One key aftermath of this past year is that remote working will almost certainly remain a permanent part of office culture... at least to some extent. The long-term effects are not certain at this point, though it is clear that distance working in some capacity will likely continue in perpetuity. With such a collaborative studio culture inherent in many practices, as we adapt, what does this mean for the practice? What are the challenges and opportunities that could be presented to your practice?

This session will include a collaborative journaling session where all participants will have the opportunity to share their best practices as part of this ideation process. Together, with a panel of practitioners, we will discuss and explore strategies, tactics, and tools that can be practically implemented to help us adapt to this shift, while we ensure we continue to build in collaborative processes with remote project teams and our clients.

Learning Objectives:

1. Garner understanding into collaboration with fragmented, disrupted, and de-centralized teams
   
2. Understand the impact on the process and practice when the team and the client is virtually organized
   
3. Discuss structures and systems that can support teams and clients in virtual environments
   
4. Gain insight into the best practices and tools being implemented, through collective learning and active audience engagement

 Speakers:

Alexandra Samuel
Author, “Remote, Inc.”

Alexandra Samuel is a technology strategist, data journalist, and author who has spent much of her twenty-five year career as a remote worker. In her upcoming book, Remote Inc., she uses her wealth of personal experience to help us conceptualize a new approach to working in the modern age. Her must-listen talks show us how to thrive outside the office, using the entrepreneurial mindset and habits of remote professionals.

A regular contributor to The Wall Street Journal, The Harvard Business Review, the CBC, and JSTOR Daily, Samuel is a prolific writer whose articles on remote work, digital productivity, and tech culture have earned extensive media coverage. The author of the Work Smarter with Social Media series for Harvard Business Review Press, Samuel has long experience helping people make effective use of technology to enhance their personal productivity. More than five thousand students have taken her Skillshare class, Work Smarter with Your Inbox, and she was the lead social media expert for the Web Fuelled Business training program, which trained thousands of entrepreneurs across the UK. A featured expert on Google’s Digital Wellbeing site, Samuel speaks to both the personal and business impact of technology in her keynotes and workshops.

Samuel began her career in technology as the research director for the Governance in the Digital Economy program, leading a Toronto-based research program for a global consortium of government leaders from her home office in Vancouver. As the VP Social Media for customer intelligence software company Vision Critical, Samuel led a social media analytics pilot program while working from home so she could homeschool her autistic son. And as the co-founder of Social Signal, Samuel built one of the world’s first social media agencies while working out of her home with her husband and their first hires. She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Harvard University, where her dissertation was the first comprehensive study of hacktivism (politically motivated computer hacking).

Meg Graham
superkül

Meg is known by her clients and the studio for her critical insight and passion for design. Developed over many years of practice, her expertise is broad and varied; she has successfully led a number of the firm’s projects in residential, institutional and retail sectors, along with initiatives in master-planning and adaptive reuse.

Since 2001, Meg has taught design at the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design at the University of Toronto, and has been a visiting lecturer/critic at architecture schools in Canada and the US. An articulate communicator and advocate for design, Meg has contributed her expertise in volunteer and board positions that speak to her strong leadership role both in and beyond the design community. A past Chair of the Toronto Society of Architects, Meg is currently Co-Chair of the City of Toronto Design Review Panel. Since 2015, she has been a member of the Board of Directors of the University of Toronto Schools.

 Meg received her professional architecture degree from the University of Waterloo (B. Arch, 1997), winning the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal in her thesis year. She also holds a postgraduate degree from Harvard University (MDesS, 2003). Meg is a registered architect with the Ontario Association of Architects and in 2015 was made a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. In 2020 Meg received the H.J. Crawford Award from the University of Toronto Schools, in recognition of her contributions to the advancement of the school through commitment, dedication and volunteerism, and a lifetime of significant achievements in contributing to greater society.

Tobias Fellows
NORR

Over a 20-year career in architecture, Tobias has led and delivered quality, award-winning projects across Canada, with a focus on the National Capital Region. He has hands-on experience across multiple market sectors including Public Buildings, Education, Science & Research and Commercial. Tobias has earned the reputation of a strong leader, applying his unique skill set of creative design, technical acumen and a proactive approach to project management. As a Principal based in NORR’s Ottawa Office, Tobias specializes in public buildings. Working for clients such as PSPC, BGIS and, the Canada Science and Technology Museum, Tobias leads a multi-disciplinary team of architects, engineers, planners and designers, through a collaborative process, developing solutions for complex, purpose-driven designs, from recapitalization projects to new construction at every scope and scale. His recent projects include Les Terrasses de la Chaudière, a sustainable redevelopment of the largest government complex in Canada, Carling Campus Project (CCP), a recapitalization of a 12-building campus, Ottawa ON, consolidating operations from over 40 facilities, and culturally significant projects such as Together House, a historic transformation project of the former US Embassy into a building that promotes Nation to Nation relations, reconciliation and self determination, while casting a renewed relationship with Indigenous Peoples and Canadians. Tobias is an outdoor enthusiast and enjoys canoeing, camping and hiking around the unique landscapes and environs of Ontario, Quebec and the Appalachian Mountains in northeastern United States. He draws great inspiration and meaning for design from these activities in nature, as it develops a strong connection to our shared natural environment and the stories these landscapes symbolize.

Moderator: 

Tammy Gaber
McEwen School of Architecture (MSoA)

Dr. Tammy Gaber is an Associate Professor at the McEwen School of Architecture, Laurentian University (Canada) where she teaches architecture design and theory courses, which she joined as founding faculty in 2013. Dr.Gaber previously taught at University of Waterloo, American University in Cairo and the British University in Egypt. Dr.Gaber completed a SSHRC funded research project which led to her forthcoming book with McGill Queen’s Press, Beyond the Divide: A Century of Canadian Mosque Design and has published chapters on gender and architecture, vernacular and regional architecture and sacred spaces in several books and journal publications. in 2019 Dr. Gaber won the Women Who Inspire Award from the Canadian Council of Muslim women and in 2020 she was awarded Laurentian University’s Teaching Excellence Award for a Full-time professor.