“Architecture and Well-being” – Creative Aging International, Talk 2018

Part of Prelude Talks, an online series celebrating scientific and creative investigation into the determinants of a healthy brain, for Creative Aging International, based in Dublin.

“We need to change the way architecture is framed within society and culture – expanding it beyond something that is functional with the primary purpose of providing shelter – to recognise the profound importance it plays in human existence. To do so, the conversation needs to shift towards the complexity of the lived experience of architecture rather than simply the architects intentions, or the performance of  a building such as whether it represents value for money, efficiency, functionality, sustainability, structural innovation etc – all measurable and important, but when viewed in isolation from human experience they can lose their relevance and potential to make a positive impact upon the world. Because it is when lived, inhabited and occupied that architecture becomes interwoven in our existence, and therefore has a deep impact upon our emotional, psychological, physiological states- to our overarching well-being. Architecture can take us towards the sublime and the ephemeral, and not just through rarefied experience but through ordinary. In order to realise its full potential, it is important to have awareness and ideally comprehend of the expansive and varied ways in which architecture can do so – and to appreciate the active relationship we can have with our environment. Over the next 50 mins or so, I hope to take you on a journey through these ideas…….”

Architecture Masters: Episode 8 For the London Festival of Architecture 2017

ARCHITECTURE MASTERS

A far-ranging interview with Owen Wainhouse, in which I discussed my 15 year (gulp) career at the Royal Academy, reflecting on the changing position of architecture within the institution and in public interest in general. We spoke about Sensing Spaces, about Australia and about what I believe is still an inadequate role that women play in shaping the built environment.

Episode Eight – Kate Goodwin

‘Architecture of the Domestic’ for Make Place, Salford Museum and Art Gallery (2016)

Make Place is a talks programme exploring domestic space and identity at Salford Museum and Art Gallery. Featuring renowned academics and artists from across the UK, the programme will contextualise Mark Devereux Projects represented artist Sophie Lee’s own artistic research into domesticity, which has included visiting the Gvendareyjar islands in Iceland to studying Salford Museum and Art Gallery’s extensive collection of nineteenth-century household objects, furniture, fixtures and fittings.

Kate Goodwin, Head of Architecture, Royal Academy, London, considers how bricks and mortar, coupled with our desire to forge safe domestic environments, influences the way we live; Gill Perry, Professor of Art History, Open University, addresses the sociological and psychological impact the of domestic environment upon our everyday lives; Artist Becky Beasley will discuss her practice and relationship to notions of feminism within the domestic environment; and Edward Hollis, Director of Research, Edinburgh College of Art, will unpick the minor rituals and routines that allow us to constantly remake the home.