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From: PRESS RELEASE Category: Press Release Date: 02 June 2009 Time: 08:48 AM Review: Press release Tuesday 19 May 2009 Contact: Jenny Peterson, Press & Communications Officer, RIBA South East, 01892 515878 Take tours of the RIBA Award-winning Department of Biochemistry with its architects and artists, during the south east Festival of Architecture in Oxford There are a host of events planned in Oxford during the south east Festival of Architecture, which is co-ordinated by RIBA South East and the Solent Centre for Architecture + Design from 20 May to 28 June. Full details of the Festival are on www.festivalofarchitecture.org . The Department of Biochemistry building in South Parks Road, which won a prestigious RIBA Award for Hawkins\Brown Architects this week, will be open for public tours every Wednesday until 24 June, from 2pm to 5pm. You can tour round with scientists, architects and artists involved in the building design and the Salt Bridges art commissions that complement the architecture. Each week features a different tour of this innovative building – see the Festival website for details. The tours are free, but pre-booking is essential: contact the organisers, Artpoint Trust 01865 248822. Oxford-based architects Berman Guedes Stretton, whose work includes the siting of Anthony Gormley’s statue on the roof of Exeter College and the current expansion of Pembroke College, will show their fantasy ideas for enlivening the city’s public spaces at the Ovada Gallery on Gloucester Green from Thursday 25 to Saturday 27 June. On Saturday 6 June, artist Katy Beinart and the Oxford Psychogeography Society lead a tour of the area of Oxford formerly known as Paradise. Psychogeography has been described as ‘a whole toy box full of playful, inventive strategies for exploring cities’ so abandon your preconceptions and expect the unexpected! You must pre-book on this free tour: contact info@katybeinart.co.uk World-renowned architect Rick Mather will be at the Taylorian Lecture Theatre on Friday 12 June at 6pm, talking about the past, present and future architecture of the Ashmolean Museum. From the original designs through to his practice’s extensive £61million scheme, trace the history and future of the Ashmolean and also find out about the practice’s other projects at Keble, Corpus Christi and The Queen’s College during Rick’s talk. Entry to the talk is free, but arrive early to avoid disappointment. On the south east Festival of Architecture website, you can click on ‘Fun Stuff’ and download a ‘look up, look around’ quiz covering the centre of Oxford. See if you can identify the building details that have been photographed by local architecture student Lana Al-Shami. Answers to the quiz, in the form of photos of the whole buildings, will be on the website from mid-June. These activities are just a few of around 80 events during the south east Festival of Architecture which, with the theme ‘Better Places, Better Spaces’, will take place across the nine counties of the south east. Many are free of charge. The Festival coincides with Architect in the House, the popular scheme that that lets homeowners get expert advice from an RIBA Chartered Architect in exchange for a donation to Shelter, the housing and homelessness charity. Visit www.festivalofarchitecture.org for the latest details of what’s happening during the south east Festival of Architecture.