environments. During their OxArch talk they covered two of their projects, the coastal house (2017) and a photography studio for Juergen Teller (2016). These projects dealt with two very different settings and for unusual purposes, however a clear methodology was used to design them. The coastal house is set in Devon on a protected landscape. 6A came to this project through the landscape designer Dan Pearson, who had been working on the project for 5 years. During the lecture we explored the landscape using photography, a research techn

It's really starting to get busy in studio this week, with new or developing projects taking off. OxArch's lecture series is well under way in the new term, and we're loving seeing the exhibitions popping up from different undergraduate units. Unit G's Field Trip Exhibition At Unit G's Exhibition, all aspects of their trip to Portugal were catalogued. A video, prepared by Olivia Anderson, was shown, alongside photographs, drawings, and site models. The unit focuses on gentrification, and so that lens framed the work around the site, in Marvilla, Lisbon. Their exhibition launch was a great party, with drinks and refreshments. Unit K's Exhibition Unit K's Work in Progress Exhibition showcases

It's been a great week for OSA this week, and a great start to the term. Ritual is selling fast, from a great launch in collaboration with OxArch last week, so make sure to pick up your copy quickly. Apt Talks We were also invited to visit our sponsor Apt's offices for the first in their new series of talks. Sara Fox, SwissRe's new-building director, the client behind 30 St Mary Axe - or the Gherkin - led the talk. She spoke about her career, how she found her calling, and the uphill struggle that she has had against the gender divide in the construction industry. Focusing on the Gherkin, she mentioned the need to design for use, especially in the most functional of spaces - the toilets. Sar