Exhibition: ICONOMY

July 20, 2016 d. talks adm

image courtesy of Jesus Martin Ruiz for d.talks

ICONOMY
The economy of our local iconic fabric

July 20 - August 6th, 2016
Stride Gallery

This exhibition expands upon initial ideas developed in two earlier d.talks discussions on heritage architecture. The events were named ICONOMY and rooted in a classic phrase from urbanist Jane Jacobs who summarized the significance of existing buildings writing that, “Old ideas can sometimes come from new buildings, but new ideas must come from old buildings.” Jacobs argued that the overhead of new construction can only be carried by chain stores, banks and highly-subsidized businesses. By the very nature of their business model, entrepreneurial, start-up, or mom and pop enterprises are usually situated in older buildings.

Living in a young city undergoing constant development, we sought to draw attention to the quiet architectural “icons” in Calgary. Brutalist and Modernist buildings are sometimes under-recognized as heritage compared to their century-old Sandstone cousins. They’re slightly too young to be considered “old”.

Seeking to highlight the intangible economic benefits of the Brutalist Education Centre Building in our first event, and later the Modernist Lacey Court Building, the two d.talks ICONOMY events posed an architectural prompt: What to do with the existing building while addressing pressures for growth? Three emerging practices lead a discussion on each building, reframing the challenge of “densification” into “possibility”.

Interestingly, both buildings were shaped by local firm Stevenson Raines. The Education Centre, a five-story cantilevered concrete structure, was designed by Stevenson Raines Barrett Hutton Seton and Partners in 1968. The modest single story Lacey Court was designed by J. Stevenson and Associates in 1956 and served as the firm’s offices. An addition housed the National Film Board of Canada at one time, complete with a theatre.

Revealing their process, the six local architecture and design practices represent a diversity of approaches to adaptive re-use. From light touch to mild intervention to dramatic alteration, each practice unveils architectural exploration and the complexity of decisions one must confront when deciding the significance of the existing. We hope this exhibition conveys the type of questions required of an architectural insertion and the opportunity to imagine possibility for growth without the loss of what our ancestors have laid before.

Architects / Designers:

bioi. is a multi-faceted design and build practice founded in 2011 by Jordan Allen and Ryan Trefz emerging from an industry-wide lack of care, craft and innovation. (bioi.co)

FAAS is a studio of designers, builders and placemakers and co-founded by James Andalis and Michael Farrar in 2011. (faasarch.com)

MoDA (Modern office of Design and Architecture) is a critical Architectural and Interior Design studio founded by principals Dustin Couzens and Ben Klumper in 2013. (moda-architecture.ca)

Nyhoff Architecture, established in 2009 by Kevin and Mairi Nyhoff, is a design focused office with a range of adaptive reuse, arts and community based projects. (nyhoff.ca)

Founded in 2013, SPECTACLE is an internationally oriented office working across the fields of architecture, urbanism, landscape and object design, which seeks opportunities to critically examine and influence our cities. (spectacle-bureau.com)

Studio North is a design+build practice founded in 2013 by Matthew Kennedy and Mark Erickson, connecting design with building and craft. (studionorth.ca)

image courtesy of Canadian Architectural Archives, design courtesy of Stride Gallery

Let's talk about...neighbourhoods

May 18, 2016 d. talks adm

Location

The Eric Harvie Theatre is nested within the Glenbow Museum. Founded by Eric Harvie, the Glenbow Foundation was established in 1954, and in 1966 the Harvie family donated their collection of art, artifacts, and historical documents to the people of Alberta. Harvie was an avid collector of material related to the history of Western Canada. His collected artifacts tell the story of Aboriginal peoples, frontier exploration and the development of western life. Harvie established a huge collection, including artifacts from West Africa, Asia, South America and islands in the Pacific. Harvie’s contributions to the cultural landscape of Canada include the Glenbow Museum, the Banff School of Fine Arts, the Luxton Museum, the Calgary Zoo, Heritage Park, and Confederation Square and Arts Complex in Charlottetown, P.E.I. The Devonian Foundation was created to honour his legacy, by his son, Donald Harvie.

Event Description

What does the future of the suburb look like? Often viewed as the antithesis of good urban design, what opportunities and qualities exist in the modern day suburb that can allow us to retrofit communities into places we would all like them to be. How do we enhance the human, social and environmental qualities within these places? D.talks explored the role of transit, infrastructure, densification, repurposed buildings, and shared space in a discussion of a future vision for the suburb.

Installation

In collaboration with the Active Neigbourhoods Canada project d.talks visited a suburban neighbourhood and collected quantitative, qualitative and visual artifacts that were provided to two artists, Keving Jesuino and Irena Konsuwan to use as inspiration for developing an installation in the lobby of the event space.

The resulting installation Y(Our) Suburb was a large format interactive piece where event attendees could contribute their ideas for vibrant communities by drawing directly on the piece. The project highlighted the importance of community engagement in planning and the idea that neighbourhoods should be measured not simply by geography, but by the people and interactions that happened within them.

Panelists

Jyoti Gondek, Westman Centre for Real Estate Studies, University of Calgary

Grace Liu, Brookfield Residential

Jamal Ramjohn, The City of Calgary

Susanne Schinler, Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture, Columbia University

June Williamson, Spitzer School of Architecture, City College of New York (CUNY)

Moderator: Jim Brown, CBC

Event Summary

Panellists offered a holistic view of the ways in which suburban communities could be renewed by considering social, ecological, and economic factors as well as architecture and urban design.

June Williamson, visited from the Spitzer School of Architecture, City College of New York (CUNY). She is the author of Retrofitting Suburbia: Urban Design Solutions for Redesigning Suburbs.

The challenge in cities for the next 50 years will be tempering sprawl development patterns such as low density, car dependence and use separated communities. Retrofitting existing sprawl into more urban and sustainable places, and designing suburban futures is achievable when alternative models are injected into sprawling communities. Opportunities for retrofitting include; biking infrastructure, public housing, district energy systems, suburban agriculture, cottage industries, intergenerational co-housing, re-using big boxes, restoring wetlands and creeks, improving connectivity, diversifying housing choice and price and sub-hub transit systems.

Susanne Schinler, of the Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture, Columbia University presented two projects on housing policy and design. She is co-editor of The Art of Inequality: Architecture, Housing and Real Estate is a multi-year project that considers the conflict between architecture, real estate and housing and explores what is possible in a profit driven environment. The 36 episodes of this project hosted on-line use various forms of media, collections of ordinary artifacts, advertisements, and images of lived in apartments to present the idea that economic inequality is highly linked to other social disparities, particularly the provision of housing. The project aim is to set the terms for understanding the question“How might anyone with a vested interest in architectural design and a commitment to addressing our time’s most pressing social concerns reconcile the two, if at all?”

Possible alternatives were presented using models of cooperative housing, housing that is managed at cost and is not-for-profit. Projects were introduced that emphasize mixed income, ethnicities, ages and uses. One example cited was the United Housing Foundation that created 23 cooperative housing projects in New York City, mainly designed by architects Abraham Kazan and Herman Jessor. Dwelling units were complimented by food stores, nursery schools, a credit union and various social and civic organizations.

