Conversation Series / Fremantle Design Week 2026

The Fremantle Design Week 2026 Conversation Series

TICKETS

Single Conversation $20 + booking fees

Students and concession card holders can use the code FDWCONCESSION for 20% off tickets. Note that you can only buy one ticket at a time using the code.

THE EVENT

In 2026, FDW’s flagship Conversation Series in the PS Art Space extends across two weekends and four days, themed Home, Life, Planet and Visionaries.

The twelve Conversations take their prompt from the FDW2026 theme, Imagine, reflecting a global shift away from business-as-usual towards a regenerative future. We're excited to introduce national guests alongside local voices, sharing design stories and ideas, always with relevance to daily life in the West. Listen in and join the conversations - design lives here.

With three conversations per day, there’s plenty of time to catch other FDW events across town.

THE PROGRAM

Saturday 17 October / HOME

11am - 12pm
Conversation 1 / Izzie White: understanding architecture when you're not an architect

Introducing our favourite influencer!

We're excited to have rising star Isabella White @izziewhitecreative at Fremantle Design Week.

Izzie is an architecture graduate, award-winning design advocate and content creator who has built a combined social media following of almost 50k. Her Instagram and TikTok videos cut through industry-speak and explain design in clear and engaging terms that everyone can understand.

Izzie's knack for clear communication will help you to see the spaces and places around you with fresh eyes. Learn how to understand and speak more confidently about the good, the bad and the ugly in the built environment so you can also advocate for good design. Without having to go to uni for five years.

12.30pm - 1.30pm
Conversation 2 / Pattern book housing: could you live here?

WA is following New South Wales' lead in developing a suite of pattern book homes designed to make quality, affordable housing available to more people in less time.

WA Government architect Emma Williamson will lead this exploration into the pattern book model, joined by award-winning local architect and NSW pattern-book architect Jennie Officer (Officer Woods).

How is the initiative rolling out on the East Coast? Can it work here? And how might you benefit if you're looking to build or buy?

2pm - 3pm
Conversation 3 / How (and why) to choose an apartment

What should you look for when buying an apartment and what makes apartment living great? Join architect Stuart Harrison, developer Liam Wallace and a long-time apartment dweller Stephanie McGann to explore designing and living in apartments. What makes a good apartment, and what are the red flags? Whether a single, a couple or a family, you'll leave with valuable insights on how to make decisions based on your lifestyle and budget, and hacks for living well in smaller spaces.

Sunday 18 October  / LIFE

11am -12pm
Conversation 4 / Sarah Aubrey: Electrify This!

Introducing another influencer we can get behind!

Electrification isn’t just about technology, it’s about how we live. Sarah Aubrey of Electrify This is one of Australia’s most respected electrification advocates and a captivating speaker who can simplify the facts about accessible, clean energy and electric cars. Her down-to-earth approach has drawn a legion of loyal followers from across the globe to her social media channels.

We are excited to have Sarah here to share her wisdom. Sarah will combine practical advice and real-world experience to cut through the jargon and help you make informed choices that will leave fossil fuels in the rearview mirror for a healthier home and future.

12.30pm - 1.30pm
Conversation 5 / Imagine: Material Stories keynote

How should we reframe our relationship to the things that surround us to support a circular future?

This keynote conversation explores the Imagine: Material Stories exhibition.

We welcome Dr Alice Payne, Dean of the School of Fashion and Textiles at RMIT and an award-winning author and educator, to moderate this conversation with exhibition designers and curators Lisa Pillar (Design Steward) and Renae Tapley (Future Materials).

Lisa will expand on the rich stories of design, craft and industry woven through her Walking in Circles project, which sits within the exhibition alongside furniture and objects by emerging designers commissioned by Renae. How might we embrace these material stories in our own lives?

2pm - 3pm
Conversation 6 / Design for Diversity: this means you

Are you neurodiverse? Do you have mobility issues, either permanent, due to an injury or due to age? Are you pregnant, pushing a pram or trailing small children / elderly family members? Are you out at night time? No matter who you are, the built environment will present challenges at different times in your life.

This conversation brings together design and lived experience to explore how our built environment can be enabling - more welcoming, accessible and safe - to all people.

Architects Toni Neck and Patric Przeradzki will share decades of combined experience and introduce the research and technology that is reshaping the places we live, work and play.

