Sponsored by Vectorworks and SketchUp and convened by the new Director of the Architectural Association, Brett Steele, the RIBA's first annual Research Symposium, held on 3 October 2005, aimed to promote and disseminate architectural research work, and to encourage relationships between practice and research. At a time of growing concern over the future of research in architecture, and a sense of increasing marginalisation by the encroachment of other disciplines, both the variety of papers and the evident popularity of the event spoke of its continued vitality and relevance across the profession.