The Future Suburb Symposium

The Australian suburb is changing faster than the architectures, infrastructures and planning models that continue to shape it. While suburban life today is increasingly complex, diverse and inventive, the environments we are building too often remain generic, repetitive and under-serviced.

The Future Suburb Symposium brings together leading architects, urban thinkers, researchers and practitioners to explore one of the defining challenges facing Australian cities today: how can we create suburbs that better reflect the needs, ambitions and potential of the communities who live there?

Through six interconnected themes — Life, Image, System, Modes, Design and Provocation — the symposium will challenge long-held assumptions about suburban development, examine contemporary conditions, and imagine new possibilities for the future of Australian suburban life.

This year's symposium features an outstanding line-up of local and international guests, including:

• Martino Tattara and Pier Vittorio Aureli – architects, researchers, educators and co-founders of Brussels-based practice Dogma internationally recognised for its influential work on urbanism, domestic space and large-scale architectural interventions that explore architecture's social and political potential.
• Willow Lung – scholar specialising in equitable community development, economic inclusion, suburban transformation and urban policy.
• Ryan Conroy – Los Angeles-based architect and principal of Hair Conroy, whose work operates at the intersection of architecture and the broader disciplines shaping the built environment.

Convened by Professor Alan Pert, Dr Ash Alam, Dr Delia Teschendorff and Associate Professor Rory Hyde, the symposium offers a unique opportunity for practitioners, students, policymakers, researchers and community leaders to engage with fresh perspectives on the future of suburbia.

_{The suburb remains where most Australians live, work, learn and build community, yet it is often overlooked as a site of innovation and critical design thinking. The Future Suburb Symposium creates a platform for leading local and international voices to examine how our suburbs are changing and to explore new models for creating places that are more equitable, sustainable, connected and responsive to contemporary life. Attendees will gain valuable insights into emerging ideas, research and practice, while joining an important conversation about shaping the future of Australian communities. Convenors, Future Suburb Symposium}

View the Symposium website

Sponsors

We thank our sponsors for their valued support of the Future Suburb Symposium.

Their partnership enables a program that connects research, practice and policy makers to deliver impactful outcomes.

The participation of Pier Vittorio Aureli and Martino Tattara in this symposium is made possible by the Robert Garland Treseder Fellowship.

The work was undertaken in collaboration with the Melbourne Data Analytics Platform (MDAP) at the University of Melbourne.