Our conversationalists for this first ever Newcastle Salon are Natalie Galea and Sam Spurr. Sam is Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Newcastle. Natalie is an expert in gender justice and human rights in the construction sector and human rights in elite sport. Sam and Nat dubbed their wide-ranging, entertaining conversation as speed dating but longer (and with an audience). They discuss their careers, the powerful influences in their lives and the appealing "tempo ...

Our conversationalists for this episode are Alexandra Lawlor and Felicity Stewart. Alex is an Associate Principal and new Studio Leader for Architectus Canberra office. Born and raised in Canberra, Felicity leads the Stewart Architecture Sydney studio and manages projects in Canberra, Sydney and broader NSW. This rich conversation is full of career reflections, sharp insights and wise-cracking anecdotes. Alex and Felicity share stories and observations about Canberra, from its a...

Our conversationalists for this episode are Sharon Mackay and Wei Hsu. Sharon is a Director at JPE Design Studio, a role she took up following extensive experience in government and policy roles, and in communicating architecture and design to broad public audiences. Wei is an architect at Phillips/Pilkington Architects, and a huge stalwart of the Adelaide Salons. A “child of the 70s”, Sharon spent her formative years building resilience in the country surrounded by nature. Drawn to la...

Our conversationalists for this episode are Lucy Burke Smith, a heritage expert and Associate Partner at Purcell, and Gabrielle Phillips, a project architect at Taylor and Hinds Architects. Their conversation was open, generous and wide-ranging, discussing everything from early mentors and influences to lessons learned, the transformative nature of travel, and the joys of living and working in Tasmania. Lucy shares her path from studying in Launceston and Melbourne to working in Hobart and Lo...

Our conversationalists for this episode are Kavita Gonsalves and Tanya Golitschenko. Tanya is a principal at Hassell and recipient of the 2022 Queensland Emerging Architect Prize. Kavita is the Sustainability Design Lead – APAC at Populous. Both care deeply about good leadership, advocacy and mentorship. In this open and generous discussion, Kavita describes her nomadic life, studying and working her way around the world, from Bahrain to India, Scotland and Finland, to Brisbane. Constant mo...

Our conversationalists for this episode are Iranian born Parisa Izadpanahi and Koosha Saririan. Parisa is an Associate Professor and the Architecture Course Leader and Coordinator at Curtin University. Koosha is a registered architect and Project Planning Manager at Curtin. Parisa and her husband made their “dramatic move” to Australia after she was awarded a full scholarship from Deakin University to study the impact of sustainable school design on children’s attitude and behaviours. Ko...

Our conversationalists for this episode are Rana Mohamed and Julia Bell. New to Tasmania at the time of this conversation in early 2024, Dr Rana Mohamed is an architect and interior designer from Egypt with a PhD in sustainability. Julia Bell is Director of Urban Design at Urbis. Julia started out as a town planner working for a local council in Victoria but she “desperately wanted design in my life”, so went on to study urban design in the UK. Rana and Julia discuss the benefits of s...

Our conversationalists for this episode are Kym Muir and Jessika Hames, who met for the first time for this Salon discussion. Kym is a registered architect and Director of Kym Muir Architects and Jessika is a Director of Hames Sharley. Their wide-ranging conversation covers everything from the joys of making lifelong friends at uni, working with family, and the importance of building strong networks of people who understand the challenges of the industry. Jessika and Kym share the...

Our conversationalists for this episode are Emily Paech and Kathy Trelease. Emily is a landscape architect at TCL and one of the Creative Directors for the 2023 Australia Pavilion La Biennale Di Venezia, Unsettling Queenstown. She is passionate about developing dialogue around First Nations knowledge and the built environment. Kathy is a founding Director of Eeles Trelease and brings many years of experience working on complex and large architecture projects in Sydney, London and China. In ...

Our conversationalists for this episode are Yaara Plaves and Alison Cox. Yaara is Head of Sustainability at Hames Sharley, contributing to leadership in sustainability locally and on a national scale. At the time of recording, Alison was Investment Design Coordinator at TAFE NSW, specialising in accessibility and inclusion in architecture, with a focus on educational environments. She also led advocacy efforts for changes to the National Construction Code to allow the provision of all-gender ...

