Australian Architecture Conference 2026

The architectural profession, perpetually engaged in negotiating collective action against complex challenges, faces a pivotal interrogation under the conference theme, Together. Or Not at All? This conceptual framework foregrounds a critical examination of collaboration—an inquiry that is increasingly pertinent as the discipline is called to respond to intertwined issues of climate, custodianship of Country, and professional accountability. The theme’s open-ended question prompts practitioners and design leaders to reconsider the efficacy and necessity of shared responsibility within the built environment.

At the core of the forthcoming program is the deliberate curation by a newly appointed steering committee, comprised of prominent voices from Australia’s architectural spectrum. With representatives such as Andrew D’Occhio of Cavill Architects, Gina Engelhardt of Hassell, and Shaneen Fantin, whose affiliations span both the University of Queensland and Western Sydney University, the committee draws on expertise straddling design practice, research, and pedagogy. Members, including Jack Gillmer-Lilley from SJB, Blake Hillebrand of Kerstin Thompson Architects, Ian Moore, Debjani Sarkar of Jacobs, and David Wagner of Atelier Wagner, further reinforce the breadth of perspectives shaping the conference discourse, ensuring interrogation of collaboration is grounded in both industry and academic insight.

Such an orchestrated discourse positions the event as a crucible for considering how architects might synthesise shared purpose with individual agency. As the profession is urged to advance not in isolation but in concert, this thematic exploration invites reimagining the architect’s agency as fundamentally collective, responsive not only to clients and communities but also to the broader context of land and climate.