RMIT Architecture & Urban Design

IDEAS IN PRACTICE: VENTUROUS Discourse 01

DATE: Monday 7 September
TIME: 5:30PM – 6:30PM
LOCATION: RMIT Design Hub Gallery
FREE & ALL WELCOME
VENTUROUS Discourse: Ideas in Practice, brings together architects, landscape architects and urban designers from ideas-led practices to discuss their research through design and demonstrate and debate how ideas are developed and delivered in practice.

RMIT Professor Peter Corrigan described the Edmond and Corrigan designed RMIT Building 8 as “an attempt to think with architecture and to write those thoughts in architecture”. Architectural design as a specific activity involves the development of design techniques and processes. Delivering a built project requires engagement with clients, stakeholders, briefs, budgets, while coordinating multiple consultants and responding to codes, regulations, site constraints, and countless other considerations. Projects must continue to develop despite incomplete information and constantly changing parameters. This is architectural design and it is neither a clear nor linear process.

The dynamic complexity of architectural design can create enduring tension within academic contexts where academic research values clarity, accuracy and well-defined questions.



The session will draw on the VENTUROUS exhibits and RMIT design practice research PhD dissertations of Carey Lyon (Design by Discourse), Michael Lavery (Engaging Objects), Michael Banney (Anecdotal Evidence), Mark Jacques (Interloping and its Consequences), and Leanne Zilka (Floppy Logic).
With thanks to our Major Sponsor the Naarm Architecture Foundation.
POSTER: https://bit.ly/4gIS56u

RMIT Architecture invites you to a public lecture by ANTARCTICA: ARCHITECTS GRAHAM CRIST AND NICOLA GARROD - WHAT TO DO WITH LITTLE
DATE: Thursday 3 September 2026
TIME: 5.30pm - 7.00pm
LOCATION: RMIT Design Hub Building 100, Level 3, Ground Level Lecture Theatre, 150 Victoria St, Carlton VIC 3000
POSTER: https://bit.ly/4zAlSXK
WHAT TO DO WITH LITTLE
Graham Crist and Nicola Garrod discuss the work of their practice Antarctica, in the field of peripheral and meagre public buildings; their contingencies, their contributions and their context in the culture of Melbourne architecture.
The practice of making small and meagre public buildings (in which we operate) foregrounds questions of the contingencies and the commodity of building when making architecture. While the architectural process is frequently described by the frictionless translation of Ideas, or as fulfilling a set of prescribed desires, it is as much a messy amalgam of interests competing hopefully, toward a believable public artefact. This fact is always present for architects but is especially dominant when the visible presence of architectural ideas is not guaranteed. Our projects, often on the metropolitan periphery or well outside of it, grapple with these questions. We will try to discuss the practice not through mastery, but through contingency and the modest efforts to bring a larger idea to a smaller context. Collectively, we are the beneficiaries of an ongoing Melbourne project of widening the scope for architectural ideas, and we will acknowledge that shared project.
Image 1: credit: Drysdale Library, Antarctica Architects, Photography by Peter Bennetts
Image 2: Graham Crist, Director of Antarctica Architects & RMIT Architecture Associate Professor
Image 3: Nicola Garrod, Director of Antarctica Architects

PUBLIC DISSCUSSION AND Q&A – STILL BECOMING - STUDENT-LED MAJOR PROJECT IN CONVERSATION
Join us for a student-led conversation this Thursday at the Design Hub. Current Major Project students will discuss and reflect upon the culture of the course, what they are looking at and what informs the generation of ideas.
DATE: 27th August 2026
TIME: 5.00 PM – 6.30 PM Please arrive at 4.45pm
LOCATION: RMIT Design Hub Building 100, Level 7, 150 Victoria St, Carlton VIC 3000
“Find your position, find your voice, find your story to tell,” Ian McDougall
Major Project is not simply the process of answering an architectural problem, but of working out where we stand in relation to it. What do we choose to question, to value, to say through architecture?
The Major Project, an individual endeavor, is informed and influenced by a cultural lineage. This student-led “In Conversation” brings together current Major Project students and staff to reflect and discuss the processes employed to navigate Major Project.
Each presenter will share several slides that speak to their work. This conversation will reveal the procedures, influences, and decisions shaping their projects so far.
The session will also include a presentation from RMIT Architecture alumnus and industry staff member Chris Buchhorn, recipient of the 2021 Anne Butler Memorial Medal. This will be followed by an audience Q&A and discussion aimed at situating current work within the broader culture of RMIT’s Major Project. RMIT Master of Architecture student Nadia Po**en will moderate the session.
SPEAKERS:
Presentations by RMIT Master of Architecture Major Project Students:
Cheyenne D’Costa, Lachlan Hartnett, Mandisa Sarkey, Nadia Po**en
RMIT Architecture Alumnus and Industry Staff Member:
Chris Buchhorn
Moderated by: Nadia Po**en
Image Credit: Semester 2 2026, Week 0 Major Project Posters

