Act: The RA Architecture Symposium

Expect thought provoking presentations from spatial practitioners on angles including activism, the agency of architects, collaboration, theatricality, and narrative in architecture, all inspired by this year's festival theme of 'Act'. The day will also connect to the Royal Academy exhibition John Hejduk: London Masque, exploring Hejduk’s idea of ‘Building Worlds’, and the way that architecture can help us to imagine alternative realities as part of a wider cultural conversation.

A lunchtime keynote will be delivered by Lina Ghotmeh, founder and principle of Lina Ghotmeh Architects, a multi-award winning practice based in Paris, France. She will talk about her humanist approach to architecture, and the guiding principle of an 'archaeology of the future'.

After the keynote, the day will be broken into two panels, with the first three papers examining architecture and activism, and the second three looking at memory and narrative. Kester Rattenbury will deliver a short 'epilogue' inspired by Thomas Hardy and his expanded view of what the role of an architect could entail.

The symposium will be followed by a debate, with a panel discussion inspired by the question, 'can architects make a difference?'.