The Kalkbreite project by Mueller Sigrist is a 40% commercial, 60% residential project that was rebuilt on top of a streetcar depot in Zurich, Switzerland. The city leases land to the cooperative, keeping the parcels free of developers. The cooperative offers unique living arrangements with some communal spaces and as a result energy use is 1/3 of what is typically consumed by the average person in Western Europe. There is a public park on top of the garage, a bed and breakfast, shared studios, a communal kitchen and residents can rent rooms for their guests. This project was developed out of an architectural competition after a housing cooperative articulated their goals.

Jamal Ramjohn is the Manager of Community Planning at the City of Calgary. Jamal contextualized the last 65 years of suburban growth in Calgary, calling these places “a great palette of suburban 1st generation developments, dying for retrofit.” He tracked the evolution of the suburban development since the early 1970s. He noted key differences as suburban housing typologies evolved, the increase in housing sizes, raised basements, curvilinear streets (loops and lollipops), decreasing family sizes with increasing housing sizes, enclave patterns of development with limited permeability from one home to the next, to schools and to amenities. Since 2011, however there is an attempt to remedy some of these issues by re-introducing the grid structure, increasing permeability, creating taller homes with front garages and different rear lanes.

Grace Liu, is head of Strategic Initiatives for Brookfield Residential. She emphasized the builders attempt to incorporate a liveability index into new developments and their consideration of quality of life, safety and design in neighbourhoods. She is looking to harmonize the intersection of the market, policy and design.

Jyoti Gondek is the Director at the Westman Centre for Real Estate Studies at the University of Calgary. An Urban Sociologist, Jyoti looks at demographics, maps and populations to understand the make up and morphology of urban neighbourhoods. She is an expert in contemporary land development and housing issues in North America. As a case study she highlighted the dramatic population growth in the periphery of Calgary. NE Calgary has the greatest population of visible minorities and is the central community for Indo Canadians. Currently the building industry is booming as multigenerational families are purchasing neighbouring lots as well as purchasing old acreages and farm sites in the district of Rockyview, where multigenerational families live together. Unlike typical urban development patterns in Calgary, in the northeast quadrant of the city the defining characteristic is often the number of people living in a unit, whereas in more other areas development patterns are characterized by the number of units per acre.

Continuing the Conversation

Visit Shelf Life Books and the d.talks recommends shelf to read up on neighbourhoods and other d.talks themes.

Become an advocate for your neighbourhoods and the neighbourhoods you would like to see improved.

Event Support

This event was made possible with help from the Canada Council for the Arts, The Alberta Real Estate Foundation and to the City of Calgary Ward Community Events Fund.

Thank you to our research partners Active Neighbourhoods Canada and Sustainable Calgary.

Thank you to Brewsters Brewing Company, Rosso Coffee Roasters, Shelf Life Books, Sidewalk Citizen Bakery, Village Ice Cream and Vine Arts, for their generous in-kind support.

Thank you to Platform Design for the beautiful design of our invitation and event poster.

Let's talk about...Craft

March 8, 2016 d. talks adm

DATE: Tuesday March 8th, 2016

LOCATION

The d.talks Craft edition was presented at the John Dutton theatre, a multipurpose theatre space located at the Calgary Public Library’s central location.

WHAT HAPPENED

Panelists explored the definition of craft and how the art of making is related to place making. The ability to think with ones hands and contribute to local culture was demonstrated by chefs, blacksmiths, a woolen mill owner, glass blowers, jewelers, coffee roasters, distillers, brewers, designers, factory owners, potters, and museum curators.

FEATURED ALBERTA CRAFTERS

Bee Kingdom Glass - Ryan Fairweather, Tim Belliveau & Phillip Bandura

Tony Bloom - Sculptor, hand-held to monumental work in metal clay and mixed-media

Firebrand Glass Studio- Julie Reimer & Tyler Rock

Scott Hardy - Silver and Goldsmith, founding member Traditional Cowboy Arts Association

Shona Rae - Jeweler & Sculptor, fairytale, folklore, myth and ancient religion inspired work

FEATURED LOCAL FOOD & BEVERAGE

Brewsters Brewing Company

Eau Claire Distillery

Luc’s European Meats

Pre-serve

Rosso Coffee Roasters

Sidewalk Citizen Bakery

PANELISTS

Aaron Nelson, Medalta Museum and Ceramic Arts Facility

Japheth Howard, The Canadian Museum of Making

Studio Collective, University of Calgary faculty of Environmental Design

Maddy Purves-Smith, Custom Woolen Mills Ltd.

Jennifer Dobbin, The Dobbin Group

EVENT SUMMARY

Five panelists discussed the importance of physical literacy and craft. Small craft centered businesses have the ability to be nimble and offer a resilient business model during challenging economic times. Not only are these businesses important for local economies, they also contribute to the cultural realm. They offer alternative education models and have the ability to produce unique goods due to their adaptable tools, skill sets and business models.

Craftspeople face the challenge of affordable space. However, they have the potential to contribute to the vibrancy of the city and street life as their markets and mobile storefronts surface. They are ideal candidates as tenants in historic buildings, or in scenarios of adaptive re-use.

Medalta Pottery located in Medicine Hat, Alberta produces ceramic wares and clay through the social enterprise Plainsman Clays for artists across Canada. It is a national historic site and an industrial heritage museum. Medalta hosts artist residencies, has a gallery space and teaches math, science, art and social sciences using ceramic processes to school aged children.

Custom Woolen Mills is a family owned and operated mill that uses turn of the century machinery to produce wools, yarns, bedding, socks, blankets and garments. Using wool sourced from farmers in Western Canada, all processing is completed at the mill including washing, dyeing, spinning, knitting and quilting.

Studio Collective, a group of second year Architecture students from the University of Calgary Architecture program, developed a project called “Makers Block”. The building is focused on craft offering a research centre, communal workshops and tools and a market. Studio spaces are housed at the top of the building while fabrication spaces are located at the bottom. The market space is located at street level to foster a connection between passers-by and the producers.

The Dobbin Group owns and manages commercial properties in Kensington and attempts to foster community engagement through its properties.

The Canadian Museum of Making was founded by Ian MacGregor in 2001. Ian began collecting machinery and tools that were built and used in Canada, Britain and the U.S. in order to be a source of information about man made machines and their history. In collaboration with Japheth Howard, a skilled blacksmith, the machines are restored to working order and on display at the museum as well as displayed virtually on the website.

CONTINUING THE CONVERSATION

Get to know the makers and craft artists in our area through local initiatives such as Market Collective and the New Craft Coalition.

Learn more about Alberta craft through the Alberta Craft Council and through the Canadian Crafts Federations.

Visit Shelf Life Books and the d.talks recommends shelf to read up on craft and other d.talks themes.

Watch craft theorist Glenn Adamson define “craft”

Find ways to support the incorporation of space for “making” in our existing buildings or become and advocate for the value of creative practice as an alternative economy in the city.

EVENT SUPPORTERS AND FRIENDS

We would like to thank the Alberta Craft Council (www.albertacraft.ab.ca) for help in curating local craft practices to be featured in the video installation.

