News

It began with a phone call from Sue Wilmot, community engagement co-ordinator at the YWCA. Looking to garner support for enhancing their outdoor spaces, she contacted the Faculty of Environmental Design (EVDS).

Enter EVDS student Dani Lalonde, enthusiastic about securing an internship that would allow her to put her education to the test while making a real difference in lives of women and children in Calgary.

The project: To revitalize the outdoor plaza space surrounding the YWCA building on 3 St. and 5 Ave. SE

Faculty of Environmental Design (EVDS) brings to campus award winning architects in the exploration of a new vision for Calgary’s cultural district.

The makeCalgary initiative is an EVDS community-based research platform that engages the disciplines of architecture, planning and environmental design. It gathers together the energy of its students, the expertise of researchers, and the real-world perspective of industry and community partners, to explore the potential of making the city we all imagine.

Hosted by the Faculty of Environmental Design (EVDS), the Design Matters lecture series brings to Calgary a range of important people to explore design in our contemporary culture. This month, the series welcomes Shelley Hornstein.

Hornstein, whose research examines the spatial politics of memory and place in architectural and urban sites, is a professor of architectural history and visual culture at York University.

It's a project that takes applied learning to a whole other level.

Last Saturday, more than 75 students and faculty members from the University of Calgary Faculty of Environmental Design (EVDS) came out to the corner of 14 Ave. and 1 St. S.W. Throughout the day, they installed half a dozen custom-designed benches in a strip of land next to the Union Square Tower, continuing a process that started over the summer to convert the formerly vacant lot into a beautiful "pop-up" park.

In 1875, Calgary was a city ripe with possibility. The areas we now refer to as Inglewood and the East Village were spotted by the North West Mounted Police and deemed the perfect place to set-up fort beside the river.

However, over 100 years later, the East Village wasn’t exactly thriving. Labelled “seedy” and “skid row,” this part of town was more known for drug use and prostitution than a bustling downtown community.

Advocates from around the world, including Faculty of Environmental Design (EVDS) students, faculty, alumni, and staff, will take action in their communities Saturday in support of healthy, sustainable environments.

And they could use your help!

East Village was once a thriving part of Calgary, but over the years, the neighbourhood fell into a state of neglect. After earlier unsuccessful attempts to reinvigorate the area, East Village is now on the verge of becoming one of North America's most interesting urban revitalization projects. In this four-part series, Herald columnist Valerie Fortney examines the fascinating tale of this community - past, present and future.

It's our very own "end of the world" spot, an isolated, neglected 20 hectares of land in the heart of one of North America's most prosperous cities.

A Calgary architect is trying to turn the page on one of the city's largest condo repair projects, which left many residents of the leaky building with repair bills in the thousands.

The Bella Vista in the city's southwest required millions of dollars to fix several leaks that caused mould.

Residents first learned of the problem a few years ago and the condo board began substantial repairs at a cost of $4 million soon after.

For Bruce Mau, design is leadership. It provides the power to imagine the vision of a future and work systematically to achieve that vision.

He’ll share some of his visions at the Design Matters lecture series, hosted by the Faculty of Environmental Design (EVDS), which brings to Calgary a range of important people to explore issues in architecture, urban design, product design, and landscape ecology.

A Calgary family is building a tiny new abode on wheels that holds roughly 300 square feet of living space.

Kirsten Shaw and Michael Hunt plan to pull up stakes in Calgary in the spring and drive with one son through the United States for a year.

"I think I'll manage better than I am right now in 2,200 square feet because quite honestly I am not a homemaker. It stresses me out that I have all that dusting and everything to look after," said Shaw.