GROUND MATTERS

Australasian Student Architecture Congress
lutruwita/Tasmania
25-29 June 2024

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"rethinking our standing with ground"

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WHAT IS GROUND MATTERS?

The theme for the 2024 Australasian Student Architecture Congress (ASAC) is ‘Ground Matters’. The title has a dual meaning: it orients participants to matters of the ground, and to matters of fact; and it sets an agenda that the ground is important, even critical. It is thus literal and philosophical.

‘Ground Matters’ presents inextricable links between nature and built form, Country and architecture. It is fundamental to all architectural works, but also to basic life on earth. The material of the ground is something we all use and interact with every day, whether uncultivated, landscaped, or covered in manufactured substances. In this way, the ground is a linking element for all.

As our society moves towards becoming more sustainable when developing our cities and infrastructure, architects will play a significant role in achieving this goal. Ground Matters will host the next wave of architects, and will be a gathering that will seek to improve the sustainability of current practices. As part of our endeavour to shape future architects, Ground Matters will foster ideas of sustainable architecture for the future and how it relates to the ground and our immediate natural contexts.

If architecture is the end, the ground is the beginning. So how can we reframe our architectural thinking to ensure that ground is at the forefront of our work?

WHAT IS ASAC?

The Australasian Student Architecture Congress (ASAC) is a biennial event that has been bringing architecture students together from across Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea since 1963.

The congress forms a pivotal moment in the early career stages of future Australian, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea architects. A guiding principle of the congress is that it is organised by students, for students. The congress provides architecture students with an opportunity to shape their education and ultimately their future:

For the first time since “States of Mind’ in 2004, the 2024 student architecture congress will be organised, hosted and run by students in Tasmania. Dedicated students are volunteering their time to dissect and explore a topic that they strongly believe is important and central to our future development as a society from an architectural standpoint.

At the close of every congress a new group of students get to pitch the next location of the congress, we encourage you to bid to hold the next one!

EXPLORE THE HISTORY OF THE CONGRESS, COURTESY OF BARNABY BENNETT

WHAT TO EXPECT?

Ground Matters will be a five day event held in nipaluna/Hobart for students and recent graduates to engage in a diverse array of informal discussions and activities which seek to interrogate the future of architectural practice. Away from the rigidity of academic and workplace settings, the congress will be a meeting point for tremendous minds from across Australasia and beyond to share stories and ideas, accompanied by some hearty food and drink.

The five day congress program will be centred around a primary conference day at which we will learn from an array of local, national and international architects. The workshops with conference speakers will be held on accompanying days to further explore conversation amongst peers which have arisen. Additionally, workshops will explore local perspectives, including first nations engagement and local building tours and experiences. Parties will be held each evening, continuing on the excitement and camaraderie every day.

The unique natural environment of lutruwita/Tasmania serves as an ideal backdrop to the congress. With spectacular and pristine landscapes at the doorstep of our cities, the inextricable connections between nature and the built environment are ever present.