TIME: 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
Each year, September 30 marks the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Architecture can contribute positively to societal change. Taking an Indigenous perspective into account provides an opportunity to build awareness about the relationship between reconciliation and design. This is an Indigenous-led session that will explore how Indigenous values can influence design in architecture and how the design process itself can be understood as relationship building in pursuit of common goals. This session will explore how architectural practices in Canada can positively contribute to reconciliation and asks what this may mean.
Dr. David Fortin is a registered architect in Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and British Columbia. He is also a professor at the the University of Waterloo School of Architecture and previously served as the Director of the McEwen School of Architecture and inaugural Associate Director of the Maamwizing Indigenous Research Institute at Laurentian University. He has taught architectural history, theory, and design in the UK, USA, and Canada and has published on topics related to Indigenous design, Métis architecture, and speculative architectural thinking, including the relationship between science-fiction and design. He is a citizen of the Métis Nation of Ontario and in 2018 became the first Indigenous person to direct a school of architecture in Canada. He also is Principal Architect of David T Fortin Architect Inc. a small design firm primarily working with Indigenous communities across the lands now known as Canada. In 2022, he was named an Aspiring Innovator of the Year by the Coalition of Innovation Leaders Against Racism (CILAR).
Learning Objectives
By the end of the session, participants will be able to:
1. Describe what reconciliation means for architectural practice in Canada.
2. Describe the challenges of design sovereignty for Indigenous peoples.
3. Describe what Indigenous design is and isn't.
4. Describe how settler land relations conflict with Indigenous values.