RMIT Architecture invites you to a public lecture by SALVADOR GILABERT - FROM THE IDEA TO THE REAL, AN OPEN PROCESS
DATE: Tuesday 8 September 2026
TIME: 6.00pm - 8.00pm
LOCATION: RMIT Design Hub Building 100, Level 3, Ground Level Lecture Theatre, 150 Victoria St, Carlton VIC 3000
POSTER: https://bit.ly/4wDNIk7
FROM THE IDEA TO THE REAL, AN OPEN PROCESS
The transition from conceptualization to materialization is fundamentally rooted in operational workflows that synthesize Situationist drift methodologies and processes of additives. This framework is strictly governed by low-impact environmental parameters to achieve a conscious, ecologically responsive architecture. By systematically auditing the site, this approach decrypts the socio-contextual variables that bind spatial interventions to their cultural and community matrices. Consequently, it enables the iterative integration of performance parameters designed to minimize ecological footprints, optimize resource efficiency, and accelerate the transition toward a circular economy that addresses localized needs.
Furthermore, this paradigm explores the agency of architectural design in catalyzing sustainable transitions. By leveraging systemic thinking, it addresses the highly dynamic, multi-scalar, and transdisciplinary challenges embedded within socio-ecological and socio-technical transformations. Grounded in the foundational principles of Transition Design, this methodology actively acknowledges and integrates ecological, human, and computational intelligence. Ultimately, by embracing these systemic approaches, the framework underscores the imperative of long-term foresight and pluralistic perspectives in contemporary architectural discourse.
Image 2 credit: Portrait of Salvador Gilabert.
Image 1 & 3 credit: Tibetan Cultural Center in Adeje, Tenerife. Photography by ©Fassoli, Paolo Fassoli, .fassoli.fotografia.

MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE - MAJOR PROJECT FESTIVAL
WORK IN PROGRESS REVIEW WEEK 5
DATE: Thursday 20th August 2026
TIME: refer to canvas Schedule
LOCATION: RMIT Design Hub, refer to canvas Schedule for room locations.
RMIT Students refer to CANVAS announcement for schedule.
RMIT Architecture would like to invite you to participate in the upcoming Major Project Festival - Work in Progress Reviews. Students undertaking their Major Project (Master of Architecture) will present their projects and propositions in progress for critique and discussion with a panel of supervisors.
All RMIT Architecture students and staff are welcome to attend. We particularly encourage students undertaking Masters Design Studios to attend as it will assist them in preparing for Major Project in the future semesters.
At RMIT Architecture students undertake an independent graduating project under the supervision of their nominated supervisor and within a group context. Major Project is the capstone course at RMIT Architecture where students are expected to undertake design-practice research and develop and articulate and well-argued architectural position through the ex*****on of an architectural design project. It is an opportunity to demonstrate new kinds of knowledge and ideas through architecture.
Background Image: ‘Innes Building' - Carla Valenzuela, recipient of the Antonia Bruns Memorial Medal and Leon van Schaik Peer assessed award, Semester 1, 2026


Image 2: Project text for the ‘Innes Building’ taken from the RMIT Major Project Catalogue Semester 1, 2026 produced by RMIT Architecture exhibition elective led by Lauren Garner.
Supervisor: Michael Spooner

RMIT ARCHITECTURE STUDENTS VICTORIAN CHAPTER 2026 SONA SUPER STUDIO RUNNER UP!
Well done to the RMIT Architecture students that participated in this year's student competition SONA Super Studio. Within a week, students developed spaces for observation in response to the theme ‘Pause, Gather, Feel’.
Runner up project ‘In the Current Moment’ completed by RMIT Bachelor of Architectural Design students Pryde Sciascia, Adelina Galliamova and Master of Architecture student Sarah Chen will be published in SONA’s digital zine DePict alongside other submissions.
Text by Sarah, Pryde and Adelina - “Guided by the Māori principle “Ko au te awa, ko te awa ko au”, “I am the river, the river is me”. The project reinterprets the hinaki, a traditional Māori eel trap, as a woven, bio-permeable filtering structure. Demonstrating how Indigenous knowledge systems can repair what our industrial systems have damaged.”


SONA is the Student Organised Network for Architecture and the official student body of the Australian Institute of Architects, this year's RMIT Sona Representative is RMIT Bachelor of Architectural Design student Chauntel Wong ().

