Introduction
Critical Visions: Form, Representation and the Culture of Globalisation
Thursday 10 – Sunday 12 April
Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour
We seem to be in a period of unparalleled excess, spectacle and formal indulgence played out against a backdrop of environmental crisis, extreme social inequity and cultural alienation. At the same time this appears to be a moment of great formal innovation, genuine creative insight and technological potential.
The Critical Visions conference will offer a moment to pause and reflect on the nature of this intense period of extreme architectural production, the globalised exportation of architectural culture and the generation of form and meaningful social representations.
The conference will explore a related series of architectural dialectics; criticism and ideology; form generation and civic representation, materiality and abstraction, and the sensory and the simulated, within our contemporary context of cultural globalisation, climate change and the domination of capital.
Australian and International architects and academics will explore these dialectics through a series of presentations, panel discussions and jury critiques of projects, ideas and propositions.
Richard Francis-Jones, Creative Director
Creative Director
Leading architect Richard Francis-Jones has accepted the post of Creative Director for the RAIA 2008 National Conference
Richard Francis-Jones is best known as the design partner of award-winning practice Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp (fjmt). He started his architectural journey at the University of Sydney, graduating with the University Medal in Architecture in 1985. He then traveled to the United States on scholarship and continued his studies at Columbia University, where he gained a Masters in Architecture in 1987. During this period, he practiced at firms in New York, Los Angeles and Paris before returning to Sydney in 1989.
A passionate educator, Richard has tutored and lectured in architecture, design and theory locally and abroad since 1987. He has worked alongside Kenneth Frampton in the United States, taught at the University of Sydney and is currently Adjunct Professor at the University of NSW. Richard is an editor of Content, a critical review of architecture and has written extensively on architecture. His papers and projects have been widely published in Australian and in international magazines and books. He is frequently asked to speak at conferences and forums, and to give public comment on a range of urban design and architectural issues.
Richard has convened several architectural theory conferences, including ‘On Monumentality’ (2001) and ‘Tectonic Form and Critical Culture’ (2004). He is a past president of the RAIA NSW Chapter and former member of the NSW Board of Architects/Architects Registration Board.
fjmt, formerly a part of mgt architects, is noted for its commitment to the public domain. Projects led by Richard have received many RAIA awards including top state and national awards for public architecture, including the Sir Zelman Cowen Award (2000), the Sir John Sulman Medallion (2000, 2005), the Lloyd Rees Civic Design Award (2000), the National Interior Architecture Award (1994, 1999) and the Canberra Medallion (1999).
In 2005, fjmt’s New Headquarters for the Historic Houses Trust – The Mint in Macquarie Street, Sydney, was awarded the Sir John Sulman Medallion for Architecture, Francis Greenway Award for Conservation and Lachlan Macquarie Award for Heritage. This was the first time in the history of the NSW awards that the highest awards for public architecture and conservation were given to the same project.
Venue
Perfectly located in Darling Harbour, the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre is Australia’s largest and most successful venue for conferences, exhibitions and special events. A range of accommodation options, restaurants, attractions, and a retail marketplace make Darling Harbour a drawcard for Sydneysiders and visitors alike.
Keynote Presentations, Panel Presentations and Keynote Panel Discussions
Parkside Auditorium
Level 1, Convention Centre Parkside
Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre
Darling Drive, Darling Harbour
Jury Sessions & Stute
Parkside 110
Level 1, Convention Centre Parkside
Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre
Darling Drive, Darling Harbour
Form & Function, with designEx:
Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre
Exhibition Halls 1-6
Darling Drive, Darling Harbour
Continuing Professional Development
Continuing Professional Development is an important focus of Critical Visions 08. The conference provides the opportunity to build your knowledge across a range of engaging and relevant topics, making a significant contribution to your CPD needs.
Download the CPD Points Allocation Table
Can I achieve my annual CPD requirements by attending the conference?
Under the requirements of the AACA/RAIA Joint Policy on Continuing Professional Development and the NSW Architects Registration Board policy on Continuing Professional Education architects should undertake a minimum of twenty hours of CPD annually (20 points). Activities should relate to at least two of the National Competency Standards in Architecture and a minimum of ten hours should be formal CPD.
By attending all the conference sessions and completing the required assessment activities, it would be possible to achieve all 20 hours of CPD across the three days.
For example:
You could identify seven of the keynote sessions that meet your CPD requirements. You decide to undertake these as formal CPD. The seven sessions would provide 10.5 formal hours in total (7 @ 1.5 hours).
You attend all other sessions of the conference across the three days – a total of ten hours informal CPD.
Combined in this manner, the conference would provide 20.5 hours of CPD in total, meeting the requirement for a minimum of ten hours formal CPD.
How have points been allocated?
Consistent with the policies of the RAIA and the NSW Architects Registration Board, points have been allocated to sessions on the basis of one point for every hour of involvement. In the case of formal sessions, the assessment activity is included as part of the time involved with the session. This means that treating a session as formal CPD provides greater points value.
For example, a session of 1.25 hours provides 1.25 informal points or 1.5 formal points with the extra involvement required to undertake the assessment activity.
The attached table outlines the CPD points allocation for each of the sessions.
Note that not all sessions provide opportunities for formal CPD.
Why do some sessions provide informal and formal CPD?
Formal CPD is an activity that is formally assessed. All the conference sessions provide informal CPD. You can choose to make a session formal by undertaking the assessment activity as well. Whether you treat the sessions as informal or formal will depend on your own CPD requirements.
How are the formal sessions assessed?
The formal assessment will require attendees to complete and submit a brief written report about the session. You will be provided with guidelines about the format, structure and suggested length as part of the conference kit.
Sample reports for formal sessions will also be available for self checking on the RAIA website after the conference.
Further details on the assessment activities will be provided shortly.
