The Asia Pacific Architecture Festival returns to Brisbane next week, with this year’s theme focusing on water and our relationship with this finite resource.

“We each have a relationship with water, as an identity or a memory, but first and foremost, as a necessary resource,” say the festival’s organisers.

“In a time of great environmental challenges, water plays a significant role in the growth of urban and rural regions. With current affairs in mind, the 2020 festival will showcase leading architects, designers and planners, and their innovative responses to water across the Asia Pacific region.”

The festival will run in various locations throughout Queensland’s capital from 7 – 20 March 2020, and is curated by University of Queensland dean and School of Architecture head Cameron Bruhn and architecture graduate Georgia Birks.

The 2020 program features a selection of exhibitions, installations, symposia, lectures and workshops that promote and celebrate architecture’s pivotal role in the culture, sustainability and economy of the Asia Pacific region. 

One of the highlights is the The Architecture Symposium on 13 March, a day-long event that explores the innovative thinking and transformative projects that are creating new world cities for the emerging Asian Century.

It will include speeches from COX Architecture founding partner Phillip Cox, RAW Architecture principal Realrich Sjarief and Komada Architects’ Office director Takeshi Komada.

The following day, you can explore Federal House alongside its architect, Kim Bridgland from Edition Office, and K and T’s Place with its architects, Lachlan Nielsen and Morgan Jenkins, as they share stories together with their clients about the successes and challenges of creating homes that reflect the way we live today.

Also on 14 March, the University of Queensland Art Museum will be hosting a timed oral presentation curated through a series of visual prompts. The guest speaker is Alison Page, an award-winning creative at the forefront of contemporary Australian Aboriginal design and storytelling, and her visuals will be uploaded to an Instagram ‘feed’ so you can view them on your own handheld device during the Blak Feeds session.

Women in design, art and architecture will also be celebrated in the Thinking Through Craft: Sustainability, Materials, Practice on 18 March.

During this conversation, panellists will uncover the role of craft techniques and traditions in driving enterprise. The panel will draw from the fields of education, architecture, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art and craft research.

On 19 March, join Pacific scholar and feminist Karamia Müller and Charmaine ‘Ilaiū Talei, discipline lead for Kramer Ausenco’s regional offices in Australia and the South West Pacific Islands, for Oceanic space and Pacific futures – a lively discussion of Pacific architecture, urbanism and oceanic spatial concepts.

Finally, on 20 March, you can watch Tim Ross: Designing a Legacy – a live cinematic show that looks at why architecture matters, curated by comedian and design nerd Tim Ross. The show features the Australian families whose lives have been shaped within the walls of modern masterpieces designed by Robin Boyd, Roy Grounds, Ken Woolley and John Andrews.

The Asia Pacific Architecture Festival is a mix of paid and free events, some are open to the public and others require bookings. To find out more, visit the official festival website.