Lecture - Carbon Confessions: The Architecture of Understanding Emissions

How is carbon reshaping architecture and cities? Join MVRDV for a keynote on design, policy, and the future of the built environment.

As part of their travelling exhibition on sustainability, Carbon Confessions, MVRDV presents a keynote conversation with Nathalie de Vries (Founding Partner, MVRDV) and Sanne van den Burgh (Head of MVRDV NEXT), moderated by architecture critic Alex Bozikovic. The event is presented in collaboration with the Toronto Society of Architects and the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design.

Carbon Confessions draws on more than three decades of work, sharing lessons from experiments, milestones, and missed opportunities, and showing how sustainable ambitions evolve in practice. Currently on its first North American showing in Toronto, where climate ambitions are increasingly tied to how the city builds, the exhibition reflects this context through content tailored to the local framework, including the Toronto Green Standard and MVRDV’s projects in Canada.

The keynote builds on the themes of the exhibition and explores how carbon is reshaping architectural practice, from individual buildings to the scale of the city. Drawing on MVRDV’s “Carbon Cases” – a series of projects and reflections developed over time – Nathalie and Sanne will share insights into the ambitions, challenges, and trade-offs involved in working towards lower-carbon design.

It will touch on strategies used in projects in Toronto and elsewhere in Canada, including mixed-use development and intensifying the use of buildings over their lifetime. It will also consider broader questions around the role of architects in addressing carbon at the urban and regional scale.

Set within the context of Toronto, the event opens up a wider reflection on the relationship between buildings, mobility, and emissions, and the tensions that arise between reuse, intensification, and new development.

Agenda

• 6:30 PM – Doors open
• 7:00 PM – Lecture and conversation
• 8:00 PM – Q&A

OAA MEMBERS: This lecture is eligible for 1 OAA Structured Learning Hour and meets the OAA criteria for mandatory structured learning hours focused on Climate Action as part of the 2024-2026 Continuing Education cycle. When registering, please include your full name as registered with the OAA to ensure your certificate of participation is credited properly. Please also include an email address you check frequently to ensure you receive your certificate in a timely manner.