Now in its ninth year, in 2021 New Now Next will take place online and virtually for the second time, enabling a wider domestic and international audience to connect with the events. New Now Next is about disseminating NEW Ideas, regarding contemporary issues relevant NOW that can impact on the NEXT generation. 

The series began at the end of May with a talk by Kate Orff, the US-based landscape architect and urban designer, and founding principal of SCAPE. The conversation was moderated by Ed Wall, Associate Professor of Cities and Landscapes at the University of Greenwich.

New Now Next will restart in September with a conversation with Eyal Weizman, founding director of Forensic Architecture and Professor of Spatial and Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths, University of London. Booking is now open – click here to register to attend.

The final talk of the series will take place in November, with 2021 Pritzker Prize Laureates Anne Lacaton and Jean-Phillipe Vassal, of Lacaton & Vassal, moderated by 2020 Pritzker Prize Laureates and Irish-based architects Shelley McNamara and Yvonne Farrell, of Grafton Architects.

Commenting on the launch of the series, Nathalie Weadick, Director of the IAF, said: “The New Now Next series has become an indispensable resource that reveals current issues of our time. We hope that through these talks we can inspire new thinking on culture, housing, biodiversity, politics and civil society. Going online for the first time last year gave us an opportunity to reach an audience that may not have attended our physical events previously. The talks have become more inclusive and diverse, and this year’s line-up promises to be our best yet.” 

The New Now Next series will be interactive, giving the audience the opportunity to engage directly with and ask questions of the world-renowned architects. All events are free, and the Irish Architecture Foundation are also committed to making their talks as accessible and inclusive as possible – this year all of the talks will have closed captioning. 

The programme is now in its ninth year. Previous New Now Next speakers include: Florian Indenburg and Jing Liu of SO-IL (NL, CN), Akihisa Hirata (JP), Toni L. Griffin (USA), (Sir David Adjaye (UK/GH), Sou Fujimoto (JP), Dorte Mandrup (DK), Winy Maas (NL), Peter Bishop (UK), Amale Androas and DSan Wood of Work AC (USA), Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara of Grafton Architects (IE), Karolina Keyzer (SE), Jeanne Gang (US), Tatiana Bilbao (Mexico), COBE (DK), Urban Agency (IE), Oliver Wainwright (UK), Clancy Moore (IE), TAKA (IE), Steve Larkin (IE), Hall McKnight (NI), Ole Scheeren (DE) Kunle Adeyemi (NG), Andy Groarke (UK), Minsuk Cho (KR), Samuli Woolsten (FI), Laurence Lord (IE), Lucy Jones (IE). All events were delivered in Dublin and one event with Irish architects was delivered in London at the Design Museum (2013-2015).

You can view recordings of some of these previous talks by clicking here

New Now Next is made possible through support from Arup, and all events are free. 

The IAF is principally funded by the Arts Council, and further funded by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and the OPW, which enables us to deliver projects like New Now Next.

Image: Transformation of G H I Buildings, Grand Parc 530 Units Social Housing, with Frederic Druot and Christophe Hutin. Photo courtesy of Philippe Ruault.