“DO YOU SEE the Department of Unusual Certainties (DoUC)?”

IwB Guest Lecturers: Brendan Cormier and Christopher Pandolfi

Student response by: Apostolo Zeno

November 26, 2010

Cool name for a presentation, right? That’s what I thought too. But just like the Double Rainbow guy, I had to pose the question “what does it mean?” Luckily, the IwB had the opportunity to meet with Brendan Cormier and Christopher Pandolfi – two experienced urban designers with a great vision of transforming ideas, concepts, and statistics into info graphics. Brendan earned an M.Sc. from the Bauhaus Universität-Weimar; while Christopher earned an M.A. from Domus Academy in Milan.

The lecture was intriguing right off the bat. How could it not be, when the first slide read “Department of Unusual Certainties”? Christopher explained that their work centers on how the research process leads to the final product.

The presentation allowed us to see the thought process behind some of their many info graphics. During the past summer, DoUC spent one month in Windsor, Ontario working on “storefront success stories.” They conducted interviews with business owners and customers, and mapped out their findings. What resulted was a “Tip Sheet” to be distributed to every business owner in the BIA, as well as the city planning department. The purpose was to collect information, and return it to the city in a way that could be easily understood. Check out the project at: http://storefrontsuccess.wordpress.com/

Another interesting project is one titled “It’s Mayor Time.” DoUC collected and compiled vast amounts of data pertaining to all of Toronto’s past mayors, and created an info graphic timeline to visualize it. It was featured in the Fall 2010 issue of Spacing Magazine. When asked what the purpose of this graphic was, Christopher and Brendan responded that this type of design creates coherence and allows for a visualization of events.

It is very intriguing to see how pages and pages of text-heavy research can be converted into such visually appealing graphics. According to the team, projects take roughly two months to complete, but it is also dependent on deadlines. As for how the graphics become a reality, Christopher and Brendan admit that at times, they have hunches that things will work out in a certain way. Other times, however, the research compiled can change the results of the info graphic.

This all got me thinking. How does this relate to our major project in Lota? This past semester has been all about both qualitative and quantitative data. Our research document is full of knowledge and we have a wiki page with an abundance of information (www.worldhouse.ca/wiki). But how do you make sense of it all? How do you condense a semester’s worth of information, and more importantly, allow the general public and the client to understand it, while empowering them to make a change within their city? This is where we look back at what Christopher started the presentation with: it’s all about how one goes from the research process to the final product. The IwB has to create a final product. We are going to have to back it up. Why not learn from those who are really good at it? Info graphics not only simplify information, but are also visually appealing, and contain layers of information that can be explored. It is imperative that we look at the process of creating info graphics next semester while working on our major project.

So what is the future of info graphics? According to DoUC, the field is constantly expanding. As technology develops, and people become more dependent on it, the information that one obtains will be more elaborate and interactive. Imagine having to read a newspaper laid out in infographics – is this the future? Christopher and Brendan ultimately believe that the individual must become more graphic savvy. Throwing clip art images into a word document will simply not be good enough.

So back to my Double Rainbow conundrum: What does the Department of Unusual Certainties mean!? Let me try to explain what they explained to us. They are simply describing how cities and systems are results of a long sequence of unusual certainties, each more unusual, yet more certain that its predecessor. Doesn’t that blow your mind? It blew mine!

Check out their website for more information on their projects. http://departmentofunusualcertainties.wordpress.com/

International Community Development Promotes Sustainability

IwB Guest Lecture: Andrew Plunkett and Andrew Farncombe, Canadian Urban Institute

Student Response: Miki Seltzer

September 30, 2010

On September 30, we had a double talk – two presentations, both by an Andrew.

The first speaker, Andrew Plunkett, shared information about Sustainable Cities, a Vancouver-based organization where he used to work (he is currently Senior Associate, International Partnerships at the Canadian Urban Institute in Toronto). He started with a slide illustrating three unrelated (or so it seemed) images: Winston Churchill, a spaghetti bowl, and Ernest Hemingway. It was a promising start!

Sustainable Cities, he continued, is an NGO founded in 1994, that works internationally to promote long-term urban sustainability. The organization defines sustainability broadly, and promotes long-term thinking, community engagement, community empowerment and shared learning. A four directional model illustrates how the structure works: engaging municipalities and local authorities (top down), learning from other cities (outside in), networking and documentation (inside out), and integrating a variety of people in the process (bottom up). This way, they are ensuring a fluid planning process. A quote by Churchill expresses the benefits of long-term planning: “We shape our buildings; thereafter, they shape us.” Since the elements that make up a city should be used for a very long time, it is important to get them right. The spaghetti bowl is analogous to the fact that governance can be messy and complicated, so it is important to have the municipality fully engaged.

