June Diana Komisar
Sessions in which June Diana Komisar participates
Friday 27 May, 2022
The importance of parks became starkly apparent as we pivoted to new ways of socializing, exercising, eating, and all aspects of living during the pandemic. We can learn a lot about park planning from formal and informal park innovations and usage during this crisis, as well as adaptations from previous moments of instability, such as wartime. Innovations that responded to these pandemic years can help us understand our planning challenges.This paper looks at the iconic Allan Garden...
Sessions in which June Diana Komisar attends
Thursday 26 May, 2022
In recognition of the fact that Canadian practitioners, scholars, and students of architecture think, work, and act globally, this session invites submissions that are geographically unconstrained. The session welcomes case studies or analyses that illuminate how the transnational flow of ideas, people, and capital has changed the global built environment, including the multi-directional nature of exchanges between the so- called developing and...
Canada is home to the fourth largest Jewish community in the world, with one of its two centres being Toronto. Toronto’s first Jews originally settled in what is currently known as Kensington Market, and as the years progressed and more opportunities became available, the Jews migrated to suburbia. Today, you can see Bathurst St. and its arterial roads lined with Jewish shops, restaurants, bakeries, and synagogues. Although few, most papers that exist usually discuss pre-World War II synag...
Over the past twenty or so years, the architecture of churches in Quebec and across Canada has triggered new and increasingly pressing questions: how should we approach their conservation, use, or meaning in a context where religious practice is in sharp decline, where the economic situation of parishes is prompting hasty decisions, and where radical versions of secularism are being imposed in the public space? These new questions call for different ways of thinking about the historic valu...
Modernizing a religious monument that is more than 100 years old is a complex issue that invariably raises uncomfortable questions. Renovations and restorations of church buildings are an opportunity to reveal what has been hidden beneath years of accumulated layers. In 2003, Christ Church Cathedral in Vancouver performed a $9.7 million renovation and restoration, one of the most ambitious projects of its kind in Canada for a religious monument. ...
Many aspects of the transmission of designs from British and Irish sources to what is now Canada are well understood. Architects like Frank Wills (1822-57), William Hay (1822-88) and Joseph Connolly (1840-1904) brought their expertise with them when they settled in the New World. Yet, work remains to be done on the nature of ongoing connections with the architecture of the old countries. This paper examines novel elements in the ‘Roman Renaissanc...
Roger D'Astous is one of the most important Canadian architects of the 20th century. A student of Frank Lloyd Wright, he worked all his life to establish a northern architecture. This rebellious and flamboyant artist was a superstar of the sixties, then fell into disgrace before being reborn in the twilight of the century. Author of two Montreal icons, the Château Champlain Hotel and the Olympic Village for the 1976 Games, his residences are sensual works of art and his churches are strang...
Friday 27 May, 2022
Many of our Canadian cities and towns currently find themselves in need of revival and renewal. Disinvestment in the public realm, decentralization – exacerbated during the COVID 19 Pandemic – vacancies and abandonment - including brownfields and grayfields – are some of the many challenges which they currently face. Both dwindling tax bases, and depleted revenue streams, make more formal and top-down urban strategies less tenable. Prevailing Modernist paradigms such as urban ...
Major parks have been part of the urban identity of Canadian cities for more than 150 years. From Pleasure Grounds to reformist and recreational parks as well as exhibition parks, parks have assumed different built forms over time and have had a wide range of vocations and uses. In recent years, a number of international publications have reflected on parks from the point of view of history, cultural diversity, good practices in terms of design...
Walking tour of the working-class housing and churches of Saint-Pierre-Apôtre and Sainte-Brigide-de-Kildare (now the Sainte-Brigide Cultural and Community Centre) in the south-central district of Montreal.The tour will be guided by Luc Noppen.A departure (by foot) will be organized from the conference site; the tour itself will begin at 5:00 pm at the Beaudry metro station (a metro station of Berri-UQAM, site of the conference).
Saturday 28 May, 2022
“Felt experiences” have become key components of our understanding of the world in the digital age, which could explain the increase in research on the diversity of the ambiences experienced in built environments. These approaches, which sometimes give privileged access to worldviews or lead to design modes that are more attentive to the experience of users, shed new light on previ...
Since the 19th century, citizens grouped within different types of associations, from the learned society to the friends of heritage, have been interested in local history and, by extension, in the traces of these on the territory. This citizen contribution is expressed in many ways. First of all, while such historical society groupings have a venerable past, their proliferation and their commitment to defend the archives, to s...
While the relationship between architecture and community are intrinsically intertwined, the built form of “community spaces” is not easily defined by any specific style, design, or building typology. Though there are many purpose-built community buildings across Canada, including community and recreation centres, performance venues, and town halls, many community spaces often evolve organically and informally from the community itself in a div...