University News Last updated 25 March 2015
Paul Humphries, a graduate from Birmingham City University's Birmingham School of Architecture has had some of his work shown at the Venice Art House 'Borders and Disorders' exhibition.
The event
The event was hosted by Venice Art House Gallery and organised by It’s LIQUID Group in collaboration with the International ArtExpo, Ca’ Zanardi and Venice Art House gallery. The exhibition ran from 12 to 20 March.
Various forms of art were on show at the event, including photography, video-art, painting, installation and performance art.
Paul's work on display at the exhibition included the featured project 'Perpetual Gardens' - a fictional project set in the reign of Queen Victoria which explores the new politics of work in the current economic, social and political context.
Humphries said:
"As capitalism continues its push to coral every inch of the globe into its logic of markets and money, new practices are emerging that are redefining politics. The tactics employed in this programme initiates new strategies that will confront the everyday commodification to which capitalism reduces us all.
"This fictional landscape will explore the everyday war between these life affirming, self-emancipating behaviours against the backdrop of the new HS2 line."
As well as this, Paul has also had another project selected called 'The New Meriden' which "attempts to reinstate the barrier changes that the Meriden rural district faced from when it was the old Castle Bromwich to then creating the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull."
Paul added: "The New Meriden, the active landscape of Castle Bromwich, is the blueprint for a perpetually sustainable landscape and an environmentally responsible infrastructure.
"This technologically driven project attempts to engage and resolve cultural, social, political and particularly ontological constraints."
Both projects were part of Paul’s final year design project whilst he was studying at Birmingham School of Architecture.
Industry recognition
During Paul's professional and academic work he has experience in award-winning practices in London including Tonkin Liu and Hawkins Brown. This has led to acknowledgements and recognition through the nominations he received for both the RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) President's Bronze Medals by Birmingham Institute of Art and Design and also The Architectural Review's Global Architecture Graduate Awards 2014.
In addition to this, Paul's work has also been published by The Architectural Reviews Folio, entitled 'the award-winning home of the world's best Architecture drawings.' He has also had his academic works submitted for competitions in New York and displayed in exhibitions designed by Rem Koolhaas alongside Zaha Hadid.