ROCA GALLERY OPENING / Vanishing Points

The AIA UK sponsor Roca has an ongoing program of exhibitions at their Gallery, and they regularly invite AIA UK members to their opening, private viewings.  Last year, AIA UK members attended the opening viewing party for Everything Flows – Zaha Hadid Design Exhibition, written up in our Newsletter HERE. In previous years, events have included topics such as Timber Rising: Vertical Visions for the Cities of Tomorrow or Data Centre Aesthetics – How Do you Make Them Look Good, or Architectures of Story Telling.  In other words, they generally cater to topics of interest to Architects. 

The 9th of February 2023 was opening night for Roca’s Vanishing Points exhibition – an event that hits all the right, architectural buttons. The exhibition is a comprehensive collection of modern, often computer aided drawings, juxtaposed with drawings from architectural practitioners of the past.  There were drawings from the 17th and 18th centuries, drawings from well-known architects from more recent history alongside contemporary drawings of the current generation.  

Needless to say, the exhibition is destined for success.  It will be open to all from the 10th of February to the 29th of July and it is well worth a visit to Imperial Wharf.  AIA friends at Roca will be happy to see you and show you around their amazing, Zaha Hadid designed showroom and gallery.  

Frequent Roca attendees - Martin Varela Vivona (Board Correspondent) , Stephen Reinke (1st President AIA UK Chapter) and Pierre Baillargeon – are joined by Taylor Rogers (current Vice President AIA UK Chapter) in an animated conversation.  In the background, Michael Lischer (3rd President AIA UK Chapter), Dan Smith and Lorraine King (9th President AIA UK Chapter) watched the debate.  It was a distinguished showing from the Chapter among a crowd of literally hundreds. 

The AIA UK Chapter had its own special interest in the exhibition.  Newly elected Board Director, David Martin, was there with his son Alexander to honour his wife’s inclusion in the contemporary groupings.  

David is an award winning healthcare, research and educational architect with a distinguished career.  Although he met his wife Bea while both worked in an architectural office, her talent has blossomed along entirely different lines as evidenced below. 

Attendees at Roca Gallery events do not always get a chance to actively participate in the exhibition, but for Vanishing Points a blank sheet of paper with instructions to ‘Draw Here’, was included, and attendees cooperated as requested. 

Not all the drawers were architects of note – or even trained artists.  Alexandria on the right below simply likes to draw.  To encourage her, we applaud her effort and publish it for future reference. It appears she has future talent of an architectural bent?

The slide show includes exhibited drawings randomly selected from the offerings.  Unfortunately, the event was crowded so not all exhibits were accessible, including some of the oldest, rarest drawings.  To get a better perspective – pun intended – a private trip to Imperial Wharf is in order.

Written by: Lorraine King AIA