This event was supported with the help of The Calgary Foundation / The First Calgary Stepping Stones Grant (http://www.thecalgaryfoundation.org/grants-awards/grassroots-grants/stepping-stones) and the support of our members.

Thank you to local food and beverage presenters for demonstrating their production process and for the delicious food and drink.

Let's talk about...Iconomy, West Coast Modern

November 25, 2015 d. talks adm

DATE: Wednesday, November 25th, 2015

LOCATION

D.talks Building Iconomy: Possibilities for a West Coast Modern Building was hosted at the Calgary Masonic Temple. The Freemason’s Hall was established in 1927 and is a designated heritage site. D.S. McIlroy was the architect commissioned to design the building. He is also known for his work on the First Baptist Church and the Odd Fellows Temple in Calgary. Many of the tradesmen who worked on the buildings construction were Masons. The interior has maintained it’s original floor plan and details.

WHAT HAPPENED

The Lacey Court building nested within Calgary’s Beltline, is a rare example of a west coast modern style of architecture. This unassuming but cherished building designed by J. Stevenson & Associates was presented in context of the emerging city in the 1950s. Bioi, FAAS Architecture Office and Studio North, three emerging architecture firms in Calgary, presented concepts on the potential for adaptive reuse of the Lacey Court Building, in light of current day pressures for inner city growth.

PANELISTS

Alex Bozikovic/The Globe and Mail

Dale Taylor/Architect

Fred Valentine/Architect

PRESENTERS

Bioi

FAAS Architecture Office

Studio North

EVENT SUMMARY

West coast modernism is a regionally specific variation on the modernist architectural tradition that emerged in the Greater Vancouver area in the 1940s. This style emphasizes open floor plans, flat roofs, post and beam construction, natural materials, such as wood and stone, and the heavy use of glass. Windows are oriented to views of the landscape, sun paths and water features.

The newly renamed Lacey Court is an example of a West Coast Modern style building. Lacey Court was occupied through the years by the architecture firm J. Stevenson Associates, the National Film Board of Canada, the Law Society of Alberta, John R. Lacey International, PGA Architectural Group and the Thai Consulate. The buildings current resident is MODA architecture.

Alex Bozikovic is the architecture and urbanism critic for The Globe and Mail. Alex demonstrated the design elements of modernism with an array of finely considered buildings.

The modernist buildings considered were: the Mayland Heights Elementary School by Gordon Atkins, Villa Savoye by Le Corbusier, The Lever House by Gordon Bunshaft and Natalie de Blois, The Schindler House by Rudolf Schindler, the Hollyhock House by Frank Lloyd Wright, the Case Study House by Pierre Koenig, Inn on the Park by Dickenson and Associates, the Barron building by Jack Cawston, the Petro Fina Building by Rule Wynn and Rule.

Fred Valentine has practiced architecture since 1963 and has contributed numerous well recognized architectural projects in Alberta including, Canada Olympic Park XV Olympic Winter Games facilities, the Jeanne & Peter Lougheed Building at the Banff Centre, and the refurbishment of the Jubilee Auditoriums in Calgary and Edmonton.

Fred introduced the unsung modernist buildings in Calgary, placing the Lacey Court Building into local context. The Trend House in Elboya, the Elveden Tower (both by Rule Wynn and Rule Architects), and the Lincoln Park Campus at Mount Royal University are buildings in the West Coast Modern style that characterized a period of greatness in architecture.

Local architecture firm J. Stevenson Associates designed Lacey Court in 1956. Dale Taylor, an architect who once worked for the firm when it practiced out of the Lacey Court building, provided a history of the firm. J. Stevenson and associates had a number of significant commissions including the Barron Building, the Stampede Coral and the Petro Chemical Building. Dale has mentored emerging firms such as RAD Architecture, Eleven Eleven and McKinley Burkart Architects.

Video by: Long Story Films

DESIGN CONCEPTS FOR LACEY COURT

Three emerging practices developed an “architectural prompt” for Lacey Court to prime a discussion on adaptive-reuse while accommodating pressures of growth. The conceptual ideas presented by Formed Alliance Architecture Studio (FAAS), Bioi and Studio North were followed by a discussion. The architectural prompts will be on display in early 2016.

FAAS explored the Lacey Court’s connection to Memorial Park and to nearby buildings. Their conceptual idea proposed a pavilion light box be moved to the top of an adjacent tower and the removal of the first floors of the building, separating business from residential dwellings.

Bioi considered the Lacey Court’s significance to the city and developed an architectural prompt that offered affordable housing, affordable small office space, micro housing, eradicated parking and added green space. Bioi’s design honoured Lacey Courts’ loyalty to the public realm, the set back from the street, large glass windows and green space. The final design added volume on the west side with a very thin and tall tower, placed upon a modern podium.

Studio North’s design prompt for Lacey Court considered reincorporating a theater space, in homage to the NFB, as well as including studio spaces for small creative professionals, a woodshop and a street-facing exhibition space. Their studies of light and reflections revealed possibilities like extending the courtyard, adding a rooftop space, and banking and reflecting sunlight into the building and the courtyard.

CONTINUING THE CONVERSATION

Consider following Docomomo an international organization with chapters in Canada, committed to documenting and conserving buildings, neighborhoods and sites of the modern movement.

Stay tuned for a public exhibition in early 2016 on the re-imagining of Lacey Court as conceived by D.talks presenters Bioi, FAAS and Studio North.

Consult our "d.talks recommends" bookshelf at Shelf Life Books for a curated selection of books related to upcoming and past events.

EVENT SUPPORTERS AND FRIENDS

Thank you for yet another successful year of conversation about design and the built environment in Calgary. Thanks to Urban Systems, DIRTT, and the Alberta Historical Resources Foundation for their support of this event. Thanks to Platform Design for their design of the invitation.

d.talks wishes to thank all of our incredible panelists, volunteers, members and event supporters and friends who provide us with technical equipment and libations for our events:

Brewsters Alberta, Sidewalk Citizen Bakery, Rosso Coffee Roasters, The Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers and our media partner Western Living Magazine.

We look forward to collaborating with you in 2016!

Let's talk about...home

October 8, 2015 d. talks adm

Location
The Stanford Perrott Theatre is located at the Alberta College of Art and Design. A watercolorist, Stanford Perrott taught at ACAD in the late 1960s and had studied with Abstract Expressionist painter Hans Hofmann in Massachusetts.

What Happened
We held a discussion on affordable housing. Many North American cities find affordability key to retaining economic diversity, and yet, affordable housing can seem in short supply. The conversation began with an exploration into the state of housing in Calgary and moved into queries of housing as public infrastructure and the diversity of housing typologies. The question was, how is affordability defined and where does the onus rest on providing an affordable roof over one’s head?

Panel Discussion
Bill Ptacek / CEO, Calgary Public Library
Sarah Arthurs / Member, Prairie Sky Co-Housing
Joe Starkman / President and CEO, Knightsbridge Homes
André Chabot / Councillor, Ward 10
Kim O’Brien / Executive Director, Horizon Housing Society (moderator)

Event Summary:
Bill Ptacek set the stage by identifying an affordability challenge in Calgary. Daytime use of the library, it turns out, is frequented by some who have housing as a primary need. There are an estimated 3500 waitlisted for housing in the city.

