Incoming Faculty of Environmental Design (EVDS) master and PhD students explored ways to activate urban spaces and make them more resilient through a series of walking tours and a "design intervention" with local practitioners in Calgary’s downtown.
Continuing a longstanding tradition of hosting a student-organized, faculty-supported Student Orientation Week, EVDS engaged students, faculty and local practitioners, many of whom are alumni, in this year’s orientation.
Walking tours spanned historic Fort Calgary, East Village, Chinatown, the iconic Peace Bridge, Sunalta, bustling Stephen Avenue and trendy 17th Avenue.
Led by faculty members, incoming students set out on city walks the morning of Sept. 4 to explore the issue of resiliency in Calgary, meeting up with local architect and planning practitioners along the route.
Defined as the ability for a system to recover quickly from unexpected change or misfortune, resiliency challenges us to design communities that maintain livable conditions in the face of natural disasters and severe weather events.
“The involvement of working practitioners really enriched the student experience of orientation,” notes Ben Bailey, Master of Planning candidate and orientation co-ordinator. “We were really lucky to have that expertise shared with students, especially when engaging with real world design challenges.”
The goal of these walks was for the incoming class to observe and document resiliency in various parts of the city and use those observations to inform a design exercise in the later afternoon. Sites also included various underpasses, back lanes, and parking lots in the downtown.
EVDS Orientation introduces students to the interdisciplinary focus of environmental design and serves as an excellent opportunity to engage with the community and establish teambuilding skills with fellow students.
Local practicing EVDS alumni involved in the day included Kate Thompson (director of development, CMLC) as well as Jerry Hacker and Tony Leong (architects at MBAC). Others involved were EVDS sessional instructor Jeremy Sturgess (principal, Sturgess Architecture) as well as City of Calgary employees Robb Whyte (operations controller), David Cooper (transit planner), and Katherine Glowacz (active transportation education specialist).
EVDS student orientation was co-ordinated by Master of Planning students Ben Bailey and Sam Huchulak, and Master of Architecture students Elton Gjata and Lloyd Richards.
Article by Jessica Wallace