Parallax is this year’s Australian Institute of Architects national conference, under the creative direction of Terroir directors Gerard Reinmuth (Sydney), Richard Blythe (Melbourne) and Scott Balmforth (Hobart).

Terroir’s program invites the profession to take a ‘parallax’ view of the conditions in which it practices, heartily fuelled by contributions from leading international designers, philosophers and cultural commentators.

Confirmed conference guest, Slovoj Žižek (Slovenia/UK), uses parallax to refer to situations where the same thing, when viewed from two different perspectives, presents itself in two completely irreconcilable ways.

“Žižek’s confronting assertions will make us think much harder about what we are willing to believe and accept. His interrogative perspective will stir our thoughts about the choices we make as practitioners and how we determine what becomes privileged in our selections,” Reinmuth says on behalf of the creative team.

Other confirmed guests include: Aaron Betsky (USA), Tatiana Bilbao (Mexico), Sou Fujimoto (Japan), Bijoy Jain (India), Jeff Kipnis (USA) and Peter Wilson (Australia/UK/Germany).

Describing the program as the “writers festival of architecture”, the creative directors have designed six main thematic sessions — Studio, Politics, Media, Young Guns, Collaboration and The Cosmopolitan. Each is built around two key speakers exploring a specific issue, followed by a facilitated panel for extended discussion and debate.

In the 12 workshop sessions a keynote guest will discuss issues of particular local relevance of contemporary practice in conversation with an Australian speaker.

Parallax, the 2009 National Architecture Conference for the AIA, will be held April 30 to May 2 in Melbourne.