Guided by MomentUM: Leading Change Together, UM is committed to empowering learners through dynamic learning experiences that meet the needs of an increasingly diverse student body. Investing in SoTL enables instructors and faculty members to examine their teaching practices, incorporate evidence-based findings, and ultimately, improve student success.

The 2025 SoTL Support Fund has awarded five Seed projects, a stream within the scaffolded-funding program which supports time-limited and innovative new teaching and learning research ideas with a budget of up to $6000. These projects span a range of disciplines, each offering an innovative approach to advancing research-based teaching and learning at UM.

Empowering Statistical Minds: Data Exploration for Student Engagement

Project lead: Hina Shaheen, Department of Statistics, Faculty of Science

Bridging the gap between theoretical statistical concepts and real-world applications can be challenging for many Statistics students. Traditional lecture-based approaches often encourage rote memorization of formulas rather than deep understanding. This project will introduce small-group, collaborative experiments using real-world databases, promoting active learning through data exploration and statistical decision-making. The hands-on problem-solving activities aim to strengthen students’ analytical reasoning, decision-making, and statistical interpretation skills. Analysis of students’ behavioural, emotional, and social engagement outcomes will inform and support ongoing initiatives aimed at enhancing student success and career readiness.

Live Podcasting in Teacher Education: Amplifying Engagement, Dialogue, and Multimodal Literacies

Project lead: Amir Michalovich, Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning, Faculty of Education

This project examines the extent to which live podcasting in class can cultivate engaging, dialogic, and multimodal classroom discussions for students in teacher education. Given the rapid advancement of generative AI, it is increasingly important to explore classroom-based assignments involving students co-developing and demonstrating their knowledge. While some research has explored the use of pre-recorded or edited podcasts in post-secondary education, it has rarely examined digital multimodal assignments conducted live in class. This study addresses that gap by exploring how these tools can impact student engagement with course content, participation in dialogic learning, and development of communicative skills across multimodal literacies (e.g., speaking, listening, writing, viewing, and representing). 

Team-based collaborative learning from the head to the toes to better health for all

Project lead: Dr. Laura MacDonald, Dental Hygiene, Dr. Gerald Niznick College of Dentistry, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences

This project pilots an interprofessional team-based collaborative experiential learning program aimed at facilitating the integration of oral health within comprehensive health care. It will examine students’ perspectives of a novel interprofessional education (IPE) initiative delivered in a dental clinic setting. Both existing research and the outcomes of a recent Rady Faculty of Health Sciences interprofessional simulation indicate a persistent gap in incorporating oral health within comprehensive health-care practice. Situating this intervention within a dental clinic is intended to help health professional students connect oral health with overall health and roles and responsibilities to ensure comprehensive health care. Findings will offer curriculum IPE developers valuable insights into the key traits students believe support interprofessional collaboration competencies, specifically relationship-focused care, clearly defined roles and responsibilities, and collaborative leadership.

Case-Based Learning in Landscape Architecture and Environmental Design

Project co-leads: Yuhao Lu, Department of Landscape Architecture and Mark Meagher, Environmental Design Program

In landscape architecture and design education, students often struggle to build and apply an accurate vocabulary for describing spatial patterns. Relying solely on memorized definitions limits students’ abilities to recognize or articulate design intensions in new contexts. Applying case-based learning principles, which emphasize that deeper understanding emerges from exposure to concrete examples, this project will give students access to real-world cases in the form of project drawings and photographs. A curated collection of design patterns and vocabulary will be developed from an extensive database of precedents and enhanced through state-of-the-art machine learning. Students will submit their own sketches, which the system will analyze to generate key vocabulary terms to describe the patterns and examples of related patterns across multiple design disciplines. Pre- and post-project surveys will assess the tool’s impact on students’ design literacy, pattern recognition, and communicative competence.

Collaborative Proof Writing: Enhancing Mathematical Understanding and Communication Skills Through Group-Based Learning

Project lead: Jamie de Jong, Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science

Writing mathematical proofs can be a significant challenge for undergraduate students, who must shift from the computational problem-solving emphasized in high school to the formal reasoning required in university mathematics. This project will evaluate the effectiveness of targeted in-class group activities designed to strengthen both mathematical understanding and communication. The activities will focus on analyzing and writing mathematical proofs, with opportunities for immediate feedback from both instructors and peers. While peer feedback is well-established in writing-intensive fields, its application in proof-based mathematics is limited. Surveys and assessments of student performance will be used to measure the effectiveness of this teaching approach.

Learn more about how UM is supporting teaching excellence.

ArchiShorts is an open annual competition that celebrates the storytelling potential of architecture and place through short films, each just two minutes or less. This competition is part of the annual Architecture + Design Film Festival (A+DFF) in Winnipeg, which showcases critically acclaimed films on the importance of architecture and design in everyday life.

The awarded films were created in the third-year Environmental Design Landscape + Urbanism studio, led by Leanne Muir and Lawrence Bird. This studio, titled ‘City Dreaming: Imagining Density in Winnipeg’s Neighbourhoods,’ envisions established Winnipeg neighborhoods as pedestrian-focused communities that prioritize walking, cycling, public transportation, and the health and well-being of ecosystems, alongside increased housing density.

