Inside NZIA’s Aotearoa Festival Of Architecture
Written by
16 September 2026
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3 min read
Architecture moves beyond the studio this September as Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects’ Aotearoa Festival of Architecture returns with a month-long programme of events across the motu. Talks, exhibitions, walking tours, workshops and open studios invite both the profession and the wider public into conversations about how buildings are conceived, adapted and experienced.
The breadth of the programme is part of its value. Rather than presenting architecture purely through completed work, the festival makes room for the ideas, debates and processes behind it. In Auckland alone, this ranges from architects opening their studios and archives to tours of significant buildings, exhibitions examining the city and discussions around the future of practice.
Our Pick: Using Our Past To Enhance Our Future
On 21 September, Tasmanian architect Robert Morris-Nunn turns the conversation towards adaptive reuse in Using Our Past to Enhance Our Future: Recycling Buildings to Achieve Unique, Sustainable Outcomes. Morris-Nunn will discuss the integration of existing structures with new development, including the role of innovative timber design and his “storytelling” approach to architectural intervention. The talk takes place at 6:30pm at the University of Auckland’s Design Theatre.
Its premise sits within a much larger architectural question: how much of the future can be made from what already exists? As embodied carbon, heritage value and resource use place greater scrutiny on demolition, adaptation is increasingly becoming a design proposition rather than simply a conservation exercise.
The festival continues on 22 September with Scope Creep – AI & Re-Invention, examining how artificial intelligence is altering architectural tools, documentation and entry-level roles. Weaving Connections follows on 23 September, bringing Architecture + Women.NZ and Women in Urbanism Aotearoa together to discuss more inclusive cities, while the 25 September Great Debate asks whether architecture really was better in the 1960s.
Wellington extends the conversation into the decisions behind built work. On 23 September, NZIA Gold Medal laureates Hugh Tennent and Ewan Brown of Tennent Brown Architects present Forest of Decisions, examining how approaches to material selection have shaped the practice’s award-winning architecture. The same morning, Anne Kelly of a.k.a Architecture leads a public Sip ’n’ Sketch, one of several events bringing architectural observation and discussion beyond the profession itself.
Explore the full Aotearoa Festival of Architecture programme, then continue the conversation through ArchiPro’s Architects directory and completed Residential and Commercial projects. Together, they offer a view of how architectural ideas move from discussion and design thinking into built work.