Age-Friendly Design is a concept that’s increasingly being considered and applied across councils and cities both in Australia and internationally. This conversation will bring together multiple views, to interrogate whether AFD allows for expansion beyond older-age considerations to an all-age inclusive approach to urban design. Curated by Young Seniors + Co, the invited speakers will…
Read MoreFrom the pressure to appear in certain ways, to the power of resisting expectations through appearance, beauty is political. This panel looks at the politics of beauty when it comes to gender, sexuality, race, disability and other facets of identity. How should we think about different beauty practices that happen in the salon – like…
Read MoreJoin us for this panel discussion exploring ideas of safety, movement, surveillance, physical distancing, visibility and invisibility within Melbourne’s public spaces. Think Tank Moderator Nur Shkembi, artist, curator and PhD candidate, University of Melbourne, and Curatorial Advisory Group member for Who’s Afraid of Public Space?, will be joined by esteemed local cultural contributors including: Idil…
Read MoreIn our recent Census, LGBTIQ+ was not listed as an identity and the only two options for gender, were male and female. When our government is not inclusive in its ritualistic gathering of data, how do we identify ourselves if we fall outside of legislative naming? How do we learn to autograph our own moments…
Read MoreAs Nyoongar Country morphs into Yamatji Country, off the coast of the small port town of Geraldton in Western Australia, there lies an archipelago of 122 islands and coral reefs known as Houtmans Abrohlos. Home to Australia’s largest single species fishery, the Western Rock Lobster industry, the fishermen who drive this $500 million industry have…
Read MoreDesign has the unique ability to dignify and make people feel valued, respected, honoured and seen. Architects and designers are expanding their ranks to serve not only the privileged few, but the general public. Architecture is no longer a matter of only form, but rather, a matter of what the projects enable. Join us for…
Read MoreAs Amazon and other logistics-based companies further establish themselves as household names, their increasingly automated operations continue to redefine our cities and our lives. Behind faceless big-box facades, vehicles, workers and robots follow intricate choreographies to ceaselessly circulate goods. In this talk, panel members will discuss how design can illuminate logistics—that largely opaque science of…
Read MoreFrom hyper masculine barbershops to super femininised nail bars, the space of the salon can be highly gendered. Salons are also often assumed to be associated with normative beauty expectations tied up with class, race and ability. How can the space of the salon be designed to challenge or change these expectations, and to make…
Read MoreIn Australia, post-war modernism was a response to the profound social change that occurred following World War II. We are now living through another time of intense global change, and uncertainty is impacting our lives. How will current issues—such as the global pandemic and climate change—impact on how we approach the way we live, and…
Read MoreWhat if we have enough vacant properties to house the 80,000 people on Victoria’s public housing waiting list? If you believe housing is a human right, this talk is for you. Renegade economist Karl Fitzgerald explains how the traditional methods of evaluating residential vacancy rates are inaccurate and favor investors. As director of advocacy at…
Read MoreAs we come out of a tough two years, we all need a bit of optimism. The big challenges of our time such as climate change, biodiversity loss or social inequality are not directly visible, and seem overwhelming for an individual to address. But all over Melbourne and Australia, there are people working away on…
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