The everyday rituals of gathering, eating, listening, and exchanging ideas unfold through food, sound, and conversation.
But it is the places we build where these connections happen which will be celebrated at Galway’s 2026 edition of Architecture at the Edge from next Thursday, September 17, to September 27.
The festival presents a city- and county-wide programme of tours, talks, workshops, films, and exhibitions, with the majority of events free to attend. Its aim is to use the west of Ireland as a location for architectural experimentation. The theme of this tenth edition of the festival is ‘Le Chéile – Architectures of Belonging’.
“This year, we want to encourage people to think about new ways of practising architecture, and how involving local communities in decision-making can strengthen our sense of belonging and encourage greater participation in social life,” says festival director Frank Monahan. “At the heart of it is a simple invitation: to have people at the table, to create spaces where we can come together, share ideas and shape our communities — le chéile.”
In the Printworks Gallery on Market Street, TRESTLE studio has installed a temporary architectural installation called Settle. This proposes a new public interior for gathering and collective experience, inspired by the functionalism and adaptability of Irish vernacular furniture. Guzzle Magazine’s Jane Gleeson and Almost Anywhere, a roaming culinary and private catering project founded by chef Tom Hayes, will transform the installation into a site-specific dinner, exploring how gathering, cooking and hospitality can create a sense of place: “We carry our rituals of hospitality from one place to another, finding a sense of identity and belonging through the act of gathering,” says Hayes.
Settle will also host an event with local food hero JP McMahon on the September 19 following an artist talk with Trestle studios, Tom Cookson and Sarah Carroll.
For Culture Night Late, Swiss-Hungarian architect Blanka Major’s Hinterland will create a sequence of spaces of encounter connecting Druid Lane, the Mick Lally Theatre and the Festival Printworks Gallery.
At its heart is an edible installation taking the form of a Pálás an Phobail - the People’s Palace, where guests move through these spaces shaped by stories and sensory encounters, each revealing a different relationship between food, landscape and memory - inviting them to taste a sense of place. Contributors include Professor Anna Davies of Trinity College, Dublin, and Michael Higgins, Political Liaison and Systems Change Lead at Bohemians Co-operatives.
On Druid Lane, 14 Flags of Belonging, created by commissioned artists in collaboration with Galway City Council, will transform the skyline above Galway for ten days from September 17. Inspired by Galway’s historic Fourteen Tribes, the vibrant flags celebrate the identities and communities that make up the city. The evening will culminate with a visual soundscape by Cathedral (aka Shampain ) in the Mick Lally Theatre auditorium.
“This year, we want to encourage people to think about new ways of practising architecture, and how involving local communities in decision-making can strengthen our sense of belonging and encourage greater participation in social life,” festival organisers said, in a statement.
One such project supported by Galway City Council is Cois Cuain Chorr na Móna, bringing together art, architecture and community at Corr na Móna Pier. A temporary installation will form the centrepiece, accompanied by landscape interventions, local musicians and performers, celebrating the students’ engagement with public space.
Luke Casserly’s Bog_Scape invites audiences to walk together while listening to a site-responsive soundscape exploring Ireland’s changing relationship with peatlands. Developed in collaboration with peatland communities, the work brings together interviews, field recordings and original composition to consider how ecology, labour and human presence shape our experience of place.
The Mayo Atlas, a research project by Aidan Conway, explores the built environment and landscapes of County Mayo, with 3D models forming the point of entry for each site, revealing themes around ecology, history, geology, archaeology and adaptation. The exhibition includes 11 sites, with collaborations by Aisling McCoy, Peter Molloy, Lottie Mac and Claire Kinsella.
Dónal Dineen will also host a special live edition of his Once Upon A Sound video series at AATE26, exploring music as a source of inspiration for creative minds working in other media. Guests include artist Joy Gerrard, whose work investigates different systems of relations between crowds, architecture and the built environment.
Other programme highlights include the presentation of A System for Ordinary Housing, which builds on Ireland’s social housing tradition. Gerry Cahill and SJK Architects’ collaboration learns from, and follows, this experience of simple, high-quality social housing to form connected senses of place in 21st-century Ireland. The project was highly commended at the 2026 Royal Iinstitute of Architects of Ireland (RIAI ) Silver Medal for Housing and will be presented at a panel discussion at the Mick Lally Theatre at 5pm on September 24.
Full details at www.architectureattheedge.com or follow @ArchAtTheEdge
