On 30 and 31 January 2025, the Irish Architecture Foundation (IAF) will host the second Annual Summit of Open House Europe, titled The City Invites. Bringing together delegates from 25 Open House cities for an exciting two-day conference at The Printworks, Dublin Castle, the summit will explore how accessibility and inclusion can reshape cities into places that are open, vibrant, and welcoming for all.



The public program offers a series of panel discussions featuring leading voices in architecture, design, and civic participation. The summit also offers an extensive networking program for Open House Europe’s partner organizations and guests from the wider network of Open House Worldwide, such as workshops, lectures, and joint sessions to share experiences.
“In 2023 we joined the Open House Europe project and got the unique opportunity to share our journey of opening the topic of city accessibility, which wasn’t always easy and straightforward, but it surely was enriching and inspiring. Thanks to the opportunity to be a part of the European project, we have aimed to not only further develop our programs for people with visual and hearing disabilities but especially focus on the engagement and education of all visitors. We believe that by taking even just small steps we can all help all people feel welcome at our festivals as well as in our cities, regardless of their limitations,” says Open House Prague director Klára Veselá.



How Can Our Cities Be More & Open Helpful Towards Everybody?
The second summit’s title, The City Invites, captures its essence – a call to action and a challenge to imagine cities as places that embrace diversity, celebrate inclusion, and thrive on collective creativity. By exploring themes such as participatory democracy, the creative reuse of existing structures, and universal design homes, the summit will delve into how urban spaces can evolve to promote inclusion, foster connections, and unlock their full potential for all inhabitants.
“The Open House Europe Summit affords the IAF the chance to discuss our all-island work in accessibility and inclusion with delegates from around the world who are also striving to champion the power and potential of architecture to advance a better, fairer, more joyous and just built environment for all society,” says IAF director, Emmett Scanlon.



Public Panel Disccusions
The public programme offers four inspiring panel discussions, featuring leading voices in architecture, design, and civic participation. The discussions will be available for watching after the event on Open House Europe’s YouTube channel.
Kicking off the event on 30 January is a special conversation, This City Imagined, a discussion on Dublin, 30 years in the making by Group 91, the architects responsible for the transformation of Temple Bar in 1991. The discussion will include architects of national and international acclaim: John Tuomey, Shane O’Toole, Siobhán Ní Éanaigh, Valerie Mulvin, Yvonne Farrell, and Shay Cleary, who will reflect on how architecture can inspire new ways of living and interacting within the urban fabric. The conversation will be moderated by Christele Harrouk, Editor-in-Chief of ArchDaily, and Emmett Scanlon, Director of the Irish Architecture Foundation.
The following day, the public programme will continue with The City Belongs, a discussion on participatory democracy in urban planning, moderated by Manijeh Verghese, CEO of Open City. The panel will feature Ailbhe Cunningham, Architect and Founder of Ample Space; Akil and Seth Scafe-Smith, Co-Directors of Resolve Collective; Aliénor Saint-Cast, Head of Studies at Plateau Urbain; and Marta Ribera Carbó, European Project Director of The Shift. The panel will explore how community involvement in decision-making creates more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable places.
The City Reused, moderated by Cormac Murray, Architect, Lecturer at TU Dublin and Series Editor at TYPE, will explore innovative ways to repurpose existing spaces. Panellists include Barbora Ponešová and Marie Joja, Architects and Placemakers in Archipop; Britta Jürgens and Matthew Griffin, Co-Founders of Deadline Architects; Timo Hauge, Head of the Industrial Heritage Team at Department for Culture, Sports and Industrial Heritage at Regionalverband Ruhr; and Daniel Bell, Architect at Atelier LUMA. The conversation will aim to unlock the innovative potential of reuse and creative adaptation in transforming structures, buildings, and spaces for cultural and creative use.
The City Includes, moderated by Louise Bruton, freelance journalist, disability rights activist, DJ, and playwright, will focus on housing accessibility and universal design. The panel will be joined by John Fulham, Public Engagement Manager at the Irish Wheelchair Association; Jack Kavanagh, Director of Move the Needle; Felix Hemmers, Project Manager and Curator at Baukultur Nordrhein-Westfalen; Nicola Ryan, Co-Director of Studio Red Architects; and Fíonnadh McGonigle, Standards and Monitoring Officer at the National Disability Authority and Centre for Excellence in Universal Design. With experts by profession and experience, this panel explores how best to ensure that the principles of universal design are applied to design and construction.
“We are thrilled to gather for the second time with all Open House Europe members and Open House partners from around the world. In 2024, many of us focused on making our festivals more accessible to diverse audiences while showcasing architectural examples of inclusive city-making. The Annual Summit in Dublin is an exciting opportunity to celebrate these shared achievements, raise awareness, and learn from one another about how our cities can become more inviting and barrier-free,” said Martynas Germanavičius, Open House Europe Project Lead.
Complementing the panel discussions is the launch of the Visual Stories exhibition, showcasing 36 works submitted by attendees of Open House festivals across Europe. These stories, inspired by the 2024 theme of Accessibility and Inclusion, reflect on architecture through photography, film, and other visual media. Following its launch in Dublin, the exhibition will travel to other Open House Europe partner cities, furthering its reach across the continent. You can read about the Prague finalists here.



The summit is co-organised by Forum Kunst und Architektur, the organisation behind Open House Essen, and Culture and Management Club, which leads Open House Brno.
Open House Europe is a cooperation project, co-funded by the European Union and coordinated by Architektūros fondas.
Annual Summit in Dublin
Dates: January 30–31, 2025
Venue: Printworks Event and Exhibition Centre, Dublin Castle
Free admission; reservation required
For more information, visit www.openhouseeurope.org, www.architecturefoundation.ie.
@openhouseeurope
@irisharchitecturefoundation.


Project Partners
- Open House Athens (Open House Greece), Athens, Greece;
- 48h Open House Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain;
- Open House Bilbao (Asociación Open Urbanity), Bilbao, Spain;
- Open House Brno (Culture and Management Club), Brno, Czechia;
- Open House Dublin (The Irish Architecture Foundation), Dublin, Ireland;
- Open House Essen (Forum Kunst & Architektur), Essen, Germany;
- Open House Lisboa (Lisbon Architecture Triennale), Lisbon, Portugal;
- Open House Milano, Milan, Italy;
- Open House Praha, Prague, Czechia;
- Open House Roma, Rome, Italy;
- Open House Slovenia (AFRONT zavod za prostorsko inovativnost), Slovenia;
- Open House Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden;
- Open House Tallinn (Estonian Centre for Architecture), Tallinn, Estonia;
- Open House Thessaloniki (Open House Greece); Thessaloniki, Greece;
- Open House Valencia, Valencia, Spain;
- Open House Vilnius (Architektūros fondas), Vilnius, Lithuania.
About Open House Europe
Open House Europe is a cooperation project, co-funded by the European Union, that brings together Open House festivals from across the continent to foster collaboration and the exchange of ideas. By bringing together organisers and facilitating knowledge sharing, the project promotes architecture as a shared cultural value. Through collaboration the project unfolds a multi-layered view of quality architecture across Europe and unites people of all professions, interests, and visions—from volunteers and curious enthusiasts to young and experienced professionals.
Together, we aim to highlight architecture’s transformative role in shaping communities and improving quality of life. Our goal is to encourage reflection on the challenges and opportunities facing contemporary European architecture and inspire new perspectives on cities and the future of our built environment.
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