LSAA 2022 SYMPOSIUM & DESIGN AWARDS
Swinburne University, Melbourne
It was late January 2020 when the first cases of COVID-19 washed up on Australia’s sunny shores and the world turned upside down. We here at the LSAA Committee were still organizing our biannual September Conference & Design Awards, entitled “Re-VIEW, Re-IMAGINE, Re-CREATE” and challenging attendees to look to the past, work in the present and help shape the future.
But it was not to be.
Instead, we found ourselves in the world of closed borders, 5km-radii and lengthy lockdowns. Across the globe and especially here in Australia, we found ourselves in unprecedented territory, facing an invisible virus that upended all our plans. These past two years have been tumultuous, shocking and difficult and have irrevocably changed the way we work, socialize and communicate.
Yet as we venture forth into our brave new post-COVID world, the LSAA knows that now more than ever we need to come together to chart a path forward for ourselves and our industry. That’s why we are so excited to be hosting a one-day May Symposium and Design Awards 2022 in Melbourne.
In the wake of this turbulent phase in our history, we have reconsidered our 2020 motif, one that remains so deeply important, especially as cities, states and countries in Australasia and around the globe look to rebound and build back better from the ashes of COVID. Our symposium will showcase and highlight both those projects undertaken before the pandemic and those forged during and by it, offering key insights into the journey of the lightweight structures field over the past couple of years.
In accordance with our new COVID normal, we will also be running this as a hybrid event, with dual-delivery by a virtual platform in addition to the physical symposium and awards ceremony in Melbourne, allowing friends and colleagues separated by distance or restrictions to still take part.
Now more than ever before, we stand at a turning point in history. We have unique opportunities to chase new ideas and learn from old ones – to renew our work as we rebuild from the remains of the last two years. As delegates and industry-leaders from across the burgeoning new frontiers of lightweight structures architecture and engineering come together in Melbourne this May, we look forward to the exciting task ahead:
