Open House Melbourne Weekend, Australia’s largest architecture and built environment festival, returns this winter for its 17th year. Over one weekend, on July 27 and 28, more than 170 venues are welcoming over 60,000 visitors in a program bursting with tours, talks, events and activities to spark public engagement with our city’s future.

With a background in architecture, and a PhD in effective ways to communicate the built environment to public audiences, executive director and chief curator Tania Davidge is in her element.

“I feel very lucky to be able to help people better appreciate the city, and to ask the questions: ‘Why do we love it? Why do we live here?’,” she says. “We know Melbourne is going to grow – how can we design our city to be a place that we love in the future, meeting challenges of accessibility, inclusivity, sustainability and affordable housing?”

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This year’s program holds space for these important conversations, tackling design’s potential to solve problems and support the diverse perspectives that shape our city.

History is honoured at the Shrine of Remembrance, which turns 90 this year, with talks and an exhibition program that invites audiences to consider how art and architecture can shape remembrance. At the Royal Botanic Gardens, the heritage-listed Plant Craft Cottage – the oldest building in a public space in Victoria, once home to the state’s first government botanist – will be open for viewing. And over at the University of Melbourne, tours will explore the lush native landscaping and sculptural forms at the new student precinct, whose designers followed Aboriginal consultation and placemaking principles.

Perhaps Melbourne’s biggest change to come is at the Arts Precinct, where an addition that’s been tagged as the nation’s largest cultural infrastructure project is underway. The ambitious plan includes The Fox: NGV Contemporary, a highly anticipated landmark by Angelo Candalepas; significant upgrades to the Arts Centre Melbourne; and nearly 18,000 square metres of urban garden.

“The new landscape will totally change the way people interact – a catalyst opportunity to tie all of our wonderful individual institutions together,” says Davidge. And Open House Melbourne is offering a sneak peek of these exciting plans with the Melbourne Arts Precinct Transformation Tour.

Nearby, another tour takes place in Fed Square and the labyrinth of tunnels hidden beneath it. Within the square, you can also get a behind-the-scenes look at ACMI’s Black Magic Design and Media Preservation Lab, plus the newly renovated Koorie Heritage Trust – an inspired reimagining that highlights contemporary First Nations design.

Across the river, Melbourne Recital Centre celebrates 15 years with an interactive sound installation, while Southbank Theatre, home of the Melbourne Theatre Company, hosts backstage tours. Also in the Arts Precinct, ACCA and Buxton Contemporary will open their doors over the Open House Melbourne Weekend for talks, conversations and viewings of exhibitions currently on display.

“The best part of my job is the stories people tell me – all the weird and wonderful things that have gone on in every part of town,” says Davidge. “Melbourne is such a unique place, full of people who love design and heritage. And you can really feel that when you get out amongst it on the weekend.”

Open House Melbourne Weekend takes place on July 27 and 28, presenting a deep dive into the city’s rich cultural fabric. More information and tickets are available on the website.

Broadsheet is a proud media partner of Melbourne Arts Precinct.