Haliburton Forest, Haliburton, ON individual academic work 2023
The Force of Fungi embarks on an exploration of anthropogenic and climate change-related challenges, utilizing the resilient and innovative capabilities of mycelium as a design tool.
Haliburton, ON is used as a testing ground for a new Mycelium Research and Production Centre. Working in synergy with existing local businesses, these interventions produce mycelium biomaterials in a closed-loop system using local surplus byproducts.
This approach significantly benefits communities experiencing energy poverty through the reduction of home energy cost burdens, offering a renewable and low-carbon alternative to synthetic products. An emergent form of ecology-based economy is created by threading vulnerable ecosystems back together with mycelium.
The design interventions materialize along the primary access road, where the vibrant tapestry of the Haliburton Forest intersects with the bustling cottage and residential area. By forging this harmonious connection between nature and human settlements, The Force of Fungi paves the way for a resilient, sustainable, and community-centric approach to design and ecology in Haliburton and beyond.
Black Creek, Toronto, ON individual and group academic work 2021
Research into soil policy and management found that Toronto has failed to responsibly manage contaminated soil. By having unearthed the history of Black Creek, the hope is to shift our relationship with soil in Toronto going forward: to care, to engage, and to heal. This area will be a hub to handle the excavated soils of future infrastructure projects in the city, effectively reducing carbon emissions and contaminant spread from soil transport.
Surrounding the intersection of Eglinton and Black Creek Drive in West Toronto, there are four zones of significant contamination that need to be remediated and improved through design strategies. The soils deemed as contaminated will undergo various forms of remediation before being relocated for reuse.
We propose a shift in our relationship with soil, acknowledging it as a living, self contained ecosystem, and one that we are heavily reliant on. It must be cared for properly and not taken advantage of. The aim is to break the cycle of fractured soil movement and close the loop to change the pattern of soil mismanagement that has been allowed to take place for far too long.
Riverdale Park, Toronto, ON
individual academic work
2020
This key piece of green infrastructure in the City of Toronto combats two key issues: of water quality in urban ecosystems and the decline of pollinators. The primary focus is to remediate surface water runoff with engineered bioswales that capture, control, and filter the water that flows on the site. Simultaneously strategic plant selection in the bioswales will attract pollinators and provide healthy habitats for vulnerable insects.
The site will be drastically transformed by diversifying the ecosystem, adding masses of pollinator attracting species that clean the water before it can enter the greater waterways. With the extensive gardens, seasonality can be extended, providing pollen for longer periods of time than can be found in the wild.
Grant Park, Chicago, IL individual academic work 2018
Acknowledging that the soil was damaged by railroad toxins as a result of human impact, the park will become an urban farm centered around phytoremediation. This project evaluates the ecological and social factors that will influence Grant Park in the future. The methodical planting attracts an abundance of birds and butterflies on their journey migrating along Lake Michigan.
The phytoremediation plant selection will remove lead, arsenic, and creosote found in the soil in a phasing process over the next 50 years. The creation of new habitats in this under-utilized environment will be dense with wildlife in the many layers of vegetation.
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam individual academic work 2022
This tool kit of six design interventions will add 2.5km2 of public open space, providing amenities to dense urban areas. The interventions in the voids create subtle ways for people to continue to practice tradition, create identity, and appreciation for the environment, moving away from the French colonial ideology of a city and discovering the HCMC that celebrates the present and the future.
By addressing the most significant spatial needs of each site, opportunities for intervention are found. The spaces become activated by the public’s temporal use, which enhances programming and social needs.
relationship of open space and violence
Grant Park, Chicago, IL individual academic work 2018
The alarming historical moment in August 1968 is illustrated where the entire city was shut down due to the protest in the streets, on the Illinois Central Railroad train tracks and in Grant Park. Ten thousand protestors intended to peacefully protest the Democratic National Convention and Vietnam War by marching through the grounds, but were forcefully removed with tear gas, mace, and violent attacks by the Chicago Police.
a walk to connect First Nations House to Parliament
University of Toronto campus, Toronto, ON individual and group academic work
2021
Addressing the ongoing tragedy of Murdered, Missing Indigenous Women, Girls and TwoSpirits+ in Canada, a counter-monument wall threads through the campus. Each area has unique ways of sharing truths, with structure and program built relative to the human body. The wall encourages students and visitors to learn, share stories, write promises to action, and physically contribute to the spaces within and around the wall.
The wall focuses on three spaces within the University of Toronto West Campus: Biindigaw (entrance), Mikawendaagozi (remember), and Agamiing (at the water). By creating a space that has presence and permanence, a physical connection between Parliament and Indigenous communities on Toronto’s university campus is established, to ensure that this call for justice is answered.
The wall is integrated into the campus fabric for everyday function, and serves as a prominent space for demonstrations and protests. The placement of the wall relative to the pathway allows for critical breaks which force the users to have certain interactions, creating a choreographed sequence of learning truths, sharing thoughts, and ongoing activism.
