All articles by Mary Richardson
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Building StudyDesigning, building and growing the natural way: Wolves Lane community centre unveiled by Studio Gil and Material Cultures
Straw, clay and reclaimed materials come together in a strikingly unconventional eco build in north London. Mary Richardson reports on a project that rethinks not just how we build, but who gets to do the building
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FeaturesDesigning for every body: Jos Boys and the radical potential of disability-led design
Architectural activist, teacher and campaigner Jos Boys has spent decades questioning who architecture is really for. In this profile, Mary Richardson explores how her latest work reframes access as a political, creative and collaborative practice
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ReviewRA Summer Exhibition: with no designated space, architecture is overshadowed
This year’s Royal Academy Summer Exhibition sees architecture integrated throughout the show for the first time, a curatorial shift that brings fresh juxtapositions but leaves technical work struggling to compete for attention, writes Mary Richardson
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Building StudyA Serpentine Pavilion for anxious times – but is that enough?
This year’s pavilion by Marina Tabassum is grounded in thoughtful references and a clear intention to engage with the site. Mary Richardson explores why it fails to resonate
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FeaturesWhy Nicholas Boys Smith’s ideas still matter in the age of Keir Starmer
Mary Richardson speaks to the founder of Create Streets about popular taste, the design challenges facing Labour’s housebuilding push, and why architects still struggle to engage with what ‘normal’ people really want
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FeaturesAlma-nac: Doing architecture for free. Well, sometimes…
Alma-nac’s Design For All programme is helping to unlock community projects across the UK – and the team hopes to expand it further, writes Mary Richardson
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FeaturesDonald Insall Associates: A thoroughly modern conservation practice
As urgent demands for reuse and sustainability transform the priorities of contemporary architecture, Mary Richardson explores how conservation architect Donald Insall Associates – long champions of repair and adaptation – is building on its pioneering legacy to meet the needs of a changing world
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FeaturesResearch, empathy and quiet radicalism: the key ingredients in ‘Saunt sauce’
Source: Tim Soar Norton Folgate Mary Richardson caught up with Deborah Saunt, co-founding director of DSDHA and one of the most influential women in architecture and urban design
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Opinion2,000 young people, one mission: Rethinking access to architecture at the Festival of the Future
Mary Richardson reflects on how last weekend’s Festival of the Future brought over 2,000 young people to RIBA’s 66 Portland Place, aiming to break down barriers to built environment careers
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FeaturesMore than a masterplan: the people power behind Earls Court’s next chapter
For the latest in BD’s Boomers to Zoomers series, Mary Richardson went to meet the team of local people helping to shape the Earls Court redevelopment in west London as part of a wider programme of inclusive community engagement
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FeaturesMaterial Cultures: the radical architects rethinking how – and what – we build
Mary Richardson meets the practice advocating for bio-based materials to decarbonise construction
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FeaturesThe future faces of UK architecture
Mary Richardson meets three young alumni of Beyond the Box who share, in their own words, how the initiative shaped their paths into architecture
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FeaturesJan Kattein: architect as catalyst – ‘A transformational impact can be achieved with limited means’
As Jan Kattein Architects unveils its latest project at Westminster’s Church Street Triangle, Mary Richardson takes a closer look at the work of this innovative firm that weaves social practice into its inspiring and colourful placemaking
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FeaturesDian Small: embracing her new role as mentor and disruptor
Dian Small speaks to Mary Richardson about her new role at the London School of Architecture and its potential to drive change for underrepresented practitioners
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FeaturesClosing the skills gap: Alison Watson on transforming built environment education
Alison Watson MBE is a woman on a mission to transform education in the built environment
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FeaturesBeyond the Box: delivering real social value in the built environment
For the latest in BD’s Boomers to Zoomers series, Mary Richardson talked to Neil Onions, head of Beyond the Box, a social enterprise with a reputation for finding innovative ways to empower underrepresented young people within the built-environment sector
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Features‘Because the spaces work for children, they work for everyone’ – how the Whittington estate fosters a community for all ages
Mary Richardson talks to two architects who have made a film about the child-friendly estate where they live, to find out what’s so special about its design
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Building StudyA triangular community: how Author brings generations together at King’s Cross
The penultimate piece in the giant Stirling Prize-nominated jigsaw puzzle that is the King’s Cross masterplan has just been completed with the delivery of Related Argent’s build-to-rent development, Author. Mary Richardson went along to take a look
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FeaturesCreating communities for all: Jenny Buterchi on PRP’s vision for age-inclusive living
As part of BD’s Boomers to Zoomers series, Mary Richardson went to talk to Jenny Buterchi, partner at PRP and lead of the firm’s Later Living team, to learn more about her vision for design and placemaking that better serve the needs of an ageing population
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FeaturesHow Essex teenagers are shaping their community with a little help from MATT+FIONA
Mary Richardson went to meet a group of young people in Colchester whose ‘inspirational’ input is helping shape the design of a new garden village. They spoke about the innovative ways they are being empowered to contribute to this new community with support from young peoples’ placemaking champions MATT+FIONA.