This year’s series will explore how architecture can remain potent, essential, whilst ‘sustaining’ its agency in an increasingly complicated and diverse world.  Key elements of quality design, new technology, and understanding architects’ responsibility to the environment and active citizenship are vital to its endurance and the 2019 line-up has been selected to reflect this. The line-up of talks taking place throughout the year in Dublin includes some of the most intriguing and inspiring people now from the world of architecture.

First up on 7 March is Danish architect Dorte Mandrup , who is well known for her environmental​ ​and societal concerns and a distinct nonconformist outlook. She is Chair of the prestigious Mies van der​ ​Rohe Award 2019 and in 2018 she headlined at the curated international exhibition at La Biennale di​ ​Venezia. She everyday inspires an international team driven by a devout belief in the possibilities of modern​ ​architecture and an experimental curiosity while insisting on outstanding craftsmanship. Mandrup​ ​specializes in landmark projects crossing geography, function and scale. Several UNESCO related cultural projects underline an expertise in successfully anchoring buildings to unique sites and conveying a rich​ ​cultural history. Her work has received international acclaim with a portfolio of work including the World​ ​Heritage Projects which includes Wadden Sea Center in Ribe, Denmark, the Icefjord Center, Greenland, the​ ​Trilateral Wadden Sea World Heritage Centre in Wilhemshaven, Germany and the Wadden Sea World​ ​Heritage Centre, Groningen. Tickets will be released week 18 February 2019. Find out more HERE

We are delighted to announce next in the line up on 7 May  is renowned Japanese architect  Sou Fujimoto, known for his experimental solutions for housing. One of the best-known Japanese architects today, Sou Fujimoto rose to fame after winning the Architectural Review Awards prize for emerging personalities in the world of architecture for three years in a row and in 2013 he became the youngest architect to design the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in London. In 2012 he was part of the Japanese team that won a Golden Lion award for Best National Participation at the Venice Architecture Biennale for their design of alternative housing concepts for the homes that were destroyed by the tsunami. Tickets will be release in April 2019. Find out more HERE

The last New Now Next of the year on 21 November, will be British/Ghanaian architect Sir David Adjaye.  Recognised as a leading architect of his generation, his ingenious use of materials and his sculptural ability established him as an architect with an artist’s sensibility and vision. Forming Adjaye Associates in 2000, the studio went onto win several prestigious commissions, including, the Smithsonian Institute National Museum of African American History and Culture, formally opened by President Obama in September 2016 on the National Mall in Washington. Adjaye was born in Tanzania to Ghanaian parents and his influences range from contemporary art, music and science to African art forms and the civic life of cities. He has taught at the Royal College of Art, where he had previously studied, and at the Architectural Association School in London, and has held distinguished professorships at the Harvard, Princeton and Yale universities. Ongoing projects include a new home for the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, the recently announced National Cathedral of Ghana in Accra, and the UK National Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre in London. Tickets will be release in October 2019. Find out more HERE

This year we are are trialling a non-attendance fee. When you booked tickets for this event you were asked to provide your credit or debit card details via a secure payment processor (Stripe). Don’t worry we won’t take payment at this point, however, if you forget to cancel 48 hours prior to the event you will then be charged a €5 fee per ticket. Turn up – no charge, cancel – no charge. Ensuring that as few as possible miss out. Find out more HERE.

This series of talks is curated by the Irish Architecture Foundation and sponsored by Arup.