Nau mai, haere mai – Welcome. We celebrate your arrival on the water of the Waitematā Harbour. On the edge of the Southern Hemisphere’s largest recreational marina. We laugh, we talk, we embrace, we raise our glasses to new friends and the beginning of our adventure. 

We embark on the two-day AGI Open at the Aotea Centre, Auckland’s flagship venue, with an audience of up to 2,000 creative community in attendance. The large, multi-tiered auditorium spills out into expansive foyers and a large public square – the perfect environment for sharing design knowledge in a festival-like format that aims to inspire a new generation of designers. 

Programme to be announced.

Our immersion in design culture and visual communication continues at Auckland’s Aotea Centre. We will share forms of individual creative expression and personal design philosophies, from image making and life-centred design, to design outside capitalism, world-making and design futures driven by artificial intelligence. 
 
Programme to be announced.

Following day one of AGI Open we head to Objectspace, a public gallery dedicated to the framing of New Zealand craft, design and architecture practice within a range of cultural, economic and social frameworks. The AGI Special Project is an exhibition that will run with free public access until 22 September 2023.
 
Special project brief to be announced.

To celebrate the end of the AGI Open, we welcome you to a party at Alt Group studio. Music will be playing, custom cocktail drinks will be flowing, and the Asaba Table will be available for ping-pong stand-offs.

At the Annex, an event space in the heart of Wynyard Quarter, we immerse ourselves in the design culture of Aotearoa New Zealand with leading contemporary artists whose engagement with Te Ao Māori – the Māori world view, customs, protocols and identity – is evolving the design expression of place and revitalising indigenous language, mark making and customary practice.

Accompanied by Aotearoa’s leading Māori arts curator, we visit Auckland Museum, home to the world’s largest collection of Māori and Pacific artifacts. Sited on the highest point of a large urban park, with panoramic harbour views, the building’s neoclassical facade belies an interior refurbishment that speaks to Pacific design. This personalised tour includes the Hotunui meeting house, carved in 1878, and Te Toki-a-Tāpiri, one of the last traditional waka (canoe), carved around 1836. 

The ‘farm’ is a privately owned, sculpted landscape on the edge of the Kaipara Harbour, an hour from Auckland’s city centre. It was created by Alan Gibbs, a prominent New Zealand businessman, who has transformed the land with major, site-specific sculptures by Anish Kapoor, Sol LeWitt, Richard Serra, Maya Lin, Neil Dawson, Andy Goldsworthy, Daniel Buren and many more. To be granted access to Gibbs Farm is a rare privilege – even for those that live in Auckland, so we count ourselves fortunate to have exclusive access.

To officially mark the end of the AGI Open and Congress, we undertake a formal celebration at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki – the principal public gallery in Auckland, and winner of building of the year at the 2012 World Architecture Festival. Auckland Art Gallery’s extensive collection includes major holdings of historic, modern and contemporary New Zealand and international art, and outstanding works by leading Māori and Pacific artists.

We continue the official business of the Congress with the AGI General Assembly at the Annex, a venue at the heart of Wynyard Quarter, walking distance from the suggested hotel accommodation.

After the official closing of the AGI Open and Congress, Dean Poole and Krista Dudson invite members to their bach at Karekare beach – “our home away from home”. Nestled into the native rainforest of the Waitakere Ranges and a 40-minute car ride from central Auckland, it’s a location that will make you feel like you’ve arrived at the edge of the world. For active relaxers it’s a chance to surf, take a waterfall walk, or enjoy a 5-minute stroll to the remote, awe-inspiring black-sand beach. Or, simply take the time to sit, chat and eat, immersed in nature and surrounded by birdsong. 

For members staying on in Auckland, we welcome you to a relaxed afternoon on stunning Waiheke Island, a haven of beautiful vineyards, olive groves and white sand beaches located in the Hauraki Gulf, just a 40-minute boat ride from downtown Auckland. 

We invite you to Mawhiti, a stunning residence with captivating views of the Auckland skyline and harbour. The private architectural retreat with its sculptural Gateway Pavilion was designed by Stevens Lawson Architects, and is the perfect spot for fine wines and a classic New Zealand barbeque lunch.

Additional recreational activities to be announced.