Lessons From The Land: How Northern Ontario Architecture can be Influenced by Land-Based Learning

“We want something that everyone can enjoy, maybe something that doesn’t limit us to the chickadee loop”

“We lack storage for all our equipment, either it sits outside or it’s stored way far from our building”

“It doesn’t make sense teaching outdoor education from a classroom, it just doesn’t”

Semi Covered Accessible Boardwalk

“Original Indigenous methods of educating children extend beyond the walls of indoor space, learning is viewed as sacred and holistic, as well as experiential, purposeful, relational, and a life-long responsibility”

Professors

CONSERVATIONISTS

ELDERS / INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY

CONSERVATIONISTS

Professors

ELDERS / INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY

Analyzing the social inequities between first nations communities and urban centres, the ability to learn, listen and grow from the land is lacking. Due to this, people are faced with a lesser sense of health and well-being. The project will integrate the protected ecological land and propose a smallscaled light architecture to bind people and nature together as one. The project seeks to achieve a harmonious balance between knowledge and experience through detailed site investigation and natural and human factors documentation within the proposed location.

This design was brought forward thanks to the help of Indigenous scholars and the group at Conservation Sudbury. While having many safety and accessibility issues, this portion of the thesis demanded a solid understanding of the nature of the accessibility issues found within various student groups. As the design evolved, more questions about safety were brought to the surface. After discussing new designs with Conservation Sudbury, the project was finally grounded within the context of the natural environment. This being the unequal opportunities for people to experience the same landmass for factors out of individual control.

The accessible boardwalk as it is designed now reflects the unequal experience students and daily hikers face daily. The boardwalk will allow people to interact with water, aquatic creatures, adjacent rock cuts, and the Lake Laurentian flora and fauna, imperatively working towards a greater sense of place while increasing health and well-being.

Access for vehicles for construction and emergency purposes

Direct access for bioski memebrs to hop off the trail and warm up

Two way access from both the Laurentian main campus, and Loach’s Road, which will increase the amount of potential interactions

Located between two trails, the structure does not propose any disruption of trail segments Loach’s Exit is a trail that is considered accessible, with hard-packed dirt

Opportunity to rent the space to anyone who wants to have an event space located both near commercial and educational infrastructure while being in nature. Opportunity for secondary income and a self-sustaining building

On a bigger scale, the classroom space will give volunteers a greater sense of the building typologies of a typical stickframe building. By harvesting materials, cutting them off-site and transporting them back to the desired location, the assembly will teach the community the process of building a structure from the ground up while respecting the Land.

Fotings will be installed to anchor the structure

Typical post and beam structure with glue-laminated floor beams, joists, and decking

No lengths will be greater than 12’ to ensure feasible transportation

Semi-permeable facade to ensure visibility from inside-out while keeping snowdrifts out of the main circulation

Studio 9

2021

Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis seeks to reconcile West Nipissing and the Nipissing no.10 reservation by creating a first nations resource centre.

This project used three indigenous teachings to help pursue the design. They were:

Learning from the people and the land

Acknowledging and understanding the land

And respecting the people and the land

The project strives to increase health and well-being for people living on Nipissing number 10 by reconnecting the Nbisiing people back to the land.

Keywords:

Conservation Indiginization

Community Sustainability

Local Resources Health

Webisite: https://mcewenarchitecture.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/jeremy-st-pierre-5515-combined.pdf

Metamorphosis is a space where Nbisiing people can read about the medicinal plants in the area and how to harvest them. It’s a place where Nbisiing people can see a physician and not be oppressed by the lingering stigma of waiting rooms, white walls, and racial injustices of the typical Canadian medical system. It’s a place where a community garden is in place to help feed, decrease stress, and inform the people of Garden Village of the nutrients available in our backyard. It’s a place of well-being and a place of change.

BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS ON WHERE TO FIND AND HOW TO HARVEST DEVIL’S CLUB

CHOKE CHERRIES HARVESTED IN THE SURROUNDING BERMS

TRADITIONAL, CHARRED RECLAIMED WOOD

TRADITIONAL, UNPAINTED RECLAIMED SACRED RED CEDAR

Similar to my thesis, this project was utterly community-based. Understanding the land, people, and the community was how I was able to design a program that would act as a juxtaposition between the reservation and the adjacent community of Sturgeon Falls. Fieldwork and interviews helped me connect with the people without having an imposing voice over the community’s wants and needs.

