We held our third New Build Forum on Thursday! Louisa and I started New Build as a way of bringing people in the built environment industries together. We wanted to hear different perspectives from the ones we were used to hearing and were interested in exposing new work to the public and supporting newly established businesses. We also wanted to create a database of consultants and tradies that we might want to collaborate with in the future who were also just starting out and passionate about what they do. So we asked a bunch of people to speak who we wanted to get to know and here we are!
Now that we're up to our third forum, we've got a wonderful core following in the audience (many of whom are not even in the built environment industry!) which makes dinner and drinks after the event a wonderful, social affair. It's great to meet new people each time and hear different perspectives on the content that was presented based on their training and life experiences.
This round we heard from an architecture practice only a few months old, a researcher, a town planner, a cladding contractor, a builder, a structural engineer and a community gardener. My favourite part of the evening is always the discussion at the end, where members of the audience get to ask questions and we hear different answers from all the speakers. This is the bit where our speakers tackle issues that are critical and pressing to our audience. It's the best too when speakers ask each other questions! We try to keep it as informal as possible so that the Q&A is accessible and people feel comfortable asking questions.
The conversation at NBBVol.03 focused on the importance of clear communication and the impact that we can have (negative or positive) on the places that we live and work. We discussed Brisbane's identity and the future of our city, which feels as though is at a cross roads. As Marissa said, in 20-30+ years time we're the ones that will have to live in the places we're creating right now! So speak up, get amongst the conversation, and if something doesn't feel right ask some questions.
Thanks for the photographs Kaitlyn!