To learn more about the role of filmmaking in the studio and to see the full collection of films, visit https://www.citydreaming.ca/

“Reaching St. Boniface” by Karen Beatrice Servidad
Neighbourhood: Central St. Boniface

This film explored the role of bridges as part of the urban machinery that shaped the cultural landscape of Central Saint Boniface. It traced the history of river crossings, from the early ferry to the current Provencher Bridge and Esplanade Riel, highlighting their impact on the neighbourhood’s walkability and connection to downtown Winnipeg. The bridges act as physical extensions of the land, facilitating movement and interaction between the two halves of the city, and promoting cultural and economic exchange.

“The Shortcut” by Lealyn Carlos
Neighbourhood: Lord Roberts

 Lord Roberts, a vibrant Winnipeg neighborhood, faces the pressures of development and the need to preserve its unique identity. The film “The Shortcut” aimed to show how a quiet neighborhood has changed over the years, evolving in a sense from the ruins of its industrial history of streetcars, which opened up the community to development over a century ago, to its present car-dominated environment. “The Shortcut” is not just about traffic problems; it’s a reminder of the importance of mindful urban planning to prevent neighborhoods from being overwhelmed by unexpected consequences of unchecked growth.

“Eutopos” by Alyaa Kabbani
Neighbourhood: Elmwood
“Eutopos” was inspired by conversations with long-time residents. The departure of residents and the influx of new renters have disrupted a close-knit social fabric. The film intends to reflect on the changing demographics of the neighbourhood and, by implication, the challenges to its once strong sense of community. As homes become commodities, they are often marketed as some kind of pristine utopian space, eerily absent of signs of the people who once lived there. Change is inevitable in urban life, but the film reflects on what is lost through this process.

“The Palace” by Jory Thomas
Neighbourhood: William Whyte
Thomas’s film focuses on the Palace Theatre, an abandoned building in William Whyte, as an emblem of the neighbourhood’s decline. The Palace is a modern ruin, one of many seen across the neighborhood of William Whyte. Despite being a gateway into Winnipeg’s rich history, the only ones left to care for the building are the pigeons. Pigeons, a species once cared for and domesticated by humans, have now been abandoned and left to fend for themselves. The same can be said for The Palace Theatre, which now serves as a reminder of how crowds of theatre-goers have been replaced by crowds of pigeons.

The student films were first screened at Nuit Blanche Winnipeg in September 2024, in partnership with Storefront MB and the UM Community Design & Planning Centre.

Williams is in her fourth year at UM, studying environmental design in the Faculty of Architecture. She describes how she has always “felt very strongly about advocating for the land itself,” so the landscape stream was the natural choice as she progressed through the program. Fourth-year students in the “Landscape of Urbanism” course are encouraged to participate in a mobility experience across several countries in Europe, exploring how other nations and cultures have approached landscape design. Through this trek, Williams found new inspiration to incorporate into her vision for land advocacy back home in Winnipeg.

This experience took Williams and her peers on a tour that included Denmark, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, and France. From late August to early September 2024, they explored a variety of public spaces that demonstrate unique landscape design elements, from housing complexes to parks and playgrounds. These sights were as beautiful as they were academically enriching for Williams, since she was exposed to ideas that she could not have seen by staying at home in Canada. “We don’t really have access to these really formal or experimental parks that have been around in Europe for however many years; they just have a very different mindset about what’s important,” she describes – adding that while she loves our landscape features in Winnipeg, it is important to see other examples!

More than any other site, Williams took inspiration from Fuglsangpark in Denmark, a community built around the idea of social housing. She describes the beauty of the site and the way it seamlessly transitions from public to private spaces, incorporating gardens, playgrounds, residences, and school buildings. The design itself facilitates a community of people who care for the space and for each other, which inspires Williams to reimagine how spaces in Canada, such as reserve communities, could be better designed. Considering this example, she says:

“…All of the questions that are asked of me as an Indigenous designer focus on land use and this idea of not walking into a room and not acting like I know what’s best for someone. Instead, it’s changing the approach and sitting down with the community or client and being able to talk to them and say, ‘What do you need? What are you like? What is important to you?’…And then taking that and really including them by making these spaces for them to speak.”

Though the days spent hopping from one location to the next could be exhausting, Williams and her class maintained their perseverance. “There’s a lot of people who surprise themselves on that trip,” she explains, reflecting on the endurance they developed while travelling. Despite the demands of their packed schedule, Williams was “still be able to come out on the end being so happy and excited for all the things that [she’s] seen.”

Even in the planning stages of this experience, Williams recalls feeling both supported and encouraged thanks to the amazing staff and resources at the International Centre (IC). Hesitant at first to apply for GSO funding, the IC’s mobility team provided much-needed reassurance for Williams. She recalls worrying that she might not be as deserving of these funds as other students, but thanks Naomi Fujiwara at the IC for convincing her that she should ignore the doubts and apply anyway. Williams wants to assure prospective applicants that the staff will not “look down on you” for requesting financial aid: “They want to see people have these experiences, and they want to see our university communities thrive because of it.”

Students seeking inspiring experiences such as Williams’ can email GSO[at]umanitoba[dot]ca for an application form. You can also begin exploring other global mobility possibilities, such as student exchanges or full year international experiences through the McCall MacBain International Fellowship, at UM’s International Centre homepage or reach out to international[at]umanitoba[dot]ca.

