Doors Open Toronto 2022, TSA Architects Talk: Renewal

Architects Talk, our fast-paced lightning forum reflecting on this year’s Doors Open theme, is back! Join us for our first ever outdoor lecture as speakers share with us their thoughts, work, and provocations on how to close the gap between the city we have and the one we desire.

Our cities are at a turning point. The last two years have laid bare many of the social, cultural and economic inequalities, injustices and imbalances deep-seated into our institutions and structures. The climate crisis continues to accelerate, affecting not only humans but all living creatures. Change is necessary. We must reconsider our engagement with our built environment, streets, heritage and history, and natural systems—renewing existing relationships and forging new ones. We know business as usual will not deliver the just and equitable city we are striving for. But how do we translate our aspirations into the built environment?

On this return of Architects Talk, we invite 5 speakers, from architects to cultivation activists and community organizers, to share with us the work that must be done to close the gap between the city we have and the one we desire.

This event is a partnership between the Toronto Society of Architects and the City of Toronto and hosted by The Bentway as part of Doors Open Toronto 2022.

Speakers

Graeme Stewart
ERA Architects

Graeme Stewart is Principal of Toronto-based ERA Architects, a founding director of the Centre for Urban Growth and Renewal, and the key initiator of the Tower Renewal Partnership, a cross-sectoral collaborative supporting policy and action toward more equitable and resilient urban regions including affordable housing renewal, green financing and community reinvestment.

Lorraine Johnson

Lorraine Johnson is the author of many books on gardening with native plants and creating habitat in yards, balconies, boulevards, community gardens and other public spaces. Her books include 100 Easy-to-Grow Native Plants for Canadian Gardens; Grow Wild!; The New Ontario Naturalized Garden; and Tending the Earth, among other titles. Her most recent book, co-authored with Sheila Colla, is A Garden for the Rusty-Patched Bumblebee: Creating Habitat for Native Pollinators, and is coming out this spring. A long-time cultivation activist and urban agriculture advocate, Lorraine is active in efforts to reform grass and weeds bylaws in support of biodiversity.

Tura Cousins Wilson
SOCA 

Tura Cousins Wilson is an architect from Toronto and co-founder of the Studio of Contemporary Architecture (SOCA). He is a licensed architect in Ontario and the Netherlands and also a founding member of BAIDA. Tura’s professional experience spans a variety of scales including multi-unit residential, large-scale mixed-use developments, libraries, and urban design. Tura has been working with community groups to address the challenges and opportunities of building a vibrant Little Jamaica neighbourhood in Toronto and recently co-wrote a report: A Black Business Conversation – On Planning for the Future of Black Businesses and Residents on Eglinton Ave. W.

Selina Young
Indigenous Affairs Office, City of Toronto

Selina is Métis from northern Saskatchewan. She has been a guest on Anishnawbe and Haudenosaunee territory in and around Toronto her whole life. Selina is passionate about the outdoors and spends hours running and walking through local urban parks along the Credit River and Lake Ontario.

She has over 25 years’ experience in public service, having worked for governments in Ontario, Canada and Scotland and is currently the Director of the Indigenous Affairs Office at the City of Toronto. She has volunteered throughout her life most recently as a Board Member for Katimavik and a member of the Toronto Public Library’s Indigenous Advisory Council.

Stefan Novakovic
(moderator) 

Stefan Novakovic is a Toronto-based writer and editor specializing in architecture and urbanism. Currently serving as Marketing Leader at DIALOG, Stefan was formerly Senior Editor at Azure Magazine, Associate Editor at Canadian Architect, and Assistant Editor at UrbanToronto.ca. His writing has also appeared in a wide range of publications, including Canadian Interiors, Designlines, Building Magazine, the New York Review of Architecture, the McGill International Review and Torontoist.

Stefan has also appeared as a speaker at the Architecture and Design Film Festival, Toronto’s Interior Design Show, the Ontario Association of Architects Conference, the University of Toronto Munk School’s Walter Gordon Symposium on Public Policy, and Architect@Work International. He has also presented original research at the 46th Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada Conference. He is the winner of a Canadian National Magazine Award (B2B) and a Canadian Online Publishing Award.

About Architects Talk

TSA Architects Talk is a thought provoking public conversation bringing together numerous local architects and experts across a wide variety of fields to discuss larger issues of architecture within the context of Doors Open Toronto and its yearly theme.

Check out a list of our past Architects Talks at Doors Open here.

TSA at Doors Open Toronto

Architects Talk is part of the Toronto Society of Architects special programming during Doors Open Toronto 2022, Canada’s largest event of its kind. Check out some of our other programs happening throughout the weekend: Harbourfront: Story of Renewal and Open Studio.