A case study reviewing a project in Durban, a city in South Africa that faces many challenges, exhibited the principles of Sustainable Cities. The objectives were to regenerate the existing city plan and transform it into a long-term program through a community-based process, with an action-oriented framework that would produce tangible outcomes. They engaged the public, asking for their input in the form of a survey:

1. What do you like about the place where you live?

2. What do you NOT like about it?

3. What changes would you most like to see?

4. Describe your dreams for: your neighbourhood in 100 years? Durban in 100 years?

5. What can YOU do to make these dreams a reality?

Ernest Hemingway’s words of wisdom expressed the importance of listening to the community.

The development team was divided into theme groups (safer city, sustainable city, accessibility, prosperous city, caring, cultural diversity) that worked together to find solutions. The process resulted in a long-term urban plan, a new model for local governance, increased capacity of local staff, youth engagement and awareness.

There are many lessons that we can take away from the Imagine Durban project: it is important to find the right partner, think long term but act now, find champions, mobilize youth, not be afraid to make mistakes, be flexible, follow through on promises. It is also important to remember that communication is crucial, synergies with other initiatives can be beneficial, and trust in the process and with the community is key.

This talk was followed by Andrew Farncombe, Vice President of International Partnerships at the Canadian Urban Institute. Founded in 1990, the CUI is a non profit organization that functions as an innovator and catalyst in cities around the world. The institute is involved in economic development, urban regional planning, community engagement, environmental management, and municipal management.

Andrew presented a case study of a five year long project in Jamaica. The focus was to reform a local government agenda, strengthen the council, improve community engagement mechanisms, and simplify planning processes. Being sustainable is beneficial for Jamaica in the sense of providing economic diversity, tackling rural poverty, ensuring food and water resources, engaging youth, and building disaster resilience.

The sustainable planning resulted in multiple achievements: a local development plan, including renovated zones, agri-business clusters, heritage and eco-tourism development, an extensive community engagement process, strengthened parish council and development committees, preservation of the coastline, and other benefits. At the end of the project, the team left behind a profile of the community as a souvenir. Various participation tools were used, such as a walk with community leaders at which they drew on a map as they toured the city, and design charrettes that involved the community. It was essential that they had an engaged mayor, and a supportive council. Similar to the Imagine Durban project, sustainable design principles were utilized.

Both presentations were very informative about the steps and tools used for community development, which is important for us at this phase of the Lota project, since we are now planning the field research plan. In the Q&A phase of the presentations, we asked about how to elaborate on these tools, and how to raise awareness. We were advised to plan events that incorporate food and ask questions, to email members of the community, put posters and postcards in public spaces like the library/municipality, approach people on the street, talk to kids and give them questions to pass on to their parents. In their experience, the best response was received when the research teams went from door to door or stopped people randomly in public spaces.

These presentations have exposed us to tangible tools for engaging the community and offered sustainable long-term community development strategies that we can directly apply in the Lota project. Thank you!

A ‘Healthy’ Perspective on Disaster Response

IwB Guest Lecturer: Christine Hwang, Red Cross

Student Response by: Robert Giusti

October 7, 2010

 

IwB Class with Guest Speaker Christine Hwang

YAY! My first blog entry, and I have been given the opportunity to discuss the wonderful, inspiring guest lecture we received from Christine Hwang on October 7^th, 2010. Christine is a public health physician, a humanitarian and more specifically, a Canadian Red Cross delegate. She has an extensive background in medicine and a long history of involvement in humanitarian work, having participated in projects in Cambodia, Turkmenistan and Haiti.

From the onset, it was clear that she is extremely passionate about the work done by the Red Cross and humanitarianism in general. Her energy and enthusiasm kept the current IwB class engaged as she spoke about the Red Cross and its history, the importance of healthcare in disaster situations, emergency response units (ERUs) and her recent contributions as a public health delegate in Haiti.

Having little knowledge about the Red Cross prior to this lecture, I was interested to learn about the organization. Although she could only cover a limited amount of information in the hour she had to present, I believe she covered the key concepts. I found the seven principles of the Red Cross (Humanity, Impartiality, Neutrality, Independence, Voluntary Service, Unity and Universality) to be particularly relevant, and facets of each can be applied to the research that we will be undertaking in Lota, Chile.

