The Brisbane Free University’s next community discussion will take place on Thursday 29th October at 6.30pm on Boundary Street in West End.*

This session takes the form of a panel discussion bringing together perspectives from architecture, sociology and social theory to think about the best ways to live in Brisbane as the city becomes more densely populated.

The session will explore some of the pressures that cities face and why there is a push for more dense living in cities, and what the risks and benefits of that might be.

All of the speakers come (in some way) from the field of architecture, so the focus will be on different ways that architectural design responds to those pressures, as well as some of the regulations that are being discussed around apartment living in Australia at the moment.

As always, the focus is on robust and inclusive discussion: most of us have experiences of living in cities, we all have stuff to share!

The speakers:

Dr Kelly Greenop teaches design, architectural social science and research in the School of Architecture and conducts research within Aboriginal Environments Research Centre (AERC) and ATCH, Architecture Theory Criticism History research centre, at The University of Queensland. Her research has focused on work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in urban Brisbane, documenting their place experiences and attachment, and the importance of housing, family and country for urban Indigenous people. Kelly has recently published on the place branding of Brisbane as a ‘new world city’ by local authorities, and how local people’s histories and visions for place need to become more prominent in deciding the future of Brisbane’s inner areas.

Caroline Stalker is a Director of the architecture firm Architectus Brisbane. Her career over 25 years has demonstrated a consistent commitment to making engaging places across a range of scales and project types, including strong experience in multi-residential design. She is committed to genuine engagement with place and people in her projects, and is well-regarded for her collaborative design facilitation. Her project work has attracted both Australian Institute of Architecture and Planning Institute of Australia awards.

Amy Learmonth is a graduate architect and designer. She has an interest in public architecture, urban planning, and housing. She recently graduated from the Master of Architecture at UQ with several prestigious accolades, including the QIA Memorial Medallion. Her design research to date includes investigations of alternative housing futures for Brisbane. She has also undertaken research around culturally-appropriate social housing and Queensland’s social housing policy. She has tutored at the UQ School of Architecture around social housing design. Amy currently works at Cox Rayner Architects and Planners. She has lived, studied and practiced architecture in Brisbane, London and Dublin. Her studies in Brisbane and Dublin have also led her to undertake design and research studios with prominent architectural educators in Portugal, Japan, Berlin and Finland. Amy also works with a number of emerging arts collectives in Brisbane, and has collaborated on the design and build of numerous large-scale artworks for various festivals and events around Australia.

Dr Silvia Micheli (PhD, IUAV, Venice) is UQ Postdoctoral Research Fellow at The School of Architecture, The University of Queensland. Silvia holds wide expertise in post-war, postmodern and contemporary Italian architecture and the city, accumulated while teaching and researching at the Polytechnic of Milan between 2003 and 2012. Silvia has actively promoted the debate on contemporary architecture through the publication of books, edited books and journal articles. Silvia is a registered architect in Italy, where she has been practicing since 2004.

As always, our sessions are completely free and open to everyone.

*The precise location on Boundary Street is TBC.  Check out our facebook event page and blog for the updated location.