Three members of the Architecture Club who are also members of the Athenaeum, have set up a dining club called The Decimus Dinners to discuss contemporary architectural issues within the Athenaeum.
The aim is to have Athenaeum members make up half of the guests, with the remainder being made up of architectural practitioners, or interested lay-people, from outside the Club membership. Events will be held twice yearly.
We had a small and succesful tester event in February titled 'The Nash Ramblas… Show more and the Future for St James's'. The three speakers were; architect Sir Terry Farrell, conservation architects Sir Donald Insall and Tanvir Husan, and St James's Portfolio Manager for the Crown Estate, James Cooksey.
The second event will cover the design, history and impact of The Leadenhall Building, better known to some as The Cheesegrater, and some of the current issues relating to tall buildings in London. We are fortunate to have four speakers who have all had a considerable impact on the state of architecture in London - with the architect leading one of the most important practices in the world, the head of planning for one of the biggest developers in the country, the former head of planning for the City of London, and the head of London's leading architectural think-tank. It will be an informative and lively evening.
The speakers, over dinner, will be:
Graham Stirk, Architect of The Leadenhall Building, and principal at Rogers, Stirk and Harbour.
Peter Rees, Professor of Places and Planning at the Bartlett, UCL, and the former Chief Planning Officer for the City of London.
Adrian Penfold, Head of Planning and Environment at British Land, the developer and owner of The Leadenhall Building.
Peter Murray, Director of the New London Architecture think-tank, curator of their current Skyline exhibition, author of a new book on The Leadenhall Building and member of the Mayor's Design Advisory Group.
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