Mayor's Message

Festival gives an insight into our architectural past and present

I love how our city has responded to the global health challenges of the past 18 months. 

We are an adaptive city, resilient by nature and ready to turn “adversity into opportunity’’. 

This is evident with the 2021 Gold Coast Open House program. The program provides enthusiasts with a look at our city’s ‘built history’ alongside more recently completed buildings and places, and includes architect-led tours, self-guided tours, photo competitions, panel discussions and topical documentaries. 

To meet restrictions associated with Covid-19, program organisers have taken the initiative to offer the entire two-day program to attendees or allow them to ‘hand pick’ tours that appeal to them the most.

The 2021 program is titled a Festival of Architecture and remains free to all.

Once the festival concludes, those with a keen interest who may not have been able to attend can go on-line and watch bespoke films of each of the program highlights. This is a fantastic feature of our 2021 festival and I thank filmmaker and producer Nikolas Strugar for making it happen. 

A further new feature for this year is the panel discussions to be held the week prior to the festival. This is a great opportunity to hear about the fascinating history and stories of some of our city’s most iconic buildings and locations, from those in-the-know.