If you would like to know more about arc's talks, lectures or debates, please contact Hannah Cooper, Programme Officer, by emailing: hannah@arc-online.co.uk or calling arc on 01482 327675.

February/March 2009: arc 'speed debates'

arc held two evening sessions based around the format of 'speed dating', at which members of the public met with local representatives from such groups as Humberside Police, Friends of the Earth, as well as artists and architects. The format provided a vibrant and interactive setting, and we discussed ideas and perceptions of how architecture and the design of our homes is affected by our concerns for safety and climate change.

1. ‘Safe as Houses: How can architects help us to create safer communities without losing local identity?’
(Held on Thursday 26th February at the Lonsdale Centre)

2. ‘Greener Living: How can the design of our homes help us to deal positively with the effects of climate change?’
(Held on Thursday 5th March at the Freedom centre, Hull)

Our speakers engaged with a range of audience members, from 11 year olds to an 82 year old! Some feedback from our attendees and speakers:

“Tonight I have seen that someone has actually at last built an energy efficient house!”

“I have learnt that householders are embracing greener technology such as rain water recycling because it saves money on the water meter.”

“I have learnt about the power of a community to hold councils responsible for advocating better design of the public realm.”

March 2008: arc 'Debates'

1. ‘Can sustainability be more than just skin deep?'
(Held on 6th March 2008 at the Guildhall in Hull)

'arc believes that our new homes, schools and buildings should create truly sustainable communities for the future.'

Chair Narendra Bajaria (Chair, Peak District National Park Authority) along with speakers Sarah Wigglesworth (Sarah Wigglesworth Architects) and Peter Cartwright (Director, Cartwight Pickard Architects) debated the above question.

2. ‘Can we make design-led regeneration a reality?'
(Held on 13th March 2008 at the Freedom Centre in Hull)

'arc believes that design quality delivers more than just a better looking environment.'

Chair Claire Levy (Trustee, arc) along with speakers Gary Hornsby (Partner, SALT architects) and Richard Wilson (then Urban Design and Conservation Officer, Hull City Council) debated the above question.

3. ‘is the icon more important than the street?'
(Held on 19th March 2008 at the Guildhall in Hull)

'arc believes public realm and the urban environment encourages economic growth as effectively as iconic architecture.'

Chair Graham Roberts (Head of Public Realm, arc) along with speakers Richard Scott (Director, Surface Architects) and Tom Lonsdale (Director, Camlin Lonsdale Landscape Architects) debated the above question.

4. ‘is Hull's past the key to it's future?'
(Held on 27th March 2008 at the Freedom Centre in Hull)

'arc believes that building development within historic frameworks can connect the past and the future.'

Chair Tim Wigglesworth (Hull Forward) along with speakers Irena Bauman (Bauman Lyons Architects) and Michael Gwilliam (Planning Consultant) debated the above question.

 

2006-2007: architect talks

From March 2006 to May 2007, arc hosted a series of architect led evening lectures aimed at engaging the public and built environment professionals in quality architecture and built environment.

Our aim was to invite architects who have worked in the Yorkshire region, therefore making their work more accessible to our audience and saw 12 architects coming to Hull for the arc talks programme.

In June 2007 arc hosted the 12 exhibition - a celebration of the end of the first highly successful year of the arc talks programme and also a celebration of all the wonderful architecture to be seen in the region

Stafford Critchlow - Wilkinson Eyre Architects. May 2007
(Project: Magna, Sheffield Road, Rotherham)

Steven Clarke - Hopkins Architects. April 2007
(Projecct: Broughton Hall, Skipton)

Susan Le Good - Allford Hal Monaghan Morris Architects. March 2007
(Project: Crown Street Buildings, Cloth Hall Street, Leeds)

Ted Cullinan - Edward Cullinan Architects. February 2007
(Project: Fountains Abbey, Fountains, Ripon)

Will Alsop - SMC Alsop. January 2007

John Pringle - Pringle Richards Sharratt Architects. November 2006
(Project: Winter Garden, Surrey Street, Sheffield)

Simon Hudspith - Panter Hudspith Architects. September 2006
(Project: 1-5 Davygate, York)

Patrick Richard - Stanton Williams Architects. September 2006
(Project: Whitby Abbey Visitor Centre, Whitby)

Irena Bauman - Bauman Lyons Architects. August 2006
(Project: Bridlington Promenade, Bridlington)

Niall McLaughlin - Niall McLaughlin Architects. June 2006
(Project: arc, Blanket Row, Hull)

Sarah Wigglesworth - Sarah Wigglesworth Architects. May 2006
(Project: Mossbrook School, Bochum Parkway, Norton, Sheffield)

Peter Clegg - Feilden Clegg Bradley Architects LLP. May 2006
(Project: Yorkshire Sculpture Park, West Bretton, Wakefield)

quotes:

“Patrick Richard reminded me of why I wanted to become an architect”

“I’ve been interested before, but inspired tonight by Simon Hudspith.”

“I thoroughly enjoyed and was inspired by Will Alsop, which I am sure many, if not all of the audience were too.”

 

February/March 2007: artists in conversation: presenting creativity in the public realm

In 2007 arc hosted a series of talks offering the opportunity to hear from professional artists who have been enlivening the public realm in new and innovative ways.

artists in conversation | Nayan Kulkarni and Neville Gabie
(Held in February 2007)

Nayan Kulkarni is an artist with a keen interest in the role of art in transforming the public realm. He works internationally, in a range of media, exploring notions of time, space and perception. He is currently working on new light based public works in Newcastle, Gateshead, Birmingham and Ashford in Kent.

artists in conversation | Richard Wentworth and John Maine
(Held in March 2007)

Since the 1970s Richard Wentworth has emerged as one of the key figures transforming the way we think about what qualifies as art. Wentworth finds his materials in the everyday world of things and thoughts. He quotes "I find cigarette packets folded up under table legs more monumental than a Henry Moore. Five reasons, Firstly the scale. Secondly the fingertip manipulation. Thirdly the modesty of both gesture and material. Fourthly it's absurdity amd fifth, the fact that it works."

artists in conversation | Claire Morgan and Richard Wilson
(Held in April 2007)

Claire Morgan’s work creates powerful sensory experiences for the people who view it. She uses small, seemingly insignificant objects in huge quantities that then become parts of much larger suspended sculptural forms. In 2004 Claire was awarded the Royal British Society of Sculptors Annual Bursary and Roy Noakes Awards. She is currently working on temporary and permanent public commissions and is developing installations to be shown in dedicated gallery spaces both nationally and internationally.

Richard Wilson is one of Britain’s most renowned sculptors. His interventions in architectural space draw heavily for their inspiration from the worlds of engineering and construction. The artist has represented Britain in the Venice Biennale and was nominated for the Turner Prize on two occasions. The installation 20:50, a sea of reflective sump oil permanently installed in the Saatchi Collection, was described as one of the masterpieces of the modern age‚ by the art critic Andrew Graham Dixon in the BBC television series The History of British Art.