Design Futures Forum: Living Tropical

Tropical cities like Cairns are evolving—shaped by climate, housing demand and changing community need. This presents a real opportunity to rethink how we design our homes and our city, creating places that are equally liveable, resilient and connected.

Join us at this forum, where interstate and local experts will share ideas and insights grounded in the realities of tropical life. Through open discussion, explore housing, city-making and the role design can play in shaping Cairns’ future.

Speakers include:

John Ellway: Compact Living with Landscape  (12:50pm - 1:40pm)

Award-winning Queensland architect, John Ellway, will share insights on designing compact homes for tropical living.

Brian Robinson: Art of Culture, Place and Identity (2:50pm - 3:35pm)

Join us for a yarn with Brian Robinson, Cairns-based artist with an international presence. Brian will showcase examples of public art - including his major new installation at QPAC's Glasshouse Theatre in Brisbane - and talk about his process of making public art, reflecting on Culture place and identity.

Jennie Officer: Approaches to affordable housing (4pm - 4:45pm)

Jennie Officer from Officer Woods Architects (WA) will be joined by Aidan Lang, CEO Access Community Housing to discuss social and affordable housing.

Martin O'Dea: Lessons from Darwin, Cooling a Tropical City (1:40pm - 2:25pm)

Award-winning landscape architect Martin O’Dea of Clouston (NSW/NT) will be sharing about his work in Darwin, which is on the frontlines for urban heat. He'll explore what has worked and what hasn't on a number of projects including the Cooling Darwin program.

Laura Harding: Precincts for People and Place (4:45pm - 5:30pm)

Laura Harding, Urban Designer (NSW) will explore city resilience and community-focused design on an urban scale.

Tickets on sale now via Ticketlink

The Design Futures Forum: Living Tropical event is proudly supported by Australian Institute of Architects (AIA), the Planning Institute of Australia (PIA), the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) and Women in Construction.