Royal Institute of British Architects

16:46 2012, Ancient Egyptian, Ancient Greek, City of London, London 2012, Open House day, RIBA, Royal Institute of British Architects No Comments

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) building is the centre for professional body architects in the UK. The Royal Institute of British Architects headquarters were 1930s Grade II* listed building designed by architect George Grey Wornum, at 66 Portland Place. The building itself is beautiful Artdeco architecture with touches of Ancient Greek and Egyptian architecture. The Building has two Egyptian style columns from each side of the entrance with statues and engraved writing. The construction is mainly out of stone and glass. It has 3 conference halls as well as halls for exhibitions. During the Open House Day it was on show and had a free pass to see both exhibitions that were on: DESIGN STORIES and 5 BY FIVE. Design Stories exhibition is about the Olympics venues and the 5 By Five that is about the process of designing buildings.

Click Here to go back to the Open House day page.

If you are interested in attending architectural events we would recommend to got to our EVENTS page and check out what is on. 

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30 St Mary Axe

16:59 2012, Arup, City, City of London, Financial district, Foster and Partners., London, London 2012, Open House day, The Gherkin No Comments

The main highlight of the 2012 Open House was the 30 St Mary Axe (The Gherkin) which was closed for a couple of years and was reopened this year. The building is 180m (591ft) tall and is in the centre of the financial district of London called the City. The construction started in 2001, was completed in December 2003 and was opened in the end of spring of the year of 2004. It was designed by the Foster and Partners Architects and was constructed by ARUP. The building has become an iconic symbol of London and is one of the city's most widely recognised examples of modern architecture. The Gherkin was the biggest attraction of the Open House day of 2012, to get in you had to wait for 7 hours or more in the queue. It is also the 8th tallest building in the UK and 48th tallest in Europe. 

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Thomas Heatherwick's Bleigiessen

12:38 Architecture, glass spheres, Heatherwick Studios, London 2012, Modernism, Open House day, Thomas Heatherwick No Comments

Thomas Heatherwick's Bleigiessen

The Bleigiessen is a 30m tall sculpture designed and made by the Heatherwick Studio in 2006. The sculpture itself is now situated in the Wellcome Trust building and is only open to public on the last Friday of every month and on Open House days. It is made out of 150,000 glass spheres and is suspended on 27,000 high tensile steel wires. It is one of the most spectacular works of the Heatherwick studios and it also won the Lovells Art and Work award. The tour to the Wellcome Trust also includes an explanation of how the new Wellcome Trust building was built by the Hopkins Architects. 

Public tours

The Wellcome Trust runs public tours of 'Bleigiessen' on the last Friday of every month at 14.00. These tours are bookable, and anyone who is interested should contact Elayne Hodgson: e.hodgson@wellcome.ac.uk. In addition, tours can be arranged for groups, which will run at mutually convenient times.


Click Here to learn more on Thomas Heatherwick and his Studio.

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Open House day - London

18:21 Ancient Egyptian, Ancient Greek Architecture, Architecture, Classical Architecture, London, London 2012, Modernism, Open House day, Roman Architecture No Comments

The Open House weekend is on every year for a weekend. This weekend is when nearly all the buildings  are open to the public. The Open House weekend is held in cities such as New York, Dublin, Galway, Barcelona, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Click here to get more information on this beautiful sculpture designed and made by Thomas Heatherwick and his studio.

The well known RIBA the Royal Institute of British Architects building was also on show on the weekend and had a free pass to see both exhibitions that were on: DESIGN STORIES and 5 BY FIVE. Learn More...

The highlight of the 2012 Open House was the Gherkin which was closed for a couple of years and was reopened this year. Click here to find out more...

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