Buildings made from algae, socially and financially sustainable urban villages and the architectural experiments of the Rice Cake Mafia will been explored in a future-focused panel discussion on October 20 at the Sherman Centre. The four panellists, including Sibling’s Qianyi Lim, will speculate on the future of the built environment, exploring the radical and the practical, the emerging voices and the innovative built and proposed works at the cutting edge of design, architecture and urbanism in Australia and internationally.

What is a open city? What does it look like? or feel like? How can apartments adapt to the social and environmental growth of the city? On October 20 at MPavilion, join a series of panels that bring about important discussions for the future growth of the city. The discussions generate thoughts around the design, experience and the growth of the city as well as the consideration for a fair city. The panels discuss significant themes: new pathways to affordable housing, what makes a good apartment building, and what would an open city look like.

Speakers include: Andy Fergus, Ben Keck, Dr Andrea Sharam, Dave Martin, Mitra Abderson Oliver, Quino Holland, Monique Woodward, Katherine Sundermann, Sarah Lynn Rees, Bree Trevena, Andrea Baker, Bec Hornsby, Helen Marcou and Sibling’s Jane Caught.

Sydney versus Melbourne is a discussion series that looks at the dynamics of architecture in both cities. This is not a battle about which city has better buildings or better public spaces. Everybody already knows that Melbourne has a better civic realm. The lecture series is based on the premise that the most interesting recent periods in architecture have occurred when there were substantial differences in the approach of these two cities. Melbourne’s extravagant postmodernism, Sydney’s radical minimalism, Melbourne’s flamboyant parametricism, and Sydney’s sensible low-techism – all these styles opposed each other and pushed the boundaries of the discipline. Sibling battle out against Trias at UTS as part of this lecture series on October 19.

A lunchtime discussion with The Coming Back Out Ball participants.

Sibling recently received a Creative Victoria Grant for intensive research into ageing, and how design can play a role in creating more equitable society for all ages and abilities. As a first step Sibling hosted a day called Designing The Age-friendly City at MPavilion, which investigated what can constitute an age-friendly city, by looking at ageing societies and the opportunities they can bring. In the morning, artist Tai Snaith constructed an intergenerational morning workshop for grandparents and children; in the afternoon, Arup presented an interactive workshop exploring how we might combine personal experiences and new technologies to shape ‘all-ages’ environments; while in the evening, the University of Melbourne’s Hallmark Ageing Research Institute (HARI) brought experts together to discuss on how we can adapt a city to make it more age-friendly.

A grandparent-grandchild workshop as part of the day-long program

“What makes a city age-friendly? It’s a question that’s becoming increasingly urgent.”

The last decade has seen a shift in the housing market with many Australians have fallen victim to housing unaffordability and an over saturation of low-quality housing ‘product’. This has seen the arrival of alternative development models. These models may be the alternative today, but could they become the new normal as our ageing population is priced out of traditional options in housing and retirement? This final event for New Agency: Owning Your Future brings together various actors working in and around progressive and alternative housing development models. Audience members are encouraged to bring questions and comments for the panel.

New Agency: Owning Your Future is a research platform by Sibling Architecture.