Moderator Kim O’Brien laid a foundation for the work of organizations such as Horizon Housing Society that provides affordable, integrated and supported homes to over 700 Calgarians. Demystifying affordable housing requires shedding a stigma associated with affordability. Her call was to bring on more collaborative housing, including collaborative fundraising initiatives.

Sarah Arthurs approached the term “affordable” with what is instead priceless. A resident of Prairie Sky Co-Housing for over 12 years, she revealed the social and design aspects of a more participatory experience. Sharing reduces the need to own as many tools and yet sharing is not only more affordable, but the community is priceless.

Councillor Chabot chairs both the Standing Policy Committee on Planning & Urban Development and the Gas, Power and Telecommunications Committee. While admitting that affordable housing is not a core municipal mandate, he noted that inclusionary zoning might offer an opportunity.

Joe Starkman’s latest development in the East Village is called N3 and known as a “zero-parking” project. Sometimes housing is unintentionally affordable. Assumptions that the building would be for a young demographic were met with seniors desiring smaller units. They weren’t worried about parking or the noise…they don’t drive and self-proclaimed that their hearing isn’t too well anyhow.

There were questions about a perceived stigma around rental housing, about contentious policy issues, and a bit about secondary suites. But one of the most interesting connections to housing that a member in the audience brought forward is the issue of loneliness.

Further Exploration:
How we address the challenge of affordability requires design thinking and the use of a number of tools. Follow-up with a panelist or reach out to your representative or your community association if you’re interested in the topic. Find a way to volunteer if you’re so-inclined. Send us your great ideas on housing options, on cooperative models, micro units, hybrid models and multi-generational living. Visit Shelf Life to find reading material, including our “d.talks recommends…” shelf.

Event Supporters and Friends:
Thanks to the kind support of DIRTT and the Victoria Park BRZ. ACAD, Village Ice Cream, Sidewalk Citizen, Rosso Coffe Roasters, and Shamm’s Kitchen helped us with food. And to our amazing volunteers, a large thank you to each of you.

Let's talk about...Home Event took place on October 8, 2015 Video produced by: Long Story Films More information: dtalks.org

Let's talk about...community

June 4, 2015 d. talks adm

DATE: Tuesday, June 4th, 2015

LOCATION

The Royal Canadian Legion Alberta No. 1 branch, was founded by World War I soldiers returning to Calgary who formed a mutual aid society. Branch No. 1 opened in 1922, as a memorial hall honoring the heroic contributions of Canada’s servicemen and women and providing ongoing support for returning members of the Canadian military. The Legion offers club rooms for veterans gatherings and spaces for community events.

WHAT HAPPENED

Design Talks Institute invited artists and designers who have worked directly with communities on regionally specific projects. A community supper followed which was catered by some of Calgary’s most outstanding restaurants. The evening culminated with a screening of “Strange and Familiar: Architecture of Fogo Island” with the architect Todd Saunders in attendance.

PANEL DISCUSSION

Richard Kroeker, Richard Kroeker Design

Yvonne Mullock, Artist (Lead Artist community quilt project Fogo Island Arts)

Peter von Tiesenhausen, Artist

Kate Thompson, Director of Development Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (moderator)

COMMUNITY SUPPER MENU

Foccaccia by Sidewalk Citizen Bakery

Cobb Salad & Roast Chicken by NOtaBLE

Avonlea cloth-bound cheddar (Cow’s creamery PEI) and Five Brothers gouda from Gunn’s Hill (Woodstock, Ontario by Janice Beaton Fine Cheese

Red lentil hummus by Boxwood

Chickpea chat by EthniCity Catering

Barbecue pork loin and seven grain salad by Sunterra foods

FILM SCREENING

Strange and Familiar: Architecture on Fogo Island

Q & A with Todd Saunders of Saunders Architecture

EVENT SUMMARY

These artists and designers introduced us to the collaborative aspects and outcomes of community enriched projects using local materials, craftspeople and knowledge.

Richard Kroecker is an architect who incorporates usability and ecological sustainability in his works. Buildings are designed to retain the natural beauty of their surroundings and are often inspired by early Native American designs and materials. His design of a children’s theatre for the Acadian fishing village of Cheticamp on Cape Breton was awarded a 2006 Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia award with the jury remarking on the sense of community the structure inspires. Richard shared the design of a theatre for dance and music in rural Botswana and how improv was woven into the building of the structure.

Yvonne Mullock is an independent artist who works in drawing, sculpture, ceramics, textile and craft on projects that consider the nuances of people, their surroundings, context and place. Yvonne was the lead artist on a community quilt project in partnership with Fogo Island Arts and the Shorefast Foundation. Yvonne immersed herself with the island quilt makers, photographed and cataloged the items and learned the traditions of style and craft that were passed down from generations of families. The Fogo Island Arts project used expertise of local craftspeople to furnish the Fogo Island Inn. Everything from the furniture, light fixtures, doorknobs and quilts were made by residents of the island.

Peter von Tiesenhausen is an artist whose projects are closely tied to the place where he grew up (Demmitt Alberta). In 1997 he copyrighted his property as an artistic project to protect it from pipeline development. He is currently building a white picket fence on his property eight feet per year, never to be maintained so that the passing imprint of time may be revealed. In a recent project he and his wife built a straw bale and timbre framed community hall for their town in collaboration with craftspeople and artists from across Canada. All of his projects use found materials and often take on life outside of a gallery. They are developed with the ongoing effect of natural processes and impressions in mind.

Kate Thomson, Director of Development for the Calgary Municipal Land Corporation, moderated the panel discussion.

Todd Saunders is the principle architect of Saunders Architecture and lead architect for the Fogo Islands Arts project in partnership with the Shorefast Foundation and founder Zita Cobb. The two developed an inn, a gallery, a restaurant and artists studios. The Fogo Island Arts Centre offers an international residency program. Using architecture as a tool, the project aspires to add another facet to the economy of Fogo Island which had relied heavily on cod fishing. All profits from the project are for the community and a cottage industry is gaining momentum as skilled craftspeople form the project are selling their furniture and items from the inn to people around the world. 150 craftspeople from boat builders to quilt makers as well as artists and designers from around the world collaborated on the project.

CONTINUING THE CONVERSATION

The Lost Spaces Found Exhibition continues:

Centre Street LRT Platform

May 25 - July 31 2015

Free and open to the public, all hours

Continue to send us photos of your lost spaces via twitter and instagram tagged #dtalkslostspaces or email them to hello@dtalks.org.

EVENT SUPPORTERS & FRIENDS

Thank you to our incredible supporters and friends: DIRTT Environmental Solutions, The Victoria Park BRZ, The Ward Community Events Fund, The Jonathan Hart Memorial Fund.

Our amazing community supper was possible because of support from: NOtaBLE, Janice Beaton Fine Cheese, Boxwood, EthniCity Catering, Sidewalk Citizen Bakery, Beer Revolution, The Green Hare Vegetarian Catering, Sunterra Market.

Thank you to our logistics and media sponsors; UPS (52nd street location), The Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers, Design Cause & Western Living Magazine.

Special thanks to Larry, at the Royal Canadian Legion No. 1 for the amazing venue and assistance.

