Future Needs
May 23–28, 2019
Presented by the Naomi Milgrom Foundation, the third annual Living Cities Forum opened this week in Melbourne and Sydney with a line-up of international architects and urban design thinkers. With the theme Future Needs, Living Cities Forum brought together leading design voices from around the world to interrogate how best to address our changing living conditions, from global warming to population density, cultural movements and social inequality. Speakers included Australia’s only Pritzker Architecture Prize laureate Glenn Murcutt AO; New York-based cultural historian and designer Mabel O. Wilson; Los Angeles’ chief design officer Christopher Hawthorne, and Bangkok-based architect Rachaporn Choochuey.
Naomi Milgrom AO, founder of the Naomi Milgrom Foundation, said: “The overwhelming response to this year’s expanded Living Cities Forum in Melbourne and Sydney demonstrates there’s an appetite in the design community for thoughtful and creative responses to the challenges ahead for our cities. We are in a time where coming together as cultures, communities and thought leaders is the only way we can build prosperous and cohesive societies, and I am delighted to see how Living Cities Forum is part of that endeavor.”
Victorian Minister for Creative Industries, Martin Foley said: “The Living Cities Forum is a chance to reflect on how government, industry and community can shape better design and architecture outcomes in our cities. The Andrews Government is proud to support this event, and recognises design as a critical capability for our shared future—one that can greatly enhance our livability, our social wellbeing and our economy.”
New South Wales Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, Rob Stokes said: “I’m thrilled the Living Cities Forum took place in Sydney for the first time. Great public spaces help to create healthy, happy, safe and connected communities. Sydney’s future needs are as much about open space as they are about the built environment. We have much to share with, and much to learn from, other great global cities and this event was a fantastic opportunity for Sydney’s design and placemaking community.”
Distinguished in their fields, attending speakers included:
Glenn Murcutt AO, Sydney: Australia’s only Pritzker Architecture Prize laureate and MPavilion 2019 architect; a national treasure renowned for his unfailing architectural integrity.
Mabel O. Wilson, New York City: Cultural historian and architect, addressing social inequality in the built environment.
Christopher Hawthorne, Los Angeles: Former Los Angeles Times architecture critic and newly appointed Chief Design Officer of the City of Los Angeles.
Rachaporn Choochuey, Bangkok: Co-founder of innovative Bangkok-based architecture and design studio all (zone) ltd, designing for high-density living.
Catherine Mosbach, Paris: Founder of Paris-based landscape architecture firm mosbach paysagiste, designing for collective experience.
Adrian Lahoud, London: Dean of the School of Architecture at the Royal College of Art London; research into the spatial impact of climate and migration.
By 2050, the population of Australia’s major cities is predicted to nearly double, while global warming and its associated effects will significantly alter our urban and regional environments. Divided into two sessions—Tomorrow’s City and Latent Conditions, the Forum addressed the fast-changing social and political environments in which architects and urban planners now practice, with direct attention to the needs and wellbeing of young and unborn generations. Along with a series of satellite events and workshops in both cities, speakers and moderators enagaged in individual presentations and panel conversations, giving the local design community an opportunity to connect with international thought leadership.
The Living Cities Forum Melbourne is supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria, Development Victoria and ANZ, and presented by the Naomi Milgrom Foundation in partnership with Open House Melbourne with the assistance of Melbourne School of Design, Monash University, RMIT University, Australian Institute of Architects and Planning Institute of Australia.
The Living Cities Forum Sydney is supported by Create NSW and ANZ, and presented by the Naomi Milgrom Foundation in partnership with University of Technology Sydney with the assistance of The Committee for Sydney, Australian Institute of Architects, Planning Institute of Australia, Carriageworks and Grimshaw.
For further details please visit www.livingcitiesforum.org.
About Naomi Milgrom Foundation
The Naomi Milgrom Foundation was founded in 2014, and its purpose is to enrich Australian cultural life by engaging new audiences with exceptional art, design and architecture. The Foundation, led by philanthropist Naomi Milgrom AO, has become a model for public-private collaboration by enabling new projects with a focus on public, industry and education components.
A not-for-profit organisation, the Foundation champions multidisciplinary projects that explore design’s close interconnections with contemporary culture. The MPavilion series is the Foundation’s centerpiece project, encouraging design debate and cultural exchange, and has become Australia’s leading architecture commission.
MPavilion this year will be designed by Glenn Murcutt AO and will open free to the public on November 14, 2019 in Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Gardens.
At the end of each season MPavilion is gifted to the City of Melbourne and moved to a permanent new home. MPavilion 2018 was designed by Spaniard Carme Pinós of Estudio Carme Pinós with details of the relocation soon to be announced. In 2017 it was designed by the Netherlands-based OMA/ Rem Koolhaas & David Gianotten (now located at Monash University’s Clayton campus); MPavilion 2016 was designed by Bijoy Jain of Studio Mumbai India (Melbourne Zoo); MPavilion 2015 was designed by British architect Amanda Levete of AL_A (Collins Street, Docklands), and renowned Australian architect Sean Godsell designed the inaugural MPavilion 2014 (Hellenic Museum).
Contact: media [at] mpavilion.org