I found that the most interesting information came from the portion of the lecture where she discussed her personal experience in Haiti. With the title of a “Public Health Delegate” I was under the impression that her role in Haiti was strictly to oversee the work carried out in rapid deployment hospitals. But I was way off! Due to the fact that her duties were not set out before she arrived in Haiti, she was able to set out her own responsibilities. As a result, she provided some amazing contributions to Haiti in a short period of time. She was able to start a vaccination program and a nutrition program. She also developed an educational system for children, teaching them about important issues such as malaria, safe drinking water, nutrition and hand washing through song and dance. I thought that these were some amazing achievements, particularly the educational system because in order for it to be effective, an understanding of the local culture was essential.

The lecture concluded beautifully as Christine told us how although she had seen a lot of chaos, sorrow and despair while in Haiti, there was also a lot of positivity. This truly emphasized Christine’s optimism. Her optimism also led me to realize that the idea presented by Jeremy Rifkin about three weeks earlier – in which the only way to shift as a society is through empathy – may be true.

Overall, there are many lessons that we can take away from Christine’s lecture and her work in Haiti. While we are currently trying to develop a very structured research schedule for our fast approaching trip to Lota, we can learn from Christine’s ability to adapt and invent according to the situation. I believe that although some structure is necessary, in many cases structure can be limiting and often the most inventive, creative ideas occur spontaneously when people remain flexible and open to change.

To find out more about the Red Cross you can visit www.redcross.ca, and please check out Christine’s Blog about her visit to the IwB at http://theyearoftherightbrain.blogspot.com/2010/10/october-7-cheering-for-home-team.html.

Outliers

Institute without Boundaries field trip: Sudbury, October 1, 2010

Student response by: Lauren Miles

Dynamic Earth

At eight a.m. on a drizzly Friday on the first of October, ten students piled into three cars and headed north, led as always by Michelle, our fearless and benevolent leader. Most of us, your writer included, had never been to Northern Ontario before, and we weren’t sure quite what to expect. After driving for five hours, we arrived at our first stop, the Dynamic Earth mine. The site was never a working mine – it was built as an exhibit to complement the Big Nickel mine and expanded more recently. Our tour began in an elevator, where we watched a video with accompanying voiceover. Once below ground, we donned hardhats and entered an airlock, which led us into the passageways of the mine. Although we were well below ground level, water dripped steadily onto our helmets, courtesy of the recent rain. The first section was a reproduction of the mine as it was circa 1900, when miners earned a dollar a day and had to provide their own supplies. The tunnels were lined with cedar planks; surprisingly, leaving enough room for us all to stand (even Sebastian).

Entering the next exhibit, our tour guide, Ashley, told us the miners of the 1950s (as in 1900), were exclusively male. However, the mid-century mine required its employees to be at least 18. Here, our group was allowed to load dynamite into a crevice, whereupon Ashley whisked us off to a safe distance, where we counted the blasts, although I was disappointed to note their origin – a speaker. We were told the best job during this time was cleaning the toilet, the so-called ‘honey wagon.’ An Inco miner’s 1959 pay stub (conveniently laminated to protect it from the dripping ceiling) revealed typical weekly pay to be $65.83.

The final section was the mine as it is today. Today’s miners have had numbered women among their ranks since 1972 and earn $100,000 – $200,000 a year. Because of noise levels, miners use scent distributed via ventilation as a warning system. In the case of an emergency, staff head to the refuge room. Ashley told us the miners that were trapped in Chile were in a similar room, adding that today’s miners use blasting caps instead of dynamite for safety reasons. On our way out, I asked Ashley if she had a family connection to mining. She told me her grandfather, father and brother are all miners in the area.

