London Festival of ARchitecture History - 2013 - A time for architecture

Atlas of the Unbuilt World was the British Council's International programme at LFA2013. Housed in the Bartlett School of Architecture in central London, the exhibition brought together 65 projects from around the globe and encompassed future architecture projects from nearly every continent, displayed in architectural models constructed at various scales and from various materials. All projects were nominated by embassies or cultural institutes in London or architectural professionals from around the world. The exhibition was arranged on a longitude and latitude grid where the models were organised by country from south to north and utilised common construction materials; scaffold pole, debris netting and printed building wrap netting, hinting at the progressive nature of the projects in the exhibition. Through a collaboration with international partners, Atlas of the Unbuilt World offered a glimpse of how the built landscape is taking shape around the globe.

Commissioned by Barbican Art Gallery, Dalston House was created by Argentine artist Leandro Erlich for a vacant lot on Ashwin Street, Hackney. Highly playful and participatory in nature, Dalston House resembled a theatre set, featuring a full-scale façade of a Victorian terraced house. The façade was installed on the ground with a mirrored structure positioned overhead at a 45-degree angle. When visitors climbed on to the horizontal surface, their reflections in the mirror gave the illusion that they were suspended from or scaling the building vertically. Erlich designed and decorated the façade to evoke the houses that previously stood on the block and to question ideas of perception, representation and our experience of seemingly familiar architecture.

For the third year running, RIBA London commissioned a team of students and graduates of architecture to design an installation for Southbank Centre's summer festival. Mentored by an emerging architectural practice and RIBA London, this successful collaboration has given many students the opportunity to gain experience and exposure, delivering a real client-facing project. The 2013 RIBA London Student team - selected from various architecture schools across England - were asked to design and deliver a Pie Shop as part of the Southbank Centre's Festival of Neighbourhood.

This LFA keynote debate presented some of the challenges facing the city and launched the online call for evidence for the Farrell Review. A lively debate covering a lot of ground, the event raised important questions and issues and brought together the industry and public alike to explore these topics. Alongside chair of the event Sir Terry Farell, contributions came from the current Minister for Culture. Mayor's Design Advisory Group, Berkeley Group and British Council.