For the third time, the Flemish Architecture Institute is organising the biennial Festival of Architecture (F/a), featuring walks, workshops, exhibitions and lectures on architecture. From Thursday 14 to Saturday 16 October, Ostend will be the base for the event. On Architecture Day (D/a), Sunday 17 October, special buildings across Flanders and Brussels will be open to visitors.

Why is it important that our living environment is well designed? What does ‘a well-designed living environment’ actually mean? The Festival of Architecture aims to provide answers to these questions for a wide audience. More specifically, this year’s central question is: how can architecture respond to the challenges of our rapidly changing world? Due to the ecological and economic challenges we are grappling with on a global scale today, and due to climate change and the exponential growth of the world’s population, the demand for different ways of living, working and residing is growing ever greater. The call for change is growing ever louder. Architectural and construction practice is evolving in tandem with this demand for change (see A 287 Practices of Change).