What is it about the way an architect thinks that contributes to broader debates around community? How does this differ from others in the built environment?
As we head further into the twenty-first century there is a change occurring in the way we want to eat, work, and live. Many are moving out to create a rural existence in small, once quiet country towns, yet others are pushing the limits of living small within the fast paced hustle and bustle of our suburbs – creating ‘new communities’. So how does the role and skills of the Architect benefit the community? Does size matter? Is designing buildings enough?
Small Practice in Community will draw together a broad range of professionals representing a range of disciplines from Australia and abroad to discuss collaboration and how the pooling of resources with other ‘like-minded’ professionals allows the formation of new ideas and new ideals that step outside the traditional model of architectural delivery? Why did these individuals choose to step beyond the traditional model? Is small the new success? Is being small the socially responsible thing to do? How does a community benefit from ‘small’?
How many architects find themselves designing buildings, but feel that there are more ways in which they could contribute? The panel session will investigate the idea of Architects as Innovators and how these skills of the Architect can be reinterpret or extrapolated into creating and influencing the broader community in a multitude of ways. Individuals and small collectives that choose to step beyond the traditional model of what an Architect does and what a business consists of.
ArchiTeam hopes the Small Practice in Community conference will inspire you to consider ways in which you can be contributing more to your immediate surroundings and to the wider community, thus broadening the positive impact of architects and architecture.