Speaker(s): Chris Williamson Global Chair Weston Williamson + Partners

Date Thursday, 14 March 2024 Time 11:00 - 11:45 GMT Cost Free

Background:

Chris Williamson will be showing examples from the Jubilee Line onwards of how London has improved the environment to ensure it is better for pedestrians and cyclists by investing the levy on car use and CIL and other income streams to improve public transport and become a true polycentric city. Not only is it better for Climate Change targets but also for social cohesion as people of all beliefs and backgrounds travel together fostering a particular spirit. Just as technology has transformed the way we work in recent years it will have a huge effect on the look and feel of our cities. This will include examples of future thinking but stress that the decisions should be made not on what is possible but whether the new technologies help us meet our objectives of sustainability and more beautiful cities.

Speaker:

Chris Williamson RIBA RTPI MAPM is an award-winning architect known for his innovative work on the transport projects around the world. Chris founded Weston Williamson in 1985 with Andrew Weston through a shared interest in sustainability and urban regeneration. He has guided the studios’ growth to 250 architects and urban designers, with studios in London, Manchester, Sydney, Melbourne, Riyadh and Toronto, through a passion for safe, efficient, sustainable public transport that attracts people out of their cars. Chris qualified as a Project Manager with an MSc in 1985 and qualified as an Urban Designer with an MA in 1995. Chris has written and lectured extensively about the way new technologies will affect our cities through the way we travel within and between them. Chris is a Visiting Professor at East London University and teaches at London School of Architecture. Chris sits on the Southwark Design Review Panel, is a member of the City of London Conservation Area Advisory Committee and is a member of the NLA's Expert Panel on Transport. Chris won the 2022 Architect of the Year Award from The Architecture Community for the conversion of a 1936 Methodist Church in his home town of Ilkeston in Derbyshire to a community arts centre. Chris was recently Vice President at the RIBA responsible for International liaison building relationships with other architectural institutes around the world. In August 2023 Chris was elected Master of the Company of Architects - one of the City of London's Livery Companies- with a focus on education and mentoring of students and young architects.