Examples include the Perth Airport Sensory Room. Designed by Plus Studio and an Australian first, it is a calming environment designed to make journeys easier for neurodivergent travellers. The project is indicative of a shift as design responds to increasing diversity across age, ability, gender and neurology.

Saturday 24 October / PLANET

11am - 12pm
Conversation 7 / Natural Intelligence Farming

In 1993, Di and Ian Haggerty bought a small farm in the wheatbelt where Di had grown up. A farm advisor told them their farm was too small to succeed. Yet they pressed on, pioneering regenerative farming methods that achieved consistently outstanding results by replacing synthetic chemicals with zero-tillage, biological composts and livestock integration.

Hear how the Haggartys went beyond the traditional notions of agriculture to embrace Natural Intelligence Farming, reconnecting with the land and the intricate workings of nature. Di and Ian were named WA Australians of the Year in 2025.

The high-quality merino wool the Haggertys produce features in the Imagine: Material Stories exhibition as one of Lisa Pillar's regenerative design stories. Lisa will join Di to explore their collaboration.

12.30pm - 1.30pm
Conversation 8 / Bio-based buildings: the real forever homes

Bio-based materials are the future of construction, bringing old and new technologies together to create the healthy buildings and homes we need. Hemp, mycelium, spinifex, guayule, seaweed, strawbale and bamboo - all of these are being tested and trialled.

This conversation will show examples of local homes already using bio-based materials and products, alongside research and development underway to produce the next generation, locally and at scale. Strong and resistant to fire, water and termites - why would you build with anything else? These really are forever homes. 

2pm - 3pm
Conversation 9 / Wonder Land

Wonder Land invites you to re-see Perth as a city within a wondrous environment. Landscape architect Dr Dan Jan Martin takes us on a journey of deep connection to place, drawing on years of research into the many dimensions of biodiversity, water and landscape in the Perth Region. Wonder Land is a prompt to find a sense of wonder, to return to it, and let it in, so we can remember how to care for everything around us.

Sunday 25 October / VISIONARIES

 11pm - 12pm
Conversation 10 / Jenny Briscoe-Hough: bringing back death as part of life

What happens when you die, who decides, and can our bodies really 'return to nature'?

Jenny Briscoe-Hough is an Australian social entrepreneur and community development advocate best known as the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Tender Funerals Australia. She has gained national recognition for challenging business-as-usual in the funeral sector by offering affordable, community-led, and highly personalised end-of-life care.

Hear how Jenny and Tender are shifting the culture of funerals to bring back death as part of life, and give back our connection to the people most important to us in their final hours and beyond.

12.30pm - 1.30pm
Conversation 11 / Icons: Wally Greenham, organic architect

The third in the FDW icons series will explore the work of Wallace "Wally" Greenham (1933–2017). Greenham was an alternative and pioneering architect who left a unique mark on Western Australian architecture. Renowned for his experimental ethos, he was a trailblazer in organic, sustainable, and "nuts and berries" architectural modernism, emphasising handmade craftsmanship, raw timber, and deep environmental integration.

Architect Leonie Matthews will share Wally's work and inspirations and reflect on his impact on generations of West Australian architects.

2pm - 3pm
Conversation 12 / Imagine: vIsionaries

To be visionary is to look into the future and see something different to what already exists. Across history, visionary designers have driven change, drawing on creativity, imagination and technology. From small acts to entire systems, what does it mean to be visionary and why does it matter? Is our collective imagination under threat from technology or is it fuelling the next wave of visionary thinkers?

In this roaming conversation, a diverse panel of creatives will consider these questions, share their perspectives and invite us to imagine what comes next. Join us as we bring Fremantle Design Week to a close and stay for a drink to wrap up a week of design goodness and community!

ABOUT FREMANTLE DESIGN WEEK

Fremantle Design Week is a biennial festival of design and design ideas. Western Australia’s first multi-disciplinary design festival, it is a week-long program of talks, exhibitions, tours, workshops, open studios and special events.

Fremantle Design Week is presented by DesignFreo, a platform celebrating design and designers in the port city of Fremantle / Walyalup and beyond.

Visit DesignFreo’s website and find us on Instagram:

designfreo.org
@designfreo