The first public lecture in the new Benjamin West lecture theatre at the Royal Academy of Arts will be delivered by David Chipperfield 21 May. The 250-seat lecture theatre is one part of the newly transformed RA campus, which opened 19 May. It is the contemporary reinstatement of a double-height, semi-circular auditorium that existed in the original 6 Burlington Gardens building. Part of the brief for the RA project was to create better spaces for conversation and debate, in line with the founding principles of the Academy. The lecture marks the beginning of a new and expanded public programme of events for the Royal Academy’s 250th anniversary.