Ligneous Artefacts is the title of the ARCG 7102 studio taught by Professor Dietmar Straub at the University of Manitoba during the summer term of 2024. The goal was to design and build a series of non-standardized site-specific features for the Shared Path, a trail landscape designed by Professors Dietmar Straub and Anna Thurmayr from the Department of Landscape Architecture that turns a site on Lake Manitoba First Nation land into a gathering place where young and old can meet, share, and create new stories. The artefacts had to be developed as informal place-making tools that enrich the landscape and inspire social interaction. The design approach was based on an attitude of the German sculptor Rudolf Wachter: “I work with wood, and the wood works with me.”

Within four weeks, including field trips, community engagement and an on-site visit, the studio team progressed from rough drafts to a final product. Cutting, sawing, grinding, sanding, routing, drilling, and chiselling, …. after one week of sweat and hard work, all pieces were ready for assembly. The professional execution of all fabrication steps happened in close collaboration with the workshop of the Faculty of Architecture, University of Manitoba. Special thanks to Kellen Deighton for his priceless involvement in this studio project and Shaun De Rooy and Isaac Keeper-Muswaggon for their precious contribution!

Dietmar Straub have frequently invited students to gain hands-on experience on outreach projects. They were involved in tree-pit construction and asphalt painting. They dug in Winnipeg clay, compacted Manitoban limestone, hammered stones, bricks, logs and asphalt, used brushes and paint rollers and now fabricated five ‘masterpieces’ of wood and some metal parts. Dietmar Straub wants to apply this model to narrow the gap between theory and practice and to create a closer relationship between scholarly work and teaching. With its workshop-centered concept, the Bauhaus design education still seems to work as a timeless inspiration for passionate design education and students:

“The bench studio allowed me and the group to expand our understanding of a ‘bench’ or an outdoor piece. This summer studio is valuable because we learned how to build and work with wood on a 1-1 scale for the Lake Manitoba First Nations community to use. After much research, iterative design, site visits, and consultations with the community and occupational therapists, it is rewarding for a student to be part of a design-build studio that stretches the imagination yet is grounded in reality.” (Marie Alexie T. Seno)

“The Ligneous Artefacts project was our first experience designing and seeing our ideas come to life. It united all the students, fostering teamwork, creativity, and problem-solving. We hope the Dog Creek 46 community enjoys the artefact as much as we enjoyed building it.” (Vanessa Dos Santos Martins Macedo Alfonso)

STUDENTS
Marty Derksen; Vanessa Dos Santos Martins Macedo Alfonso; Michael Fitzpatrick; Carlo Gonzales; Augusta T. Ho; Kanika Mehta; Rownak Jahan Moutosi; Brady Ricketts; Marie Alexie T. Seno; Ruichen Zhu;

“Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do.” (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1829)

Heidi Painchaud.

On a quiet afternoon in January, the second floor of a Midtown Toronto studio is buzzing with activity just a few days into the new year. While some concentrate on their flat screens, others in the pantry catch up on holiday accounts with impromptu discussions about projects. It is clear that iN STUDIO Creative walks the walk, operating by letting inspiration ebb and flow, similar to how the team collaborates on corporate design projects. It is no wonder that some of its clients include the biggest and most progressive household names.

In 2022, partners Heidi Painchaud, Guy Painchaud, and Anthony Orasi broke out the champagne when the 35-strong Canadian firm ranked 49th on Interior Design’s Rising Giants list. Not bad for a company established seven years ago with a handful of people and an internet connection.

 

I must give credit to UofM for the passion it instilled. I love that I learned about design under the umbrella of design for the built environment. When I graduated, I had an underlying respect for the craft of architecture and that we, as designers, are not in it alone.

ID: You got your start in the States. What were some of the biggest lessons learned there?

HP: I first worked in Minneapolis at The Wheeler Group before it joined Perkins&Will. Gary Wheeler was and is still my mentor. Then I moved out to NBBJ in Los Angeles. Perkins&Will was very diverse and excellent in executing designs, while NBBJ was a big global firm that provided great groundwork for the design process. I learned to listen first before I drew. I then worked for Wirt Design Group (WDG), a small L.A. firm that concentrated on corporate design. I found that I liked the structure of corporate design, and wanted it to be more adventurous. I saw the ramp to get us there.

For big firms to survive, they have to offer a lot of different design disciplines and services. In the States, the relationship between architecture and interior design is a much closer marriage than in Canada. In Toronto, we can sign drawings, for example. I also saw how important project managers were in the States, when that role was still in its infancy in Canada in the late ’90s and early 2000s. Project managers have really evolved here—they are like snow plows that allow designers to do our best work.

ID: Why return to Canada and start from scratch?

HP: Although I loved living in L.A., Guy and I are Canadian and we knew it was time to come home by the mid-2000s. We opened Habitar, our first practice, and a major client wanted us to move our studio across the border. We relocated to Calgary in 2006 and landed in a boom. B+H Architects took notice and acquired our practice. We moved to Toronto in 2008 and started iN STUDIO in 2015.

To operate a creative studio, you have to be brave. We are always reinventing ourselves. While we know how to navigate the details of delivering something completely bespoke every time, the hardest part is staying inspired. I think that comes from knowing a client well enough so that inspiration flows naturally.

ID: Biggest challenges and rewards of working with your spouse?

HP: When we both first graduated from UofM, it was unacceptable for a married couple to be employed at the same firm. Guy also interviewed at Perkins&Will but he decided to take a job at Ellerbe Becket. Now, after nearly three decades together, we know how we complement each other. It is instinctive since we are partners. Guy is the fearless creative while I interpret client needs and make sure we meet at the finish line.

