The first tranche of speakers has been announced for the Australian Institute of Architects’ National Architecture Conference, which will take place in Melbourne from 20 to 22 June.
Among the speakers are architects with expertise in decolonization, housing affordability, economics, propaganda and indigeneity.
In keeping with the conference theme, “Collective Agency,” curators Monique Woodward, founding director of Wowowa Architecture, and Stephen Choi, a UK-registered architect and executive director of the not-for-profit Living Future Institute of Australia, have assembled a program comprising architects that blend architectural practice with a passionate critical component.
In a statement accompanying the release of the theme, Woodward and Choi wrote that the conference would “encourage reflection on today’s challenges, the articulation of more meaningful protocols, and most importantly, the willingness to act. Discussing what was (our shared understanding), what is (our shared reality), and what could be (our shared advocacy), Collective Agency is a dual state of doing and being.”
“Every speaker will be tasked with giving away something precious and empowering. Every attendee will be tasked with making a pledge to act on this new power. The event will be a demonstration of collective agency.”
Lesley Lokko.
Image: National Architecture Conference
The speakers are drawn from both Australia and further afield. From South Africa comes Lesley Lokko, head of the Graduate School of Architectureat the University of Johannesburg. An architect, academic and author of ten best-selling novels, Lokko is an “on-going contributor to discourses around identity, race, African urbanism and the speculative nature of African architectural space and practice for nearly thirty years.”
From the USA comes Emanuel Admassu and Jen Wood, founding partners of the Rhode Island-based AD-WO, a “roving practice” that is “committed to research and design across geopolitical borders.” It has completed projects in Ethiopia, Israel, South Korea, Sweden, and the United States. Originally from Melbourne, Jen Wood previously worked with BIG as a project leader of The Spiral tower in New York City and with Lab Architecture Studio, and Minifie van Schaik in Australia. Emanuel Admassu’s original home was Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and he has since taught at Columbia University and the Rhode Island School of Design and worked with design practices in Atlanta and New York City.
Marina Otero Verzier.
Image: National Architecture Conference
Marina Otero Verzier is a Spanish architect, the director of research at Het Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam and an architecture teacher at the Royal College of Art in London. In keeping with the conference theme, Verzier’s work tackles major questions about the future, using architecture as the organizing framework. One research initiative, “Automated Landscapes,” asked what architecture might look like in a world where automated labour is prevalent, while “Architecture of Appropriation,” examined squatting as a spatial practice.
From closer to home are Mauro Baracco and Louise Wright, directors of Baracco and Wright. Since establishing their practice in 2004, the pair have focused on a blend of research projects and teaching and a suite of residential projects that “generously contribute to the environmental health and amenity of the urban settings in which they are situated.” The practice collaborated with artist Linda Tegg on the 2018 Australian Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale, which comprised thousands of temperate grassland species presented alongside large-scale architectural projections. The installation aimed to showcase Australian architecture that engages with the rehabilitation of the country’s natural environment.
The speakers announced so far are:
Lesley Lokko – University of Johannesburg, South Africa
Emanuel Admassu – AD-WO, USA
Marina Otero Verzier – Het Nieuwe Instituut, Netherlands
Marcos Rosello – aLL Design, UK
Jen Wood – AD-WO, USA
Sarah Lynn Rees – JCB, Australia
Jeremy McLeod – Breathe Architecture, Australia
Olivia Hyde – Acting Government Architect NSW, Australia
Farzin Lotfi-Jam – Farzin Farzin, USA.
Dhakshayini Sooriyakumaran – Decolonized Design Australia, Australia
Laura Harding – Hill Thalis, Australia
Mauro Baracco and Louise Wright – Baracco and Wright
Genevieve Murray – Future Method, Australia
Joel Sherwood-Spring – Future Method, Australia
Libby Porter – RMIT University, Australia
Scott Fry – Loving Earth, Australia
Cecille Weldon – Centre for Liveability Real Estate Australia
For more information on the 2019 National Architecture Conference, go here.
