Monthly Archives: June 2012

Battlefield Heroes

June 28, 2012

Apollo Cinema Piccadilly

To kick-start the beginning of the K-FILM series as part of the 100 Day Festival of Korean Culture, you are welcome to a FREE night out for a special screening of ‘Battlefield Heroes’ followed by a Q&A session with the award-winning Director LEE Joon-ik.

The event will take place on June 28 at Apollo Cinema Piccadilly Circus at 6:30PM.

Audiences will be admitted on a FIRST COME, FIRST SERVE basis. Don’t miss out on this rare opportunity.

All members of the audience will receive a raffle ticket and at the end of the films screening and Q&A sessions, raffles will be drawn by Director LEE Joon-ik and His Excellency Ambassador CHOO Kyu-ho.

Prizes include: a signed DVD of Director LEE Joon-ik’s film ‘SUNNY’, a book on Korean Cinema, and for all the K-POP fans, a signed (personally signed by all five members) CD of BIGBANG’s latest album ‘Still Alive’.

Make Thursday evenings a regular date on your calendar, with Thursday simply being “Korean Film Night”!

 

After the Disaster: Returning to Normal Life and Play in Tohoku

28 June 2012

6:00 – 7:45pm, followed by a drinks reception to 8:45pm

Daiwa Foundation Japan House

Organised by the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation

Much western attention on Japan since 11 March 2011 has focused either on the implications of the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, or on the recovery of the nation’s economy. While these issues remain of great importance, it seems that the effects of the tsunami on the lives of ordinary citizens in the affected regions are beginning to fade into the background, as the world turns its attention elsewhere. Moreover, due to the large proportion of older people in the population, and the disproportionate effects of the tsunami on them, the impacts of the disaster on children and how they are able to return to normality have sometimes been overlooked. In this seminar, Peter Matanle will look at plans for the reconstruction of the tsunami affected areas and assess progress achieved thus far, and then Helen Woolley will focus in detail on how the tsunami has affected children’s play. In particular, she will show the current state of where children used to play in the outdoors, explain the context of children’s outdoor play in temporary housing areas and begin to address some issues for the future as local citizens try to put the disaster behind them, put their lives back together, and re-establish a normal life for their children once more.

Dr Peter Matanle

Dr Peter Matanle is Lecturer in Japanese studies at the National Institute of Japanese Studies and School of East Asian Studies, University of Sheffield. His research is in the social and cultural geography of Japan, and the role of employment systems in Japan’s developmental and post-developmental processes. He has published four books and various peer reviewed articles and book chapters in these fields including, Japan’s Shrinking Regions in the 21st Century: Contemporary Responses to Depopulation and Socioeconomic Decline (co-authored with Anthony S. Rausch and the Shrinking Regions Research Group, Cambria Press, 2011), and ‘The Great East Japan Earthquake, Tsunami, and Nuclear Meltdown: Towards the (Re)construction of a safe, sustainable and compassionate society in Japan’s shrinking regions’ (Local Environment, 16 (9): 843-847).

Helen Woolley

Helen Woolley is a Chartered Landscape Architect and Reader in Landscape Architecture and Society in the Department of Landscape at the University of Sheffield. Helen’s research is about issues of open space and people. This has related to, and informed, national policy and strategic issues about green and open space with an increasing focus on green space and housing in recent years. She is also an expert on inclusive outdoor environments with a particular interest in children and open spaces. Helen has a strong record of knowledge transfer and consultancy activities working with a wide range of partners including some in the built environment, play and housing sectors. These research and knowledge transfer activities have been funded by research councils, government departments, national organisations and charities. In April Helen visited the Tohoku area of Japan with a colleague from Chiba University to begin to understand the situation of children’s outdoor environments in the post disaster area.

Dr Christopher P. Hood (chair)

Dr Christopher P. Hood is a Reader in Japanese Studies at Cardiff University. His latest book Dealing with Disaster in Japan: Responses to the Flight JL123 Crash (Routledge, 2011) is about responses to the world’s largest single plane crash which occurred in Japan in 1985. The book covers a variety of issues, including how the state reacted and the way those who lost loved ones have responded over the years. A chapter related to this work appears in Death and Dying in Contemporary Japan (Routledge, 2012) edited by Hikaru Suzuki. He was a part of the ‘Shrinking Regions Research Group’, whose research was edited by Peter Matanle and Anthony Rausch into Japan’s Shrinking Regions in the 21st Century(Cambria Press, 2011). Other publications include:Shinkansen: From Bullet Train to Symbol of Modern Japan (Routledge, 2006), Japanese Education Reform: Nakasone’s Legacy (Routledge, 2001), andThe Politics of Modern Japan (4 volumes) (editor, Routledge, 2008).

