The Festival of Architecture, run by the New Zealand Institute of Architects, kicks off today, 14 September and is packed with events around the country. A cornerstone of the Festival is the Sir Ian Athfield Memorial Lecture: an annual lecture series from a distinguished architect or commentator.

This year, the lectures will take place in Auckland, Wellington and Queenstown and come from Allison Arieff. Arieff is a prolific American writer and thinker on architecture and urbanism and has been bringing that conversation to the wider public for nearly two decades.

Ashley Cusick spoke to Arieff ahead of her arrival in New Zealand to learn more about how she got here and what she hopes to achieve through her lectures.

Ashley Cusick (AC): We’re excited to welcome you to New Zealand! Have you been here before?

Allison Arieff (AA): No, this is my first time. I’m super excited to visit and to meet people and to start some conversations.

AC: How did you get your start in design writing?

AA: I actually got my start in book publishing. I then went on to be a founding editor of Dwell, a prominent design magazine here in the US. After that, I began writing my column for The New York Times where I write about all sorts of topics spanning architecture, design and urbanism. Currently, I am the editorial director of an urban planning and policy think tank in the San Francisco Bay area called SPUR.

AC: What can you tell us about your lectures here in New Zealand? Can you give us a sneak preview?

AA: Because I’m involved in so many different things, I have a lot of topics to cover. I’ll talk a bit about what SPUR does and also some of the things I’ve been covering in The New York Times like automated vehicles and the urban issues that places like Silicon Valley are experiencing. I write a lot about public space and about problems facing cities so those things will all be incorporated in to my talks, but I don’t want to give too much away!

AC: Is there anything you have learned, or observed, from your career in the United States that you want to communicate to the people of New Zealand?

AA: I live in San Francisco and a lot of people regard Silicon Valley as a hub of innovation, but I’ve seen the actual urban fabric not reflect that same innovation. Many people want to be just like Silicon Valley but we can probably learn more about what not to do from it than to try and copy it. There is huge income equality, an unrealistic housing market, et cetera. Also, my piece in The New York Times about driverless cars has been getting a lot of coverage so I’m excited to talk about designing cities for people instead of cars as well.

But, I would just encourage anyone who comes to my talks to ask me questions because I could talk about these issues for days. So, don’t be afraid. I am looking forward to learning from a new place and experiencing something outside the US and seeing how other people do things. I can’t wait to learn what we have in common and what we’ve done differently.

AC: The Festival of Architecture is about connecting the public with the field of architecture. As someone who has been writing about the industry to the wider public for many years, do you have any tips on making it more accessible?

AA: A lot of my work with both Dwell and The New York Times has been focussed on engaging the public with urban design so I do have some experience with it. I think there is a huge advantage to getting people to experience good design and good architecture. It can be difficult to just talk about it, but experience goes a long way.

The Sir Ian Athfield Memorial Lecture series is open to the public and free to attend, but booking is essential. See Arieff’s lecture in:

• Auckland on 17 September – book tickets here
• Wellington on 19 September – book tickets here
• Queenstown on 20 September – book tickets here.

Read about our highlights from the Festival programme here, and see the full programme of events here.