Once safely above ground, we met with Nicole Chiasson, director of education and Northern programs for Science North. Chiasson told us Dynamic Earth, which has been an arms-length agency of the Ministry of Tourism since 1986, plans to continuously change exhibits and activities to encourage visitors to return. Currently, Dynamic Earth attracts 40,000 – 50,000 visitors per year, Chiasson said, adding that the institution doesn’t draw as many locals as it would like because of the perception that it hasn’t changed since it was the Big Nickel mine. Visitors can enter Dynamic Earth, Science North and the IMAX theatre if they purchase a ‘passport.’ Chiasson said the passport sells well, but mostly to tourists, particularly during warmer months. Dynamic Earth’s site was originally selected to display the Big Nickel. A beloved Sudbury landmark, the Big Nickel is 30-foot-high model of a 1951 Canadian nickel, made not of nickel, but stainless steel. The decision to build a ‘mine’ was made later, and Dynamic Earth in its modern incarnation was opened in 1982. Construction of the facility itself was used as marketing: the Big Nickel was moved across Sudbury, accompanied by a police escort. Chiasson said funding earned through sponsored exhibits takes pressure off the operating budget. The mine exhibit is also available to local mining engineering students, who use its tunnels to practice safety measures.

After a quick look at some of the other exhibits, we went to the theatre to watch Ground Rules, a film about the mining industry’s efforts to become more environmentally and socially responsible. Because Caterpillar sponsored the film, visitors can view it for free. Although Ground Rules was informative and beautifully shot, all of us were stunned by its attempts to pass off environmental horrors – such as rerouting a river to access a zinc deposit – as progress. As the facility wasn’t particularly busy, staff ran a showing of a multimedia presentation, Nickel City Stories, especially for the IwB. Nickel City Stories, narrated by a fictional local barber, told the story of Sudbury’s founding and history, featuring a rather unnerving bald mannequin as a supporting character.

Imagine Sudbury

Our next visit was with David Wood, who invited us to his charmingly incongruous house to have a cup of tea and talk about his work with Imagine Sudbury. Imagine Sudbury is a group of local volunteers who want to revitalize their city by using private funds to move the rail lands north from downtown. Wood told us Sudbury has the largest area of any city in Ontario, and needs more people and more tax revenue in order to prosper, adding that the number of Sudburians employed as miners has decreased in recent decades from 17,000 to 3,000. Nonetheless, the city’s unique landscape and character provide opportunities to impress visitors: Wood told us that during Cinefest, a local film festival, actors in attendance gather to watch slag being dumped, accompanied by live music. He said Imagine Sudbury has met with the mayoral candidates, and he’s disappointed with the frontrunners’ apparent feeling that their idea is “harebrained” because it has vision. Most people are happy living in the mean, Wood said; it’s the people on the outside – the “outliers” – that effect change and have to convince everyone else that change is necessary.

Conclusion

Although Sudbury’s mining industry is focused not on coal, but on nickel and other metals, there are many parallels between Sudbury and Lota. Both cities are struggling with declining employment in mining. Sudbury is faring better than Lota, however: the city’s public sector is thriving, and a new school of architecture is expected to open soon. Both cities struggle with being seen by outsiders as shabby and economically depressed. Because of my interest in museums and tourism, I was especially interested in the science centre. I thought the exhibits and movies, though sometimes a bit corny, were generally well done and would be interesting to both adults and children. Dynamic Earth’s difficulties attracting local visitors is a problem tourist attractions in Lota could also experience. The determination to stick with the status quo that Imagine Sudbury encountered could also be an issue in Lota, although this will be confirmed or refuted by our visit. Keeping an eye on Imagine Sudbury’s progress, especially after the municipal election, will certainly prove a helpful case study.

Distributed Energy Network

Institute without Boundaries Field Trip:

Jeremy Rifkin, Economist and President, Foundation on Economic Trends, USA

Keynote Speaker, IIDEX

Relevant Publication: Empathic Civilization

Student response by: Payam Shalchian

September 23, 2010

Jeremy Rifkin’s presentation on the Economy of the Third Industrial Revolution was held at the 2010 IIDEX/NeoCon conference on September 23^rd. The presentation began with a summary of current global issues such as world economy and the ecological scenario based on the ‘carbon-based geopolitical reality’. As Rifkin pointed out, the material presented in this section parallels the documentary titled An Inconvenient Truth by Davis Guggenheim and Al Gore.

The second part of the presentation focused on explaining human beings’ empathic cognition and the necessary shift to biosphere consciousness. Rifkin explains how our sense of empathy has evolved through theological, ideological, religious, and national consciousness. He suggests that if we are attempting to address the issues mentioned in the first part, the shift to biosphere consciousness is inevitable. This theory is summarized in the following video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7AWnfFRc7g&feature=player_embedded

Lastly, he introduced the concept of the 5-pillar system (Distributed Energy Source, Energy Network, Hydrogen Storage, Building as Power Plants, and Plug-in Transportation) as a hypothetical solution that would potentially address issues such as peak oil, peak globalization and accelerated climate change. According to Rifkin, this system, given the biosphere state of consciousness, will form the foundations of the third industrial revolution.

