London Festival of Architecture - architeria.eu

London Festival of Architecture / British Council
20 June - 20 July 2008
London

LONDON SETS THE SCENE FOR A CELEBRATION OF INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECTURE

More than twenty five embassies will throw open their doors to the general public with a spectacular series
of exhibitions, installations, events and major debates as the capital plays host to a unique festival
of international architecture celebrating the city and its built environment this summer.
In partnership with the British Council, the London Festival of Architecture (LFA2008) will present
The Embassies Project to showcase the work of architects and designers in embassies and diplomatic
residencies across London from 20 June to 20 July, 2008.

Exploring the LFA2008 theme Fresh!, The Embassies Project looks at fresh talent and ideas in architectural
thinking from around the world and will celebrate the growing global understanding of the significance
of good design in architecture and urban spaces.
Festival visitors can expect to see the best of architecture from countries around the world including the
changing face of Vancouver, Canada; radical ideas for the future of Brazilian lifestyle; dramatic changes
to the urban fabric of Bogotá, Colombia; innovative solutions to sustainable architecture from Denmark
and Italy and much more.

British Council Design and Architecture Advisor, Catherine Ince, said: ‘It is a tribute to London’s heritage as
a vibrant and diverse global city that it will host one of the largest and most exciting exhibitions of international
architecture the capital has ever seen. As the UK’s international body for cultural relations, we are delighted
to be working with such a large number of embassies to bring a truly international flavour to the festival
this year. It is of immense value to see fresh thinking around some of the big architectural challenges
of today from such a large range of countries in one city’.

LFA2008 Director Peter Murray said: ‘Not only will The Embassies Project offer the public an opportunity to see
some of the world’s most exciting new architecture in one city, but it will also offer access to major embassy
buildings that are often not generally open. The partnership between LFA2008 and the British Council
demonstrates a fresh approach to presenting the work of the best new talent on the international scene’.

Embassies participating in The Embassies Project include: Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia,
Costa Rica, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Georgia, Guatemala, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Korea,
Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Peru, Romania, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Korea and the USA.

For the third time running, the biennial London Festival of Architecture 2008 will be one of the world’s major
celebrations of architecture and the built environment. London’s landscape will be transformed during
the spectacular month-long festival, which will include over 500 events for visitors as well as architecture
professionals. Organised in association with Design for London, a buzz of activity will move across five
London ‘hubs’ over five weekends with exhibitions, architect-designed pavilions, cycle tours, walks, talks,
performances, film screenings, installations, boat trips along the Thames and large scale street animations
each weekend, all focusing on the theme of Fresh!