The OAA Conference returned in person for the first time in two years, kicking off Wednesday, May 11th with a keynote panel discussing this year?s theme: Inspiring Climate Action. OAA president Susan Spiegel introduced the keynote panel with an acknowledgement of the land followed by an announcement of a five-year facelift for the OAA. The refresh designated equity, diversity, and inclusion as well as inspiring climate action in a time of climate emergency as the lens to approach the conference and overall goals in the coming years. The keynote panel intended to bring together working professionals to discuss the future of regenerative architecture, what it is, and why it is important.
Panellists spoke with Shawn Micallef (Top Left) of the Toronto Star. Pictured: Craig Applegath (Top Right), Nina-Marie Lister (Bottom Left), Michael Pawlyn (Bottom Right). The first morning, registrants were welcomed both in-person and virtually to the panel discussion sponsored by Brampton Brick. The conversation was moderated by Shawn Micallef, prolific Toronto Star weekly columnist and author of Frontier City: Toronto on the Verge of Greatness, Stroll: Psychogeographic Walking Tours of Toronto, and The Trouble With Brunch: Work, Class and the Pursuit of Leisure. He began by noting the heartening effort to address the climate crisis by the architectural profession, followed by brief introduction of each speaker:
Craig Applegath is a founding partner of DIALOG, an integrated design studio in...