In a world of design, Architects matter. We see it before us, around us, within us. We live it.
An Association of Architects is a mark of the confidence of a community in those who take up the call of balancing the solemn responsibility of holding the public’s trust while forever searching for those moments in design that transform our world. An art, a science, a duty, often for life.
As a Councillor, I have been invigorated, challenged, and inspired by the Ontario Association of Architects to be a better representative of the responsibilities and values that the OAA is mandated to recognize, enforce and reward in our communities across Ontario. It is an impressive collective of bright and dedicated individuals working upon a sound platform founded on two themes.
Our themes: Climate Action, and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. The first recognizes a global phenomenon, our Climate, and a Call to Action. There will be no transformative Climate moment without the call. I fully support the initiatives taken up by the OAA in regard to Climate, including sharing and learning to better our abilities as Architects to find solutions to this global challenge through the design of sustainable built environments. The transformation of the OAA HQ site through the landscape competition will offer opportunities for communities to learn of ways in which the land can be better nurtured, and how the buildings we design can be better connected with the living world around us every day.
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion is an equally important theme which I wholeheartedly support. Having been in practice for 30 years, I took an opportunity to fulfil a personal goal of sharing my knowledge and experience with those that choose the path of design through architecture. I am now in my tenth year of sharing and learning as a Lecturer at the McEwen School of Architecture in Downtown Sudbury. I continue to be refreshed, encouraged and emboldened by the students that enter the program every year. Their creativity, diligence, ingenuity and optimism are seeds of hope for a better world. And they will make it the world they will design with those around them. We also share with the local Anishinaabe community, making and remaking places for learning, all the while learning about the bountiful equity inherent in the land all around us. I am grateful for the opportunities this sharing and learning has given to have us begin to envision ways of designing worlds that are still to come. As the Elder that led one of the tours at the 2024 OAA Conference along the Niagara River shared, we have recognized the challenges of being in a world that was a world for the Anishinaabe and other communities for millennia before our arrival. We are beginning to take fully to heart the grandfather teachings of humility, bravery, honesty, wisdom, truth, respect and love. Reconciliation will be the longer journey. We have hope for a world transformed through design to be a better place for us all.
I humbly offer my talents, experience, leadership and willingness to listen as my contributions to continuing to build upon the strengths of the Ontario Association of Architects. Together we will navigate the challenges of modernizing the Architects Act, support the local Societies that ground so many Architects in their communities, and reach out to those that have also embarked upon a journey of being designers to make for a better world. I am humbled. I am excited. I am inspired! I look forward to serving on the next OAA Council. I would very much appreciate your support. Thanks !
Ted Wilson
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