AIA Canada - Cultural Stories for an Ecological Architecture: Tsawwassen First Nation Youth Centre
image credit: Ema Peter
Event Description
The Tsawwassen First Nation (TFN) Youth Centre, a community/athletic centre for young people and their families, is an architectural retelling of ancient cultural histories combined with a modern treaty. Located on an ancient village site at a stop-over point for millions of migrating birds, this hybrid pole and mass timber building evokes a Coast Salish creation story wherein the ancestors first came to earth as birds. Gradually, wings became arms, claws became feet, and the new people built mono-sloped longhouses from the red-cedar forests of the Pacific Northwest coast. The Youth Centre’s shed-roofed wings recall the ancient longhouses while local Indigenous artists recall legends through artwork fritted onto bird-friendly glass, carved onto welcome poles, and painted onto walls and floors.
TFN’s renewed sovereignty over traditional lands commits to enhancing health of people and ecosystems. The Youth Centre structure is recyclable and demountable, with a net carbon benefit of 194 metric tonnes, sequestering more than double the amount of carbon embodied in building the structure. Exposed Dowel-Laminated mass timber ensures biophilic design, while being entirely free of glues and finished without VOC’s. Vegetables grown and cooked on-site – with the children’s involvement – further enhance health and welfare of future leaders.
CES: Estimated 1 LU/ HSW for AIA Members
Speaker
Dr Nancy Mackin, AIBC AIA LEED AP, Principal, Mackin Architects Ltd
Moderator: Dr. Adam Pantelimon, Int’l Assoc. AIA, FRIBA, MRAIC, MCIP, OUQ, Past President, AIA Canada Society
Nancy Mackin Architect is principal of Mackin Architects Ltd., where she and her associates create buildings that tell a story that begins in oral or written history, then reaches into the future. Her thoughtful and affordable designs bring together lessons from BC’s Indigenous peoples’ architecture with the shared vision of clients, stakeholders, and communities. Mackin’s PhD in architecture, Indigenous design, and landscape ecology guides her ecological/ cultural approach to community-based design. Completed projects have been recognized in awards, most recently Canada Green Building Award 2021, Wood Design and Building “Against the Grain” award 2022, and Architectural Foundation of BC Award of Excellence 2021. International recognition includes invited presentations in Italy, Iceland, Denmark, Los Angeles, Portugal, Norway, Finland, New Zealand, Australia, and across Canada from PEI to Nunavut. Nancy is an adopted killerwhale in Gitwinksihlkw and Kitselas. Her Nisga’a name, Hiilagum Hlocks, translates to “Morning Sun”.
Moderator: A regulated member of seven professional organizations in five countries, Adam Pantelimon is currently the Director, Capital Assets Portfolio with the Government of Alberta, Ministry of Seniors and Housing, where he ensure quality and value of an estimated portfolio of over $7 billion. He has conducted 60+ architectural and land development projects.
After a six year BArch professional degree in Architecture accredited by the Royal Institute of British Architects, Adam received his two year post-graduate diploma in Restoration of Monuments, Ensembles and Historic Sites. Further, he earned in Montreal a Masters in Urban Planning and a Masters in Civil Engineering. To overcome the complexity of human settlements, Adam completed a PhD Degree ‘Cum Laude’ in the Global Context of Urban History and Politics.
In 2016, Adam received the Canadian Institute of Planners President’s Award in recognition of an outstanding lifetime contribution to professional planning in Canada. He is an expert advisor to the Metropolis International Institute, as part of the World Association of the Major Metropolises, the voice of local government before the United Nations and the international community.
Even if his work for various public bodies left him little spare time, nevertheless nothing stops Adam to dedicate himself to his family. At present, he enjoys emerging a watercolor book about refining the community understanding of good practice in urban planning and architecture.
