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“The Festival in 2010 will be a city-wide celebration of architecture in the capital. As London gears up for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games we look at ways that planners, architects and local communities play their part in the development of ‘The Welcoming City’. Everyone is invited to join the Festival community, to develop projects to take part in debates; to investigate ways that London can be made a better place to live, work and play; to explore the city through guided walks and bike rides and to examine change in the capital in a celebratory way.
A wide range of independent events will surround a number of core activities – some focused on high profile weekend events – others taking place throughout the Festival period.
We are already planning major projects for Olympic Year. The LFA2012 will take place from 23 June – 8 July 2012 and will highlight London’s architecture to a global audience just weeks before the start of the Games.
History of the LFA:
19-28 June 2004
The first manifestation of the Festival was in 2004 as the London Architecture Biennale (LAB) with a series of events focused on the Clerkenwell area. Clerkenwell is home to more architects per square metre than any other place in the world and the Biennale was seen as a one off event largely aimed at a local audience.
16-25 June 2006
In 2006 events were held along a route linking Borough, south of the River Thames, with Kings Cross in the north. The public turned out in their thousands and also enjoyed the range of exhibitions, open studios, walks, tours and bicycle rides. The Student Architecture Festival joined in to deliver a series of installations along the route.
20 June – 20 July 2008
It was becoming clear, that the word ‘biennale’ has little resonance with a wider audience and the decision was taken to change the name to the London Festival of Architecture. In 2008 the buzz of activity moved across five key areas or ‘Hubs’, with large-scale public events taking place in a different Hub each weekend. Headline events included lectures by leading international architects David Chipperfield, Daniel Libeskind, Cesar Pelli and Rem Koolhaas.”