Our conversationalists for this session are Heather MacRae and Felice Burrows. Heather is an Associate at The Fulcrum Agency and Felice is the Co-founder and Director of Architects&Co. Both share a circuitous route to an architecture career, a strong interest in social impact and making a difference, and a sceptical view of the high design elements of the industry. They discuss their shared passion for travel and work in marginalised communities, with Felice working in India on the ...

Our conversationalists for this episode are good friends Shelley Penn and Amy Muir. Shelley is a strategic advisor to government and private sectors, Amy is Director of MUIR Architecture. Both are highly regarded architects, advocates and serious strategic thinkers with a strong commitment to the public realm. Their conversation from 2017 addresses these commitments and the importance of communicating the public value of design, along with career transitions and pathways. But it begins ...

Our conversationalists for this episode are academic and historian Harriet Edquist and Cumulus Studio Associate Lucia Wellington. Harriet brings an enormous breadth of understanding of design across eras, from her historical research and archiving. Lucia is a strong advocate for sustainability within Cumulus and the wider profession. In this thoughtful conversation, Harriet and Lucia discuss the importance of heritage preservation and quality craftsmanship. They share insights into Tasmanian ...

Our conversationalists for this episode are Poppy Taylor and Clare Steen. Poppy is a co-founder of Taylor & Hinds Architects and Clare is a co-Director of Launceston-based Plain Architecture. In this lively, engaging conversation, Poppy and Clare chat about their commonalities – being Tasmanian architects (born, bred and educated) with young families, who are running small practices. They reflect on their education, their younger selves (full of naivety, enthusiasm and brashness), their e...

Our speakers for this episode are good friends Sophie Cleland and Tania Davidge. Sophie is a director at Architectus and Tania is now the CEO of Open House Melbourne. This is a hilarious conversation filled with laughter and a serious commitment to community and political engagement. Tania and Sophie rewrote the brief for Salon asking the audience to direct their conversation in a ‘choose your own adventure’ escapade. The winning topics were ‘boiling frogs’ and ‘turtles all the way down’.&nbs...

Our conversationalists are Samantha Donnelly and Tiana-Jane Furner-McBeath. Sam is an architect, educator and researcher. She is undertaking her PhD at Monash University and is now a lecturer in the School of Interior Architecture at UTS. Tiana-Jane is an Aboriginal woman and architectural graduate at BVN. At the time of the conversation she was living between Gomeroi and Gadigal Country. Tiana-Jane and Sam exchange experiences of working with oppressed or endangered communities, and d...

Our conversationalists for this wonderful episode are Maggie Edmond and Vanessa Bird. It is a celebration of Maggie’s life and work on the occasion of being retrospectively awarded the 2003 Australian Institute of Architects Gold Medal. Vanessa begins by outlining the campaign that enabled this recognition then interviews Maggie about her childhood, family influences and life in practice and beyond. Maggie speaks of growing up in the midst of the Melbourne fashion industry, running errands in...

Our speakers for this episode are Gordana Blazevska and Stephanie Bullock. Gordana is Founding Director of Management for Design and Stephanie is Founding Director of Kosloff Architecture. Stephanie moved from finance into architecture, while Gordana is an accountant who works with architectural and design practices. They met for the first time for this cross-disciplinary conversation, and got on famously – they have subsequently run a marathon together! Together, they compare the similaritie...

Our conversationalists for this episode are Birdy Bird from Land Back Foundation and Jade Kake of Matakohe architecture + urbanism. They share stories and wisdom, and find much common ground. Both are incredibly articulate and generous speakers, providing a jam-packed session of information and advice. The conversation was wide-ranging, from land rights and reparations in both Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, to the importance of active listening, consensus building, and critic...

Our conversationalists for this episode are Minnie Cade and Sonia Sarangi. Both Melbourne-based architects, they met for the first time for this conversation. Sonia is a director at Andever and, at the time of the recording, Minnie was a Principal at Wardle. Their conversation canvasses collaboration and independence in the workplace and the intersections of personal and professional lives. Minnie speaks of her background as an elite rower and the influence of this on how she leads tea...