Free lecture: host cities and Olympic games

(Left) Olympic Memorial Tower, Metropolitan Komazawa Olympic Park at Setagaya, Japan. Photo by jumbo185usa from www.flickr.com. Used under a Creative Commons License.

(Right) The Arcelor Mittal Orbit. Photo by Andy Wilkes from www.flickr.com. Used under a Creative Commons License.


Not the winning but the taking part: what do the host city experiences of London and Tokyo signal for the future of the Olympic Games?



Date: 15th June 2012

Time: From 6:30 pm


Venue: JETRO London, Mid City Place, 71 High Holborn, London


As London readies itself to host the 2012 Olympic Games amidst extensive discussion of what the legacy of the event will be, there is also a great deal of interest in similar topics in Tokyo as it prepares its bid to host the Games in 2020. The Tokyo 1964 Olympic Games were a key part of the development of Japan in the context of its post-war recovery and had an important role in how the city came to be as it is today.


This historical story will be addressed by Prof Yasushi Aoyama, Professor at the Graduate School of Governance Studies of Meiji University, Tokyo, and former Vice-Governor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Prof Aoyama will also provide a Japanese perspective on the London 2012 Games as part of considering what the role of the Olympic Games can and should be in the future, considering the Olympic movement’s interaction with problems facing cities around the world.


His presentation will be responded to by Prof John Gold of Oxford Brookes University, who is the co-author of Olympic Cities City Agendas, Planning, and the World’s Games, 1896 to 2016 and an international authority on the history of urban festivals. Therefore this event will provide an intriguing range of perspectives on the impact of the Olympic Games in terms of politics, development and how cities evolve over time, whilst looking forward to see what positive role the Games can play in the future.


This event is free but booking is essential. To reserve a place, please contact event@jpf.org.uk with your name, details and those of any guests before Wednesday 13th June.


The Japan Foundation, Russell Square House, 10-12 Russell Square, London, WC1B 5EH

BCIS

In June you may notice some changes to the BCIS (Building Cost Information Service) resource, as they have been working on some improvements for functionality, navigation and an enhanced look and feel to the online services.

The new platform will now work with a greater variety of of web browsers such as Explorer (version 7 onwards), Google Chrome, Firefox and Safari however the new platform will no longer work with Explorer 6 - so you will need to update your browsers if you are using 6.

BCIS can be accessed via Library Search.

Summer vacation loans

Photo credit http://www.flickr.com/photos/klearchos/

Summer vacation loans


From Saturday 9 June 2012 3 week loans and 1 week loans will be issued over the vacation period to be returned during the week beginning Monday 24 September 2012.

To ensure we have a wide range of books available for all students before the start of the vacation loans, from Friday 25 May until Friday 8 June 3 week loans will be issued to a fixed date of Friday 15 June 2012.

Please carefully check the due date of your loan items either on your record, your self-service receipt or on the date label.

Accessing digital editions of AJ

You can access digital editions of the Architect's Journal (AJ) via the Construction Information Service which is available via Library Search:

Within the Construction Information Service, once you have selected University of Westminster from the drop down list and then select Construction Information Service (view product).  On the next screen you will need to scroll down till you see the Technical Resources heading and Access Industry Journals:

Click on the heading Architects Journal, you will then be logged into the AJ's website:

Click on 'This week's magazine Digital edition to view it online:

                                          Photo credit: Jef Safi (Flickr)
As the first floor of the library will be refurbished as part of the building project during the summer, the library will have reduced opening hours.


Friday the 25th May will be the last late night till 7pm, thereafter we will be open Mon-Friday 9-5 – reopening with usual hours (24/7) on Monday 24th September.

We will be closed for Bank Holidays on:
Monday 4th June
Tuesday 5th June
Monday 27th August

Building works are due to start from the 1st June, a temporary library counter will be available in the North Area for most of the summer – whilst the new counter is relocated at podium level.

You can arrange for your books to be sent to Cavendish Library by reserving them and choosing Cavendish as collection location in Library Search.

All print journals will be unavailable during this time, however you will be able to access journals at the RIBA library on Portland Place and at other libraries using a Sconul Access card - please contact me to find out more.

The refurbished library will be fully available from Monday 24th September.

Broaden your horizons

Cedric Price

Photo: Anil Bawa-Cavia (joanofarctan) on Flickr a-nc

Cedric Price: Think the Unthinkable

Open daily, 10am-7pm until 2nd March

Bartlett School of Architecture, Wates House, 22 Gordon Street London WC1H 0QB

Exhibition website: http://ads.org.uk/ms/access/cedric/index.html

Cedric Price (1934-2003) was an architect who built almost nothing, yet his theories, his teaching, and above all his visions of an alternative society enabled by transient communications technology, have shaped the development of architecture since the 1960s. This exhibition presents Cedric Price’s two most influential schemes of the 1960s. The first is the Fun Palace, a project proposed by Price and radical theatre-director Joan Littlewood as an alternative to the civic theatres, cinemas and recreation centres of the 1950s and 1960s.

The second is Price’s Potteries Thinkbelt, a project which challenged the thinking behind the New Universities which were being built to increase access to higher education in the 1960s. This exhibition puts each of the projects in its historical context, and explains them in Price’s own words and those of his contemporaries.

The exhibition features a series of steel models of the Thinkbelt scheme, as well as film of Price discussing his architecture, and illustrations from his archive in Canada.

The exhibition is curated by Barnabas Calder, University of Strathclyde Department of Architecture, designed by NORD Architects, with graphic design by Graphical House. The exhibition was produced by Architecture + Design Scotland and brought to London by the Bartlett School of Architecture.