In collaboration with the Alastair Swayn Foundation and the University of Canberra.

The burning questions of the future of humanity need to be considered within areas inhabited by most of the population today: the cities. How and where we live is one of the biggest challenges of the century. High- and low-density residential architecture are two extreme approaches to dwelling, both with negative outcomes. This symposium seeks to overcome the dialectics, discussing medium density typology from the political, environmental, and cultural aspects, touching on past and future developments.

Featuring keynote speaker, Adjunct Professor Tony Fry of the University of Tasmania, founder and director of The Studio at the Edge of the World, Visiting Professor at the University of Ibague, Columbia, and a rich and diverse panel of academic and industry experts Emeritus Professor Simon Anderson (University of Western Australia), Jeremy Mather (Director of Mather Architecture), Jenny Edwards (Owner, Managing Director and Lead Scientist of Lighthouse Architecture), and Rahmatollah Amirjani (Architecture Lecturer at University of Canberra) convened by Dr Milica Muminovic, Senior Lecturer with the Faculty of Arts and Design as they discuss the future of medium density and what can be gained by examining Canberra’s historic examples.

Dr Tony Fry is an Adjunct Professor, Design and Architecture, University of Tasmania, Visiting Professor, University of Ibagué (Colombia), Director, Studio at the Edge of the World, Launceston. Tony has led design projects nationally and internationally and held academic positions in Australia , the Americas, Asia and Europe. He is the author of twenty books, including Remaking Cities: An Introduction to Metrofitting (Bloomsbury, 2017), and most recently, Writing Design Fiction, Relocating a City in Crisis (Bloomsbury, 2022).

Simon Anderson taught and practised architecture at The University of Western Australia (UWA) continuously from 1989 until April 2020. During that time he: won University and national awards and citations for excellence in teaching; won awards, prizes and commendations for buildings and competition designs for residential, multi-residential, institutional and industrial buildings; curated major architectural exhibitions; exhibited buildings and projects internationally; wrote on contemporary Australian architecture; authored expert opinions; produced competition briefs; was an elected councillor of the Australian Institute of Architects (AIA) for a decade. He was Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, Landscape & Visual Arts at UWA from 2010-6 and was elevated in 2012 to Life Fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects (AIA) in honour of outstanding contributions to architectural education and the profession. Since 2020 he has been a Senior Honorary Research Fellow at the UWA School of Design and has established the architectural practice SURDUM focusing on medium density residential projects in Western Australia.

Jenny Edwards is the sole owner and Director of Light House Architecture and Science, a multi-award-winning practice that integrates science into the design process to deliver highly efficient, climate resilient homes in the Canberra region. With over 150 projects in Canberra, Light House has demonstrated that there is growing demand for smaller, smarter, sustainable housing. Jenny and her team are also passionate about communicating the science and architecture of sustainable housing to a broad audience, and they regularly participate in educational and public awareness-raising events. In 2019, Jenny was awarded the Clem Cummings Medal by the ACT branch of the Institute of Architects in recognition of her contributions to architecture and the built environment. In 2018 her personal home won the national HIA GreenSmart Sustainable Home of the Year award.

Jeremy is an award winning architect and Director responsible for overseeing the design and delivery of all projects at Mather Architecture. He established the firm in 2012 after working as a Senior Architect on a range of large-scale urban, education, residential and infrastructure projects throughout the United Kingdom and Australia. Jeremy is registered in both Australia and the UK and is a Chartered Member Architect of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). After working in the UK, Jeremy’s humanitarian nature led him to volunteer as the Government Architect of the Republic of Kiribati in the central Pacific where he worked on a range of essential facilities including local Community Centres and Women’s shelters across the regional islands. He is passionate about designing alternative housing solutions to assist in addressing housing affordability in the ACT. His eye for careful and elegant design ensures his contribution as an architect to public and residential architecture is both contemporary and timeless.

Rahmatollah AMIRJANI (Rom) is a PhD graduate in Architecture, Construction Project Manager, and a Lecturer at the University of Canberra, Australia. His research interest includes the history and theory of architecture with a specific focus on the question of housing. Rahmatollah’s research investigates the dichotomy between traditions and modernity; in addition, his studies focus on contemporary movements in the provision of public housing, and the effects of housing policies on different communities.