Desert Island Designs | With Piers Taylor

‘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!)

We ask award-winning architect, academic & broadcaster Piers Taylor to look back on nine buildings that shaped his life. Avid traveller & 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 us for an evening in conversation with Piers, as we hear more about his life, his practice & the designs he has treasured along the way. 

The evening is chaired by the inimitable Elena Marco. 

About the Evening

Much like music, art or books, designs shape & influence our lives. From the places in which we played freely as children, to structures of solace, or the first building that took our breath away. 

Desert Island Designs is the first of our new series of Annual Xmas lectures, where significant architects reflect on their life through design. We welcome audiences to join us at The Architect afterwards for festive drinks & to say farewell to 2024.

Our events are open to the public, politicians, students & professionals alike. If you’re interested in the design of the world around us, join us.

The event takes place at Arnolfini, Bristol, BS1 4QA

Piers Taylor

Dr Piers Taylor is an award-winning Architect & is Professor of Knowledge Exchange at UWE, having formerly taught at the Architectural Association & the University for Cambridge. Piers is founder of Invisible Studio, a renowned architecture practice, that operates through collaboration, experimentation, research & education. Familiar to many as the presenter of BBC series ‘The World’s Most Extraordinary Homes’ & ‘The House that £100K Built’, Taylor has also pioneered numerous academic programmes that rethink the relationship between design & making, to address social & political questions. 

Taylor’s current research explores how we can design, plan & govern for social change & 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 & many others which have been widely & internationally published.

Elena Marco

Professor Elena Marco is Pro Vice-Chancellor & Head of the College of Arts, Technology & Environment at UWE. An internationally recognized leader in teaching & learning, she champions student success, equity, & diversity, particularly for women & 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 & natural environment professions through strategic leadership & addressing global challenges like climate change & diversity. 

Elected to the Architects Registration Board in 2019, she earned a National Teaching Fellowship in 2021 for transformative contributions to climate-change teaching & practice, & holds key roles on prominent boards.