Architecture and heritage of the everyday I
My Session Status
Architectural history and heritage have historically been defined by superlatives. Vernacular traditions and local histories, on the other hand, have often been pushed to the margins or overlooked. These everyday spaces and places are often relegated to the quotidian, and perceived as unworthy of recognition.
The COVID-19 pandemic, however, has changed our daily lives, and in many cases, our values. Now, we have been forced to see the everyday in a new light. What might this new spotlight reveal? How has this made us reconsider the architecture and heritage that surrounds us? Can we re-evaluate previously overlooked spaces and places? What new practical or theoretical approaches might be considered? How might this have redefined our very definitions of architecture and heritage?
This session will examine and consider the architecture and heritage of the quotidian in Canada, both the historically overlooked and the transformations that might take place in these spaces going forward. This might include anything from housing to office spaces, the spaces of everyday labour, functional spaces, or settings of urban and rural built environments. It might also include heritage initiatives as practiced by local, grassroots organizations without the official seal of governmental approval.
In short, this session will explore how we can rethink and renew our study of the built environment, both past and present.
Sub Sessions
This paper discusses the pedagogical strategies and outcomes of a recent seminar, conducted at the McGill school of architecture in 2022, which aimed to recover underrepresented actors, sites, and design theories during the pivotal period from roughly 1945 to 1980. Students were asked to prepare a visual storyboard based on an extant public building in the city of Montreal, dating from the postwar period, and using the conventions of the graphic novel. Drawing on archival imagery and texts...
Au cours de la dernière décennie, la population du Mile End a manifesté à répétition son attachement pour les vestiges industriels plus ou moins anciens des abords de la voie ferrée du C. P., située en marge de ce quartier emblématique montréalais, et a exprimé un fort intérêt à se les réapproprier et à leur insuffler une nouvelle vie. De cet élan est née une nouvelle appréciation pour des éléments a priori banals du paysage — une enseigne délavée, un pan de pavés inégaux, un entrepôt désa...
With 100 branches welcoming nearly one million cardholders, the Toronto Public Library (TPL) embodies the architecture of the everyday. Library users build relationships with built heritage but also inform architectural interventions that adapt 20th century styles to meet 21rst century demands. Drawing on the ethics of brutalism, the aesthetics of civic architecture and the impact of neoliberalism on the public sphere, this paper argues that TPL is the site of three distinct yet overlooked...
