Ultramarine conversations: architecture and the environment (in person)

This event is presented in partnership with the Asia Pacific Architecture Festival.

Brydon Wang and Dr Margaret Cook will meet on the Art Museum lawn for a discussion with Dirk Yates about water environments and how architecture has responded to these places in the past and future propositions. Set alongside the outdoor installation of SUPERFLEX’s Dive-In, the panel will take the work’s speculative provocation – architecture for a submerged world – as a leaping off point for a critical consideration of the built environment and the waters we inhabit.

Brydon Wang is an academic in Law and Architecture at The University of Queensland. He researches in the confluence of law, technology and society, and examines the increasing need for cities to engage with buoyant urbanism to address the incursion of water. Brydon was recently featured on ABC Radio National's 'Future Tense' where he discussed offshore architecture and marine urban sprawl, and on Seeker's popular documentary, 'How close are we to Living in the Ocean?'. His recent book ‘Automating Cities: Design, Construction, Operation and Future Impact’ considers the regulation and trustworthy design of automated decision-making systems deployed in cities, infrastructure delivery and new ways people can come together to live, work and play.

Dr Margaret Cook is a History Lecturer at the University of the Sunshine Coast and holds Honorary Research Fellow positions at the University of Queensland and La Trobe University. Her recent books are 'A River with a City Problem: A History of Brisbane Floods' and an edited collection with Scott McKinnon, 'Disasters in Australia and New Zealand: Historical Approaches to Understanding Catastrophe'. She was the recipient of the John and Ruth Kerr Medal of Distinction for excellence in historiography, historical research and writing in 2020. An environmental and social historian, Margaret’s current research interests include histories of disasters and coastal erosion.

Dirk Yates is director of Speculative Architecture specialising in the design of institutional buildings & landscapes, the design of exhibitions, and integrated artworks. He previously co-directed artspace The Farm (2002 – 2004), on Brisbane’s George Street, and was a co-editor of the periodical Local Art (2003 – 2004).

Presented alongside the Art Museum's "Oceanic Thinking" exhibition.