Design talks is 100% volunteer run and community supported.

Let's talk about...lost spaces found

April 29, 2015 d. talks adm

DATE: April 29th, 2015

LOCATION

The Globe Cinema is one of two remaining art house cinemas in the city of Calgary. The Globe Cinema (originally known as Towne Cinema) has been bringing independent, art house and international film to Calgary since 1995. The Globe is at the heart of Calgary’s thriving film festival scene, supporting events such as the $100 film festival, the Calgary International Film Festival, the Calgary Underground Film Festival, and GIRAF Animation festival.

WHAT HAPPENED

Design Talks Institute, in partnership with WATERSHED+ and the City of Calgary, hosted an awards night showcasing the winning submissions of the inaugural Lost Spaces Ideas Competition.

COMPETITION JURORS

Susan Szenasy, METROPOLIS Magazine
Pierre Thibault, Atelier Pierre Thibault
Shane Coen, Coen + Partners
Shawna Thompson, The Esker Foundation
Diana Sherlock, Independent Curator

COMPETITION WINNERS

First Prize
Lost Railways
Laboratoria de arquitectura y paisaje: Edgar Mazo, Sebstian Mejia, Iojann Restrepo, Glenn Pouliquen

Transportation Field Prize
Occult Prairie
Judit Urgelles, Casey Collins

Water Services Field Prize
Calgary Dehydrants
The Municipal Interface: Kyle O’Connor

Parks Field Prize
Pollen-nation
Jamal Nureddin, Nadja Pausch

Public Art Field Prize
UnderSky
Jorge Sanfulgencio, Julio Romero

Planning Field Prize
Clover Leaf
David Whittman, Mike Murray, Hannah Perry, Jonathan Sagi, Katelyn Junkin, Dave Robertson

Honorable Mentions

Get Lost in the Street
Felicia Sartika, Juanita Christine, Shirleen Alvita

Outplay
Mihail Dimitrov, Ana Dyadkova, Stamena Slavova, Stoyko Enchev, Simona Kabadova

Seepers
Jitka Svensson, Christel Lindgren, Mike Friesen

Greeting Cards
Federico Perugini, Thais de Roquemaurel, Alessandra Vizzini, Paolo Pirasso

Lineside Park
Yves Poitras, Trevor Steckley

Playful City
Emily Cheng, Jennifer Davis

EVENT SUMMARY

The inaugural Lost Spaces Ideas Competition saw 290 submissions from 40 countries imagine the potential for Calgary’s lost spaces. Creating an inspiring, healthy and green city is often grown out of small actions and a multidisciplinary collaborative approach. Ideas were evaluated on their ability to address complex issues such as storm water management, food production, undesirable or “dangerous” areas, creation of greater links to wildlife and increased accessibility in urban areas. The most celebrated entries offered a clarity of ideas, quality design and an ability to advance thought in the fields of transportation, planning, parks, water services and public art. Highlighted entries addressed social, economic and environmental implications with leadership and vision.

Our jurors had unique insights in defining lost spaces and introduced the competition with their imaginative work and ideas.

Diana Sherlock, an independent curator and visual arts writer, offered that lost spaces allow us to think of possibilities in our city. She considers the relationship between site, context and objects in space and how they change the way we live our lives in the everyday. Sherlock views lost spaces as a bi-product of modernity, the legacy of over-production and consumption. Rich in histories that are colonial, gendered, and raced lost spaces are productive points of interrogation. Considering these in-between places allows opportunity to live more sustainable lives, opens up a space for quieter aspects of our society to speak more loudly, and might allow us to address topics of social isolation, poverty, consumption, economic inequality, social homogenization and the ugliness of the urban environment. These challenges can be engaged with a sense of humor in elegant and creative ways, generating agnostic debate and productive dialogue, encouraging a vibrant democracy that is essential to lively and vibrant cities.

Shawna Thompson is a curator at the Esker Foundation committed to artistic collaboration, co-conspiring, and advocacy. She considered the dialogue between the institution and the greater city or place and what it means to work outside the walls of a gallery. During her time at the Banff Centre, she saw the transformative effect of clandestine interventions in quiet, hidden and marginalized spaces on campus that spoke to the implicit narratives of a place. Janet Cardiff’s piece “Forest Walk” in 1991, introduced visitors to a isolated parcel of land on campus. Mike Macdonald created a butterfly garden with native plants in a hidden area at the Banff Centre. Artist Mark Clintberg “borrowed” wayfinding signs on campus and left notes for meeting places in a piece called “Meet me in the Woods”.

The Esker Foundation has recently purchased the Farmer Jones' used car lot in Inglewood and the site has escaped its fate as a development. It will now be turned into a public green space and sculpture garden.

Shane Coen, a landscape architect with Coen + Partners. He views landscapes as influenced by people, place, innovation and beauty. Spaces are lost between engineering and infrastructural feats, or simply between basic infrastructure like parking lots or roadways. Coen + Partners has undertaken urban and rural landscape projects with a sensitivity to the landscape and the people who live there.

A public housing project in Syracuse, New York was challenged by high crime and high drop-out rates. The project ethos was to encourage wellness, meditation, movement and community collaboration. A parking lot underutilized after 4pm was programmed on the hour with basketball, soccer, and open gym programming. A vacant landscape was enriched by an urban forest and patches of open prairie dotted with resting places. A dark sidewalk was made convivial by the installation of street lights that projected optimistic words on the sidewalk. The Jackson Meadow project revived beautiful farmland and restored the land to virgin prairie, as well as fostered a sensitive development pattern consistent with the tradition of Finnish architecture in the old town.

Pierre Thibault is a Montreal-based landscape architect and artist. His projects are both ephemeral and experimental and offer a unique attention to detail and a sensitivity to the natural world. The Peel Basin in Montreal, which was Montreal’s most industrial area in the 19th Century was modified by the reintroduction of native plants and landscape, and is now one of the more natural and green areas in the city. Thibault and his atelier modify areas in the city with small interventions and pay attention to details as small as cracks in the asphalt that create miniature gardens (jardins des fissures).

The campus of the University Hospital in Sherbrooke Quebec was as warm and charming as a suburban mall. Thibault and his team modified this hospital nested within a large parking lot by creating a green belt and a rooftop garden that offered sick patients a sanctuary of green space.

Susan Szenasy is editor in chief of Metropolis Magazine. She is also a writer, filmmaker, lecturer and teacher and advocate for sustainable, ethical and human-centered design. She articulated lost spaces as being the mistakes of 20th century planning and a top down approach to the design of the built environment. She advocates for co-creation in design, where the needs of communities are reported and understood. Italian hill towns are an example of a visionary approach where everything fits and everything is worked out. If we were able to fill in the lost spaces in our midst’s currently, perhaps our urban North American plans would reflect this reality.

Szenasy’s profession enables her to watch what happens day to day in the designed environment. She highlighted that hospitals, for example, are really sick buildings where the patient’s welfare is secondary. She questioned the connection between buildings and nature; how to get fresh air into buildings, how to free earth from the concrete so water can seep into aquifers so that we don’t lose water from rainfall, how to design buildings so that we can look at beautiful things? Lost spaces are really about a thoughtful consideration of the future; “your welfare, your health and your children’s health, you are developing a new world.”

