The Australian Institute of Architects has announced the first round of speakers for its 2026 Australian Architecture Conference, to be held in Brisbane from 30–31 October.
The conference, titled Together. Or Not at All? will be hosted at the Concert Hall of the Queensland Performing Arts Centre and at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.
“Architecture is often practised in isolation – in studios, on site, behind screens, but it only advances through conversation,” the Institute said. “The 2026 Australian Architecture Conference brings Australia’s architects together for the profession’s most important conversation in a decade: about practice, advocacy, climate, housing, equity and what it means to stay relevant in a rapidly changing world.”
The invited Australian and international speakers are “actively shaping where things are going,” the Institute said.
Keynote addresses will be delivered by:
Ilze Wolff of Wolff Architects (South Africa)
Ilze Wolff is an architect and scholar whose work spans design, teaching and heritage consulting, and who leads a transdisciplinary research practice with Heinrich Wolff based in South Africa. She received a Master of Philosophy in Heritage and Public Culture from the African Studies Unit at the University of Cape Town.
A professor of practice in architecture at the School of Architecture at Liverpool University (2023), Ilze Wolff has also led an Advanced Architectural Design Studio at Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (2023). In 2007, she co-founded Open House Architecture, a transdisciplinary research practice that she continues to direct in parallel to Wolff.
Heinrich Wolff of Wolff Architects (South Africa)
Heinrich Wolff is an architect and project manager recognised for award-winning work. In 2011, he was elected as the Designer of the Future by the Wouter Mikmak Foundation. He has also held several academic appointments: as a visiting professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (2021/2022), the University of Goa (2017), the ETH in Zürich (2014–2015), the Università Iuav di Venezia (2013) and Washington University in St. Louis (2015), and he has been an adjunct associate professor at UCT, Cape Town.
His practice with Ilze Wolff, founded in 2012, is driven by a philosophical concern for developing an architectural practice of consequence. The practice’s various outputs include the design of buildings, landscapes, scenographies and events, advocacy for spatial justice, research, films and curatorial practice.
Simon Pendal of Simon Pendal Architects (Australia)
Simon Pendal is a Fremantle-based architect whose practice, Simon Pendal Architect, focuses on small, thoughtful projects that linger in the memory of users and are shaped by close observation of context. In addition to single houses, additions and outbuildings, the practice’s work includes small public buildings such as the St Thomas More Columbarium, and larger projects such as Reclaiming Kalyenup for the Menang Noongar and Museum of the Great Southern.
Pendal is an associate professor and co-chair of the studio programme at the University of Notre Dame in Fremantle, and is a former curator of a monthly newspaper column in the West Australian. In 2016, Pendal completed a practice-based PhD at RMIT entitled Entrainment: An Architecture of Feeling and Thinking.
Simon Quilty of Office (Australia)
Simon Quilty is chief operational officer at Wilya Janta, an innovative Aboriginal not-for-profit cultural consultancy that promotes community agency in the design and construction of housing in Indigenous communities. Quilty’s work is driven by a growing understanding of the relationship between land, culture and the built environment – and the ways in which contemporary housing often ignores both. Wilya Janta’s work challenges conventional thinking, calling instead for deep listening and for Aboriginal people to lead the agenda in shaping housing futures.
Jimmy Frank Jupurrurla (Australia)
Jimmy Frank Jupurrurla is a Warumungu man from Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory, whose knowledge of housing and community life is grounded in lived experience, rather than formal training. His understanding is deeply embedded in Country — in climate, culture and the everyday realities of how people live. Over a lifetime, Jupurrurla has witnessed the systemic failure of housing for his people, and yet continues to bring insight, humour and clarity to conversations about what needs to change. He is currently working as chief cultural officer at Wilya Janta, alongside Simon Quilty, to deliver culturally appropriate homes for Indigenous communities.
Carroll Go-Sam (Australia)
Carroll Go-Sam is Dyirbal gumbilbara bama of Ravenshoe, North Queensland. She is a graduate in architecture from the University of Queensland, where she is now a senior lecturer in the School of Architecture, Design and Planning, with a focus on diverse, Indigenous-focused research projects. She is currently undertaking studies in Indigenous social housing, health and climate resilience centring on communities of Yarrabah, Queensland, and Tennant Creek.
Go-Sam will facilitate a panel discussion between Qulity and Jupurrurla, following their keynote.
Patrick Kennedy (Australia)
Patrick Kennedy is a founding partner of Kennedy Nolan who helped establish and continues to lead the practice’s design direction. In addition to practice, Kennedy is an active contributor to the Australian Institute of Architects, has taught at the University of Melbourne and regularly engages with the design community through talks and writing. He was a foundation member of the Boyd Circle and is now on the board of the Robin Boyd Foundation, which seeks to influence public policy in the progressive spirit of Robin Boyd.
Rachel Nolan (Australia)
Alongside Patrick Kennedy, Rachel Nolan is a founding partner of Kennedy Nolan. Nolan is crucially involved in the design direction of the practice, but also in building and maintaining a positive and creative workplace. She is curious about people, culture and the mystery and magic of place. Her work is conceptually driven but realised with pragmatism and humour.
Over 25 years in practice, Rachel has contributed more broadly to the architecture profession through lectures, teaching, mentoring and collaborations. She has served the Australian Institute of Architects as a lecturer, juror and committee member. She is currently a member of the Victorian Design Review Panel and a founding member of the Boyd Circle.
The steering committee responsible for shaping the 2026 program comprises Andrew D’Occhio, Gina Engelhardt, Shaneen Fantin, Jack Gillmer, Blake Hillebrand, Ian Moore, Debjani Sarkar, David Wagner and Cameron Bruhn. They are joined by a fringe committee including James Du Plessis (chair), Dr Ashley Paine, Dr Cecilia Bischeri, Hudson Smith, Dr Kirsty Volz, Liehan Janse van Rensburg, Prof Paul Loh, Sam Bowstead, Senlina Mayer and Yolande Vorste.
More speakers and program updates will be released in the coming weeks. Visit the conference website for tickets and more information.
Source: Architecture - architectureau
