The NSW Architects Registration Board (NSWARB) has announced that the theme of the 2018 Sydney Architecture Festival as “What makes a building truly great?”
Timothy Horton, NSWARB registrar and festival director, said “2018 is a supernova for milestones in Australian architecture. With major anniversaries for the Sydney Opera House and Australia’s Parliament House coinciding with plans for their future, the 12th Sydney Architecture Festival looks at our opportunity to preserve, protect and renew the enduring legacy of these modern monuments for future generations.”
The festival will take place from 28 September to 1 October, and will begin with The Architecture Symposium, presented by Architecture Media as part of the Design Speaks series.
The day-long forum will celebrate Australian architects through a speaker program curated by Wendy Lewin and Angelo Candalepas. The program will be presented by New York-based writer, critic and former Pritzker Prize juror Karen Stein. More than a dozen Australian architects will present a range of built and unbuilt work that is shaping the built environment across the country.
The festival will conclude with a speech by a yet-to-be-revealed internationally renowned orator for World Architecture Day on 1 October.
Elsewhere in the program, professor Flora Samuel, the Royal Institute of British Architects first vice president for research, will present a talk on “Why Architects Matter.” She urges that architects “must prove their value at every level” and “a 21st century evidence-based approach to communicating their work to those outside the field.”
The theme of the festival will be explored in talk with three icons of Australian architecture who will share their lessons for enduring, great design.
The full festival program, which will include talks, tours and exhibits, will be announced soon.