CONTINUING THE CONVERSATION

The Lost Spaces Found Exhibition is up for viewing, showcasing the winning entries from the Lost Spaces 2015 Ideas Competition.

Exhibition of shortlisted entries: Contemporary Calgary / C2 May 7-23, 2015 suite 104, 800 Macleod Trail SE, Calgary Free and open to the public, Th-Sun 12 - 6pm

A following exhibition at:
Centre Street LRT Platform May 25 - June 28, 2015 Free and open to the public, all hours

Continue to send us photos of your lost spaces via twitter and instagram tagged #dtalkslostspaces or email them to hello [at] dtalks.org.

EVENT SUPPORTERS & FRIENDS

This event was possible thanks to our partnership with the City of Calgary, in particular; The City of Calgary's Utilities & Environmental Protection department and Public Art Program and WATERSHED+, in addition to a number of other City departments including Water Services, Parks, Transportation, Planning and Public Art.

Thank you to all of our independently minded supporters and friends: WATERSHED+, The Globe Cinema, Contemporary Calgary, New West Video, Sidewalk Citizen Bakery, DIRTT Environmental Solutions, Rosso Coffee Roasters, Beer Revolution, Brewsters, Vine Arts, UPS and Western Living.

Let's talk about…the remix

December 3, 2014 d. talks adm

WHAT HAPPENED

This discussion considered the value of maintaining and reinventing heritage buildings in light of their economic, aesthetic, historical and sustainable qualities.

LOCATION

The d.talks Remix took place in The National Music Centre located in the historic Customs House Building. The Customs House building was completed in 1916 by architect Leo Dowler and the Department of Public Works. Adjacent to the Canadian Pacific Railways mainline, the Customs House is an example of an early railroad building. It was constructed in a Chicago Commercial-style.

From 1916 to 1979, the Customs House contained the administrative offices and examining quarters for the Port of Calgary. It received merchandise delivered by rail to be inspected upon arrival in the city. Since being designated as a Provincial Historical Resource in 1979, it has operated as a federal government building, headquarters for the police department, home to the Cantos Music Museum and briefly housed the University of Calgary Urban Design Lab. The building is currently shared by an architecture firm and the National Music Centre.

The National Music Centre is in its last month of operation and programming as a resident of the Customs House, anticipating its 2016 expansion to a new 160 000 square foot architecturally renowned facility designed by Brad Cloepfil of Allied Works Architecture. The NMC is home to 2000+ rare artifacts and instruments such as TONTO (the largest analog synthesizer in the world), and the Robb Wave Organ (the first electronic organ to be manufactured and sold commercially). It will continue to offer interactive tours, music residencies, educational opportunities, music and arts programming. Numerous artists have used the collection as part of residencies in the creation of new works including Timbre Timber, Kid Koala, Money Mark and Shout Out Out Out. The collection has been visited by artists such as Phillip Glass, The Flaming Lips, Arcade Fire, Brian Eno, and Lee Renaldo (Sonic Youth).

PANEL DISCUSSION

Rollin Stanley, GM, Planning, Development & Assessment, The City of Calgary

Mairi + Kevin Nyhoff, Nyhoff Architecture

Reverend Dr. John Pentland, Hillhurst United Church

Cynthia Klaassen, Calgary Heritage Initiative (moderator)

EVENT SUMMARY

Panelists explored ways to “remix” heritage buildings given modern challenges. Rollin Stanley, the General Manager for Planning, Development and Assessment for The City of Calgary advocated for repurposing existing buildings, and suggested that a city can be rebuilt economically and sustainably using heritage preservation and adaptive re-use. He is adept at considering a city’s unique demographic, historical, infrastructural, economic, and sustainability challenges. Working to change policies that hinder a city’s ability to develop responsibly, his talk focused on fostering financial incentives for historic preservation that often initiates a progressive change in dialogue concerning controversial urban issues. He has noted that “the greenest building is one that is already built”, suggesting that conversions of historic areas and historic tax credits as incentives to create more economic activity, employment, an increase in average sale prices, resulting in dramatic social, fiscal and environmental implications. Heritage preservation promotes fiscal sustainability hand in hand with green sustainability, social sustainability and responsible urban growth.

Mairi and Kevin Nyhoff brought an adaptive re-use perspective; the firm is working on the historic St. Louis Hotel and the King Edward Arts Hub and Incubator Project, two of Calgary's vital historic buildings. Mairi and Kevin are partners in Nyhoff Architecture, an award winning design studio. The King Edward school design is LEED Gold certified with modern elements such as solar shading louvres. The former school is being revived with both work and living space, including outdoor spaces that also act as art-making spaces. Ideas for the Hub were developed with numerous community engagement workshops. Though some additions to the building are modern, its original sun filled corridors, intricate tile work, blackboards, water fountains, hardwood floors, terrazzo flooring, brass coat hooks, sandstone work, and attic space are nuances that will all be maintained in the redesign.

John Pentland joined the Hillhurst United Church as the minister in 2005 and has since partnered with creative individuals and community groups to rekindle the Church as a vibrant and modern space that is malleable to the needs of the community. In the process, he has developed an innovative reimagining of a church in building typology and congregation. In the last ten years, the church has changed dramatically from a building with little programming, few children, no website activity and a congregation of 60-70 seniors, to a staff of 26, a congregation of 350 on Sunday, numerous children (285), a website with 700 plus visits per month, a significantly increased annual budget and a place with strong community ties. The church’s mission rests on Radical Hospitality, Spirituality and Social Justice, liberally reframing its focus on engaging with people in diverse communities.

This focus on inclusivity and social justice led the church to partner with architects Holly Simon and Kevin Lo to hold an International Architectural Ideas Competition. The competition crowd sourced ideas for a space of “social actualization,” reinventing the church as a place for inclusivity, imagination and wonder. Over 80 people with 39 entries from 18 different countries around the world, including Hong Kong, the Philippines, Spain, Croatia, Lebanon, the United States and Canada participated.

Cynthia Klassen moderated the panel discussion for the evening. She is Calgary’s leading lady in Heritage Preservation as President of the Calgary Heritage Initiative Society and a founder of Doors Open Calgary and the award winning Century Homes Project.

Hillhurst United Design Competition at Remix, image: Noel Begin

CONTINUING THE CONVERSATION

Did the latest d.talks event “Remix” spark some new ideas for a project that considers lost spaces in the context of adaptive re-use or heritage preservation?

In partnership with WATERSHED+ and the City of Calgary, d.talks is excited for our inaugural design competition inspired by lost spaces. Please stay tuned for the exciting competition details on dtalks.org or @dtalks_yyc.

EVENT SUPPORTERS AND FRIENDS

Fine food and drink from our fine friends at Grumans Delicatessen, Sidewalk Citizen Bakery, Preserve Foods, Rosso Coffee Roasters, Brewsters, Vine Arts, and Beer Revolution. Thank you for your incredible support. Special remix music provided by CJSW's Whitney Ota and Sameer Ladha. Thank you to DIRTT Environmental Solutions and First Calgary Financial for your continued and generous support. Find the relevant book Old Buildings, New Forms at Monacelli Press.

