ArchAU on the 2020 National Architecture Conference

Justine Clark, Maryam Gusheh, Emma Williamson and Kieran Wong will be creative directors of the 2020 National Architecture Conference that will take “Leverage” as its theme.

“The role of the architect and architectural knowledge in contemporary society is shifting from a service provider to new roles that have the potential for transformative influence,” said creative directors Justine Clark, Maryam Gusheh, Emma Williamson and Kieran Wong. “This fluidity is hallmark of contemporary culture as rigid boundaries are increasingly blurred and challenged. Architecture appears uniquely positioned to extend its reach and amplify its impact. This is the ripple effect, the ability for architectural thinking to leverage positive change.

Where do we find our leverage, as individuals, as practices or organisations, as a profession? How can we exploit our contemporary professional circumstance, training and knowledge to instigate positive change well beyond our disciplinary remit? How can architectural wit and intelligence, agility and diligence, cheekiness and humour, restraint and flamboyance, ethics and goodwill maximise (social, environmental, economic) impact and advantage? How can we play with and agitate the rules to sustain our culture while we embrace new associations? What are the levers, large and small, at our disposal? How do we find them and how far do they need to be moved to make a difference?”

The conference will be organized around four streams: Policy and Politics (leverage through advice, strategy and negotiation), People and Partnerships (leverage through discourse, argument and education), Practice and Projects (leverage trough speculation, process and production), Publishing and Polemics (leverage through discourse, argument and education).

The creative team represents “intersecting fields of research, advocacy, agency, practice, production and teaching.”

Justine Clark is former editor of Architecture Australia and co-founder and director of Parlour: Women, Equity, Architecture. Maryam Gusheh is associate professor and deputy director of architecture at Monash University. Emma Williamson and Kieran Wong cofounded The Fulcrum Agency in 2018. The pair were previously directors of Cox Architecture and CODA Studio. Williamson is currently chair of the Design Advisory Committee for the City of Canning in Perth. Wong is also immediate past national president of the Association of Consulting Architects.

The 2020 National Architecture Conference will take place in Perth from 7 to 9 May 2020.

* This article was first published in ArchitectureAU on 2 July 2019.