Townsville will play host to Evoke – a regional architecture conference from 8 September until 11 September with renowned Japanese architect Kengo Kuma as one of the key-note speakers.

The four-day conference, held by the Australian Institute of Architects, aims to explore the position of architecture as art – architecture that evokes emotion and creates engaging and memorable experiences. Guest speakers will share their work as an embodiment of the human emotion it elicits, celebrating architecture’s role in connecting people with their environment.

Professor Kengo Kuma is considered one of the most significant Japanese figures in contemporary architecture, with his first Australian project a spiralling civic centre in Sydney called The Darling Exchange to be built in 2018. The centre will house a library with spaces to support creative and technology startups as well as a ground floor market place.

Other international speakers during Evoke will include: Vietnamese architect Toan Dinh Nghiem of a21 studio; Indian architect Shimul Javeri Kadri of SJK Architects; Finnish architect Anu Puustinen of Avanto Architects; and New Zealand architect Tim Hay of Fearon Hay Architects.

There are also a number of fringe events such as a Pecha Kucha evening and architecture tours around Townsville and Magnetic Island.

Sunshine Coast-based architects Lindy Atkin and Stephen Guthrie from Bark Design are the creative directors of Evoke.

For more information please visit the Evoke website.

Architect Kengo Kuma in Dundee. Photo by Steve MacDougall.