PERCEPTION

Not having read Empathic Civilization and not being familiar with this concept, grasping the theory seemed to be somewhat challenging. Nevertheless, the presentation was successful regarding the transfer of knowledge and was strongly supported by both scientific data and philosophical interpretation.

This presentation was thoroughly inspiring and introduced a new perspective on sustainable design thinking. However, the implementation of the 5-pillar system, its feasibility, and its effectiveness without a global plan of action remains a question. As Rifkin puts it, “whether it is going to work, we don’t know!”

RELEVANCE

The 5-pillar distributed energy system defined by Jeremy Rifkin seems to fit within the City Systems framework defined by the Institute without Boundaries by addressing elements from six of the twelve systems (location, energy, economy, connectivity, social, and climate). The idea of a sustainable, distributed energy network could very well be exercised in the context of Lota for future development if the scope of the project permits.

Mayoral Charade

Institute without Boundaries Field Trip:

Mayoral Panel and Design Debate at the Design Exchange

Student response by: Sebastian Whyte

September 17, 2010

On the afternoon of Friday September 17^th, the IwB class had the privilege of attending the Mayoral Panel about Toronto’s built future, held at the Design Exchange.  Prior to the event, I assumed that it would be interesting: I expected lively discussions about the issues currently being discussed and proposed by the different mayoral candidates, as well as sharp, pertinent questions from the audience.  What I didn’t expect was how incredibly entertaining the event turned out to be, as several of the candidates were quite funny – most notably Joe Pantalone.

The five candidates in attendance were: Joe Pantalone, Rocco Rossi, George Smitherman, Sarah Thomson and Rob Ford, who arrived a little late. Each of the candidates was unique. Their differences, coupled with their wit, made their interactions so amusing. Perhaps it was also my unfamiliarity with these events that made it that much more memorable for me, as I was expecting it to be serious. In reality, their humourous tactics often totally rerouted the moderator’s questions, leading to the constant reiteration of the candidates’ personal platforms, which ridiculed the whole panel in my opinion.

Looking into the individual backgrounds and experiences that the candidates bring to the table, we learned that Joe Pantalone has experience as a city councillor and as deputy mayor. Rocco Rossi has experience holding senior executive roles at several large firms and at a charity, in addition to working in a variety of positions for a number of political campaigns at different levels of government. George Smitherman has experience as an MPP and as a minister, Sarah Thomson is an entrepreneur who has started several successful companies, and Rob Ford has spent time as a city councillor.

The issues most discussed were: design in Toronto, traffic, public transportation and the city budget. Each of the candidates took their own stance on these issues. Regarding supporting design in Toronto, this idea was most strongly endorsed by Sarah Thomson, with Pantalone, Rossi and Smitherman all expressing interest and support in their own ways, followed by Ford, who would support it but only if it was the cheapest option. As for traffic and public transportation, Joe Pantalone fully supports Toronto’s Transit City plan, while Smitherman, Rossi and Ford devised transit plans of their own in an effort to save money, and Thomson vowed huge expansions to the city’s subways funded by tolls on the highways. Lastly, views on the budget clearly expressed where the candidates fell on the political spectrum: Pantalone will keep the City’s services as the City is not running a deficit – he will pay off the debt like a mortgage. Smitherman and Thomson both plan on streamlining City Hall, cutting where they see fit to ensure more efficient service. Thompson would privatize garbage collection and Smitherman would sell off some of the City’s property. Rossi, demonstrating his experience in the private sector, plans on selling just about everything possible in an effort to eliminate the debt. Lastly, Ford, being a rampant conservative, vows to implement only the cheapest solution to every problem and significantly reduce City staff and payroll.

I found the Panel relevant to the IwB because we learned about the plans of the mayoral candidates. Once one of these candidates is elected, they will have the power to influence the future of Toronto, each of its seven city systems and the design of the city.

In my opinion,  one aspect that could be greatly improved upon in the panel is the candidates’ responsibility for answering the specific questions that they are posed.  It wastes everyone’s time to hear them diverge from the topic, and it is incredibly frustrating to listen to yet there are no consequences and it happens repeatedly.

