If architecture suffers a chronic crisis of public relevance, spare a thought for architectural theory. Designers may bemoan a lack of civic presence, but their work, at least, forms part of the evolving built fabric — if not the cultural landscape. And while most of our country’s 41 million residents would likely struggle to name a single practicing Canadian architect, the discipline’s academics and theorists are even further removed from the public eye. David Fortin is an exception.

A Professor at the University of Waterloo’s School of Architecture and a practicing architect, David Fortin is also a citizen of the Métis Nation of Ontario, and among the small but growing number of Indigenous practitioners in Canada.

In Venice and across Turtle Island, Fortin’s civic advocacy has highlighted the links between architectural practice and urgent — and inter-related — social issues like housing affordability and post-colonial reconciliation. As a theorist, Fortin brings clarity of mind and purpose to a field that seldom feels culturally legible or politically urgent. 

 And last year, he delivered a series of talks on his nascent theory of “critical relationalism.” It’s a thoughtful reconsideration of critical regionalism — and one that gets at a bigger question: Are we thinking about architecture all wrong?