Though we try to avoid shop talk at home, sometimes our dinner table conversation revolves around plumbing fixtures. Our home is like a lab where we explore new materials and experiment on design details.

ID: How has workplace design evolved, particularly during and post pandemic?

HP: When COVID first hit, working from home made people develop habits that we are still feeling the effects of. The biggest change on this side of the pandemic is how lonely everyone is for human contact, and how it impacts collaborations. Water cooler conversations got lost. And a lot of unplanned learning also got lost without those accidental collisions. We are an action-reaction business; we need to read face and body language to understand people.

I see comfort coming back in a big way. There is less formality in the workplace. There is a lot of analysis on how to better utilize real estate, while balancing that with the on-going staff members’ fear that if they lose their desk, they will lose their job. There are a lot of delicate conversations going on.

Resi-mercial—or residential/commercial hybrid spaces—are more interesting post-COVID. People realize that they don’t need a meeting table to connect, or work at a formal desk or cubicle. One of our clients admitted that their most popular meeting space is a corner with living room furniture. Our job is to understand what our client’s staff members are doing while they are in the office and how to best use that space. It does not necessarily mean pool tables. Instead, we are getting more requests for quiet spaces. We are incorporating more tech and more tech-enabled rooms.

ID: How did you end up contributing to Designing Your Business, a textbook for professional interior designers?

HP: Author Gordon Kendall approached me to co-author the second edition of his book. He was a terrific coach and gave me a lot of guidance. I worked with an outline of topics that I then shared on-the-ground experience stories to help flesh them out. Until I wrote about them, I didn’t realize that 20 years of accumulated good stories made for a book. It was cathartic.

ID: Could you share more about your house in France and its artist-in-residence program?

HP: After 9/11, Guy and I put together a list of things that we wanted to do in this lifetime. The first thing was to restore a discarded property. We found a six-century-old villa in Provence when Roene was three. We sold everything we owned, bought the place, and it became our labor of love.

We now spend between six to eight weeks there every year, working remotely. Our internet connection in Provence is better than in Toronto! We just ask our clients to ignore the clinking of glasses filled with rosé.

One of our gallery friends in Canada suggested loaning the house to an artist. We love that we can give something back to the art community. Now we host three or four artists a year for a few weeks at a time. In exchange, we get a painting. My most prized possession is a 700-page guest book filled with stories from the artists who have lived in our house. Many have stayed in touch. And I now have a terrific art collection.

 

ID: Why do you think design matters more than ever?

HP: During the pandemic, people alone at home stopped solving problems and communicating the same way. Design helps to reignite basic human functions. It helps companies define what they stand for. Why staff members want to work for them. It allows clients to ask how they can supercharge staff members’ understanding. If people work in a vanilla box, they may not want to go into the office every day.

ID: What is next for iN STUDIO?

HP: We opened our Calgary office in 2022 at the invitation of our clients. Calgary used to be a very traditional city but it is evolving rapidly. It is really inspirational to see such a huge appetite for change there. Our clients there include an energy company, a law firm and a real estate office. Guy and I fly back and forth between Calgary and Toronto, and we have a senior staff member based there. All our Calgary staff members are local hires, which we strongly support.

ID: And Roene will become your family’s third generation of designers?

HP: Yes—they are 18 now and considering their university options in the States and Canada. I must admit: I asked if they really wanted to pursue a career in design after seeing what their parents go through. They are on a gap year right now and helping our marketing department. Having them here, I really think that the next generation will do a much better job at sustainability, inclusivity, and gender neutrality.

Rendering of transformed infrastructure corridor. Credit: Aaron Bomback

Aaron Bomback | Neglected Landscapes: A transformative future for Winnipeg’s infrastructure corridors

The CSLA Student Award of excellence is intended to recognize and promote excellence in the profession’s educational institutions and recognize excellence in work by students in CSLA’s LAAC-accredited programs. Aaron Bomback was selected as a recipient of this award for his 2022 thesis work which explores creating an ecological network in Winnipeg’s infrastructure corridors. According to the CSLA jury, the project was a robust take on a difficult subject which combined beautiful drawings with a rigorous research framework and analysis:

This is an important topic which is easily overlooked and can be difficult to tackle. Aaron Bomback has addressed it in a comprehensive, professional manner, with solid research underpinnings, and provided the practice with a guidebook to enhance biodiversity and achieve our climate objectives by transforming infrastructure corridors.

 

Aaron’s full thesis is available here.

Region of study (Dhaka, Bay of Bengal). Credit: Tasnim Ferdous

Tasnim Ferdous | Nature-based Solutions for Climate Resilient Shorelines

Each year, the LACF awards both professionals and students in landscape architecture grants to pursue research and scholarship that cover a broad range of topics important to the profession This year, 6 professional awards and 2 student awards were approved by the jury, which was composed of six individuals from public, private and academic practices from across Canada. Tasnim Ferdous was selected as one of the student grant recipients.

This research reviews NbS to address the effects of climate change in Southeast Asia. It will address mitigation from a landscape architecture perspective, emphasizing the pivotal role of community engagement in promoting sustainable development. By shedding light on the diverse NbS practices in the region, the research aims to uncover their potential as versatile landscape design tools, transcending regional confines. It seeks to contribute valuable insights to the global discourse on sustainable design, underlining the transferability and applicability of Southeast Asian NbS approaches, and inspiring and informing design practices on a global scale.