I feel that a powerful lesson learned from the panel and applicable to our own project in Lota would be dealing with the public. As a member of the audience, one naturally makes assessments and evaluates the speaker based on many things – their body language, dress, expressions, vocabulary, confidence, etc. I feel that we must be sure to present ourselves honestly and humbly while we are there, because if we don’t, it will be very detrimental to our project. Lastly, I think that a sense of humour is important, especially in our case where we have a language barrier. Humour is a universal language that can transcend borders and barriers.

Joe Pantalone – http://www.mayorjoe.ca/

George Smitherman – http://www.georgesmitherman.ca/

Rocco Rossi – http://roccorossi.com

Sarah Thomson – http://sarahthomson.ca/

Rob Ford – http://www.robfordformayor.ca/

Development: The importance of “Cultural Integration”

Guest Speaker at the Institute without Boundaries:

Nadia Berger, Engineers Without Borders

Student response by: Jamie Black

September 16, 2010

Coming from an interdisciplinary work environment, I was curious to see how engineers approach the implementation and support of projects in a developing world context.  Nadia Berger from Engineers Without Borders (former president of EWB Toronto) came to speak to us about her work with the Ministry of Agriculture in Ghana.  Nadia is an industrial engineer and has worked in a number of industries as an engineer, most predominantly in health care and the military. One of the things that struck me was the idea of the transfer of skills and knowledge, and how organizations and more importantly, people, approach design. The project in Ghana is a user-based educational program to inform farmers of the benefits of collectivization and business skills to maximize yields and profitability in a manner in tune with the natural environment. I thought this was a substantial jump – how does one transfer their knowledge to a sector of industry or economy that is not his or her specialization? I asked Nadia about moving from military engineering to agricultural communications, curious how to apply what she was doing to the context of our major project here at the Institute without Boundaries. Currently, our group comes from a variety of backgrounds working on a variety of design solutions. Some of the solutions fall within our areas of expertise,  but some do not. I was curious to see how Nadia and Engineers Without Borders deliver the best possible results while encouraging people to work outside of their specializations. After her presentation, I learned that there were many things unique to EWB but also to Nadia. For example, she has developed a highly transferable skill set including: time management, project management, facilitation, analytical thinking, systems thinking, human factors understanding and problem solving.

EWB prescribes an approach that needs the above skills, but also relies and encourages its volunteers to become highly integrated in their host communities through observation and immersion in local culture. Nadia gave many anecdotal examples from her experience that were valuable cues for our project. Nadia chose to live in a community instead of an expat hotel, participate in local events, and at times wore local dress. She described how even though such methods were foreign for her and challenging at first, it allowed her to gain trust and inclusion in the community she was working with. I think this was key to her success.  Developing trust and openness with those you are working with can facilitate the transfer of knowledge and skills, irrespective of discipline. How can we work with the community in Lota to ensure that trust and openness are established? Or how can we work as a team with the trust and openness we seek in our design partners?

Nadia’s case study from Ghana highlighted some important ideas about how we can best organize our team to tackle the large project we are working on in Chile.  One of the major points was that EWB seeks to develop skills and not income. EWB Canada works in four countries in Africa, at a scale where it can really personalize projects at a local level. I have been skeptical of development projects and how they are carried out, and what can make them ineffective, at times leaving communities in a marginalized position after projects end. Being aware of the difficulties of development and its discourse, I have had apprehensions about how we approach the community of Lota in Chile.  But at the same time, that fear is the reason why I have enrolled in this program, to develop a new design strategy applicable in a developing world context that yields positive results consistently across all levels of community.

Rebuilding Haiti

Guest Speaker: Tamsin Ford, Architecture for Humanity

Response by: Jordan Axani

On September 9, 2010 Tamsin Ford of Architecture for Humanity came to address the Institute without Boundaries. Recently returned from an aid trip to Haiti, she came to share her experiences from Haiti, two cents on Architecture for Humanity, and development in post-disaster countries.

The devastation of the January earthquake that crushed Haiti was remarkable. Significant structures were flattened. Staggering numbers of citizens were killed or injured. Infrastructure was crushed. The weak state found itself overwhelmed by foreign presence almost overnight. The state was in ruin – and still, by and large, is today.

She called Haiti “the republic of NGOs.” It was an apt statement given the notable paradigm shift that has taken place in Haiti since the earthquake in January. People, organizations, and governments from around the globe have pledged enormous amounts of resources for aid (both human and material). Haiti is now a priority of the developing community; a drastic shift from the unimportant state that Haiti was to many before the disaster.

