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Spencer Lu
Spencer is a programme coordinator at NLA and leads on the London Festival of Architecture Mentor and Studio Late programmes alongside other Festival support. Recently completing the Museums and Galleries in Education MA with UCL’s Institute of Education, Spencer has a passion for heritage studies and promoting public engagement with urban spaces.
With the end of Winter in sight, and the LFA2025 submission season in full swing, February is a great time to start finding inspiration before Spring arrives. This month brings a variety of exciting walks and talks to help us understand London from different perspectives and think about the various stories weaved into the city’s heritage.
Where better to find inspiration for LFA2025 than outdoors in the city streets? The Queer Soho walking tour takes us to the West End to hear stories of how the queer community has helped shape the urban identity of Soho. Later that day in the East, the South Asian History London Walking Tour will explore how the people of South Asian heritage living in Tower Hamlets have similarly shaped the area.
As the days get longer, Seeing Architecture’s The City of London: Night and the City tour provides a special opportunity to enjoy what the City’s architecture has to offer after dark. This night-time walking tour led by architect Ross Logie might inspire some new appreciation for lighting in our urban spaces under nightfall and stimulate conversation around designing a 24-hour London.
After having recently read Junichiro Tanazaki’s classic essay, ‘In Praise of Shadows’, it seems too convenient for me that this night-time walk comes only a week after the RCA’s talk, The Color Black, on the 6th of February. Here, architects Mohsen Mostafavi and Peter Märkli will discuss the importance of the colour black in architecture which might provide the perfect context to see the city in shadows during the night tour.
If walking tours aren’t your thing, February also brings Open City’s first Architecture on the Thames East tour of the year. This will give you an opportunity to see East London by river from the comfort of a seated boat and learn about the transformation of the area’s historic industrial landscape.
Later in the month, after you’ve set eyes on London’s industrial past and present, UCL’s Bartlett School of Architecture will be holding a relevant talk as a part of their ongoing CRUNCH series: Odd Couple: ‘Post’ Industrial Architecture and ‘Post’ Human Futures. This talk will be given by Claire Zimmerman (coming from my own alma mater, the University of Toronto) and will be followed by a panel discussion with Bartlett PhD students. Together they will explore industrial infrastructure alongside alternative human and posthuman production.
The Architectural Association presents their own series of talks in February titled System Overhaul: How can Architects embrace AI which will explore the uses and ethics of AI in the architecture field. The series will be held in 3 sessions across the month exploring ways of disrupting, cultivating, and owning ‘the system’.
Although often thought-provoking, sitting through dense academic discussions can also become mentally exhausting. Luckily, the documentary I Am Martin Parr will be released in the UK on the 21st of February, taking audiences on a whimsical road trip with the eponymous British photographer. An intimate journey through Parr’s iconic works, which uniquely portray the 20th century English working class and culture, might prove inspiring to think about the stories of people in their places – perfect for LFA2025’s theme of ‘Voices’. The film will be screening at multiple theatres around London and the wider UK.
