Hosted by the Faculty of Environmental Design (EVDS), the Design Matters lecture series brings a range of important practitioners to Calgary to explore issues of urban design. This month, the series welcomes PFS Studio Partners, Chris Phillips and Kelty Miyoshi McKinnon.
PFS Studio is a leading Canadian landscape architecture, urban design and planning firm based in Vancouver, BC. With a focus on designing for livability, they offer consulting services across Canada and internationally.
The firm’s approach to design is based on the strategic use of dynamic processes during the design process and after construction, measuring project success through their ecological, cultural, social, economic, and artistic contributions to public spaces.
"PFS Studio is a landscape architecture firm that embraces the full spectrum of design paradigms and scales of engagement,” says Marc Boutin, Associate Professor of Architecture at EVDS.
Integrating regional context, metaphor, and meaning, and their collective contribution to urban design and the public realm, Phillips and McKinnon create unique and innovative spaces that are culturally and ecologically rich. Their inclusive designs transform open areas into multifunctional spaces for public life and building local culture.
Join EVDS for Design Matters with Chris Phillips and Kelty McKinnon Wednesday, Mar. 5 at the Downtown Campus, 906 8th Ave. S.W., from 6-7:30 p.m. Students are free. Non-students are $10.
Phillips and McKinnon’s presentation will explore the firm's work engaging and producing the public realm, from plazas and streets to parks, campuses and waterfronts.
PFS Studio is currently working on a project focussing on Calgary’s downtown Civic District alongside the Marc Boutin Architectural Collaborative and Arriola and Fiol Arquitectes. The project uses a robust consultative approach to engage stakeholders and citizens in the next chapter for Calgary’s urban development.
“They are uniquely equipped to help steward the intelligent and innovative development of the livable city,” notes Boutin, “and to this end, as Calgarians we are very pleased to have them working and designing in our city."
The Design Matters lecture series is made possible by EVDS’ sponsors Gibbs Gage Architects, Section 23 and Caron McCullock Associates LTD.