Now the world wants the best for Haiti. Tamsin was part of this response. She went with the hope that she could do her part, even if her part was a very small component in a very large machine. She went to support the work of Architecture for Humanity which is currently working to redesign and rebuild schools, and adapt temporary housing solutions made by Habitat for Humanity. The association is also involved in educating new generations of masons and creating an open source architecture sharing platform that helps spread their knowledge to others internationally, in addition to other organizations within Haiti.

It isn’t easy to work in Haiti. There is intense traffic that makes getting around nearly impossible. The destruction of landmarks and roads only adds to the struggle of navigating the country. Both aid workers and citizens must cope with extraordinary post-disaster inflation, language barriers, and protests.

Yet she countered these hurdles and embraced the country. Her graciousness was noted by the attentive audience during the presentation. At one point she said “it’s about listening – I don’t have the answer.” And with that she captured a truth of working internationally on development projects: she’s a visitor. This attitude was engrained in Architecture for Humanity and her co-workers there.

Let’s turn to Lota, Chile. The Latin American city was harmed in a similar but a far less extreme way. Chileans are notoriously resilient people and have historically resisted a good deal of international aid. For instance, immediately after the earthquake, the Chilean President came forth and declared that Chile is able to rebuild alone. It was provocative and original for a leader in such a intractable situation to do so. However, international partners (such as the Institute without Boundaries) are involved in the nation regardless. We can look to Haiti in an attempt to understand the extremity of human suffering and destruction, and then apply it to Chile. We can also learn about the dynamics of redevelopment. But most importantly we can learn about resilience and what it is to design with resiliency.

IwB Students Reflect on Resilient Cities: Learning from Disaster and Crisis

In 2010-11, students at the IwB are developing a holistic, urban revitalization proposal for the Municipality of Lota in Chile. The goal is to produce lasting change for a city with a rich cultural history and a strong community identity. The team will consider aspects such as housing, public spaces, economic development, education, infrastructure, theatre and cultural attractions. Learn more about this project.

As part of the Design Issues class, guest speakers from a variety of organizations are visiting the Institute to share their knowledge and experience from working on development projects overseas and at home.

Posts by students serve as a record of visiting speakers and fieldtrips, issues of interest at the IwB, and ideas on how these can be tied to the themes of City Systems, Design for Resilience, and the Lota project.

More about the Design Issues course…

Resilient Cities: Learning from Disaster and Crisis

How do cities cope with man-made and natural disasters? Economic depression, war, droughts and earthquakes – the effects can be severe and felt for generations. Crises often lead to innovative responses, from the immediate delivery of essential services, to the entire rebuilding of neighbourhoods, infrastructure, businesses, social programs and government. Crises invite reflection about what could have been done to prevent or minimize the impact of the disaster, and how the response could have been more effective. Crises also tend to bring people together, both locally and from around the world. Through a series of case studies, blog entries, and guest lectures set within the framework of city systems, this course looks at: how immediate and long-term crises force cities to become more resilient or fall into decline; how processes of reaction and renewal impact various city systems; the roles designers and international organizations play; what lessons can be learned about planning and prevention; and how these lessons might be applied to Lota. Conclusions will be presented in a small group exhibition at the School of Design, George Brown College.

Fundraiser: Help Send People Power Public Spaces to Milan!

Silent Auction & Gala Event

Complimentary wine, gourmet hors d’oeuvres, entertainment and auctioned items that include luxury goods from Umbra, hockey & basketball ticket packages, art, jewelry and more.

When
Wednesday, April 7
7-10pm

Where
The Institute without Boundaries Studio
230 Richmond St East (MAP)

The students’ award-winning exhibit entitled ‘People Power Public Space’ has been accepted to be displayed at the Salone del Mobile, an international design exhibition at the Fabrica Del Vapore! The show takes place April 14-19 in Milan, Italy. This exhibit was created for the 2010 Interior Design Show in Toronto, where it won the award for Best Student Booth.

In order to get the exhibit to Milan, we need to take care of some costs! Tickets for the event include a Silent Auction, and complimentary wine, cheese and entertainment. We appreciate your support and hope to see you at the event.

Tickets are $16 before March 29, 2010 and $20 after this date or at the door.

CLICK TO ORDER TICKETS

Donations are also welcome if you can’t attend the event and can be made by clicking the tickets link.

Please contact mhotchin@worldhouse.ca with any questions or for more information about this event.