– Project description, Tasnim Ferdous

 

To learn more about Tasnim’s work and the LACF Research Grant Program, visit the LACF website.

The 11th Annual Steelcase NEXT Student Design Competition received over 1400 submissions, and challenged students to design a workplace model of approximately 11 000 square feet that prioritizes hybrid work, supporting diverse types of collaboration.

As a semi-finalist, Irena won a trip to the Steelcase headquarters where she, along with fellow semi-finalists from universities across North America, worked collaboratively with and presented to their peers and professional judges.

“During this experience, the Steelcase staff, including Jerry, Denise, and Mckalea, along with the judges, provided valuable guidance and insights that helped us grow both personally and professionally. They were not just observers in this process but were mentors who were genuinely invested in each participant’s journey.

One of the unique things about this experience was the collaborative environment created by the judges and staff. Everyone was rooting for us to succeed, and the portfolio reviews, presentations, and conversations that followed provided opportunities for us to connect with professionals from the industry. The camaraderie, mutual support, and the celebration of every participant’s efforts were some of the main highlights of this experience.”

– Irena Tonnu

“Irena’s entry, “Humanizing the Workplace,” for the 11th Annual Steelcase Next Student Design Competition, stands out for its embrace of a hybrid work model, recognizing the increasingly blurred boundaries between physical and digital spaces. Her project incorporates biophilic design principles by introducing an office garden, seamlessly integrating elements of nature into the workspace. With ample greenery, natural patterns, and organic textures, Irena’s design creates a calming and inspiring atmosphere – conducive to both individual wellness and the dynamics of the modern office.

Being selected as a semi-finalist and to present in Grand Rapids, Irena showcased not only her creativity and innovation but also her commitment to excellence, reflecting the values of our design community here at the University of Manitoba. We couldn’t be prouder of her achievements within our master’s program.”

– Kleighton Thomas Burns, Sessional Instructor – Master of Interior Design 3 Studio

To learn more about the Steelcase NEXT Student Design Competiton, and to check out Irena’s full submission, visit the Steelcase website.

In Hong Kong, there are many icons jockeying for second place: Foster’s HSBC Building, Pei’s Bank of China Building and, more recently, Pelli’s 2IFC and KPF’s ICC. Despite the latter two’s combined height of 915 metres, the city’s top dog remains Jardine House (originally Connaught Centre). As HKU architecture professor Eunice Seng unequivocally states: “Jardine House has been an icon for Hong Kong from day one.”

50 years young

JH50 Public Talk (HKLand).

On July 15, 2023, Seng was part of a panel at Jardine House: An Icon That Shaped a City. Held in Jardine House’s Basehall 2.0, the talk kicked off a series of events celebrating the building’s 50th anniversary. After the talk, a Q&A session open to the standing-room-only crowd unwittingly bullied James Kinoshita. The former partner with P&T (originally Palmer & Turner) and design architect of Jardine House was in the front row. Someone asked about the peeling tiles originally cladding the building’s façade, addressing Kinoshita personally for an explanation why he would endanger the safety of passersby. Moderator Anderson Lee diplomatically intervened—after all, Kinoshita was a guest of developer Hongkong Land. The 90-year-old should not be publicly hanged for an alleged design error that occurred more than half a century ago.

The topic of those pesky tiles resurfaced in early December at Kinoshita’s home in the Sai Kung countryside. At a bend in a leafy lane off Hiram’s Highway, a red gate opens up to a two-story house facing a sheltered bay designed by the Canadian-Japanese architect. “The original façade was intended to be aluminum,” he recalls. “Tiles were an alternate, but its tender came in much lower. HKLand just paid the highest ever in the city for a plot to build Jardine House. We understood why they went for the cheaper option. A few years later, when the tiles started falling off, we replaced them with aluminum sheets.” He smiled: “By then, they could well afford them!”

Going up

Jardine House (P&T).

For Kinoshita, architecture is not about concept. Rather, it is finding a solution for a problem in a logical, economical way. In the case of Jardine House, it was how to build the city’s tallest building in 1973 as quickly as possible, in order to make money as soon as possible from tenants in the grade A office tower. As usual, commerce rules in Hong Kong—and the city is never ashamed to admit it. The icing on the cake is that Jardine House also happens to be iconic in no small part because of its circular windows.

“The best solution was caissons, but that was rejected in favour of piles,” recalls Kinoshita. “The building had to be as light for the least amount of issues when it settles on the newly reclaimed land. We came up with the idea of a light shell—like a lobster shell—for the façade. And of course we needed windows, for additional lightness in the concrete. One weekend when I was working on the elevations at home, my wife saw them. She criticized that they were boring, suggesting round windows instead. Our HKLand client Henry Keswick agreed.”

Rationality may appear inevitable when it is a perfect storm of inspiration, site, client, budget, user and luck. Kinoshita’s modernist approach combining concrete, glass and steel at a time when Central was awash in Victorian architecture may be partly attributed to the teachings of John Russell at The University of Manitoba (UM). Russell himself trained at the Illinois Institute of Technology—at the time it was Mies-led—and whose style is exemplified by the building that bears his name at the faculty where he was Dean for decades.

Winnipeg warmth

James Kinoshita in 1962 (courtesy of James Kinoshita).

