The theme for the RIAI Annual Conference is Climate Change | Housing | Placemaking. A fantastic line-up of Irish and international speakers – including the Danish architect and urbanist Jan Gehl; architect Lorcan O’Herlihy with offices in LA and Detroit; and Swedish architect Monica von Schmalensee – will discuss these themes over two days on Friday 4 and Saturday 5 October 2019 in the RDS, Dublin. The RIAI Annual Conference is the largest gathering of architects and built environment stakeholders. The Outhaus Group are the premium supporters again for the RIAI Annual Conference.
Join the RIAI for two days of topical talks and discussions as well as an opportunity to network and visit the Architecture and Building Expo, which runs alongside the RIAI Annual Conference.
Early Bird Booking is now live.
RIAI Conference Line Up
Jan Gehl
Renowned Danish Architect, Professor and Urbanist, Jan Gehl, will address the RIAI Annual Conference on Friday 4 October. Jan Gehl has focused his career on improving the quality of urban life, by reorienting the design of the city towards the pedestrians, public life and cyclists. His books include the by now classics “Life between Buildings” and “Cities for People”. Published in more than 40 languages. Major City improvement projects with Gehl Architects include Copenhagen, Melbourne, Sydney, London, New York and Moscow. In 2018, Jan Gehl was awarded an Honorary Fellowship from the RIAI. He has also been awarded honorary Doctor Degrees in Edinburgh, Toronto, Varna and Halifax and is honorary fellow of the Architectural Institutes in Denmark, UK (RIBA), USA, Canada, Scotland, Ireland as well as the Planning Institutes in Australia and Ireland.
Monica von Schmalensee
Monica von Schmalensee is architect and senior partner at White Arkitekter as well as a strategic advisor for the Swedish government as Deputy National Architect and President at the Council of Sustainable Cities. In 2017 she was appointed as a Design Advocate for the Mayor of London. Monica believes in human-centered design and that architecture and planning can change the quality of life in many ways. The vision is to contribute to the development of cities where people can live climate-friendly, healthy and safe.
Lorcan O’Herlihy
Award-winning architect Lorcan O’Herlihy – with offices in LA and Detroit – will deliver a keynote at the RIAI Annual Conference on 4 October. Lorcan will speak on the theme of ‘Social Occupation’, saying “as architects, we have a responsibility to cities and the people who occupy them”. His presentation will highlight the idea that architecture is a social act – a tool for engaging in politics, economics, aesthetics, and smart growth. As global cities become denser and the need for housing greater, it is more critical than ever to design spaces that promote equity, human interaction, and cultural evolution. Since founding his firm in 1994, Lorcan O’Herlihy, FAIA has utilised architecture as a catalyst of change to shape and enrich the complex, urban landscape of our contemporary cities. The work of his firm, Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects (LOHA), is guided by a conscious understanding that architecture operates within a layered context of political, developmental, environmental, and social structures. With studios in Los Angeles and Detroit, LOHA has built over 90 projects across three continents.
More speakers to be announced soon. The RIAI Annual Conference is supported by the OUTHAUS Group – find out more online here.