Collective Agency

This stand-alone studies unit will run in the lead up to, and be involved in, the 2019 AIA National Conference, Collective Agency. Students will engage with the conference’s deeply socio- political & environmental themes and together we unpack what are the new territories for architecture, who should be given a platform and what is advocacy within a regenerative and disruptive economy?

According the the UN, we have 12 years to limit climate change. This transition will happen in cities not countries. It’s not innovation or sustainability that we need, what we need is “A New Normal”, achieved through design & collective action. The elective imagines we fast forward 10 years, so with only 2 years left, aims to redesign the city to require no inputs and no outputs in terms of resources. The only thing that enters and leaves is people.

We aim to produce a starting point for a vision for greater Melbourne and to generate buy in from key decision makers as a result of this event. This will be output in the form of posters to be displayed at the conference for attendees to engage with.

Urgency invites action. Collectively we could, as an industry, ask the question: “why not start now?”. The in-conference intensive will involve cataloguing the discussions around this provocations and producing new content to be engaged with during the second day.