The world’s only fringe festival for architecture organised by a grassroots collective has been launched in Scotland.

A diverse programme of over 50 events showcasing spaces, places, innovative design and art are planned to help broaden people’s understanding of what architecture can be.

Organised by a grassroots collective, the Architecture Fringe is a festival created to change Scotland for the better. Following the success of the inaugural event in 2016, this year’s festival has expanded to host over 50 events from 1 – 23 July in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, the Scottish Borders and Highlands.

Highlights include Taxi where members of the public join an architect and a taxi driver on a journey offering differing perspectives on a city’s architecture. The result of trips in and around Edinburgh and Glasgow will be screened as part of a special exhibition throughout the festival. New Typologies asks leading architects to imagine our shared future infrastructure with visualisations on everything from public toilets to town halls.

In Edinburgh, Scotland’s 2016 Venice Biennale representatives Lateral North will co host a discussion on a live music venue for Leith with Leith Creative and in the Highlands Lesley Riddoch and fiddler Adam Sutherland will look at land reform and hutting in a series of events on Bothy Culture. The opportunity to build a family friendly Forest Village sees the festival visit the Abriachan Forest, one of the largest community-owned forests in Scotland.

Exhibitions including Steve Messam’s dramatic temporary art installations at Mellarstain House in Berwickshire entitled XXX and ‘Let Us Stay’ an itinerant pop-up installation explores the precariousness of the housing sector.

In Glasgow, Piss Poor Planning chaired by Muriel Gray will doubtless be a heated debate on the planning fails we are confronted by on a daily basis and also a chance to investigate the forces and structures behind these decisions that affect us all. Urban adventures abound and visitors to the Open Close Project in Edinburgh will see how our smaller urban spaces can become containers for greater joy, wellbeing, stimulation and play, and the role of temporary art and architecture in this transformation.

Finally the festival’s Closing Lecture will feature two leading international architects sharing their insights and perspectives enriching the quality of architectural debate in Scotland.

Andy Summers, co-producer of the Architecture Fringe, said: “The success and vitality of the inaugural Architecture Fringe in 2016 encouraged a lot of new work, new ideas and new voices across the arts. We’re very excited about the programme for 2017 which will take a critical look at the everyday infrastructure of architecture itself and how the discipline can and should play a crucial role for the wider benefit of our shared civil society.

“We are hosting many of the events in unexpected places, in public places, beyond the art galleries and studios. Architecture is all around us and we hope the Architecture Fringe offers a lively and inventive way to inspire fun, reflection, learning and action to help build a better future for us all.”

Tickets and full programme are available here.