We all know that when you’re tired of London you’re tired of life, but how many of us only experience London as a daily commute route sprinkled with occasional weekend adventures? Whether you find yourself wondering about what lies on the other side of the river or if on the contrary you pride yourself on an ‘every nook and cranny’ kind of knowledge of the city, we have just the challenge for you: the London Festival of Architecture.

Spanning the whole of June, this year’s edition of the LFA revolves around the theme of Capital, offering an impressive programme bursting with talks, walks, exhibitions and events on everything from the housing crises to modernist architecture and skyscrapers to nature. If you want to have your say in the future of London’s museum, reflect on the city’s past, or get into spaces usually closed to the public, LFA is the place to go. Spoiled for choice and eager to find out more, we talked to Elias Redstone, LFA2014 Programme Manager, Editor in Chief of London Architecture Diary and curator.

Run-Riot: This year, the central theme of the LFA is ‘Capital’, a wide and extremely resonating term, that instantly provokes an abundance of associations. How does the notion resonate through the different programmes that make out the festival? What kind of capital and approaches to capital can we expect to see?

Elias Redstone: For starters, London is a world capital of architecture both for practice and education. Some of the world’s best architects launched their offices in London, from Zaha Hadid and David Chipperfield to Richard Rogers and Norman Foster, and the emerging architecture scene is full of hot names to look out for in the future. At the same time, there are a myriad of excellent architecture schools across the city from the Architectural Association (with alma mater that includes Rem Koolhaas and Daniel Libeskind) to the Bartlett, Royal College of Art and many more. The Festival is a chance for London-based practices and students to emerge from their work and studies and show us what they are made of! There are open studios taking place across the city and student shows to allow people to spot and headhunt the next generation of architectural genius.

The notion of ‘Capital’ is explored in different events in its various manifestations; from London's place as the UK's seat of government and finance, its flows of social and intellectual capital, the politics of regeneration and its impact on the city. A keynote talk by Will Self on 9 June at Kings Place explores the theme of capital in relation to new architecture in the city, and a debate on housing in London on 16 June (“Housing Londoners: Is it just a numbers game?”) looks at the need to provide homes for the growth of London by one million people over the next decade.

The flows of human capital are explored in the international component of the festival programmed by the British Council with Bow Arts Trust. The International Architecture Showcase will see ten architects from Austria, Chile, Denmark, Estonia, Iran, Latvia, Nigeria, South Africa, Taiwan and Uganda come to the UK to be hosted by London practices. Together the architects will explore the influence of émigré architecture on London, with each collaborative team proposing new ideas for Poplar – the home of Ernö Goldfinger’s iconic Balfron Tower where the international practices will be based during their time in London.

Siobhan Davies Dance is presenting a series of exhibitions, talks, workshops and performances called ‘Human-Nature’ looking at natural capital. This will bring together horticulturists, artists, architects and choreographers to create new work that explores the place of nature in the city.

Run-Riot: Some of the LFA’s programmes examine the architectural history, while others look to what’s still to come for the city. How are these temporal considerations, the relationship between the past, the present and the future, incorporated into the festival?

Elias Redstone: The festival is programmed by London’s leading cultural and academic institutions alongside associated projects submitted by architects, designers and artists. Each event and organisation takes a different approach to history and culture. The festival as a whole reflects on the past but is constantly looking to the future, and the role the architecture plays in the life of London. So while the National Trust is organising routemaster tours around London and also a late evening in architect Erno Goldfinger’s modernist Hampstead home, the keynote debate ‘Does London Need More Tall Towers?’ on 2 June looks to the hundreds of towers planned for the city and the impact this will have.

Run-Riot: The LFA is spread across the entirety of London: Poplar, Hampstead, bus trips, expeditions south of the river and events in the very centre of the city all feature. How is the geographic enormity of London, its cultural, social and economic diversity reflected through the festival?

Elias Redstone: The festival was initially set up as a response to the Venice Architecture Biennale. However, where the Venice biennale has little relationship with the city itself, the idea was to embed activities within the very fabric of London, and respond to themes and issues being faced by London.

The institutions that programme the festival, such as the Design Museum, the Royal Academy of Arts and London Transport Museum, represent many different interests and aspects of culture, and therefore embed multiple approaches to architecture and urbanism in the festival. This diversity and spread of the programme – there are well over 150 activities taking place across the city – means that there is something for everyone with an interest in the built environment, from architecture enthusiasts to families and teenagers. 

Run-Riot: Ahead of its transformation plans and as part of the LFA, the Museum of London is opening House of Muses, a temporary structure that invites the visitors to share their thoughts on the future of their city’s heritage institution. What kind of impact will we be able to make?

Elias Redstone: The House of Muses pavilion will be the site of a lively and interactive public debate about the future development plans for the Museum of London. It will play host to a number of key consultation events programmed by the Museum, as well as also welcoming more informal drop-in opportunities for leaving feedback throughout the course of the summer. Visitors will have opportunities to feed into the brief for the future of the Museum and also take part in curated events, such as a workshop curated by the School of Life considering the psychology and production of public space on the evening of 23 June.

Run-Riot: V&A is taking part in the festival by inviting architects, artists and designers to re-contextualise the exhibits in relation to the role of public citizen. Can you tell us more about this concept? Do you think Londoners feel a responsibility for and a connection to the public space, its creation and changes?  

Elias Redstone: The V&A is programming a special Friday Late for the London Festival of Architecture on 27 June called ‘It’s All Yours’. The curators are inviting the public to come to the V&A and consider that the objects on display belong to the public. The evening will feature a series of installations that will re-animate the V&A’s collection around this idea of publicness, creating new contexts and relationships between objects, and highlighting our roles as public citizens. Londoners love to have an opinion about their city, but are very rarely directly challenged to think about their obligations, opportunities and limitations as a citizen of this capital.

Run-Riot: Human-Nature, a project revolving around the relationships of people and plants, developed in collaboration with Siobhan Davies Dance, is also in this year’s programme. How do you see the relationship between nature and architecture in an urban setting?

Elias Redstone: I think there is a resurgence of interest in nature in the city. As we become an increasingly urban society and London becomes more densely populated, space for plants and wildlife is all the more important. Siobhan Davies Dance’s programme is timely. As well as looking at small scale interventions and guerrilla gardens, there will be the first presentation of the Garden Bridge by Thomas Heatherwick and Dan Pearson.

Run-Riot: With so much to see and experience at the LFA where do you suggest our readers start? What do you recommend for the history-inclined? How about those interested in getting directly involved with the public spaces or the budding architects?  

Elias Redstone: The best place to start is to look at the London Festival of Architecture website and the listings on the London Architecture Diary. The events are separated into categories: exhibitions and installations, talks and debates, tours, open studios, family activities, architecture evenings and student shows to help guide people to activities that they would like to attend.

The festival is the time of year when architects’ open their doors to the public, and the RIBA London is organising a trail of Open Studios throughout Shoreditch and Clerkenwell on 5 June. For the history-inclined, a visit to the Museum of Docklands exhibition Bridge, is a must. This free, major visual arts exhibition will explore how bridges old and new shape our image of London. It opens on 27 June. 

London Festival of Architecture

1-30 June