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This international symposium explores the evolving field of adaptive architecture, positioning it not simply as a technical response but as a cultural and philosophical shift in how we design, inhabit, and transform the built environment. Moving beyond the established practice of adaptive reuse, the event frames adaptability as a foundational attitude toward architecture, one that recognizes every act of making as a form of remaking. Bringing together architects, scholars, and designers from across disciplines, the program examines how buildings, sites, and cities can be reinterpreted through time, acknowledging layered histories while responding to urgent environmental and social challenges.

Through a series of presentations and discussions, the symposium highlights emerging theories, technologies, and practices that support adaptability across new construction, existing buildings, and heritage contexts. Topics range from deep retrofitting and climate resilience to critical conservation, equity in urban renewal, and the cultural narratives embedded within place. By situating adaptability at the intersection of sustainability and design imagination, the event underscores its growing importance in shaping more inclusive, resource-conscious futures.

A keynote address by Tawaw’s Principal and Founder, Wanda Dalla Costa, titled Adaptation as Remembrance: Indigenous Frameworks for a Living Architecture, anchors the program with a perspective grounded in Indigenous knowledge systems. Her talk reflects on architecture as a living, relational practice that carries memory, responsibility, and continuity across generations, offering an essential lens for rethinking adaptation beyond purely material or economic terms.

The symposium also includes curated site visits to adaptive reuse projects, providing participants with opportunities to engage directly with built examples and ongoing transformations. Together, these conversations and experiences aim to expand the discourse on adaptive architecture, fostering new ways of thinking about design as an evolving, inclusive, and deeply contextual practice.