Agenda — Tbilisi Architecture Forum 2026

Holiday Inn Tbilisi

Workshop Room 1 10:00 — 16:00

10:00 – 12:00 Workshop

Memory Mapping: The Emotional Landscape of a City

Nikoloz Lekveishvili, TIMM Architecture · Joan Gener Gonzales, h3o architects — Georgia / Spain

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12:00 – 14:00 Workshop

Imaginary Architecture: From Story to Sketch

Alexandre Lordkipanidze, writer, playwright, TV show host — Georgia

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14:00 – 16:00 Workshop

What If the Soviet Union Had Not Happened to Georgian Architecture?

Irakli Pipia, TSMU · Tatia Gvineria, Independent Expert — Georgia

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Workshop Room 2 10:00 — 16:00

10:00 – 12:00 Workshop

After the Ruins: What Should We Rebuild?

Nutsa Nadareishvili, teamtwo · Giorgi Sulakauri, Landmark Studio — Georgia

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12:00 – 14:00 Workshop

Can AI Sell an Idea Before It Exists?

Rezi Kratsashvili / Nuka Mgeladze, Render.ge / Elia — Georgia / Spain

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14:00 – 16:00 Workshop

Crime Prevention in Environmental Design (CPTED)

Luka Kobalia, Landmark Studio — Georgia

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Open Conversations 10:00 — 17:00

10:00 – 11:00 Conversation

What Nobody Talks About

Wei Yap / Sandro Katsitadze, Wei Yap Architects / Dmark — Georgia / Australia

11:00 – 12:00 Conversation

What Makes a Building Worth Saving? Rethinking Heritage, Memory and Architectural Value

Nikoloz Japaridze, Architects of Invention · Tatia Ghvineria, Independent Expert · Ada Yvars Bravo, Mangera Yvars Architects — Georgia / Spain

12:00 – 13:00 Conversation

Can Cities Become More Resilient by Working With Nature Rather Than Against It?

Paata Shanshiashvili, U.S. Department of the Interior – International Affairs Office · Giorgi Gotsiridze, Geographic – Consulting Center · Michael Gräf, LAND · Jack William Taylor, A IS FOR ARCHITECTURE — Georgia / UK / Italy / Austria

13:00 – 14:00

Coffee Break

14:00 – 15:00 Conversation

Architecture Through Her Eyes

Joseph Grima (moderator), Alcova · Marcelina Zielinska, Chapman Taylor · Yevgeniya Pozigun, Mangera Yvars Architects · Nata Tatunashvili, Ubani Cityscape Research Center, NWDS, Aea Culture Initiative · Nino Mshvelidze, Placemakers — Italy / UK / Spain / Georgia

15:00 – 16:00 Conversation

Professional Communities in Transition

Nikoloz Lekveishvili (moderator), TIMM Architecture · Meri Pepanyan / Ashot Snkhchyan, LFA · Takhmina Turdialieva · Vladislav Nedelev, RIBA Europe · Afet Mammadzade, Project Bureau Azerbaijan (PBA) — Georgia / Armenia / Uzbekistan / Azerbaijan

16:00 – 17:00 Conversation

Is Good Legislation the Basis for Good Architecture and Sustainable Spatial-Territorial Planning?

Nino Gventsadze (moderator), AMMA Design LLC · Alexandre Maglakelidze, NKC Consulting · Ilia Tamarashvili, Independent Invited Expert / Consultant · Salome Dvali, Environmental Consultant — Georgia

Fireside Chat 10:00 — 16:30

10:00 – 10:45 Fireside Chat

Jack William Taylor / Vakho Makasarashvili

Associate Director, A IS FOR ARCHITECTURE · Founder, VIEM — UK / Georgia

10:45 – 11:30 Fireside Chat

Marcelina Zelenska / Gvantsa Chubinidze

Group Board Director, Chapman Taylor · Architect, Artstudio Project — UK / Georgia

11:30 – 12:15 Fireside Chat

Amin Taha / Luka Kobalia

Architect, Groupwork · Senior Architect, Landmark Studio — UK / Georgia

12:15 – 13:00 Fireside Chat

Jaime Font / Maryam Novruzi

Co-Founder & Partner, Mesura · Regional Market & Client Manager, Zaha Hadid Architects — Spain

13:00 – 14:00

Coffee Break

14:00 – 14:45 Fireside Chat

Wei Yap / Michael Gräf

Managing Partner, Wei Yap Architects · Managing Partner, LAND — Australia / Austria / Italy

14:45 – 15:30 Fireside Chat

Bob Allies / Maryam Novruzi

Founding Partner, Allies and Morrison · Regional Market & Client Manager, Zaha Hadid Architects — UK

