Forum Lecture: Re-Assembling Small Town Urbanism
Monday, February 7th, 2022 at 6:00 pm to 6:00 pm
- Tbd event
Topic
Much of the focus on urban change over the past decade has centered on large cities. At the same time, smaller urban cores and peripheral towns have also undergone significant alterations, particularly with the arrival of a new cohort of young working professionals and a focus on denser transit-oriented development. The drive to work-from-home brought about by the pandemic has further led many to flee large cities in search of greater space and buying power. The result has been a dramatic reassembly of small-town urbanism. This Forum Lecture invites speakers to unpack the many transformations taking place in such communities. They will discuss specific cases as well as cross-Canada trends.
About the Speakers
About Re-Assemble
From building materials to community connections, theoretical frameworks to programmatic uses, structural components to project teams, the notion of assembly is at the core of architecture. It is through these broadly defined yet interconnected assemblies that we construct our built environment. As we navigate new ways of convening and interacting with one another following the easing of lockdowns, the 2021-22 Forum Lecture Series turns to these many processes of architectural assembly and re-assembly.
Reflecting on the current state of society and design’s role within it, we ask: In what ways are people, places and practices today being re-assembled? How is this driving innovation in design research, professional practice, and pedagogy?
The history of architecture is one of perennial re-assembly—of building on and iterating theories, of reconfiguring design concepts, approaches, and collaborations, in addition to physically constructing materials and spaces. The altered social behaviors, ad-hoc spatial configurations, shifting demographics, and growing virtual realm of our past pandemic-focused year have only underscored our impetus to re-assemble.
Unpacking these dynamics, this lecture series investigates the future possibilities of physical, spatial, and operational re-assembly within our urban realm, acknowledging that these processes are not exclusively within the purview of design professionals.