LondonCALLING 2023 by Yale School of Architecture

Yale School of Architecture held its annual LondonCALLING course at the Zaha Hadid Foundation in June 2023, organised by Yale tutors Helen Evenden and Gavin Hogben.  The goal of the course is to prepare young architects with an interest in museums, archives and cultural venues with the skills to enhance their chances of winning museum competitions and commissions, and in navigating the teamwork of project development. 

This year, the course focused on our Foundation and was hosted at our Grade II listed, 19th century former school building at 10 Bowling Green Lane in Clerkenwell, London. Gavin Hogben said:‘londonCALLING is an amazing laboratory on museum futures, and ZHF is a fantastic springboard for bold speculations and provocations on next-gen culture catalyst venues’.  

The students were briefed with a series of ‘provocation’ goals, including how to recognise ZHF as a dynamic ‘start-up’, establish it as a ‘live’ venue and find ways to present it as a ‘capital cultural catalyst’. As a result, the students presented work illustrating programming and event options based on these ‘provocations’ from elements of our site. 

The course also consists of talks and visits from experts in these fields. The Learning Studio at Bowling Green Lane, as well as being a workshop space and base for the visiting students, was the venue for visiting speakers brought in by Yale. Speakers included Lina Ghotmeh, architect of the Serpentine Pavilion 2023, Frances Morris, former director of the Tate Modern, and artist Marysia Lewandowski. 

Helen Evenden said: ‘It was wonderful to collaborate with Jane, Paul and Wilson, to work with the students in the studios at Bowling Green Lane and to be able to invite speakers to inspire, challenge and guide the students so they will be better equipped to create the best designs for museums, galleries and cultural spaces for the future’.