Using locals to help me map out traditional medicines, community resources, and local activities was how I challenged Western views on health care.

Studio 8

2020

Les Strates

En se basant sur l’idée de strates géologique, qui ont eu une impacte inoubliable dans l’histoire de la ville de Sudbury, nous avons créé une édifice a multi-usage, fondée sur le principe que les différents niveaux de tissus urbain on la possibilité de venir se superposer sur eux même. Le produit final est une édifice, ainsi qu’une communauté stable, équilibré et unis.

Based on the idea of geological strata, which have had an unforgettable impact on the history of the City of Sudbury, we have created a multi-purpose building based on the principle that different levels of urban fabrics have the possibility of being superimposed on themselves. The end product is a structure and a stable, balanced and united community.

Keywords:

Houselessness Sudbury

Micro Living Affordable

Local Resources

Recognitions:

Parametric Design

MSOA SOPREMA: Leaders of Tomorrow Award Winner

2020 First place urban design prize for fourth year final project

“Outstanding project for urban design and integration”

Webisite: https://mcewenarchitecture.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/ Alain-Roy_Jeremy-St-Pierre_PPT-L.pdf

Unités Résidentielle - 5e étage Exemple des murs de cisaillement CLT dans les axes X, Y et Z du 5e étage

Unités Résidentielle Murs de cisaillement CLT dans les axes X, Y et Z de toute les étages

Rez-de-chaussée Système de poutres et colonnes CLT

Système de colonnes ”V” en acier

Murs de cisaillement en béton dans les axes X et Y Murs de cisaillement en (axe Z) Escaliers/ Gradins en béton

Rez-de-chaussée Noyaux Escaliers et Ascenseur en béton

Stationnement sous-terrain Système de colonnes en béton

Stabilité LatéraleUnités Résidentielles

Modules préfabriqués en CLT autoportants déposés sur la base du rez-de-chaussée.

Stabilité LatéraleRez-de-chaussée

Concevoir une base stable et solide pour accueillir des modules autoportants aux étages supérieure.

Having studied and analyzed the social demographics surrounding the proposed site, the building wanted to reflect the community’s needs by having a community-oriented main floor. The market space is located parallel to Elgin street to give the community a sense of gathering while promoting local sustenance. The surrounding landscaping offers groups of all ages to gather for activities such as basketball, skateboarding, tennis, walking, and enjoying local art.

Hidden from the main street, the southern ground floor is home to various resources such as walk-in clinics, dentists and other personal healthcare-related programming.

3 ply CLT panneaux verticaux

Modules CLT

Isolation continue 50mm coursive/ 150mm murs exterieur

Isolation acoustique en caoutchouc

Tubes 5/8” in floor heating

Chappe de beton 50mm avec chauffage radient

Focused on sustainable design, the analysis of structural elements was a significant design strategy that needed to be addressed to create a structure that aims to be net-zero.

Digital Fabrication

2021

The Longhouse

The local housing crisis is a growing problem in Sudbury’s downtown core. As the rate of homelessness increases, people are often found downtown to make use of the available resources. After conducting rigorous research on the specific demographics found in Sudbury, we realised the high numbers of Indeginous homeless people in our community. Furthermore, from studies administered by the City of Sudbury, we also learnt that Indigenous people are less likely to use the resources that are available in the downtown core. Saying this, The Longhouse aims to create a safe environment that is inclusive to everyone. Taking construction precedents from the traditional longhouse, we’ve designed an area that conforms to basic human needs while subtlely acknowledging the land on which it will lie.

Keywords:

Houselessness Sudbury

Micro Living

Local Resources

Affordable

Parametric Design

Understanding the social aspect of creating temporary housing for the houseless population was an area I wasn’t familiar with before this project. The project taught me how to ask, listen and understand this population by engaging them throughout the design process. Creating small shelters that can be grouped in a park or parking lot will give people the chance to have a social connection with their neighbours while being protected from the exterior climates.