BOOKING FORM

Developing Intercultural Competence through Language Education

30 June 2012 from 12.00am

Japan Foundation, London

Intercultural competence is embedded into most national language education curricula and into trans-national policies such as the CEFR. However, the role of teachers in facilitating the development of intercultural competence among their students is still evolving, with many areas for further research. In this seminar, we will examine some of the main frameworks of intercultural competence in language education and analyse their usefulness in language education. Next, we will look at links to the CEFR and will introduce the Autobiography of Intercultural Encounters, also produced by the Council of Europe. Finally, we will then hold a discussion on the ways in which teachers can incorporate intercultural learning into their own classroom practice within ever-present time and curriculum constraints.

Entry:     £3.00 for both BATJ members and non-members

 

Speakers:  Lynne Parmenter and Yuichi Tomita  Please note the seminar will be held partly in Japanese, and partly in English.

 

Entry:     £3.00 for both BATJ members and non-members
Speakers:  Lynne Parmenter and Yuichi Tomita
Please note the seminar will be held partly in Japanese, and partly in English.

For further information click here.

Informal Social Infrastructures: Living in Sendai

25 June 2012

6:00 – 7:00pm, followed by a drinks reception to 8:00pm

Daiwa Foundation Japan House

Organised by the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation

Professor Hitoshi Abe will give a talk entitled “Living in Sendai” in which he will introduce an overview of what has been happening in Tohoku since the Great East Japan Earthquake on 11 March 2011, illustrating a series of specific projects and responses initiated by various architects and organizations. Professor Abe is the founder ofArchi+AID, which is a network to support the relief and recovery projects made by architects for the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. This talk will propose a forum to re-think the role of architects with regards to the reconstruction of social spaces in the ever-increasing complexities of cities with the need of informal infrastructure. The talk will be chaired by Shin Egashira, Diploma School Unit Master and Visiting School Course Director at the Architectural Association.

This talk is linked to the exhibition at the Embassy of Japan in London, YATAI HERE YATAI THERE, which is on display from 18 June – 13 July as a part of the International Architecture Showcase at the London Festival of Architecture. The theme of the 2012 London Festival of Architecture is “The Playful City”.  For more information, please visit: www.lfa2012.org.

This talk is supported by the Embassy of Japan and organised in association with the Architectural Association School of Architecture.

Professor Hitoshi Abe

Professor Hitoshi Abe is Chair of Architecture & Urban Design at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Abe earned his M.Arch. from SCI-ARC in Los Angeles in 1988 and his PhD from Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan, in 1993. In 2007, he was appointed professor and chair of the UCLA Department of Architecture and Urban Design. In 2010, he was appointed Paul I. and Hisako Terasaki Chair in the Study of Contemporary Japan as well as Director of the UCLA Paul I. and Hisako Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies. Abe is the subject of the Phaidon Press monograph Hitoshi Abe by Naomi Pollock published in 2009. He has a decade-long distinguished career as a leader in education. Since 1992, when Professor Abe won first prize in the Miyagi Stadium competition, he has maintained an active international design practice based in Sendai, Japan, and Los Angeles as well as a schedule of lecturing and publishing, which place him among the leaders in his field.

Shin Egashira (Chair)

Shin Egashira makes art and architecture worldwide. His recent collaborative experiments include “How to Walk a Flat Elephant” and “Twisting Concrete”, which aim to fuse old and new technologies, such as concrete, digital images and physical computing. Egashira has been conducting a series of landscape workshops in rural communities across the world, including Koshirakura (Japan), Gu-Zhu Village (China) and Muxagata (Portugal). He has been teaching at the Architectural Association since 1990 and is currently the Unit Master of Diploma Unit 11.

