Theme

 For the 2026 conference, RIAI President Fionnuala May FRIAI has chosen a theme centred on architecture’s value to our society, economy, and culture – Architecture for the Common Good. The RIAI President will also deliver a conference address. Speakers and sessions will focus on areas where architects deliver impact, including infrastructure and influence.

Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union marks a special context for the RIAI Conference, which has been officially recognised as an Associated Event of the Irish Presidency, with support from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the OPW. Associated Presidency Events are organised independently of the Presidency and align with the themes and priorities of Ireland’s EU Presidency, facilitating discussion of important issues and policy at EU level. These events support wider participation in the Presidency, encourage policy discussion and engagement, and contribute to the broader programme of activity throughout the Presidency term.

Exploring the conference and presidency themes will feature a distinguished line-up of national and international practitioners. Niall McLaughlin FRIAI – who earlier this year received the RIBA Royal Gold Medal for his resounding impact across architectural practice, thinking, writing and education – will deliver a special conference lecture, introduced by Valerie Mulvin FRIAI. EU policy and national leadership in architecture will be discussed by Ruth Reichstein, Member of the President of the European Commission’s Cabinet, and by Conor Sreenan MRIAI, Ireland’s State Architect and Principal Architect at the Office of Public Works.

Kirsten Lees, Managing Partner at Grimshaw Architects, will discuss the practice’s innovative approach to transport planning from the Stirling Prize-winning Elizabeth Line in London to Metro North in Dublin.

Josep Ricart Ulldemolins, co-founder of Harquitectes in Barcelona, will share examples of high-quality design in affordable housing and in projects for social inclusion. Róisín Heneghan FRIAI and Shi-Fu Peng FRIAI will discuss their acclaimed approach to ‘a sense of place’ in their architecture, including their international work, with a presentation on the Grand Egyptian Museum.

At the conference, the RIAI will recognise the distinguished Architect and Urban Planner Wulf Daseking from Freiburg for his ground-breaking approach to urban planning by awarding him an honorary RIAI Fellowship, followed by a talk.

Setting the conference theme, ‘Ireland and the Common Good’, within a broader historical context will be delivered by the renowned Professor and Chair of Modern Irish History at UCD, Diarmaid Ferriter. He is a regular television and radio broadcaster, a weekly columnist with the Irish Times, and co-presenter, with Catríona Crowe, of the Irish history podcast

What Were We Like? Ferriter is the author of numerous books, including The Transformation of Ireland 1900-2000 (2004), Ambiguous Republic: Ireland in the 1970s (2012), The Border: The Legacy of a Century of Anglo-Irish Politics (2019), On The Edge: Ireland’s Offshore Islands: a Modern History (2018) and Between Two Hells: The Irish Civil War (2021). His most recent book is The Revelation of Ireland 1995-2020 (2024).

Further speakers will be announced over the coming weeks.