“Dean Russell was a real gentleman,” recalls Kinoshita, noting that the late professor taught him colour and art history. During those years, the architecture studio was housed in a string of huts—think large tents—along the Red River. For the Vancouver native, keeping his fingers nimble enough to wield a pencil during cold Prairie winters yields bittersweet memories. Returning to the welcome warmth of Tache Hall where he resided for five years was much appreciated at the end of every day. And all his hard work paid off. When Kinoshita graduated in 1956, he was a gold medallist with scholarships to both Harvard and MIT. “I chose MIT because Dean Russell and professor Roy Sellors—who taught building construction—both highly recommended it, being MIT grads themselves.”

It was at UM where Kinoshita met interior design student and Hong Kong native Lana Cheung, herself also a gold medallist. After completing graduate studies and a stint of work in the States, he flew to Hong Kong to make Cheung his bride in 1961. The same year, he began working for established local practice P&T on the Hilton Hotel and remained with the firm until retiring in 1988. Though demolished in 1996 to make way for Cheung Kong Centre, the Hilton is fondly remembered as an American challenger to Mandarin Oriental (originally The Mandarin) further down the hill.

Fate has a funny way of coming full circle. When Jardine Matheson (parent company of HKLand) expanded its hotel portfolio, it looked to partner with a legend—and found it in The Oriental in Bangkok. Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group was born in 1985 with The Mandarin and The Oriental as its flagship properties. When The Oriental increased guestroom count, P&T was retained to design its River Wing. The site dictated a tower with minimal Chao Phraya River frontage. Kinoshita angled all the glazing 45 degrees, giving every room a view of Bangkok’s mighty waterway when opened in 1976. Arguably the best hotel in the world and the Thai capital’s de facto living room, the hotel can thank P&T for a modern addition that allowed more travellers to experience its grace.

Creating a landmark

The Landmark Atrium (P&T).

Kinoshita was practicing at time when Asia was racing to catch up with the west. When HKLand wanted to redevelop Central, it played the long game and swapped a number of buildings to secure adjacent plots of land where it could build bigger and higher. The Landmark complex is the core of its commercial property portfolio, with P&T responsible for its twin 44-story office towers and a retail atrium connecting them.

Inspired by the piazzas of Italy, Kinoshita envisioned the atrium as a hub where people gathered for spontaneous chats or large events. He toured major American shopping malls to research what worked. Completed in phases between 1975 and 1983, The Landmark included a rooftop array of glass pyramids to allow natural light into the climate controlled three-story arcade. A sound-propelled vibrating sculpture by artist Wen-ying Tsai originally stood centre stage, but was eliminated when adjacent shop tenants complained about people incessantly clapping to activate it. Today, the fountain that replaced it is where everyone arranges to meet in Central. And The Landmark is very much Hong Kong’s living room for the well-heeled.

When asked if he considered the longevity and importance of what he was designing, Kinoshita says it was his job. That is not to say he does not love his work or great architecture. He clearly does. He simply hails from a generation that considers architecture as a job to support his family, not to be dissected, analyzed, rehashed and rehash tagged. And certainly not for its creator to headline TED Talks with posed portrait plastered on webzines. In the end, architecture should first be about the people it services rather than the architect himself. What makes Kinoshita worth the ink is the number of impactful projects in his 29 years with P&T at a time when Hong Kong was searching for an identity pre-97 handover. His work gave—and continues to give—the city a look, a mood, a sense of belonging. A raison d’etre. And, naturally, a cool dystopian movie backdrop.

Coming home

Siu Wo Court courtyard (P&T).

Case in point is Siu Wo Court, a public housing project in the Hong Kong New Territories suburb of Fotan. The government-subsidized scheme intended for lower income families to afford to purchase their own home at well below market rates. With a trio of three 36-story towers clustered about their own courtyards and completed in1980, there were 3,501 units for sale. Tens of thousands homeowners spanning two generations have resided at Siu Wo Court, living in high-rise blocks where many newcomers to the city planted roots and forged community bonds. Kinoshita’s design is supported by open courtyards and sunlight swollen lift lobbies with the circle as a recurring design motif throughout.

Over afternoon tea, Kinoshita reflects on the challenges that budding architects face today. “They need to do it because they enjoy the work,” he muses. “If it’s money or fame they are seeking, they may be very disappointed.” When pressed that his words are wise advice coming from the Hong Kong’s very own Pei, he smiles and looks out to sea.

For more on this timely topic, read the UM Today The Magazine story with environmental design grad Judith Cheung [BEnvD/11]. She shares her journey from UM to Lofty Sky Entertainment, and her efforts to create and promote documentaries that bring human rights offences in China into focus. 

Involving students from all disciplinary streams across the Faculty’s Bachelor of Environmental Design Program, these projects encompass diverse research topics: from studies of homelessness, relationship-building and policy-making; to children’s toys and how they shape spatial thinking; to biomimicry and urban wildlife; to techno subcultures in Berlin and theatres of architectural imagination.

These student-professor teams are advancing research and design strategies toward creating more inclusive, sustainably and thriving societies.

Short interviews with each student reflecting on their summer research experience are featured below. 

The URA program is supported by the University of Manitoba Office of the Vice-President Research and International. Applications for summer 2022 will be due in January. More information on the program is available here.

_____________________________

Tengun Bold and Derelyne Raval, ED-Architecture 

Kahnowiiyaa

With Prof. Shawn Bailey        

Tell us about the research you have been doing this summer: 

The focus initially involved the dissection of Jesse Thistle’s definition of Indigenous Homelessness in regards to designing housing for a homeless community in North-Western Ontario. By learning more about Indigenous ways of knowing, the direction quickly evolved into a sincere inquiry into what it means to be connected to nature, each other, and the intangible yet fantastical aspects of existence. 

