John Ellway + Bangkok Tokyo | We Need to Talk
Join us for Volume 1 of the Department of Architecture Online Lecture Series: We Need To Talk.
We Need To Talk is an ongoing online architecture and urban design lecture series that takes time to unpack a theme from multiple points of view. The annual series will be curated around a theme.
This year the theme is: What Are You Looking At?
We don’t talk much anymore about design in terms of what we see: influences, the cannon, theory, concepts, formal and planimetric resolution, proportions and so on. Instead, in the context of planetary emergency we work from the bottom up and discuss the social agenda, ecological relationships, material flows and indigeneity, economic models and regulatory frameworks. All for the better. Except, buildings and places must be formed and materialised. How do we decide if it’s this shape or that shape when function trumps form? And how can we teach without addressing what it is we are physically making? In a moment where design is consumed and reapplied through images isolated from the place, program, plan, or who made them, we ask, ‘What are you looking at?’ and invite guests to unpack the image.
Architects have been paired, one local and one international, to discuss this question.
John Ellway + Bangkok Tokyo
John Ellway runs a small architectural practice with a love for creating places where people live, inspired by their stories of travel and family memories designing. Simple functional buildings delight and surprise by controlling light, shadow and landscape, with a focus on local materials, climate and social relationships. His projects have won the Australian Institute of Architects’ national Eleanor Cullis-Hill Award and the state Elina Mottram Award in 2019 and 2025, as well as Australian House of the Year at the 2021 Houses Awards. In 2015, John participated in the Institute’s annual Dulux Study Tour. John was educated at the Queensland College of Art, gaining a Bachelor of Design in 2001, and went on to complete a Master of Architecture at the University of Queensland. Before working in architecture, John was an accomplished designer working in the fields of graphic design, 3D design and wayfinding in Australia and the UK.
Bangkok Tokyo Architecture is an architectural studio founded by Wtanya Chanvitan and Takahiro Kume. The practice explores open-ended structures and the thoughtful assembly of everyday elements, blurring the boundaries between the ordinary and the exceptional while seeking models of continuity. Their work has been featured in the monograph 2G No.96: Bangkok Tokyo Architecture and has received international recognition, including the AR Emerging Awards 2023 (Highly Commended), the Rice University Spotlight Award 2024 (Winner), and the Lisbon Triennale Millennium bcp Début Award 2025 (Finalist). Wtanya and Takahiro work internationally as both architects and educators.
Event Details
- Date:
- 6 August 2026 at 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
- Venue:
- Online
- Categories:
- Architecture; Current Students; Industry / Alumni
Description
Join us for Volume 1 of the Department of Architecture Online Lecture Series: We Need To Talk.
We Need To Talk is an ongoing online architecture and urban design lecture series that takes time to unpack a theme from multiple points of view. The annual series will be curated around a theme.
This year the theme is: What Are You Looking At?
We don’t talk much anymore about design in terms of what we see: influences, the cannon, theory, concepts, formal and planimetric resolution, proportions and so on. Instead, in the context of planetary emergency we work from the bottom up and discuss the social agenda, ecological relationships, material flows and indigeneity, economic models and regulatory frameworks. All for the better. Except, buildings and places must be formed and materialised. How do we decide if it’s this shape or that shape when function trumps form? And how can we teach without addressing what it is we are physically making? In a moment where design is consumed and reapplied through images isolated from the place, program, plan, or who made them, we ask, ‘What are you looking at?’ and invite guests to unpack the image.
Architects have been paired, one local and one international, to discuss this question.
John Ellway + Bangkok Tokyo
John Ellway runs a small architectural practice with a love for creating places where people live, inspired by their stories of travel and family memories designing. Simple functional buildings delight and surprise by controlling light, shadow and landscape, with a focus on local materials, climate and social relationships. His projects have won the Australian Institute of Architects’ national Eleanor Cullis-Hill Award and the state Elina Mottram Award in 2019 and 2025, as well as Australian House of the Year at the 2021 Houses Awards. In 2015, John participated in the Institute’s annual Dulux Study Tour. John was educated at the Queensland College of Art, gaining a Bachelor of Design in 2001, and went on to complete a Master of Architecture at the University of Queensland. Before working in architecture, John was an accomplished designer working in the fields of graphic design, 3D design and wayfinding in Australia and the UK.
Bangkok Tokyo Architecture is an architectural studio founded by Wtanya Chanvitan and Takahiro Kume. The practice explores open-ended structures and the thoughtful assembly of everyday elements, blurring the boundaries between the ordinary and the exceptional while seeking models of continuity. Their work has been featured in the monograph 2G No.96: Bangkok Tokyo Architecture and has received international recognition, including the AR Emerging Awards 2023 (Highly Commended), the Rice University Spotlight Award 2024 (Winner), and the Lisbon Triennale Millennium bcp Début Award 2025 (Finalist). Wtanya and Takahiro work internationally as both architects and educators.