Let's talk about…the remix, image: Noel Begin

Let's talk about...lost spaces

October 1, 2014 d. talks adm

LOCATION

Festival Hall is an adaptable 225 seat performance space on a residential street in Inglewood and is home to the business office of the Calgary Folk Music Festival. Peter Cardew was commissioned to design the building and created the hall to enhance the valued qualities of the community. He was inspired by the “frank, purposeful and architecturally modest” character of Inglewood and brought these honest elements to the construction of the building. The interior, inspired by early Texan dancehalls uses cross-hatched trusses built with century-old reclaimed timber. Local and regional repurposed materials were used throughout the building.

WHAT HAPPENED

A thoughtful evening considered the left-over, in-between, underutilized, overlooked spaces in the city and the potential they hold in terms of biodiversity, public use, commercial venture and beyond. What opportunities lie in using and transforming these spaces and should we change them?

SCREENING

"Second Nature": A Documentary Film About Janne Saario (Landscape Architect and Professional Skateboarder)

Director: Yves Marchon

PANEL DISCUSSION

With Matthew Passmore of Morelab

David Low, Victoria Park BRZ

Chris Manderson, City of Calgary Parks

Gian-Carlo Carra, City of Calgary Councilor Ward 9 (Moderator)

EVENT SUMMARY

Panelists considered lost spaces in the city of Calgary and the potential therein, from abandoned construction sites, to urban parcels of land ripe with native plants and species, to privately owned “public spaces”. Within these lost spaces lie the breathing space of city life, offering opportunities for preservation, exploration, discovery, the unexpected, spontaneous and the risky.

Chris Manderson considers lost spaces to be “the ghosts of planning past”. As an ecologist who works with City of Calgary Parks he is concerned with natural area management and habitat restoration. He considers landscapes, animals and ecosystems in the city and highlights the importance of connectivity and flows between natural spaces. Preservation of natural areas in cities means re-introducing the human scale and thinking about the city as a place interwoven with the surrounding landscape, not just as a city with parks in it. Lost spaces are more than the loss of individual places but part of a lost landscape. Urban afflictions like ring roads effectively wring the city, and cut off the connectivity of natural spaces, ecosystems and animals, elements intrinsic to balancing biodiversity in the city. Next time you visit McHugh Bluff and other wild places in Calgary consider them as vital integrated places that benefit urban and regional ecology.

Matthew Passmore founder of MoreLab in Oakland California creates artworks, installations and experiences that examine our understanding of the social, political and ecological dynamics of public space. MoreLab has worked with cultural institutions, government agencies and private entities to enhance the quality, character and understanding of the public realm. Through his Commonspace project Passmore has considered designated “Privately Owned Public Spaces” (POPOS) in San Francisco and developed mischievous and clever ways to test their “public-ness” such as “Nappening” a free public napping event and “wellness seminar”.

Inspired by stalled development in Victoria Park, David Low and the Victoria Park BRZ have been experimenting with pop-ups, markets, and parkettes as place-making initiatives. An abandoned construction site was repurposed with decks, plantings, benches, pathways, and an open platform for pop-up markets and store fronts. While this project brightened up the area and is a welcoming connection between first street SW and Haultain park, the highlight is the unintended and surprise consequences of taking a space and re-finding it. Skateboarders, guerilla gardeners, and residents posting signs of care and consideration for their community were unexpected litmus tests of enthusiasm and engagement.

CONTINUING THE CONVERSATION

In partnership with WATERSHED+ and the City of Calgary, d.talks is excited to announce our inaugural design competition inspired by lost spaces. Please stay tuned for the exciting details on dtalks.org or @dtalks_yyc.

Send us photos your lost spaces via twitter and instagram tagged #dtalkslostspaces or email them to hello@dtalks.org.

EVENT SUPPORTERS & FRIENDS

Thank you to all of our independently minded supporters and friends: Festival Hall, Sidewalk Citizen Bakery, Bite Groceteria, Caffe Rosso, Beer Revolution and First Calgary Financial.

Let's talk about...seeding change

June 12, 2014 d. talks adm

LETS TALK ABOUT...SEEDING CHANGE
LOCATION: 150-9th Avenue SW Calgary
Seeding change was located in the lobby and front plaza of a 30 story office tower. Sited on the diagonal in order to not obstruct views of the historic Palliser Hotel across the street, the design offers a generous front plaza.

WHAT HAPPENED
Seeding Change explored informal urbanism and how moves such as urban gardening can foster community and allow for the growing of food. The event included an exhibition, a plaza activation, a discussion, and a family activity.

The exhibition: Hands on Urbanism: How to Make a Difference was in the lobby. The plaza activation (front plaza) featured hand-made seating, a collection of chairs community project, weaving and a sculpture. The discussion explored the history of the Vacant Lots Garden Club as well as current practices like fruit tree gleaners, SPIN farming, and urban and community gardening. The idea was, what if an empty lot or a rooftop could serve as an opportunity?

Panelists:
Adrian Buckley / Urban Harvest Project
Andrew Hewson / SAIT Polytechnic
Mike Ricketts / Bridgeland/Riverside Vacant Lots Garden
Dennis Scanland / YYC Growers and Distributors
Rick Gendron / 818 Studio (moderator)

The Family Event: Terrarium-building facilitated by: Aron Hill / Workshop: Creative Community Space

Edit courtesy of Sergey Abramov

DISCUSSION SUMMARY
The Bridgeland/Riverside Vacant Lots garden is Calgary’s only community garden with heritage status. The garden has a unique history dating back to 1914 as the Vacant Lots Garden Club (1914-1952), which provided growing space for less fortunate residents, and beautification of vacant under-utilized lots. The garden is currently a community garden for Bridgeland/Riverside residents.

The Jackson Henuset Memorial Garden at SAIT Polytechnic is a learning garden entering its fifth growing season. Conceived by Andrew Hewson, the garden encourages students to connect their culinary arts training with agriculture and sustainability issues (Culinary Agro Literacy).

A wealth of unpicked fruit in the city of Calgary led Adrian Buckley to found the Urban Harvest Project, a database of “donated” privately owned fruit trees to be harvested by volunteers when fruit is ripe and redistributed within the city of Calgary.

Underutilized yard space is an opportunity for diversifying urban agriculture in Calgary. YYC Growers and Distributors is an alliance of urban/SPIN (Small Plot Intensive Farming) farmers in Calgary who have joined forces to create a market for their produce.

EXHIBITION SUMMARY (building lobby)
Hands on Urbanism: How to Make a Difference
Hands on Urbanism is an exhibition, curated by Elke Kransy, that explores urban gardening through the lens of informal settlements and the politics of space. The exhibition shared the stories of numerous citizen-led acts that responded to urban pressures and led to a collective community ambition. The exhibition panels were installed in an office lobby with the intent to make the exhibition accessible to street traffic and to reflect informality.

INSTALLATION SUMMARY (front plaza)
A collection of acts that included repurposing pallets, second-hand wood, weaving and white plastic chairs transformed the under-utilized downtown plaza. Numerous community volunteers participated in transforming granite into a green haven and social space.

EVENT SUPPORTERS & FRIENDS
Thank you to our event partner: First Calgary Financial.