The various projects tackled include the North-Western Ontario Housing project, the Forest School project, and the Microhome 2021 Housing Competition (which is still in progress). The work primarily consisted of a mix of drawing, photography, model making, and writing.

What have you found most exciting?

Tengun: For me the most exciting aspect of this research was the philosophical discourse that happened around the idea of a home. The dichotomy between housing that focuses on the individual versus a living that is concerned with the broader community. Thus, through the values laid in Jesse Thistle’s definition of homelessness, the issue of Indigenous homelessness becomes not strictly an indigenous issue, and even if someone has a house or an apartment, we could consider them homeless. Therefore, as designers, we should focus on creating spaces that build relationships, both between humans and between humans and the land.

Derelyne: The unanticipated evolution of the work was extremely exciting. The project began quite structured and slowly morphed into something extremely rich and philosophical as we began to examine and understand topics such as healing, reciprocity, and homelessness. As the work progressed, we began to discuss topics such as what home is and means, and how Indigenous ways of knowing combined with modern day approaches can help rebuild our relationships with nature, each other, and oneself. Additionally, having the opportunity to be involved in traditional Indigenous ceremony was an extraordinary and life-changing experience.

How is the experience sparking ideas for future studies or career goals?

Tengun: The research project has definitely inspired me to think about design in a more holistic and responsible way. Specifically, how it is impossible to solve the social, political and environmental issues, such as homelessness and climate change, unless we address our fundamental values as architects. How design/architecture should be grounded, divorced from the ego of the architect, to focus on the values we set, which in our case (I believe throughout my future work) is building spaces that promote relationships, among all peoples and beyond. 

Derelyne: The experience has furthered my interest into the social and political aspects of architecture. Specifically, how architecture can inform and inspire policy making and what that means in regards to the role of the architect. Architecture of course cannot solve the world’s issues, although it must be acknowledged that its impact reaches far beyond the bounds of style and aesthetics. In order to enact change, architecture must confidently acknowledge issues such as homelessness and the climate crisis with immense compassion and rigour, whilst being aware of design’s inevitable limits. This concept is something I hope to delve into further in my studies.

How can we find out more?

Read Jesse Thistle’s definition of homelessness here: https://www.homelesshub.ca/IndigenousHomelessness

Is there anything else you would like to add?

A big thank you to Dr. Jonny Grek and Becky Shorrock from Compassionate Kenora, TJ Richard from Grey & Ivy inc., Liane Veness, Terri Fuglem, Calvin Skead and of course Shawn Bailey for opening our minds and guiding our hearts towards profound ways of viewing the world and the built environment. Also thank you to the University of Manitoba for giving us the opportunity to be involved in such an amazing experience.

_____________________________

Nadine Lowden, ED-Interior Environments

Eclectic: The Bridgman Architectural and Building Toys Collection

With Dr. Rae St. Clair Bridgman        

Tell us about the research you have been doing this summer: 

Professor Rae St. Clair Bridgman’s research focuses on child-friendly cities. As an extension of that, she studies construction and building toys, which are often a child’s first introduction to developing their own spatial and building capabilities. Over the summer, I catalogued Rae’s collection of over 200 construction and building toys and formatted them on a website. I also researched and wrote articles that are featured alongside mini-exhibitions of the collection. These cover topics such as the history of toy design, integrity and inclusion in collecting, and today’s hyper-gendered toy market. 

What have you found most exciting?

I feel incredibly lucky to have spent my summer on this project, and I am grateful for Professor Bridgman’s guidance and trust, which allowed me to explore the research and bring my own perspective and ideas to the collection.

How is the experience sparking ideas for future studies or career goals?

Designing for play at any age is something I’m very interested in and hope to explore further in future work and studies!

How can we find out more?

The Bridgman Architectural and Building Toys Collection, and all accompanying articles, exhibitions, and resources can be found at https://www.architoytonic.com/

_____________________________

Alexandra Margulets, ED-Architecture

Architecture through Techno: Post-Reunification Identity in Berlin

With Prof. Ralph Stern           

Tell us about the research you have been doing this summer: 

I have been studying Berlin as a centre of architectural and artistic production. I have specifically looked at the subculture of techno music by studying post-reunification as a landscape of ruined, abandoned and underused architecture. Furthermore, I have studied the architectural opportunities that led to the development of club topography and the formation of techno subculture in Berlin. I have further explored the techno scene through the avid poster culture of Berlin, identifying the importance of graphic design as a communication tool that has helped secure Berlin’s image as the center of techno music in Europe.

What have you found most exciting?

I enjoyed the experience of conducting research firsthand, from poster analysis to film screenings to article readings and interviews. There are countless ways to go about research, and I found it exciting to play the part of a detective who gathers clues to form a new perspective on a topic.

How is the experience sparking ideas for future studies or career goals?

This research project has provided me with an opportunity to research Berlin’s architectural scene through cultural and social trajectories. This topic has sparked an interest that I hope to explore further in my undergraduate and postgraduate studies.

