What we’re about
ARCHITECTURE, DESIGN & URBANISM WALKS, TALKS, SOCIALS - LONDON
Architecture and design are all around us and shape the world we live in—and most of us have strong opinions about it. Whether you love a brutalist masterpiece, dream of greener cities, all things traditional, may be even classical, or just wonder what on earth architects and designers were thinking, this group is for you.
Join us to visit places, talk, walk, experience, question, and debate architecture, design, and urbanism—with others who share your interest, including architects, designers, and curious minds from all walks of life.
Unless you’ve moved to a remote forest to escape the built environment entirely, chances are you’ve got something to say (or laugh about) when it comes to architecture, landscapes, planning, and the odd questionable building. And when we run out of architecture talk—we’ll improvise, be creative.
What to expect:
• Monthly events: walks, talks, visits, and informal socials around London (and beyond)
• Free to attend (unless otherwise stated)
• Open, friendly, and informal discussions—suggest ideas or even host your own event!
Why join?
Meet like-minded people who care about the places we live, work, and play in. Come for the architecture—stay for the conversations, new perspectives, and a few good laughs.
And here are some fun (and arguable) facts:
• There are around 45,000 registered architects in the UK—over 25,000 in London alone.
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• It’s actually illegal to call yourself an “Architect” in the UK unless you’re properly registered. But—anyone can design a skyscraper or school and submit it for planning and if approved build it.
• Rumour has it: you can’t win a major architectural award unless your building leaks, runs over budget, or annoys the public. (Half joke, half urban myth, sadly often true.)
Care about where and how we live? Want to explore the city differently? Curious or just want to socialise?
Join the conversation. Listen. Share. Disagree. Laugh. Build connections.
See you soon.
And here are some quotes, mostly by architects, for amusement:
"A doctor can bury his mistakes, but an architect can only advise his clients to plant vines."
"We shape our buildings: thereafter they shape us."
"I call architecture frozen music."
“There are no straight lines or sharp corners in nature. Therefore, buildings must have no straight lines or sharp corners.”
“Early in my career...I had to choose between an honest arrogance and a hypercritical humility... I deliberately choose an honest arrogance, and I've never been sorry.”
"Architecture is inhabited sculpture."
"98% of what gets built today is shit."
"The door handle is the handshake of the building."
"God is in the details."
"Everything is designed. Few things are designed well."
"Good architecture is like a good therapy session, a good marriage, a good poem – gently and almost invisibly allowing you to be you, as flawed and as beautiful as you are."
"Very often the opinion of the clients must be disregarded in their own interest."
"All architecture is great architecture after sunset; perhaps architecture is really a nocturnal art, like the art of fireworks."
"Architecture is basically a container of something. I hope they will enjoy not so much the teacup, but the tea."
"I don't know why people hire architects and then tell them what to do."
"There is a danger when every building has to look spectacular; to look like it is changing the world. I don't care how a building looks if it means something, not to architects, but to the people who use it."
"For the most part things never get built the way they were drawn.”