Recruiting Docent Volunteers for Exhibition

Recruiting Docent Volunteers for Exhibition

at the Korean Cultural Centre UK

The Korean Cultural Centre UK (KCCUK) is looking for volunteers who will work as docents(unpaid) during the exhibition of Korean Funerary Figures: Companions for the Journey to the Other World’, at the KCCUK this summer.

The exhibition presents a traditional funeral bier along with the wooden figures of a variety of people, as well as mythological creatures that each served as decorations for the funeral bier. This summer exhibition forms part of All Eyes On Korea, 100 Day Festival of Korean Culture.  

 The volunteers will be working from 12 July to 8 September.

 – Mon to Fri 10am – 6pm

 – Sat 11am – 5pm

You can choose either Term 1 or 2 (Mon-Fri Term 1: 10am-2pm / Term 2: 2pm-6pm, Sat Term 1: 11am-2pm / Term 2: 2pm-5pm) for working by rotations during the exhibition and you have to be able to work minimum 2 weeks of time in total.

 Those who are interested in Korean art and cultures and Korean-English bilingual volunteers are preferable.

 Please download ‘Docent Volunteer Application Form’ and complete it then email to us with a copy of your ID with the headline of “Exhibition Docent Volunteer” to info@kccuk.org.uk

 Application deadline: 6pm, Friday 29 June 2012

    (The deadline date can be changed depends on the number of applicants)

   ※ Orientation and Introduction for Docents: 2pm Wednesday 4th July 2012

Docent Volunteer application form.docx

Russia, China and Global Governance

21 June 2012

6:00 – 7:45pm, followed by a drinks reception to 8:45pm

Daiwa Foundation Japan House

Organised by the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation

With the rise of non-Western nations in the new world order, the need for international cooperation and global governance on economic, financial and security issues has never been greater.  But the emerging multipolar order does not seem to have contributed to global stability so far. The US, the EU and Japan are working to persuade the BRICS to take multilateral institutions more seriously, though the US itself often seems ambivalent about multilateralism. Most European governments know that they have a big interest in effective multilateral institutions. The behaviour of Russia and China – both veto-wielding permanent members of the UN Security Council – is particularly crucial in dealing with global challenges, including climate change and peace-keeping operations.  What is Japan’s role within global institutions such as the G20, the WTO and the UN? Can the EU and Japan help nudge Russia and China towards a more serious engagement with global governance issues? Japan is in a difficult position in this respect, since Russia and China are its immediate neighbours and it has complex issues with both countries. But this makes it all the more important for Japan that both countries become responsible members of multinational institutions, and respect global governance. Our three speakers will discuss Russia, China and global governance issues from their own varying perspectives.

Charles Grant

Charles Grant is Director of the Centre of European Reform (CER). He studied Modern History at Cambridge University and joined The Economist in 1986 where he wrote about the City. He was posted to Brussels in 1989 to cover the European Community, before becoming the Defence Editor in London from 1993. He left The Economist to become the first Director of the CER in 1998. He was a Director and Trustee of the British Council from 2002 to 2008, and is a regular contributor to the Financial Timesand The Guardian, amongst other publications. He has authored many CER publications. These includeCan Europe and China shape a new world order?(2008), Cameron’s Europe: can the Conservatives achieve their EU objectives? (2009), and Russia, China and Global Governance (2012).

Akira Imamura

Akira Imamura is Minister and Consul General at the Embassy of Japan in the UK. He was stationed in Moscow three times between the 1980s and 2000s. After graduating from Tokyo University in 1984, he served for the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He has served as Director, Russia Assistance Division (2002), and Director, Central and South Eastern Europe Division (2003), in Tokyo. During his last stay in Moscow, he gave numerous interviews to the Russian media on various themes including territorial issues and the nuclear accident in Fukushima. He has co-authored a book: The Atlas Book of Russia and CIS Countries (Diamond, Inc., 1993).

Professor Urs Matthias Zachmann

Professor Urs Matthias Zachmann is the Handa Professor of Japanese-Chinese Relations at the University of Edinburgh. He graduated from Heidelberg University (MA, PhD) and completed his Habilitation in Japanese Studies at the University of Munich. He is also qualified as an attorney at law in Germany and is a member of the bar. His fields of specialization are Japan’s international relations (with a special focus on China), law and legal sociology in East Asia, and the political and intellectual history of modern Japan. Among his most recent publications are: China and Japan in the Late Meiji Period: China Policy and the Japanese Discourse on National Identity, 1895-1904(Routledge, 2009/11) and International Law in Japan: War and Visions of International Order in the International Legal Discourse of Japan, 1919-1960 (Nomos, 2012).

