Jim Johnson at the Briggait:
architect, activist, educator
Saturday 16th May 2026. 1.00pm-4.00pm
Venue: Briggait 141 Bridgegate Glasgow G1 5HZ - entry via the Clyde Street entrance
Admission: £15.00 waged; £10.00 unwaged, students and SEDA members - buffet lunch included
Booking is essential
The Scottish Ecological Design Association (SEDA) is proud to host a celebration of the life and legacy of SEDA co-founder, architect, activist and educator, Jim Johnson. Appropriately the event will be held in the Briggait, the Category A Listed gathering space of studios and offices which owes its survival and flowering to the foresight and persistence of Jim and his colleagues.
Jim was one of the first architects to realise and act upon the climate crisis both in his architectural practice and education. Co-founding ASSIST Architects and working with communities across Glasgow, Jim helped instigate Glasgow’s flourishing community-based housing movement. But his interests and influence reach far beyond to historic buildings, conservation and self-build.
This will be a convivial event in the Briggait’s Clydeside Hall, with a buffet, a tea break and tours of the complex. There will also be display of the Archi-Fringe’s Voices of Experience exhibition, presentation boards for the Jim& Krystyna Johnson Award 2025 winners and examples of Jim’s architectural sketches. The event will be recorded.
After tea, the architects will take groups on tours around the Briggait
Speakers
Introductions by SEDA chairperson, Magda Blazusiak, and longstanding friend and colleague, Peter Robinson
Fraser Stewart and Phil McCafferty will describe the genesis of tenement refurbishment, community-based housing, Assist Architects, the campaign to save and redevelop the Briggait and how we can build on this experience
Ric Russell of Nicoll Russell Studios will explain the Briggait’s expansion to include studios and workspaces
Gerry Hogan of Collective Architects will outline the most recent phase and what can be learned from the project
Kate Gray, WASPS Ceo, will explain how the arts charity has driven the Briggait’s development and its plans for the future