Developing City Exhibition

Event: The Developing City Exhibition
Date: 21 June - 9 September 2012
Venue: The Walbrook Building, London EC4, Great Britain
Admission details: Free entry
Tuesday - Sunday 11am to 5.30pm, Friday until 7pm, Mondays closed.

The Developing City exhibition, organised by the NLA - London's centre for the built environment, is the headline event of the LFA - London Festival of Archtecture - and will examine how the physical fabric - the buildings, the streets and public spaces - have defined the City over the centuries and responded to changes in how we live and work. The Exhibition will also look ahead to 2050, presenting a series of visions of the City of the future, examining how its built form may adapt in response to the systemic changes we currently face.

Supporting programme:
The exhibition will be accompanied by a series of walks and talks, to be announced at lfa2012 - events

One special: Walbrook’s windows provide voice for the City
A series of window displays that give the public the opportunity to have their say on the future development of the capital’s key financial centre, the City of London, have been installed in The Walbrook Building EC4.

In the new age of social media, a voice of many can be heard in a short space of time. NLA have installed a series of questions about the future development of the City in the windows of The Walbrook Building, asking the public to give their responses to questions such as what they like most about the City, what changes they’d like to see, and what their favourite public spaces are. Responses are being collated on Twitter using the hashtag #DevelopingCity.

Installed as part of the NLA exhibition – The Developing City – the window displays aim to provoke the public’s thoughts and ideas about the City, They also help to celebrate the City by identifying its most loved elements and highlight the great architectural, historical and financial importance of this area.

The questions are already receiving some interesting responses, with one “What changes would you like to see in the City?” showing an overwhelming preference for more open space, with 75% of respondents picking this answer. Second choice was less traffic in the City with 13%, while more shops was at 8%, and more tall buildings at 5%.

Peter Murray, Director of the NLA, said,
"Do City workers love the City like New Yorkers love New York? Londoners are often less vocal than their transatlantic cousins but they can let us know through social media just what they think of the Square Mile. We also want to know what sort of things they'd like more of, whether it's more open spaces, more shops or more tall buildings. People don't generally have much of a say in these things – this gives them a voice.

Further Information:
Developing City Exhibition

London Festival of Architecture
www.lfa2012.org

Organizer NLA New London architecture
www.newlondonarchitecture.org