Promoting connections across the design and access communities.
August saw Cathryn Grant, Access Leader Victoria and Peter Smith, Business Development Manager attend the 2026 Living Cities Forum at the Melbourne’s iconic Federation Square.
This was the second time Architecture and Access were represented, the first being is 2024.
The Forum is an initiative of the Naomi Milgrom Foundation, wherein the “Living Cities Forum brings together international urban designers, thinkers and place makers to share inspiring, actionable ideas to improve the cities of today and tomorrow.”
“Cities Made with Care” was this year’s focus. International and local leading thinkers and practitioners presented research and projects that both challenged and encouraged attendees to consider the city as a complex organic entity, demanding sensitive care in its design.
The keynote overseas speakers were Finn Williams (Sweden’s City of Malmö architect and urbanist), Ludwig Engel (Germany’s HouseEurope! Campaigner and futurologist) and Anupama Kundoo, an architect and educator active across Europe and India. Thoughtful Australian perspectives were provided by an engaging range of academics, designers and property industry leaders such as Elizabeth Seuseu (Associate Principal, Architectus) and Milieu Property’s Shannon Peach (Co-Director, Head of Development).
Throughout the day, we were invited to consider how the development of a city should be done with care, with decisions calibrated to the awareness of local cultural meanings, adaptive reuse and viewing the city as a resource, especially when considering older or functionally redundant building stock. In the case of the community-driven non-profit HouseEurope! initiative, we witnessed compelling examples of how collaborative advocacy involving policy makers, designers and residents can recast older structures into affordable, attractive housing – a theme particularly relevant in our Australian context. The “City of the Future” is already with us, wherein the materiality of the built environment combined with communities’ needs and aspirations form the cornerstones for its continual evolution.
The Forum offered a thought-provoking setting for the sharing of ideas focussed on improving where and how we live in our growing urban settings. For Cathryn and Peter, Living Cities Forum underscored the importance of creating spaces and places that are inherently inclusive and useful for all, thereby providing unencumbered access to the richness of city living.
Our attendance promoted connections with associates across the design and access advocacy communities, thereby further elevating the appreciation of the breadth of services provided by the team at Architecture and Access.
Further information can be sourced at: https://livingcitiesforum.org/
