An installation produced for the 2010 AIA conference in Sydney.

The trouble with conferences is the imbalance between pontification and discussion. Speakers project their opinions, and panel sessions rarely succeed in a genuine conversation. We sought to redress this imbalance in response to an invitation to design an 'action' for the AIA conference in Sydney.

12 chairs with very large backs made from common building insulation are arranged to form a small interior in the foyers of the conference venue, providing a space for more intimate unpacking of ideas, far away from the stage. These chairs can be freely repositioned to form different sized clusters for different kinds of forums.

The backs of the chairs also formed an exhibition of the concept of Unsolicited Architecture, each presenting one of the 12 steps. In addition, the bootleg issue of Volume was tied to each chair, creating an informal reading room.

With Timothy Moore and Anneke Abhelakh. Thanks to Mel Dodd, Nicholas Braun and Qianyi Lim.

Hear the interview we did with Sam Jacob of FAT *inside* the work.