Mass timber is widely touted for it’s potential for speedy, low carbon construction. However, market acceptance in BC remains elusive. Do the risks (cost, supply chain, trades, maintenance etc) outweigh the benefits? Our panel debates the position: “Mass timber is not worth the risk(s)”.
How could the communication features in our cities help everyone feel safe, informed and led?
While standard signage can play an important role in connecting people to different places, warning potential dangers, providing instructions and reinforcing a community vibe, having too much signage or the wrong kind of signage can create the opposite effect.
Designing event space for a quiet city.
Outdoor events face barriers - How can we design flexible spaces that accommodate loudness and other disruption for a variety of cultural activations?
Living Together follows a group of young people during the creation of a housing cooperative that aims to be sustainable, social, and affordable. The project is ambitious. Not only is it the first of its kind in the Netherlands, but the group of young residential pioneers has the added challenge of having no house-building experience.
A panel conversation between the Black and Indigenous Design Collective (BIDC) collaborators Lys Divine Ndemeye, Sierra Tasi Baker and Krystal Paraboo. Moderated by Sara Stevens.
Meet Josh White, the City of Vancouver’s new General Manager of Planning, Urban Design, and Sustainability. Josh will be speaking on citymaking ideas and influences over his career with a small panel of established urban practitioners:
Who should decide what scale and type of development should go into an existing neighbourhood? Should it be the City which has close relationships and an overall perspective of development and housing needs across all neighbourhoods? Or should it be the Province who understands the urgent need for development and sees that many local governments are not doing their part to allow change and growth?
Are we too safe; have we gone too far with the building code?
Building regulations are in place for many good reasons, including keeping residents and first responders safe. At the end of 2023, the BC Government announced adjustments to the Building Code. They are aiming to “right-size” the code, mostly through seismic and accessibility provisions. But, with ambitious housing supply goals, are the proposed reforms enough or are the years of accrued regulations getting in the way of good and affordable housing design?
Creating illustrations that shape our cities.
The Urbanarium Studio encourages public discourse on the planning and design of our communities. The drawings our illustrator cohort creates are intended to live past a Studio, be shared widely, used freely (creative commons) and inspire new ideas that get implemented.
At this special session for our illustrator cohort, we considered what is needed in a co-designed illustration so that concepts live on and contribute to city-making processes, spaces and buildings.
Designing supportive spaces for small manufacturers.