KANVA took a multi-disciplinary role in designing the Edison Residence at McGill University, which includes photo-engraved concrete panels that refer to a historic fire at the site. Photo by Marc Cramer
?What do architects do"? moderator Michael McClelland of ERA Architects asked at the opening of Re:Practice, a symposium recently hosted by Ryerson University?s Master of Architecture class. ?It?s not so much a question of what they are doing, it?s what they can do, what they could do, what they should do.?
His question was seized upon by practitioners in some of the most prominent firms in the country?fellow speakers included Lola Sheppard, Helena Grdadolnik and Tudor Radulescu, MRAIC?who are developing alternative approaches to architecture. A spread from Lateral Office?s forthcoming book Many Norths. Photo by Lateral Office
Lola Sheppard, co-founder of Lateral Office, reflected on what architects could do: ?We have incredible capacities for synthetic thinking, and if we actually came in much earlier, our agency as a profession would expand.? Inspired by the role of the detective, Lateral Office delves into design research as a form of investigation, and often uncovers unexpected entry points into a project.
Lateral Office?s speculative approach is evident in its recent work in Northern Canada?a context where there are no real rules yet on how to think about design?including in its forthcoming book, Many Norths: Spatial Practice in a Polar Territory. ?In a...