15:30 – 16:15 Fireside Chat

Kaveh Dabiri / Vakho Makasarashvili

Partner, OMA · Founder, VIEM — Netherlands / Georgia

16:15 – 16:30

Closing & transition

Programme subject to change · Some sessions TBC

Main Stage — Expo Georgia

Main Stage 09:00 — 20:00

09:00 – 12:00

Registration

10:45 – 11:00

Opening Speech

Organiser — Georgia

11:00 – 11:20 Keynote

Cultivating the City

Bob Allies, Founding Partner, Allies and Morrison — UK / London

11:20 – 11:40 Keynote

Architecture as Layers of Belonging

Ada Yvars Bravo, Director and Founding Partner, Mangera Yvars Architects — Spain / UK

11:40 – 12:00 Keynote

Thinking With Water: What Design and Anthropology Consider That Planning Doesn’t

Wei Yap, Managing Partner, Wei Yap Architects · Amber Patterson-Ooi, Anthropologist — Australia / Georgia

12:00 – 12:40 Panel

Beyond Shelter: Rebuilding Homes, Identity and Belonging After War

Moderator: George Melashvili, President, Europe-Georgia Institute (EGI) (Georgia) · Roman Grygoryshyn, Founder, Unicorn Capital (Ukraine) · Nutsa Nadareishvili, Co-Founder, teamtwo (Georgia) · Giorgi Sulakauri (Georgia) · Marcelina Zielinska, Group Board Director, Chapman Taylor (UK / London)

12:40 – 13:00

Coffee Break

13:00 – 13:20 Keynote

From Noun Before Verb to Verb Before Noun: How Architecture and Architects Regain Ethical Agency

Amin Taha, Architect, Groupwork — UK / London

13:20 – 13:40 Keynote

h3o architects: Architecture in Between

Joan Gener Gonzales, Founder, H3o — Spain

13:40 – 14:00 Keynote

Transition Through Climate: Designing for a Changing Planet

Luca Bussolino, Partner & Head of Strategy and Innovation, Carlo Ratti Associati — Italy / USA

14:00 – 14:20 Keynote

Alcova, The Itinerant Design Platform

Valentina Ciuffi, Alcova and Studio Vedèt · Joseph Grima, Co-Founder, Alcova — Italy / Milan

14:20 – 15:00 Panel

Demolish or Transform? The Future of Existing Architecture

Moderator: Irakli Pipia, Anthropologist, TSMU (Georgia) · Givi Machavariani, Adjara Group (Georgia) · Nikoloz Japaridze, Architects of Invention (Georgia / UK) · Joan Gener Gonzales, H3o (Spain) · Kaveh Dabiri, OMA (Netherlands)

15:00 – 16:00

Lunch Break

15:00 – 16:00

Networking Lunch at Terrace Restaurant

VIP Pass only

16:00 – 16:20 Keynote

Transition Through Heritage: Preserving Memory, Designing Tomorrow

Kaveh Dabiri, Partner, OMA — Netherlands

16:20 – 16:40 Keynote

The Future Grows: Landscape Thinking for a Nature Positive Future

Michael Gräf, Managing Partner, Land srl — Austria / Italy

16:40 – 17:00 Keynote

Two Approaches, One Transition: Lessons From Folkestone and Southampton for Georgia

Jack William Taylor, Associate Director, A IS FOR ARCHITECTURE — UK

17:00 – 17:20 Keynote

Form Follows Fantasy

Pablo Sensat Moya-Angeler, Project Leader / Project Manager / Design Lead, Bofill — Spain

17:20 – 17:40 Keynote

Core Mission, Vision and Values of the Royal Institute of British Architects

Vladislav Nedelev, Eastern Europe Area Representative, RIBA — Bulgaria

17:40 – 18:00 Keynote

Sons of Recession

Jaime Font, Co-Founder & Partner, Mesura — Spain

18:00 – 18:20 Keynote

Architecture as a Material Itself

Ana Sikharulidze, Sound Designer / Composer, TIMM — Georgia

18:20 – 19:00 Panel

City as Shared Project

Moderator: Vakhtang Nikolava, Director, Urban Media (Georgia) · Pablo Sensat Moya-Angeler, Design Lead, Bofill (Spain) · Nodar Adeishvili, CEO / Partner, Placemakers (Georgia) · Amin Taha, Founder, Groupwork (UK / London) · Jaime Font, Co-Founder & Partner, Mesura (Spain)

19:00 – 19:40 Panel

Places in Transition

Moderator: Nikoloz Lekveishvili, Founder – Architect, TIMM Architecture (Georgia) · Bob Allies, Co-Founder, Allies and Morrison (UK / London) · Michael Gräf, Managing Partner, Land srl (Austria / Italy) · Giorgi Gotsiridze, Director, Co-Founder, Geographic – Consulting Center (Georgia) · Yevgeniya Pozigun, Director, Mangera Yvars Architects (Spain)

19:40 – 19:50

Closing Speech

20:00

Gala Dinner (VIP Pass only)

Programme subject to change · Some sessions TBC

Across Tbilisi — Tours, Studios & Museums

City Tours 11:00 — 20:00

11:00 – 13:00 City Tour

Tbilisi’s Cultural Life (tour in Georgian)

SOVLAB — caravanserais, museums, theatres, cinemas, cafés, clubs and bookshops along Rustaveli Avenue.

