9 Buildings that shaped my life…
‘We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us’ Winston Churchill
If you were cast away alone on a desert island, which nine buildings or places would you take with you? (practicality aside!)
Design West ask award-winning architect, academic and broadcaster Piers Taylor to look back on nine buildings that shaped his life. Avid traveller and presenter of BBC Two’s ‘The World’s Most Extraordinary Homes’ Piers will not be short of inspiration, as we delve into his memory box of designs.
Join Design West for an evening in conversation with Piers, as we hear more about his life, his practice and the designs he has treasured along the way.
The evening is chaired by the inimitable Elena Marco.
Piers Taylor
Dr Piers Taylor is an award-winning Architect & is Professor of Knowledge Exchange at UWE, having formerly taught at the Architectural Association and the University for Cambridge. Piers is founder of Invisible Studio, a renowned architecture practice, that operates through collaboration, experimentation, research and education. Familiar to many as the presenter of BBC series ‘The World’s Most Extraordinary Homes’ and ‘The House that £100K Built’, Taylor has also pioneered numerous academic programmes that rethink the relationship between design and making, to address social and political questions.
Taylor’s current research explores how we can design, plan and govern for social change and how architecture makes tangible the actions towards a civil society. Taylor’s practice-based work includes numerous award-winning projects, including the National RIBA Award Winning Wolfson Tree Management Centre, Room 13, East Quay, Watchet and many others which have been widely and internationally published.
Elena Marco
Professor Elena Marco is Pro Vice-Chancellor and Head of the College of Arts, Technology and Environment at UWE. An internationally recognized leader in teaching and learning, she champions student success, equity, and diversity, particularly for women and underrepresented groups in STEAM fields. Elena began her career as an architect in Bath after studying at the University Politécnica de Cataluña. She joined higher education in 2002, influencing built and natural environment professions through strategic leadership and addressing global challenges like climate change and diversity.
Elected to the Architects Registration Board in 2019, she earned a National Teaching Fellowship in 2021 for transformative contributions to climate-change teaching and practice, and holds key roles on prominent boards.