Well done all!
Image Credit: Super Studio 2026 submission titled ‘In the Current Moment’ by SAPiens team, Sarah Chen (.chens), Pryde Sciascia (prydesciascia.arch) and Adelina Galliamova (.1nvested).
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RMIT ARCHITECTURE STUDENTS WIN THE 2026 SONA SUPER STUDIO VICTORIAN CHAPTER!
Well done to the RMIT Architecture students that participated in this year's student competition SONA Super Studio. Within a week, students developed spaces for observation in response to the theme ‘Pause, Gather, Feel’.

The winning Victorian chapter entry titled ‘Refugium’ was developed by RMIT Bachelor of Architectural Design students Rowan Taylor, Ruth Martin and Wendy Ding. The team was also shortlisted for the national prize and will undertake an office emersion with a local architecture practice.

Entry text by Rowan Taylor, Ruth Martin and Wendy Ding - “This project represents the problematic correlation between mankind and the environment we occupy. The Refugium is a relict, a surviving remnant from a pre-colonial age, from when the bay had life and colour. Detached from land, the structure gently sways in the waves. Only accessible by boat.”


SONA is the Student Organised Network for Architecture and the official student body of the Australian Institute of Architects, this year's RMIT Sona Representative is RMIT Bachelor of Architectural Design student Chauntel Wong ().

Well done all!
Image Credit: Super Studio 2026 submission titled ‘Refugium’ by rre:new team, Rowan Taylor (), Ruth Martin (._.studio) and Wendy Ding (.wding).
._.martin .ding324

RMIT ARCHITECTURE ALUNMI AND STUDENTS - WINNERS OF THE ROBIN BOYD 2026 SUB-TOPIA COMPETITION!
The competition titled ‘Sub-topia: A clustered vision for living at the urban fringe’ proposed an alternative vision for greenfield development in Victoria, an initiative of Urban Design Forum Australia and Robin Boyd Foundation in partnership with .victoria, , CASBE, , and National Growth Area Alliance. Prizes supported by Ample, Verve, and . Congratulations to RMIT Architecture students and Alumni on being awarded for their projects in the recent Robin Boyd 2026 Sub-Topia Competition!
Emerging category
Winner - $7,000 Prize
A Seed for Housing - Audrey Avianto, Caleb Lee, Flynn Eady- Jennings and Tom Hastie (, .k.l.l, ).
Jury Citation: “The site is immediately imbued with a sense of identity, kicking off the staging plan by creating a naturally filtered swimming pool. While many submissions toyed with a biodiverse lifestyle within generous green space, this entry thoughtfully planned for their ‘looseness’ and communicated its purpose for residents in the most compelling way.”
Team pictured in image 1 by
Images: 2 - 5
Runner up - $3,000 Prize
Common Interest - Oliver Harris, Quinlin Meaden, Arlo Sutcliffe and Will Walker ()
Jury Citation: “Carefully manipulated to create more flexible, nature focused, communal housing that could be readily implemented. The Cluster Plan; an elegant resolution of streets, communal green space, access roads and homes on private lots, framed by open space. Many developers could learn from this approach to create a genuine point of difference in their developments.”
Images: 6 – 9
Congratulations all!
View entries: www.robinboyd.org.au
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RMIT Architecture invites you to a public lecture by CHRISTIANE M. HERR- Future Ecologies: Technology as Mediator Between Natural and Artificial in Future Cities


This talk introduces research and design works of The Future Ecologies Group at the SUSTech School of Design, Shenzhen. Moving beyond architecture as the design of new buildings, the group expands the range of architectural design and address topics such as the development of drone-building interfaces in future urban logistics, designed ecosystems on buildings and the curation of building microbiomes

DATE: Tuesday 11 August 2026
TIME: 6.00pm - 7.00pm
LOCATION: RMIT Design Hub Building 100, Level 3, Ground Level Lecture Theatre, 150 Victoria St, Carlton VIC 3000

POSTER: https://bit.ly/4wDNIk7

Future Ecologies research projects employ science and advanced technologies in the design of high-rise buildings for future high-density cities, including sustainable architectural technologies, structural and material aspects of green building design, integrated facades and new ecological models of artificial environments.


Christiane M. Herr is a Professor, PhD supervisor, and Director of the BEng Industrial Design program at SUSTech. She leads the Future Ecologies Research Group, focusing on ecological design, advanced façade technologies, and digital design. She holds a Dipl.-Ing., MArch, PhD, and a second Dr.-Ing. from the University of Kassel and The University of Hong Kong. Previously, she worked at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Shenzhen University, and National Cheng Kung University. She served as President of CAADRIA for four years and is now vice-chair of the CAADFutures Foundation. She is on the editorial boards of ‘Journal of Architectural Computing’, ‘Construction Robotics’, ‘Sustainable Horizons’ and ‘Architectural Intelligence’, has over 130 peer-reviewed publications and co-edited ‘Design Cybernetics: Navigating the New’ (Springer).


Read more: https://future-ecologies.group/


Image credit: Courtesy of Chtistiane M. Herr.