Private view | Reflecting Wales 09:09 at the Cardiff Design Festival
13/10/2009 Leave a comment
“Whether it’s Only Men Aloud, brass bands or Welsh slate,” chirped Lord Dafydd Elis Thomas as he officially opened the Reflecting Wales 09:09 exhibition; he was in celebration of all things Welsh – and in particular tonight – Welsh design of the built environment by nine selected designers.
Lord Dafydd Elis Thomas chats to exhibition artists.
These nine designers all have a connection to Wales, and have been selected to exhibit their work as part of the Cardiff Design Festival at the Reflecting Wales 09:09 exhibition. Lord Dafydd Elis Thomas, the Presiding Officer for the National Welsh Assembly, praised the designers for more than “throwing a few Welsh slates on” but for designing Welsh buildings that secured a sustainable future for Wales as well as considering tradition, community and democracy in their designs.
The exhibition aims to ‘highlight nine young / emerging architectural designers who exhibit the potential to make a significant impact on design standards in our homes, working environments and the quality of places – cities, towns, villages and rural areas – in the decades to come’.
“No pressure,” quipped one of the organisers – which got a laugh from the vast audience crammed into Cardiff’s Howard Gardens gallery for the private view and opening speeches.
Jury panel member and senior lecturer at the Welsh School of Architecture, Wayne Foster, reinforced that they were looking for architects with a different approach to place-making: “These nine designers challenge the notions of architecture and compliance-driven healthcare and housing buildings. They go beyond that and beyond client satisfying with a self-questioning, critical practice and approach.”
Nightingale Associates architect, Richard Golledge, was one of the nine selected designers. His work focuses upon the place of life and death in healthcare buildings.
Other exhibitors
- Aled Wyn Davies
Craidd, Cardiff - David Chambers, Co-founder and Director
Aberrant Architecture, London - Steve Coombs, Research Associate
DRUw, Cardiff - Matthew Jones, Research Assistant
DRUw, Cardiff - Rhian Thomas, Research Associate
DRUw, Cardiff - Sarah Featherstone, Director
Featherstone Associates, London - Niall Maxwell, Director
Tidal Studio, Cardigan - Chris Owen
Chris Owen Architecture, Prague
Jury panel
- Alan Francis
Design Commission for Wales - Wayne Forster
Welsh School of Architecture - Patrick Hannay
Cardiff School of Art and Design - Mhairi McVicar
Design Circle RSAW South - Andrew Taylor
Patel Taylor Architects - Richard Weston
Welsh School of Architecture
The exhibition held at Howard Gardens Gallery will run from 9 October 2009 to 4 November 2009. The exhibition coincides with a design symposium hosted by the DCfW and WSA to be held on Friday 9 October 2009, at the former National Westminster Bank, Bute Street, Cardiff. The exhibition is supported by the Royal Society of Architects in Wales.
Photography courtesy of Justin Bowry and Jenny Williams.
