Urban Dialogues - Exploring Canberra's Built Environment

Great cities don’t just happen. Join Salon Canberra and leading design thinkers Professor Rob Adams AM, Dr Erin Hinton, and Felicity Stewart for an exploration of the critical aspects of creating dynamic and inclusive cities.

Urban design is a story of cumulative small actions and the long view. We’ll explore how empty office buildings can be revitalised, stimulating restaurants, bars, supermarkets, community facilities, and the vitality of the city. It takes the public, including developers, residents, artists artists, and business owners, to embrace the streets and create lively communities. We need a strong collective vision of what we want.

As Canberra’s population grows, we stand on the threshold of leveraging design, planning, and community engagement to shape Canberra’s public landscape, address urban opportunities, and unlock the potential of our transitional spaces. The conversation will provide insights into Canberra’s public landscape, urban design challenges, the role of in-between spaces, and the collaborative efforts required to build inclusive and vibrant communities.

Why attend?

For urban planners, architects, designers, developers, policymakers, community leaders, and anyone passionate about the future of Canberra’s built environment. By attending you’ll gain valuable insights from leading design thinkers on current developments and best practices in urban planning and design. You’ll have the opportunity to engage in meaningful dialogue about revitalising public spaces, the benefits of densification, and balancing legacy with innovation, and to network with industry peers.

Speakers:

· Professor Rob Adams AM, Architect and Urban Designer

· Dr Erin Hinton, Associate Dean, Faculty of Arts and Design, University of Canberra

· Felicity Stewart, Director, Stewart Architecture

More about our speakers:

Professor Rob Adams AM, Architect and Urban Designer

Professor Rob Adams AM is a multi-award-winning architect and urban designer. He was until recently the City Architect at the City of Melbourne and is currently the Director of the urban design and architecture practice, Adams Urban. Over his 40 years at the City of Melbourne, Rob co-authored the 1985 Strategy Plan and worked to implement it, playing a significant role in the transformation of central Melbourne. The teams he led received over 175 international, state and local awards.

Rob has received the Australian Institute of Architect’s National President’s Award (2018), the Prime Minister’s Environmentalist of the Year (2008), and an Order of Australia (2007). He represented Australia on the Future of Cities Council of the World Economic Forum, 2008-2022 and is sought after as an expert on cities both nationally and internationally. He is a Life Fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects and an Honorary Fellow of the Planning Institute of Australia.

Dr Erin Hinton is an architect, urban researcher and educator and currently sits as Chair of the ACT Architects Board.

Erin has extensive research and project experience across a range of project types and scales including; urban design, master-planning, commercial, mixed-use, and high-density residential. In 2010 Erin established HINTON Architects (HA); a multi-disciplinary design and architecture firm underpinned by collaborative and research-driven practice models.

In addition to her widely recognised project work (built and cultural), Erin’s research speculates on the future of cities by exploring the limits of existing precepts to reshape our ideologies about space and encounter.

In her spare time, Erin enjoys day dreaming about futures (im)possible.

Felicity Stewart is an architect and urban designer and Director of Stewart Architecture leading the Sydney studio. Felicity works at all scales of the built environment and helps drive the design direction of projects across the office.

Felicity worked on the award-winning Green Square Library and Plaza which opened in 2018 to critical acclaim. The project involved community consultation, stakeholder engagement, design advisory panel presentations, and multiple additional workshops, events, and talks. Green Square Library and Plaza won the Sir Zelman Cowen Award for Public Architecture and an award in the urban design category at the 2019 Australian Institute of Architects national awards, together with a range of other awards both locally and internationally.

Felicity has been involved in a number of major projects in both Canberra and Sydney including master plans, design excellence competitions, and urban propositions for local and state government and clients in the private sector. Felicity is a former member of the GANSW State Design Review Panel and now consults to the GANSW assisting with the development of the review processes. She is currently a panel member for the National Capital Design Review Panel ACT and has served as a jury member for AIA and competitions in VIC.