6 November 2026 | National Film and Sound Archive of Australia

In line with the Craft + Design Canberra Festival theme of Dissent, this conversation asks whether we are measuring the things that matter most. As Canberra grows and changes, are we optimising for the metrics that are easier to count, or for the things that make our city a better place to live? This discussion will explore how the measures we choose influence the places we create, and whether it is time to broaden the way we define success. 

9 – 15 November 2026 | Miko Designs

Break // Make: UC x Miko is a multidisciplinary design collaboration between University of Canberra students and Miko Designs. Exploring Dissent, students challenge convention, blend tradition with technology and push the boundaries of craft, architecture and design to envision our sustainable and creative futures.  

9 – 15 November 2026 | Across Canberra

Explore Canberra's award-winning Architecture with new landmark buildings and ingenious sustainable residences through the Australian Institute of Architecture's ACT Chapter tour program. 

13 November 2026 | Curtin

Discover Batten House, a new family home and studio in Curtin that responds beautifully to its parkland setting adjacent to the Yarralumla Creek open space network. Featuring a centralised courtyard with operable screens, reverse brick veneer construction and a rich textural palette of recycled hardwood, honed concrete and timber joinery. 

12 November 2026 | Deakin

Enter Canvas House, a restrained and beautifully considered home that draws from Scandinavian minimalism and French provincial architecture within Canberra's post war suburban fabric. Organised around a central outdoor living courtyard and achieving a 7.1 star energy rating, this fully electric home is a masterclass in passive solar design and sustainable living. 

9 November 2026 | Canberra Institute of Technology, Woden

Step inside one of Canberra's most ambitious buildings, the CIT Woden Campus, home to the largest mass timber building by volume in Australia. Discover a profound Connection to Country narrative woven into every detail, from coloured terracotta bands expressing Valley, Bush, Mountain and Sky Country, to an oculus skylight through which Mullian tracks the sun. 

9 November 2026 | Canberra Institute of Technology, Woden

Welcome to the Woden Education First Youth Foyer at CIT Woden, part of the groundbreaking vertical campus by Gray Puksand, pairing mass timber design with a Connection to Country narrative.  Alongside safe housing and wraparound support, it gives young people experiencing or at risk of homelessness real pathways to education, training and independence. 

8 November 2026 | Ainslie

Come into this thoughtful addition to a heritage cottage that maximises passive comfort through clever sectional design, recycled Canberra red bricks and high-level north facing glazing. A considered and layered composition that honours the old while confidently introducing the new. 

11 November 2026 | Wanniassa

Step inside Gugan Gulwan, a purpose-built facility designed with and for First Nations people. Created through deep community consultation by COX Architecture in collaboration with ck architecture, this uplifting space responds to Country and community, embedding First Nations culture into every detail, from its gathering spaces to its significant artwork integration.

15 November 2026 | Turner

Step inside Secret Garden House, where three pavilions form a ‘house as landscape’, shaped by the quiet authority of an enormous oak tree. An energy positive home that embraces ease of living across generations, with Canberra red bricks, spotted gum timber and colour used as a form of craft. 

14 November 2026 | Australian War Memorial

Step inside the Australian War Memorial's New Entrance, where a striking Oculus, inspired by the Hall of Memory's dome, draws natural light into a space of quiet solemnity and contemporary beauty. Featuring locally sourced sandstone, bronze detailing and intuitive wayfinding, this is a seamless and deeply considered integration of history and modernity. 

6 November 2026 | National Film and Sound Archive of Australia

Dissent by Design explores creativity as a form of dissent: the ways artists, designers, activists and storytellers use their practice to resist, imagine and rebuild.  

10 November 2026 | Reconciliation Place

Presented by Architectus in partnership with SONA and EmAGN, Dissent: Opposition/Proposition brings together emerging thought leaders from architecture, urban design and adjacent fields to interrogate the role of sanctioned and unsanctioned design in the city and explore how opposition can become a proposition for change. 

7 + 14 November 2026 | Lakeside + City

In a spirited act of dissent against the boundaries of public space, Localjinni presents two projected night walks through Canberra’s Civic Centre. Led by local artists these saunters reclaim the right to roam and creatively reimagine the city after dark.  

10 + 12 November 2026 | Northbourne Avenue

Join The Fix It Chicks, architect Jenny Edwards and broadcaster Lish Fejer, alongside architect Marcus Graham from Stewart Architecture and Gabe Szivek from Art Group for an evening walking tour exploring the retrofit of Canberra’s mid-century public housing on Northbourne Avenue, including access inside one of the retrofitted maisonettes. 

19 September 2026 – 31 January 2027  | Canberra Museum and Gallery

RELICS: A New World Rises transforms discarded and obsolete objects into intricate miniature civilisations built from LEGO® bricks. Through creativity, design and storytelling, creators Jackson Harvey and Alex Towler challenge assumptions about waste and value, giving forgotten materials new purpose and inviting audiences to reconsider consumption and obsolescence.