16 July 2007
2007 INTERDESIGN FORUM – SUSTAINABLE HOUSING & WATER: LOCAL AND GLOBAL CHALLENGES
From June 24 to 30, Icsid member, George Brown College, hosted the 2007 Interdesign Forum that ambitiously approached four separate design charrettes surrounding the issues of sustainable housing and water in the Greater Toronto Area. Groups of 10 to 15 design students, professionals and design faculty collaborated to find design solutions to four local challenges:
Revitalisation
Toronto’s waterfront area, including the development of a water sculpture that would connect the citizens with Lake Ontario, whilst educating on the importance of water conservation.
Sustainability
Downsview Park, including the need to promote conservation in an urban national park.
Capacity Building
the community of Mount Dennis, including economic development incentives and strategies in a community hit by the closure of a major employer in the area.
Resource Conservation
Town of Port Perry, including the management of a large expanse of wetland in the face of the need for development for economic and municipal growth.
Each team of designers visited their site on the first day of the week and spent the following four days developing design solutions to their given challenges. With expert critiques provided on each day and consultation with the stakeholders in each of the affected areas, the teams developed full strategies and design proposals that were presented before an audience of over 50 people at the Toronto Centre for the Arts on Friday June 29.
Through the course of the week, presentations were also given by Icsid President, Peter Zec and President-Elect, Carlos Hinrichsen. In addition, Thomas Homer-Dixon, of the University of Toronto’s Trudeau Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies presented a keynote address. A panel discussion was held at the Design Exchange with experts from the fields of sustainability and conservation, where Bill Moggridge, the Icsid/IDSA Congress Chair, also presented a lecture to a packed audience on the concepts recently published in his book, Designing Interactions.
The proposals developed by the design teams will now be formally presented to the stakeholders for their further development and implementation.
For more information on the World House Project and the Institute Without Boundaries, please visit www.institutewithoutboundaries.ca
View more photos
Revitalisation
Toronto’s waterfront area, including the development of a water sculpture that would connect the citizens with Lake Ontario, whilst educating on the importance of water conservation.
Sustainability
Downsview Park, including the need to promote conservation in an urban national park.
Capacity Building
the community of Mount Dennis, including economic development incentives and strategies in a community hit by the closure of a major employer in the area.
Resource Conservation
Town of Port Perry, including the management of a large expanse of wetland in the face of the need for development for economic and municipal growth.
Each team of designers visited their site on the first day of the week and spent the following four days developing design solutions to their given challenges. With expert critiques provided on each day and consultation with the stakeholders in each of the affected areas, the teams developed full strategies and design proposals that were presented before an audience of over 50 people at the Toronto Centre for the Arts on Friday June 29.
Through the course of the week, presentations were also given by Icsid President, Peter Zec and President-Elect, Carlos Hinrichsen. In addition, Thomas Homer-Dixon, of the University of Toronto’s Trudeau Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies presented a keynote address. A panel discussion was held at the Design Exchange with experts from the fields of sustainability and conservation, where Bill Moggridge, the Icsid/IDSA Congress Chair, also presented a lecture to a packed audience on the concepts recently published in his book, Designing Interactions.
The proposals developed by the design teams will now be formally presented to the stakeholders for their further development and implementation.
For more information on the World House Project and the Institute Without Boundaries, please visit www.institutewithoutboundaries.ca
View more photos
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