The call for entries for London Festival of Architecture 2020 is now open, inviting individuals, organisations and anyone with a passion for the capital’s built environment to be part of the world’s largest annual architecture festival as it explores the theme of ‘power’ in June 2020.
Returning to London for its 13th year, the London Festival of Architecture 2020 hopes to offer a timely, exciting and imaginative public programme for all to enjoy. Following a record number of event submissions for the 2019 Festival, the call for entries process now offers all event organisers more time to develop their proposals with the help of the Festival’s curation panel of leading architects, curators, artists and journalists. The key deadlines are as follows:
- 15 December 2019: early bird deadline for events to be considered by the first curation panel
- 10 March 2020: final deadline for submission to the final curational panel
With its growing year-round presence, the London Festival of Architecture seeks to inspire and engage the public with an events programme that showcases London as a global architectural hub. The theme for the 2019 event – boundaries – inspired over 600 events across the capital, attracting over 800,000 visitors and a global audience of 138 million.
With events covering everything from debates, exhibitions and performances to film screenings, family-fun days and the beloved Studio Lates programme, this year saw the return of Festival favourites such as the Royal Academy Lego Architecture Challenge as well as bold new additions including public dance performances in the middle of the city and an exploration of the boundaries between architecture and food. The LFA’s success lies in the diversity of its programme and its ability to produce the unexpected: festival organisers hope that the 2020 ‘power’ theme will provoke the most inspirational programme yet.
The 2020 Festival also sees the return of the four Festival Hubs – Heart of London, London Bridge, Royal Docks and City of London – as the cornerstones of the events programme. As the London Festival of Architecture continues to pride itself on being a truly city-wide celebration of London’s built environment, these four architecturally significant areas are as diverse as the city itself, each promising to offer a rich new perspective of what power means to the architecture that shapes the capital.
The curation panel for the London Festival of Architecture comprises:Angela Dapper – principal at Grimshaw
- Ellie Stathaki – architecture editor at Wallpaper*
- Gonzalo Herrero Delicado – architecture programme curator at the Royal Academy of Arts
- Karishma Rafferty – curator of public realm & partnerships at Somerset House
- Paul Karakusevic – founder of Karakusevic Carson Architects
- Yinka Ilori – multidisciplinary artist and designer
The call for entries is the point at which we hand over control of our festival over to everyone, and wait and see what comes back. We’ll be holding our breath, but I’m confident that the London Festival of Architecture’s growing network of participants – old and new – will rise to the challenge of our ‘power’ theme and come up with a wealth of amazing ideas that can appeal to the biggest possible public audience. We want people to think broadly, think boldly, and think big. London and the world – it’s over to you!
Further information and application forms for those interested in organising an event for the 2020 London Festival of Architecture can be found here.