Tag Archives: Humanitarian Architecture

Building With Water With Leon Radeljic & Leif Hinrichson

Our final speakers were from Berlin. But they were presenting at Building With Water because of the consequences of what is happening upriver from other massive highland river damming projects, this time on the Turkish and Kurdistani Iraq border. Leon Radeljic from ZRS Architects/Engineers and Leif Hinrichson from the Jiyan Foundation, shared their story of a remarkable project, theChamchamal Healing Garden for Victims of Torture and War Trauma, in the city of Chamchamal, Northern (Kurdistani) Iraq. The project includes buildings using traditional rammed earth techniques, once popular, now perceived to be old fashioned, amidst a well-cultivated garden and animal sanctuary. The garden, and other aspects of the project are only possible because of the integration of a decentralised water purification system, which ensures water for the garden’s plants to grow and be cultivated. This in the context of Iraq facing water starvation, drought and worse because of the Turkish Government’s control of the dam’s in the upland border region of the two ancient rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates. Once again the naked powerplay of politics was uncovered and visible, though with the Chamchamal Healing Garden an inspirational counter-example had been placed in front of the audience, graphically proposing the reach of the possible and a sign of hope in the future

As the symposium’s closing speakers ended the afternoon we had travelled from the low lying delta of Bangladesh, through the pragmatic concerns of sanitation, the technological adaptation of floating architecture, and the symbolic loss of water world’s embodied in performance art, to the highlands and uplands of Iceland and the Middle East, all connected to each other by the flow motion world of Planet Water.

Collaborative Kaleidoscope Sept 29th – Nov 3rd

This autumn Making Lewes presents Collaborative Kaleidoscope, a series of events celebrating the richness and diversity of local, national and global makers. Fridays 29th September – 3rd November

Launch event – Cooked, Baked and Fired Again

Friday September 29th 18.30 prompt at Fitzroy House, Lewes BN7 2AD

Sit-down vegetarian supper and showcase of ceramics by invited East Sussex potters.

Talks by ceramicists – Anne Mette Hjortshoj from Bornholm, Denmark and Tanya Gomez from Lewes.

Tickets £22.50 (includes vegetarian mezze supper, cake and a complimentary drink) Pay bar available. Book online through eventbrite.co.uk search makinglewes. Or click the link.

Ceramics showcase open to the general public Saturday, September 30th, 11–16.00. All items for sale

Collaborative Kaleidoscope continues with talks and workshops. All talks are free though with a £5 suggested donation (to support continuing Making Lewes programming)

Nabeel Hamdi – development & social architecture

20.00, Friday October 6 at Fitzroy House BN7 2AD

Duncan Baker-Brown (Lewes) – materials re-use and circular economy

20.00, Friday October 13 at Fitzroy House BN7 2AD

Fred Baier + Anna Bera – furniture making and wood design

19.00, Friday October 20 at Studio Hardie Lewes BN7 2PE

Wonky Toys and Wild Children children’s and family workshop

15.30 – 17.30, Friday October 20 at the Linklater Pavilion Lewes BN7 2FG

Emily Charkin, Wilderness Wood – Learning through building

20.00, Friday October 27 at Fitzroy House BN7 2AD

Hans Johannson, (Iceland) – stringed instrument and violin maker

20.00, Friday November 3 at Fitzroy House BN7 2AD


Speakers and event info in more depth

September 29th – Anne Mette and Tanya Gomez

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Anne Mette Hjortshøj is one of Bornholm’s leading potters, the Danish Baltic Sea island with a worldwide ceramics and craft culture reputation.

Tanya Gomez  – Over the last ten years Gomez has been developing a dedicated following for her ceramic work, gaining recognition nationally and was a recent recipient of an Arts Council Grant for a showcase piece at this years Crafts Council’s Collect Open show.

October 6th – Nabeel Hamdi

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Hamdi is Emeritus Professor of Housing and Urban Development at Oxford Brookes University. Hamdi’s focus is social, urban housing and international development and is known across the development sector. He has provisionally titled his talk Building a Humanitarian architecture: Deciding Interventions.

October 13th – Duncan Baker-Brown

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Baker-Brown is a co-founder of the respected Lewes based BBM Sustainable Design studio, architect of the Wastehouse, (which highlights re-use and recycling in building materials), and author of recently published The Re-Use Atlas. The evening is centred around his new book.

October 20th Fred Baier, Furniture Maker + Anna Bera

(at Studio Hardie, Phoenix Works, Lewes BN7 2PE)

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Fred Baier – Internationally renowned furniture maker, Baier pioneered the use of computer aided design in furniture making in the 1980’s, and has been at the forefront of drawing together analogue and digital making in the decades since. Baier’s talk is titled Form Swallows Function – crossing the analogue/digital divide.

Anna Bera, Polish artist and the British Councilʼs European programmes manager Gian Luca Amadei in conversation.

Bera is Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft current artist-in-residence as part of their autumn exhibition, New Truth to Materials: Wood. From Poland, Bera is particularly interested in natural materials, and has worked using wood on her Wild Children projects.

October 20th – 15.30 – 17.30 – Wonky Toys and Wild Children Workshop

(at the Linklater Pavilion, Railway Ln, Lewes BN7 2FG)

An ‘all are welcome’ Wonky Toys workshop for children accompanied by an adult led by Lewes artist Zuky Serper  with Anna Bera, reprising Zuky’s very successful workshop during the Make Lewes Festival 2016 in the Turkish Baths.

The workshop and talks evening are in partnership with Ditchling Arts + Crafts Museum

October 27th Emily Charkin

CK 5 Wilderness Wood 3

Charkin is one half of the partnership, who have turned Wilderness Wood in Hadlow Down into an inspirational centre for children and adults to learn together through outdoor self-building and making. With extensive educational experience Charkin’s talk will explore the educational value of making and building for children and Wilderness Wood’s place within the radical education tradition.

November 3rd– Hans Johannsson

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Johannson is Iceland’s principal stringed instrument and violin-maker, living and working in Reykjavik. Alongside the craft of traditional violin making, Johannsson has also developed a series of twenty first century violins and other stringed instruments, collaborating with fellow Icelandic artists and musicians, including Olafur Eliasson.

For further information email info@makinglewes.org

World on the Move

Humanitarian and Emergency architecture projects from Kigali to Calais.

1st October – 19.30 – 22.00 Venue – Turkish Baths, Friars Walk, Lewes, BN7 2LE (map)

Julian Belart is a French student architect working in the Calais Jungle, supported by ‘Lewes Action for Refugees‘, on emergency shelter and other projects in the encampment. He will be talking about his work in Calais for the first time in Lewes.

Nerea Eloyduy is co-founder of Kigali based Active Social Architecturewho has been working on health and education projects in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Europe with emphasis on community participation and post conflict environments. Eloyduy is currently developing a PhD  at the Bartlett School of Architecture studying the influence of the built environment of long-term refugee camps in East Africa on young children’s development. 


World on the Move is part of Make Lewes Festival 2016

For more information email: info@makinglewes.org