Michael Pelken recently gave one of the opening lectures for the University of Cambridge Institute in Sustainability Leadership’s (CISL) Masters of Sustainability Leadership Programme.
The theme of the week was “The transition to the low carbon economy.” Michael spoke about the role of technology, innovation, and design in the built environment. Michael was recently named a Senior Associate at Cambridge.
Michael Pelken was recently invited to become a Senior Associate at the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL). CISL’s network of Senior Associates includes leading academics and expert practitioners who engage with CISL’s work though advisory or ambassadorial contributions. Senior Associates also advise on the strategic direction and contribute to the delivery of CISL’s executive programmes and business platforms.
This upcoming year, Michael will once again resume his post as tutor for the Interdisciplinary Design for the Built Environment (IDBE) Flagship Programme.
P+ Consulting worked with the UK Green Building Council over the last year to develop a new style of immersive learning as part of their flagship program. Michael Pelken led the interdisciplinary professional workshop, Second Nature Live, an immersive learning experience aimed at teaching participants the process of resilient design by participating in a live sustainability project. Following training sessions in Birmingham, Michael chaired the final reviews at the Saint-Gobain Innovation Centre in London.
The workshop was designed as the final business case delivery to a team of professionals at the Birmingham Women and Children's hospitals which included NHS Trust members on the judging panel. Participants were asked to propose a variety of holistic measures spanning from business models to organization and architecture to real building and construction dilemmas at the combined facility project of the hospitals.
This integrated leaning experience, spearheaded by Michael Pelken received great reviews by participants and judges alike:
"The presentations of the teams in the second nature LIVE programme were varied and rich in content, I was surprised by the depth and breadth of what was covered, and for sure has inspired us in the Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust as we look ahead to the joint facility development"
- Graham Seager NHS Trust Estates Director
"Being part of Second Nature LIVE has been a great experience bringing different disciplines together into the class room and out on site to apply learning instantly. Having the capstone event to look forward to is a superb way to keep focus on the project and bring the best out of people and encourage collaborative working. I would highly recommend this to anyone looking to gain a wider understanding of sustainability and importantly how to make a case for it."
- Matthew Westwood, Mitsubishi Electric.
"I most enjoyed the sessions with Michael as it really got everyone thinking on a deeper/ more challenging level. it made me consider the big/ bold/ innovative ideas rather than feeling bounded by the typical constraints of delivering projects to NHS clients."
- Participant
Paul Michael Pelken was recently invited to give a talk in Giuliana Iannaccone's course, Fundamentals of Integrated Building Design on the topic of Responsive Urban Environments at the Milan Polytechnic. The lecture, to be given to the first year cohort in the Architecture Building and Architectural Engineering program, is part of the Global Classroom Initiative with Drexel University and will also be screened by Drexel University students in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Paul Michael gave the opening lecture at the Constructed Realities lecture series for UCL's HERE EAST at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on January 25, 2018, sponsored by Populous. The cross-disciplinary lecture series included professionals and artists discussing architecture, engagement, situations, performance, making, manufacturing and engineering.
Michael introduced our work and spoke about interdisciplinary collaborations, research, and design.
P+ recently presented “Innovation Strategies for the Built Environment in Research, Practice, and Teaching” Available for download: Finnish Building Physics Conference 2017_P+ at the 2017 Finnish Building Physics Symposium in Tampere, Finland. Michael Pelken also gave a keynote lecture discussing his experiences in academia and the industry. We also visited the Architecture and Engineering faculty at the University of Tampere where we gave a lecture on our practice and research activities.
P+ will speak at VR World 2017: Europe’s leading conference on immersive VR and AR technologies
Panel: The Role of Simulated Environments in Education and Training, hosted by Nexus, London Olympia, UK
P+ at Science, Innovation and Translation – Innovate UK May Conference
We will be giving our presentation, ‘P+ Demonstration building design and operation as a Living Lab’ this May!
Vasilena Vassilev will reprise her role as a Visiting Lecturer at the Leicester School of Architecture, De Montfort University, where she will teach Year 2 Undergraduate Studio, as well as Teaching Practitioner at the Reading University School of Architecture, where she will teach Year 1 Undergraduate Studio.
Vasilena Vassilev has been appointed Teaching Practitioner at the new Architecture Program at the University of Reading where she will teach Year 1 Undergraduate Studio.
Paul Michael Pelken has been appointed as an Industrial Advisory Board Member at the Centre for Nature Inspired Engineering, University College London
Paul Michael Pelken presented our work as part of “Prototyping Architecture” at the Engineer Department Structures Research Seminar series, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
Paul Michael Pelken gave a keynote lecture on Performative Design at the Central European Symposium on Building Physics in September 2016, where he also discussed our paper, “Turbine House: Patented Energy Plus Innovation.”
P+ Studio’s paper, “Turbine House: Patented Energy Plus Innovation” was accepted at the 2016 Central European Symposium on Building Physics BauSIM in Dresden. The paper presents a novel patented concept for the design of a small to medium sized energy plus building through the holistic integration of renewable energy systems, in particular wind and solar energy generation technologies.
Paul Michael Pelken will join the industry careers panel at the 2016 Cambridge Transferable Skills Conference on 5 July 2016, hosted by Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
Paul Michael Pelken gave a lecture, “perFORMance based design in interdisciplinary research, practice and teaching” at the Technical University Stuttgart – School of Architecture, Germany
P+ Studio was recently invited to teach a two week workshop at Southeast University in Nanjing, China in May, 2016. In this experimental course we will work within the context of Buckminster Fuller’s ideas on architecture and technology.
In discussing implications of these ideas, we will speculate the potentials of integrating smart technology in the built environment, and take into consideration the challenges of modern city planning and contemporary architecture within the context of experimental, low energy and zero energy constructs. In an ever-increasing age of technological and social complexity, architects and planners must foresee the possibilities of providing alternative solutions for the expansion of cities without degenerating life within them, as well as create more environmentally responsible and responsive designs when dealing with current global trends of energy and material consumption.
Vasilena Vassilev will be co-directing the University of Sheffield Summer School with Abi Van Hoorebeek.
The focus of our 2016 Summer School is to examine the urban corridor along the river Don in the City of Sheffield and propose “meanwhile” solutions to vacant or underused sites currently undergoing long-term re-development. In addition to attending lectures and visiting various sites around the city, students will work alongside academics and practitioners to design meaningful proposals that critically engage with the urban, social, and ecological conditions of the post-industrial city.
The studio will be taught by Ricardo Sosa Mejia and Arturo Revilla.
Vasilena Vassilev has been appointed Co-Director of Year 3 at the University of Sheffield. She is also currently teaching Year 2 studio at De Montfort University and Year 1 MArch at the Academy of Art University Online Program.
The Turbine House Featured in Xia Intelligente Architektur Vol 90 | 01-03 / 2015