Alternative Modernities | Modernités alternatives
Mon statut pour la session
In light of the temporal emphasis of the conference as a whole, this session will investigate the idea of Canadian built environment in the context of “alternative modernities,” a term that defines Modernism not as a monolithic discourse, but as multiple aesthetic, cultural, and political ways of engaging with/or countering mainstream Western modernist narratives. In other words, how do constructed spaces/buildings in Canada run parallel to, or otherwise disrupt or complicate, dominant notions of Modernism in the twentieth century? Papers might explore the phenomena of revival or retro, utopias/dystopias/heterotopias, or indigenous interventions into architecture.
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Tenant compte de la portée temporelle de ce congrès en général, cette séance vise à traiter l’aperçu canadien de l’environnement construit dans le cadre des « modernités alternatives » qui définit le modernisme en termes d’enjeux esthétiques, culturels et politiques et les pensés modernistes de l’occident dominant et non pas une narrative homogène. C’est-à-dire comment est-ce que les espaces construits et les bâtiments au Canada coïncident, interrompent ou rendre plus compliqués les concepts modernistes du 20e siècle? Les soumissions pour la séance pourraient explorer les phénomènes de reprise « rétro » soit les utopies, les dystopies et les hétérotopies, ou l’intervention autochtone dans l’architecture.
Sous sessions
In an effort to explore the potential transformation of North American postwar suburbs, this M.Arch thesis actively engages in the ongoing critique of modernism from the mid 20th century to the present. Contemporary urban design practice has emerged out of a reaction to orthodox modernism. Typically, new suburban development falls into one of two strategies; an attempt to replicate pre-war fabric that never existed, or a reliance on high-density to create instant urbanism. In both cases, t...
Southern Ontario border city Windsor has incredibly rich beginnings with the meeting of Huron, Jesuits, French, British, and passengers of the underground railroad, all making their home on the south shore of the Detroit River on land purchased for about 300 lbs worth of supplies.1 Windsor’s geography was incredibly strategic to many different groups, especially for war, and remained an important center for transport after the Industrial Revolution entered the Great Lakes. Autom...
This paper addresses the history and possible future(s) of the Scarborough Guild of the Arts (The Guild).* In considering Guild's history and its place within Canadian modernist and contemporary art traditions, I will offer several readings of what the site might mean within Canadian art and architectural history. Given its colonial nature one of the most suited definitions of the site is as an example of alternative modernities. I will also outline the basic structure of the rece...