…as carved on a table in the Upstairs bistro at the Bluecoat in Liverpool, England.

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson and Lakshmi Mittal, Chairman and CEO of ArcelorMittal, today unveiled the artist and design chosen to create a spectacular new visitor attraction in the Olympic Park [...] The ArcelorMittal Orbit, the largest artistic commission in the world, will harness state-of-the-art engineering and architectural techniques. Constructed with steel provided by ArcelorMittal, the sculpture will consist of a continuous looping lattice of tubular steel and offer unparalleled view of the entire Olympic Park and London’s skyline from a special viewing platform.

Uhm… vaguely resembling Vladimir Tatlin’s monument to the Third International gone completely bonkers, n’est pas?

The Modern Interiors Research Centre Conference
Kingston University, London — Thursday 13 and Friday 14 May 2010

This conference will consider the historical insights that ethno/auto/biographical investigations into the lives of individuals, groups and interiors can offer architectural and design historians; the methodological issues that arise from the use of ethno/auto/biographical sources to explore the history of the interior as a site in which everyday life is experienced and performed; and the ways in which contemporary architects and interior designers draw on personal and collective histories in their practice.

Online booking now open

The object of experience: Networks, Translations, Materiality
Day Workshop at Nottingham Trent University, School of Art and Design
22nd April 2010, 10.00 - 16.30.

DICE Building, Room 015CR

We welcome you to attend the above workshop at Nottingham Trent University, School of Art & Design.  The workshop is to make possible a cross-disciplinary dialogue exploring human/object interactions from the perspectives of Fine Art, Design and the Human Sciences. The aim is to consider different approaches to understanding human-object interactions including for example, relational aesthetics and actor network theory (ANT).

The ways that objects and humans relate to each other can be seen in an especially clear light when they change. There is little new in this statement – moments of change have informed studies in the philosophy of science, the history of art, design and technology. However, this workshop will consider changes in the aesthetic, performative and affective dimensions of experiences with objects from the perspective of art and design practice, which has a particular relationship to change since it is implicated in it at a material level.

So, the presentations and activities in the workshop will explore translations between agents – human and non-human – as well as the ways that human actions on material are implicated in such translations, their unfolding and their interpretation.

The organisers hope that the workshop will bring together academics and practitioners in Design, Fine Art and the Human Sciences.

Speakers will include:

• Peter Wright (SHU)
• John Newling (NTU)
• Joost Van Loon (NTU)

Please contact adb.research@ntu.ac.uk if you would like to attend – more details and a full programme will follow.

Room In The City: A Forum for the Civic Square

April 22-24 2010, Glasgow, Scotland, UK

A gathering of specialists in the field of urban design, town planning and architecture will provide an opportunity to explore issues relating to the urban square as a vital component of a healthy city.

With Glasgow’s principal civic space, George Square, running through the conference as a leitmotiv, but encompassing design initiatives that have been developed internationally, the speakers will address a variety of topics relating to the multitude of diverse roles a civic space can perform in the context of a modern city.

Key speakers: Ken Livingstone, Peter Bishop, Liz Davidson, Jake Desyllas, David Keddie, Angus Farquhar, Peter Heath, Chris Greenwood, Ray McKenzie, David Page, Paul Stallan, Ed Uhlir, Rolf Rolscher, Neil Gillespie.

Sponsored by The Glasgow School of Art and Deloitte

info@roominthecityconference.com

http://www.fosterandpartners.com/Projects/0984/Default.aspx

(photos by Giorgio Granozio)

Fiona Hyslop, Minister for Culture and External Affairs and MSP, has announced the award of specialist contracts for the Stirling Castle Palace Project.

The work is part of a £12 million scheme which will see the royal palace of James V returned to how it may have looked in its mid-16^th century heyday. The contracts involve everything from furniture and fabrics through to joinery, metalwork and stained glass.

The Minister said: “I am delighted to be able to announce the award of the contracts for the furnishings, fittings and decoration of the palace. They form a vital part of the palace project and will help recreate the splendour and luxury of a great Renaissance royal residence. They are also important as a way of supporting and encouraging traditional crafts and skills.”

Peter Buchanan, Stirling Castle Palace Project manager, added: “The Historic Scotland team is looking forward to working with all of the companies involved as they create everything from fine carpets, oak furniture and wall hangings through to ceiling bosses, stained glass and iron firedogs. These will provide the detail and atmosphere for the Renaissance royal palace for when it reopens to visitors in 2011. Much of the work involves the use of high quality traditional skills and techniques, and we are pleased that the project is helping to maintain arts and crafts which have been practised for many centuries.”

The total value of the contracts, which were awarded on the basis of competitive tendering, is £1.55 million.

The contract packages and awards are:

• Applied decoration and paint supply: MacKay Decorators, 1 Riverside. Perth.
• Ceiling Bosses: John Donaldson, Birchwood House, Livingston Village, West Lothian.
• Embroidery: Malcolm Lochhead, Glasgow Caledonian University, Cowcaddens Road, Glasgow.
• Furniture Painting: The Conservation Studio, 27 Duke Street, Edinburgh.
• Joinery, soft furnishings and carpets: Stuart Interiors, Manor House, Kingsbury Episcopi, Martock, Somerset.
• Metalwork: Chris Topp & Co, Moor Lane Industrial Estate, Tholthorpe, York YO61 1SR.
• Stained glass: Cannon-MacInnes, 561 Crow Road, Jordanhill, Glasgow.
• Wooden furniture and upholstered furniture: Arttus Period Interiors, Flaxdrayton Farm, Flaxdrayton, South Petherton, Somerset.

[press release: Historic Scotland]