Gideon Rachman (Chair)

Gideon Rachman became chief foreign affairs columnist for the Financial Times in July 2006. He joined the Financial Times after a 15-year career atThe Economist, which included spells as a foreign correspondent in Brussels, Washington and Bangkok. He also edited The Economist’s business and Asia sections. His particular interests include American foreign policy, the European Union and globalisation. He was named foreign commentator of the year in Britain’s annual Comment Awards in 2010. His first book, Zero-sum World: Politics, Power and Prosperity After the Crash (Atlantic Books) was published in 2010.

BOOKING FORM

Sunny

7PM, June 21, 2012

Multi-Purpose Hall, KCCUK

Soo-ni is a young woman stuck in an arranged marriage to a man who still loves his college girlfriend. Her husband, Sang-gil, is a soldier in the Republic of Korea Army, and though she visits him regularly, he doesn’t return her affections. After Sang-gil is sent to fight in the Vietnam War, Soo-ni resolves to follow him. She joins a band which is heading there, where she sings for the soldiers as “Sunny”, with the hope of being reunited with her husband.

Before and After Superflat: A Short History of Japanese Contemporary Art, 1990 – 2011

 

14 June 2012

6:00 – 7:00pm, followed by a drinks reception to 8:00pm

Daiwa Foundation Japan House

Organised by the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation

Despite the success of Takashi Murakami’s “Superflat” movement, most Japanese contemporary art remains little known or appreciated in the international art world. Before and After Superflat tells the true inside story of the Japanese art world since 1990, as Japan has stumbled through a series of economic, social and ecological crises since the collapse of its “Bubble” economy. Explaining the rise of Takashi Murakami and Yoshitomo Nara, and the distorting effects their success has had, the book presents other important artists from the 1990s and 2000s, as well as Japan’s thriving art world of curators, gallerists and art writers. Inside this world, there is an often dramatic story to be told about institutions such as Mori Art Museum and MOT (Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo), and events such as the Yokohama Triennial, or the Echigo-Tsumari and Setouchi festivals. New kinds of street art and initiatives like 3331 Arts Chiyoda are also re-inventing art in the city, outside the white cube and commercial contexts. The book ends with an epilogue about contemporary art in Japan after the Tohoku earthquake.

Adrian Favell’s book, Before and After Superflat: A Short History of Japanese Contemporary Art, 1990 – 2011was published in April 2012 by Timezone 8.

Professor Adrian Favell

Professor Adrian Favell is Professor of Sociology at Sciences Po, Paris. He has also taught at UCLA, Aarhus University and the University of Sussex. In 2007 he was a Japan Foundation Abe Fellow in Tokyo, and has since then been closely involved as a writer and observer on the contemporary art scene. He writes a popular blog for the Japanese on-line magazine ART-iT and occasional contributions to magazines such as Art Forum and Art in America. He was born in England and lives in Paris.

Jonathan Watkins (discussant)

Jonathan Watkins has been Director of Ikon Gallery since 1999. Previously he worked for a number of years in London, as Curator of the Serpentine Gallery (1995-1997) and Director of Chisenhale Gallery (1990-1995). Jonathan Watkins was Artistic Director of the Biennale of Sydney in 1998. He was guest curator for Days Like These, (Tate Triennial, London, 2003) and Negotiations (Today Art Museum, Beijing, 2010). He was on the curatorial team for Europarte (La Biennale di Venezia, 1997),Quotidiana (Castello di Rivoli, Turin, 1999), Milano Europa 2000, (Palazzo di Triennale, Milan, 2000),Facts of Life: Contemporary Japanese Art (Hayward Gallery, London, 2001), Hyperdesign (Shanghai Biennale, 2006), Still Life (Sharjah Biennial, 2007) and Riwaq (Palestinian Biennial, 2007). Jonathan Watkins has written extensively on contemporary art. Recent essays by him have focused on the work of Giuseppe Penone, Martin Creed, Semyon Faibisovich, Yang Zhenzhong, Noguchi Rika, Caro Niederer and Cornelia Parker. He was the author of the Phaidon monograph on Japanese artist On Kawara.

