On April 4th, join the West Coast Modern League at Inform Interiors for the launch of “On the Boards,” a new speaker series focused on showcasing the creative endeavors of our local design talent. For this inaugural lecture, we will be joined by environmental artist and designer Alyssa Schwann and architect Laura Killam, both of whom will present their recent works and/or projects currently underway.

Alyssa Schwann is an environmental artist and designer who for many years taught at the University of Manitoba, Faculty of Architecture. Her professional experience involves design in Canada, Britain, and the Netherlands, with projects in North America, Europe, and North Africa. She spent several years at West 8 in the Netherlands as a project leader and designer, with a focus on parks, gardens and public spaces that included high-profile urban design projects for Toronto’s Central Waterfront and Governors Island in New York City. Recently, Alyssa has been creating installations in an urban forest in Vancouver and this past summer on the island of Korppoo in Finland. These temporary interventions, “drawing” with string, continue her ongoing studies in the intersection of “art + ecology,” examining the temporal and formal relationships between land and place. The work is intended as a meditation on an understanding of the need to nurture a deep relationship to place, using forest–and string–as the subjects.

Laura Killam is a BC native who grew up between Vancouver and an off-grid island on the BC coast. Laura established the small, full service architectural practice of Laura Killam Architecture in 2017. Specializing in residential projects situated on remote, wild sites along the BC coast, the studio looks for design solutions that combine function and aesthetics to produce quiet, understated architecture. LKA strives to make spaces that are deeply connected to their site, that delight in beauty both within and outside of the building, and that respond meaningfully to a client’s needs. Laura will speak about several residential projects on the coast, each aimed at engaging in a conversation with the unique characteristics of the site that it inhabits. Each design aims to connect inhabitants to the natural setting through curating the experience of moving through the landscape, exploring the shift of views, light and shadow, and finding a balance of shelter and expansiveness.

Register Here: westcoastmodern.org/events/on-the-boards-april-2023

For Comments & Inquiries: wcmleague@gmail.com