Specific World

t-sa forum is an architectural workshop established and run by Takero Shimazaki Architecture (formally Toh Shimazaki Architecture). Its vision is to act as a platform (a forum) to bridge the gap between academia and practice by bringing together professionals and students of many disciplines, including end users and client bodies. The process generates bespoke (not necessarily expensive) and individual architectural design agenda through craft that challenges the current direction of homogenous globalised built environment.

For 2014, the programme maximised this unique educational vision strengthened by the collaboration with the AA. Practices, artists, designers, engineers, building contractors (makers) and client bodies were invited to lecture and show their working environment as in previous years, raising awareness of the participating students across fields.

The course pursued the process within the possibilities of bespoke material craft in a series of screen print and casting workshops. These techniques were then used to develop architectural proposals for a site in Bloomsbury, London. Clients, end users and architectural critics created an open and dynamic debate environment to challenge the norm set within the bubbles of architectural schools across the world, where strangely architects are predominantly the only critics for architecture students.

Series of debates, working process, writings, films, prints and models produced by the students were combined in a publication to provoke ideas for architecture of post 'Lehman shock' capitalist global built environment.