Language Georgian

Meeting point Puris Moedani, in front of Matchakhela

11:00 – 14:00 City Tour

Tbilisi: A Journey Through Architectural Time

Zurriuss Tour Guide — from Soviet landmarks, Stamba and the Concert Hall to Liberty Square, Gudiashvili Square and the Sulphur Baths, across the styles that shaped the city.

Language English / Georgian

Meeting point Mzechabuki monument

11:00 – 15:00 City Tour

Gldani Tour

Ana Ramazashvili — markets, Soviet apartment blocks and the changing public spaces of a suburb that reads as a city of its own.

Meeting point Akhmeteli Theater

13:00 – 15:00 Exhibition

“Ezologia — Porous Body of Tbilisi”

Ubani

The first public presentation of NWDS and Ubani’s research on the Tbilisian courtyard, told through maps, archival documents, video and new photo essays by Berika Beridze, Nanka Dolidze and Gio Sumbadze. Developed with wit[h]nessing, studio2AM, Tatia Gvineria and independent researchers. Hosted by the Georgian National Museum — Tbilisi History Museum, 8 Sioni Street.

Language English / Georgian

Location Karvasla

15:00 – 17:00 City Tour

Old Tbilisi Gems — Melik-Azaryants House: Beneath the Surface

Irakli Pipia — newly uncovered underground spaces and historic halls beneath Rustaveli Avenue.

Language English / Georgian

Meeting point Metro Rustaveli

15:00 – 17:00 Exhibition

“Ezologia — Porous Body of Tbilisi”

Language English / Georgian

Location Karvasla

15:00 – 20:00 City Tour

Rethinking Heritage: Public Art and Industrial Transformation

15:00

“Fragments of Memory” | Mziuri Park

Join the Tbilisi Public Art Fund team (Lika Chkuaseli and Elene Kapanadze) for a tour exploring how the institution reinterprets the city’s recent past and architectural heritage through contemporary art interventions.

Meeting point: “Fragments of Memory” by Studio 501 & TIMM Architecture. 30 restored tiles from Vakhtang Kokiashvili’s 1971 “Berikaoba” – stained glass panorama, originally located at the Funicular station, framed within an open iron structure in Mziuri Park.

Nikoloz Lekveishvili (TIMM Architecture) will join the tour.

Location Google Maps
15:40

“Allo 02” | Technical University Metro Station

“Allo 02” by Sandro Lominashvili, functional marble benches with 60-degree angled legs that interact with the station’s monumental Soviet mosaic panels.

Location Google Maps
17:00

Combinati

Visit to “Combinati,” a former Soviet ceramic factory in Samgori, rehabilitated and transformed by Material Editors into a multifunctional complex. Hosted by project authors Ana Grigolia and Mariam Gvazava, the tour will explore the transformation process, adaptive reuse, and a contemporary addition to the existing industrial structure.

Location Google Maps
18:30

Elektrowerk | Tour & Drinks

Visit to Elektrowerk, a former Soviet electric motor factory transformed into a social and art hub. The project will be presented by Givi Machavariani, its conceptualist and lead architect/designer.

Location Google Maps
20:00

End of the tour

Language English / Georgian

Architecture Studios 13:00 — 19:00

13:00 – 15:00 Studio Visit

Office visit — Render Group (invitation only)

17:00 – 19:00 Studio Visit

Office visit — Studio 9 (invitation only)

Museums 10:00 — 19:00

10:00 – 19:00 Museum Free access with TAF badge

Georgian Museum of Fine Arts

One of the largest private collections of Georgian art from the Soviet and post-Soviet eras, spanning over 70 years, with over 3,500 works by 100+ artists. Free entrance for delegates, 18–20 September.

12:00 – 14:00 Museum

Georgian Archeological Museum

A 1980s Soviet building with characteristic circular forms that never opened as a museum and now serves as an archaeological archive, holding artefacts from the Stone Age to the medieval period.

Meeting point Museum entrance

Programme subject to change · Some sessions TBC

Agenda.