Hands-on Production: Tamara Lee (ChairISH), Lane Shordee (Circular Pallet Bench), Jayda Karsten (Woven Tree Screen and Plant Baskets), Steve Reither (Tire and Pallet Bench), Green Gate Garden Centres (Indoor Plant Material and Pallet Gardens), The City of Calgary (Plant Material), We Are the Filters (Sculpture / Sled Island), Julie Wons (Seeding Change sign), Shannon Lanigan (PVC Pipe Planters), Reclaimed Trading Co. (Wood), Armour Equipment (Scaffolding), Hines Canada Management (lobby and plaza). Installation and design support: d.talks board and d.talks team, with particular thanks to Alicia Yip, Ernest Hon, Jesus Martin Ruiz, Lindsay Horan, and Tammy Primeau.

Event contributors: Caffe Rosso, PLANT, Sidewalk Citizen Bakery, Urban Ag Project.

CONTINUING THE CONVERSATION
Send us questions or your own thoughts on how to keep the conversation
going at hello[at]dtalks[dot]org.

Let's talk about...getting around

April 3, 2014 d. talks adm

LOCATION Arrata Opera Centre

Established in 1911 by the Wesley congregation the building has operated as a house of worship, a Sunday school and is currently home to Calgary Opera, who took over the old Wesley United Church in 2005. The Arrata Opera Centre houses the company’s administrative offices, a rehearsal hall, a wardrobe shop, an education wing and holds recitals and special events.

WHAT HAPPENED Discussion on design challenges to facilitate mobility and opportunities for improving Calgary’s own scale for the human.

SCREENING “THE HUMAN SCALE” director: Andreas M. Dalsgaard

PANEL DISCUSSION With Don Mulligan/City of Calgary, Ryan Martison/Stantec, Darren Bender/University of Calgary, Councillor Druh Farrel/City of Calgary Ward 7 (Moderator)

Getting around from Design Talks on Vimeo.

Edit courtesy of David Schleindl

EVENT SUMMARY

Let’s talk about…getting around considered modern city infrastructure and how it can impact human interaction, personal and environmental health, a sense of place and community, and enhance or hinder mobility. The documentary, “The Human Scale” by Andreas M. Dalsgaard, offered insights from Danish Architect Jan Gehl, Rob Adams and Janette Sadik-Kahn, and examples from Copenhagen, Melbourne, Dhaka, Chongquing, Christchurch, and New York to demonstrate what cities could become if we include people (and the human scale) in the equation.

The City of Calgary has placed pedestrians at the top of their transportation considerations, followed by biking, transit and the automobile. This is an exciting and important time for Calgarians to contribute to the shape and the ease of mobility in our city. Let’s keep talking about getting around.

CONTINUING THE CONVERSATION

If you would like to continue the conversation on urban design that is human-scaled, here are a few ways to stay engaged:

- Watch for the City of Calgary transportation planning projects and a new Pedestrian Strategy

- Participate in upcoming discussions on the Inner City Cycle Track Network. Council will make a final decision on April 28th

- Contribute your ideal street to the d.talks street mix, and submit a design to hello@dtalk.org or listen to what we heard at the event here.

- Send us questions unanswered, or your own thoughts on how to keep the conversation going

EVENT SUPPORTERS & FRIENDS Arrata Opera Centre, Sidewalk Citizen Bakery, Caffe Rosso, Janice Beaton Fine Cheese

Let's talk about...boundaries

December 11, 2013 d. talks adm

location historical Burns Building

what happened? Juxtaposed live parkour with a conversation about the design of public space

screening “The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces” and “My Playground”

panel discussion with Greg Stewart/City of Calgary, Marc Boutin/the Marc Boutin Architectural Collaborative, Steve Nagy/Breathe Parkour Magazine, Andrea Ross/Parkour instructor

Our public spaces come alive with people. Human life animates a built environment of hard surfaces and smooth finishes. Interpreting, adapting, reusing our built form, how individuals animate space expands the relevance of our architecture. The event will contrast a portion of William Whyte’s 1980 classic, The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces, with My playground, a film about movement and urban space through the eyes of Danish architect Bjarke Ingels (BIG Architects) and practitioners of parkour.
Join us as alleys, sidewalks and parks unite.

event supporters_ The Calgary Foundation, Allied Properties

friends_ ACAD, Black Fly Agency, Breathe Parkour, Emmedia, Tamara Lee, MOCA, No Limits, Vine Arts

Let's talk about iconomy

September 5, 2013 d. talks adm

location Glenbow Museum Conoco Phillips Theatre

what happened? Discussion on Brutalist architecture heritage and adaptive re- use for a building in Calgary.

Presentation and panel discussion with David Down/City of Calgary, Modern Office Design +Architecture, Spectacle Bureau for Architecture and Urbanism, Nyhoff Architecture

Possibilities for a Brutalist Building.
If architecture was like hockey, what buildings would be on our city’s trading cards? ICONOMY brings focus to iconic buildings in Calgary. First up is the Education Centre Building, a 44-year-old Brutalist structure. This discussion promises to blend our city’s history with a perspective on all things Brutal, and some clear-headed thinking about the role of adaptive-reuse.
What makes a building an ICON and how important is it to our city’s ECONOMY?

event partner_ DIRTT
friends_ Black Fly Agency, Canadian Architectural Archives, University of Calgary, City of Calgary, Urban Design + Heritage, Stephen Riether

Let's talk about...bravery

August 8, 2013 d. talks adm

location deVille Café, Art Central

what happened? Exhibition ‘Twenty + Change’ on emerging Canadian architects with a discussion on the opportunities the city creates for good design

panel discussion with Jaydan Tait/Brookfield Residential Properties, Sonny Tomic/City of Calgary planning, and Jeremy Sturgess/Sturgess Architecture

What buildings, parks, public spaces and infrastructure make us proud? Who are the brave architects, designers and industry leaders at the forefront of change and innovation today?
Let’s talk about the importance of going against the grain, sticking your neck out and making things different – better. How our city can benefit from being ‘a little bit of a rebel.’

sponsor_ Twenty + Change
friends_ Black Fly Agency, Calgary Heritage Initiative, deVille Coffee, MOCA Calgary

Let's talk about...shopping

April 25, 2013 d. talks adm

location: Plus 15 level of Eighth Avenue Place

what happened? A discussion on how, when and where we shop.

Screening of ‘The Gruen Effect’

panel discussion Michael Kehoe/Retail Real Estate Broker, Fairfield Commercial Real Estate Inc., Marcel Proskow/Maxam Design International, Reid Pollock and Liam Rodgers/owners of the independent men’s clothing store Understudy

The Gruen Effect: Victor Gruen and the Shopping Mall
In The Gruen Effect, an architect’s life, work, and critical humour become a means to make sense of the cities we live in today. The Viennese architect Victor Gruen is considered the father of the shopping mall. His ideas about urban planning, both influential and abused, have led to cities that serve the needs of consumption. By tracing Gruen’s path from prewar Vienna to 1950s’ America and back to Europe in 1968, the documentary explores the themes and mistranslations that have come to define urban life.

support_ SQ Commons, MOCA Calgary,Tamara Lee, Vine Arts, ACAD