RIXARCH 2026: IV International Architectural Design Conference
We are excited to announce that the IV International Architectural Design Conference – RIXARCH 2026 will take place on March 31 ā April 1, 2026, bringing together leading researchers, practitioners, architects, designers, students, and policy-makers to explore the 2026 conference theme: LIV-IN.
About the Theme: LIV-IN
LIV-IN asks how we live-in cities today – and how we might live-in them better tomorrow.
The hyphen signals a shift from static āhousingā toward processes of inhabitation embedded in infrastructures, economies, technologies, and cultures.
The theme opens through two conceptual lenses:
- LIV – life, livability, living infrastructures, living innovations. Cities as metabolic systems: energy, materials, ecosystems, climate adaptation, and social vitality.
- IN – in-place, in-common, in-between, inclusive, intergenerational, interoperable, intelligent. A focus on embeddedness: living in data and platforms (AI/smart systems), in finance and policy, in commons and cooperatives, in domestic rituals, and in publicāprivate thresholds.
By bridging the continuum of ³ó“dz¾±šāh“dzܲõ±šāh“dzܲõ¾±²Ō²µ, RIXARCH 2026 invites scholarship and practice that connect the scale of the room and household to the block, district, and region – testing how design, development, policy, and technology co-produce the conditions of dwelling.
Key questions include:
- When does a house become a home – and how do design, tenure, and policy enable or erode that transition?
- How do housing products (turnkey rental, co-living, micro-units) reshape social contracts and urban form?
- How might responsible design address affordability, climate risk, and inclusivity without sacrificing dignity and aesthetics?
2026 Topic Tracks
Urban Living: Philosophical Aspects & Urban Metaphors
Inhabitation as ethos; dwelling phenomenology; homeācity metaphors; place-attachment; timeāspace relations.
Urban Typologies
Perimeter blocks, hybrid slabs, vertical communities, transit-based housing, adaptive reuse, interiorāurban continuums.
Private Houses & Villas
Urban villas, townhouses, courtyard houses, guest houses, densification without high-rise, family/collective hybrids, thresholds between gardenāstreetāhome, heritage contexts.
Responsible Design (ESG)
Just transition; circular construction; social value; governance frameworks; design ethics.
Housing & Turnkey Rental Products
Built-to-rent, micro-living, dormitories; standardization vs. customization; lifecycle and quality.
Co-op Living & Commons
Co-housing, community land trusts, shared infrastructures, care networks, new governance models.
Innovations & Technologies
Industrialized construction (MMC), timber and bio-based materials, digital twins, AI-driven design and management, digital rental platforms.
Smart Cities & Domestic Data
Sensors and analytics, energy management, privacy, ethics, and their impact on everyday life.
Soft City (after David Sim)
Human-scale density, proximity services, walkability, mixed use – and translating these into policy.
Banking Sector & Finance Models
Mortgages, REITs, cooperative and ethical finance, risk management.
Real Estate & Development Perspectives
Viability, procurement, policy alignment, partnerships across public and private stakeholders.
To explore the full conference programme, visit