Japanese Cinema for Busy People – Part 3

 

13 June 2012 – 11 July 2012

The Japan Foundation, London

Looking to expand your knowledge on Japanese cinema? The Japan Foundation is inviting those fascinated by all things cinema, or all things Japanese, to join the third series of Japanese Cinema for Busy People.

Whether you are a dedicated cineaste or a casual moviegoer, all are welcome to join and enjoy! Experts in the field will hold lectures assessing significant topics in Japanese cinema, past and present. As a complement to the BFI and Japan Foundation season Two Masters of Japanese Cinema: Kaneto Shindo & Kozaburo Yoshimura, fill your Wednesday evening with a cinema lecture – without having to do any of the homework!

Dates: 13th, 20th, 27th June, 4th, 11th July – Every Wednesday

 

Week 1 – Wednesday 13 June 2012 – 6.30pm

Beyond Rashomon: A Golden Age of Japanese Cinema, but for Whom?
by Jasper Sharp (Writer and Film Curator)

Jasper Sharp will look beyond the Japanese filmmakers of the 1950s championed in the West to focus on the technological and industrial developments of the era considered the ‘Golden Age’ of Japanese cinema.

 

Week 2 – Wednesday 20 June 2012 – 6.30pm

Fidelity, High and Low: Japanese Cinema and Literary Adaptation
by Lauri Kitsnik (University of Cambridge) 

Lauri Kitsnik will consider how the relationship between literature and film has developed through various periods of Japanese cinema and the way literary classics have been reinterpreted for the screen.

 

Week 3 – Wednesday 27 June 2012 – 6.30pm

The Meaning of Independence in Japanese Cinema: Production, Distribution and Exhibition
by Julian Ross (University of Leeds)

Julian Ross will discuss the meaning of independence in the context of Japan’s film history, and examine the alternatives in distribution, production and exhibition whilst investigating what exactly is gained and lost with the decision to turn independent.

 

Week 4 – Wednesday 4 July 2012 – 6.30pm

Collaboration or Exploitation? The Relationship Between Japanese Directors and their Stars
by Tony Rayns (Writer, Film Critic and Programmer)

Tony Rayns will explore the creative relationships between Japanese directors and their stars, many of which instigated by contractual bounds under the Studio system, and how recurring actors can be both fruitful and restraining in film production.

 

Week 5 – Wednesday 11 July 2012 – 6.30pm

What’s Happening Now in Japanese Cinema?
by Dr Rayna Denison (University of East Anglia)

Dr Rayna Denison will investigate the history behind the rise of thenew “big hit” cycle of Japanese filmmaking and ask why these films are so successful and why, despite their domestic success, they often remain hidden from (English) view.

To register, please e-mail event@jpf.org.uk with your name and the session you would like to attend.

The King and the Clown

7pm, June 07, 2012

Multi-Purpose Hall, KCCUK

In the years of the infamous King Yeon-san, two clowns start a play that is satirical of the king and become popular among the common people. But soon they get arrested for treason, and they bet their lives on making the king laugh with their play acting. Their fortunate success leads them to stay in the palace and perform regular plays. As the king shows growing attraction and love towards one of the clowns, they realize that they are into irreversible stages of their lives, entwined with desire, power and thick blood.

Yukio Suzuki in Conversation

18 June 2012 from 6.30pm

The Japan Foundation, London

 Yukio Suzuki is a visionary choreographer and dancer whose captivating style of contemporary dance has earned him numerous awards and established him as one of the most talked-about dancers in Japan today.Originally trained in the Japanese performance art butoh at the Asbestos-kan (Asbestos House) in Tokyo, a dance studio founded by Tatsumi Hijikata, Suzuki both choreographs and performs an iconic style of contemporary dance as part of his own company Kingyo. His productions are actualised through his highly trained body with a strong influence from butoh, ballet and theatre, and recently are fused with cutting-edge lighting technology, pushing towards a new realm of contemporary dance.

In conversation with John Ashford, Director of Aerowaves, Suzuki will talk about in an illustrative way his distinguishing career development and achievements. Showcasing some of his astonishing previous works including his most recent performance etude, which was performed as part of the Jurassic Coast Earth Festival as part of the ambitious Creative Coast 2012 project, they will explore how Suzuki has adapted his diverse influences to evolve his contemporary dance spectacle. He will also discuss the current climate of contemporary dance in Japan, and suggest the future it may hold.

