On 2–4 December 2024, Brisbane will host the 40th annual Society of Architectural Historians, Australia and New Zealand (SAHANZ) conference. Co-convened by The University of Queensland and Queensland University of Technology, the event will bring together delegates from around the globe to explore the concept of “islands” in architectural history and practice, looking across geographic, political, social and cultural spheres.
With the conference not held in 2023, this will be the first meeting of the society since the 2022 conference in Auckland. This year’s convenors, UQ’s Dr Ashley Paine, and QUT’s Dr Kirsty Volz, say the event will be “rigorous” and “relevant.”
“It will be exciting to come back together after this time, and to reconnect with colleagues from afar and make new connections,” says Dr Paine.
“The conference is a vital place for young and old scholars to build or grow academic networks, and to develop collaborative research opportunities.
“Kirsty and I share similar ambitions for the conference to be rigorous, scholarly and critical, as well as an engaging and social occasion.”
The convenors say this year’s conference will feature some elements that past delegates are familiar with, and some elements that will be approached a little differently.
“We have really tried to emphasise this as an in-person event this year – we want to give people the chance to come and be immersed in the conference, and to make those connections.”
While the event is the major conference of architectural history scholars in the Australia/New Zealand region, paper proposals have also been received from academics in the US, UK, Sweden, Türkiye, China, India, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Belgium.
Through a variety of paper presentations, panel discussions and events that reflect on the many possible interpretations of “islands” in architectural history, the conference will delve into how islands have influenced the production and reception of architecture, and how architecture has contributed to the formation and transformation of island cultures, identities and environments.
The curators explained that islands are more than physical spaces of geographic separation. In architecture, contrasts across political, social and cultural spheres produce “islands of practice,” or siloes of discourse and debate, which have historically been visible in certain schools of practice and the work of independent practitioners and scholars.
Islands are also shaped by architectural practices, from Indigenous and colonial to modern and contemporary, from vernacular and regional to global and digital. Islands emerge as both sites and subjects of critical historical research, and a lens or position through which to examine the past.
“They occupy a complex and evocative place in our terrestrial and imaginary worlds,” says Dr Paine.
Marking the conference’s 40th anniversary, there will also be important discussions and celebratory events that reflect on the society’s history and look at its future, and “at the challenges and urgencies of architectural history research today.”
The 40th annual SAHANZ conference, Islands, will be held across the Brisbane CBD campuses of UQ and QUT.
Conference registration and more information can be found here.
- The 40th annual SAHANZ conference is convened by Dr Ashley Paine, Senior Lecturer in the UQ School of Architecture, Design and Planning; and Dr Kirsty Volz, Senior Lecturer in the QUT School of Architecture and Built Environment.
This year’s conference explores the concept of “islands” in architectural history and practice. Pictured: Green Island (Wunyami) on the Great Barrier Reef, Cairns (c1940s–1960s). Queensland State Archives, Item ID 3450049
