Reflections on architecture

Last Thursday, we attended the Velvet and Silk Cafe No. 6 at which we were kindly invited to present our work carried out at this year’s Venice Bienalle alongside our Critical Dialogues collaborators, Do Architecture, Pidgin Perfect and Stone Opera.

Kiltr were generous enough to host the event in their new office - a conversion of an old slaughterhouse next to the award winning Printworks development, both designed and redeveloped by Cameron Webster Architects. Nearing completion, the space retains a gritty warehouse aesthetic but with its heated, concrete floor it manages to be a very comfortable workspace. It’s a hidden gem, tucked away in a courtyard which we accessed through what felt like someone’s front door and is the latest in a series of projects by CWA looking to reoccupy what Robin Webster himself describes as Glasgow’s, “back passages”.

The schedule for the night was packed and included;

Kiltr themselves talking about version 2 of their Scottish social media platform; Robin Webster and the potential of Glasgow’s underutilised lanes; Ruth Morrow and the unique blend of textiles and concrete created by Tactility Factory – who claim to make "hard things soft"; Paul Stallan of Stallan Brand and his entertaining presentation on working with various well known artists and designers; Anna Gibb regarding her involvement in the British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale with her series of amazing drawings; and a presentation of Home/Away – a collaboration between Angharad McLaren and Emlyn Firth working with Johnstons of Elgin on a set of rather nice sports-inspired scarves for Scotland Can Make It (I want one by the way).

A big thanks has to go to Wendy Murray for inviting us to talk but also for her continued efforts running the inspirational not-for-profit Velvet & Silk Cafe.