This event is free but booking is essential. To reserve a place, please contact event@jpf.org.uk with your name, details and those of any guests.

London in 2050

Yesterday I read this interesting article published by The Evening Standard.

It’s Diamond Jubilee weekend. Relax. Smile at the picture above showing how London might look in early June 2050.

Imagine 67-year-old William V doing a tour with Queen Catherine. The royal couple begin at Smithfield meet (rather than meat) market.

They glad-hand their way down to the river to watch tennis on one of the many artificial islands. The regal procession then moves east to the Tower of London, now surrounded by parkland. Then up a gentle green slope that tilts into a sky park, with an outcrop of towers that have bloomed over the years in the new Aldgate financial district.

Well, maybe forget the sky park. But this 2050 vision of the capital, from giant and serious engineer Arup and small but jolly John Robertson Architects, is one of three sets of plans showing how London might look in 38 years. All will be displayed at the Developing City exhibition in the Walbrook Building opposite Cannon Street station between June 21 and September 9.

Wander in free to see models of 100 planned developments, along with the two other sets of plans for London 2050. One is by architect Gensler and engineer Buro Happold, the other by developer Brookfield and architect Woods Bagot.

“Smithfield should become a new cultural quarter with the meat market becoming a ‘meet’ market,” says John Robertson, a jolly Scot who employs 19 architects in his Southwark practice. “The river from Temple Bar to the Tower of London should become a new ‘recreation’ space with islands dotted in the Thames.

“There need to be more pedestrian bridges. We need to link Southwark with the City. There is huge potential for two million square feet of offices, homes and hotels in a new Aldgate financial district set at the centre of a new master plan that links the Tower of London to Broadgate.”

The Square Mile itself should become “decarbonised” with many more streets pedestrianised, giving far more open space, according to the Arup plan. The workers will need it. Studies by the engineer show that by 2050 the City and its surrounds will have to make space for 50% more workers. But the poor souls will be given 25% less space to work in. In that case, maybe the sky park isn’t such a batty idea. Perhaps William and Kate will get to struggle up the slope in their old age.

Housing associations like their poor to be rich

Last week, First Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander held a meeting with the UK’s biggest housing associations to discuss how the Government could help them raise billions to build homes for the poor. At least that was the impression you might get. The truly poor simply can’t afford the “affordable homes” now being built by housing associations.

I came away a little shocked from touring the 36 new flats in Southwark, just put on the market by Notting Hill Housing Association. Not by the flats, they are fine, nor by the location but by the prices: £350,000 for a one-bed flat; half a million for a two-bedder and £600,000 for the three-bed unit.

Don’t blame Notting Hill. The association has to pay the market price for the land; then set market prices when selling. Buyers can buy 25% to 75% of the equity. The part-mortgage, part-rent and a hefty £150 service charge take the monthly outgoings to £800 to own a quarter of a one-bed flat. Minimum household income suggested is £31,000.

Housing associations still house the poor. But they no longer seem able to build new houses the poor can afford. “Shrinking government grants mean they have to borrow money and act like commercial developers,” says Jon Neale, research director at Jones Lang LaSalle. “What they are now providing is homes for middle-income earners.” So, Mr Alexander, if you want to guarantee cheap loans to housing associations that have £50 billion bank debt, go ahead. But don’t let them fool you this has anything to do with aiding the poor. It’s to keep them going.

Peabody not so affordable

The ghost of George Peabody would wail from the tenements he built for the “poor and needy” in 19th-century London if he knew how little their needs are being met by those building “affordable” homes today. That is not to take a tilt at Peabody. This fine organisation, founded by the American philanthropist in 1862, owns 20,000 homes on 219 estates across London that are affordable to those on less-than-average incomes. Peabody last month celebrated its 150th anniversary by announcing the winner of a competition to build 150 homes on a site in Plaistow. Up-and-coming architect PCKO won the prize with plans that are a far cry from the yellow-brick blocks off Drury Lane and in Westminster. Will the truly “poor and needy” be able to afford the 150 homes on the estate? Debatable.

You may also interested to watch this video

Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in London

For those interested…

Logistical information about the Pageant.