_____________________________

Dominico Obmerga IV and Mary Angeline Reyes, ED-Architecture

BIOM_Lab

With Dr. Mercedes Garcia-Holguera

Tell us about the research you have been doing this summer: 

The BIOM_Lab is a biomaterial-oriented study that revolves around the principles of biomimicry and sustainability. Our research has been focused on growing and cultivating bacterial cellulose and mycelium-based materials, and integrating their material properties in the field of architecture and design. Throughout the summer we were responsible for mycelium and bacterial cellulose growth checks, mold design, physical modelling, experiment preparation, sample documentation and publication submissions.

What have you found most exciting?

Angeline: It’s been really exciting to closely work with bacterial cellulose and mycelium-based materials, as there was always something new to discover about their material properties and potential roles in design. Due to potential sources of contamination and a challenging growing environment, we’ve learnt that having patience and a close attention to detail goes a long way. It’s also been a real pleasure collaborating with everyone at the Sustainability in Action Facility! The interdisciplinary practice between Architecture, Science, and Engineering has broadened my perspective and taught me valuable knowledge about nature, biomimicry, and design.

Dominico: I have really enjoyed venturing beyond the confines of designing from home following the recent events of the global pandemic. It has been a gratifying experience to learn from my seniors in the faculty as they have opened my mind to new and sparsely explored territories of materiality and design. More importantly, I enjoyed learning the theories behind biomimetics and divulging into conversations around the wealth of knowledge we can attain for nature and implement in design. 

How is the experience sparking ideas for future studies or career goals?

Angeline: Through the research, I believe that I have been more thoughtful and conscious to take inspiration from nature and emulate its principles and values into my work as an emerging designer. I hope to involve myself more in collaborative and interdisciplinary practices with different fields (such as engineering and the sciences) for the remainder of my academic life and into the professional environment. Additionally, I am also ecstatic to see the future growth of our current research, the BIOM_Lab, and how we may contribute to the bigger community in finding solutions for environmental and social issues such as climate change adaptation and mitigation.

Dominico: Throughout this summer, our work with bacterial cellulose and mycelium-based materials has peaked my interest in biomimetic studies and created a new sense of appreciation for hidden treasures of design inspiration littered within our environment. In the future I would hope to continue to be invigorated by ideas surrounding sustainable design and green architecture. Looking forward, I am excited to see our research flourish and continue to strive towards reaching a larger audience with projects of a grander scale. 

How can we find out more?

Our work will be featured in the forthcoming 30^th volume of the Warehouse Journal, edited by Chelsea Colburn and Teresa Lyons. Follow us too on Instagram: @BIOM_Lab !

_____________________________

Sabba Rezai and Max Sandred, ED-Architecture

Theatres of Architectural Imagination (Archimagination)

With Dr. Lisa Landrum

Tell us about the research you have been doing this summer: 

This summer we have been working with Professor Lisa Landrum on numerous projects relating to the Theatres of Architectural Imagination project. Our summer began with organizing, promoting and hosting the international Theatres of Architectural Imagination symposium, co-hosted virtually by the University of Manitoba, UQAM in Montreal, Quebec, and the University of Adelaide in Australia. This international symposium explored relationships between theatre and architecture. 

Currently we are working together with graduate students Andria Langi and Alixa Lacerna on a virtual exhibition in collaboration with Arts Letters and Numbers that will be exhibited at the 2021 Venice Biennale.

Max: I will have an audio-visual installation that I created in collaboration with composer Örjan Sandred called Sonic Trails: Lockdown exhibited virtually in this exhibition at the Venice Biennale, and in person at the A2G Gallery in the Arch2 Building at the UofM. This installation will run from Sept. 7-11 virtually and in-person (following COVID 19 restrictions) at the A2G Gallery. 

Sabba: I have been supporting research and coordination for a group submission for the Biennale Architettura 2021. A large portion of the work that I did was graphic design, such as managing and producing posts for the @frascari_v Instagram page, and designing posters for an exhibition. I also prepared transcripts of symposium sessions for Dr. Landrum’s own research and related book publication.

What have you found most exciting?

Max: Being able to develop my own work (Sonic Trails: Lockdown), and to have it exhibited at an event as important as the Venice Biennale is very inspiring and exiting.

Sabba: I found that this summer provided an opportunity to try a variety of new things within the realm of design, including videography, animation + poster design.

How is the experience sparking ideas for future studies or career goals?

Max: Sonic Trails: Lockdown is one of the most ambitious projects I have worked on so far in my life as an architecture student, and I would like to develop many of the ideas in this project further in the future. I’m particularly interested in how our experiences of the built environment are in many ways similar to how we experience music.

Sabba: The knowledge and experience that I have gained this summer has allowed me to reflect on what I appreciate most in design and architecture and what it is that I truly want to achieve within my education. It has enabled my growth as both an aspiring architect and as a person who is passionate about design.

How can we find out more?

On the Theatres of Architectural Imagination Symposium, see the UMToday story here, the Frascari website, https://www.marcofrascaridreamhouse.com/past-events, and Instagram @frascari_v 

More the exhibition we are working on at the Venice Biennale titled  

Theatres of Archimagination: https://artslettersandnumbers.org/theatres-of-archimagination/ 

More information about Sonic Trails: Lockdown: https://artslettersandnumbers.org/sonic-trails/ ; and here https://maxsandred.wordpress.com/ 

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Max: I am very thankful for all of the great opportunities Professor Lisa Landrum has provided me in my two summers working as an undergraduate researcher for her. I am also very thankful for support of the Arts Letters and Numbers collective on my Venice Biennale submission. 

_____________________________

Owen Swendrowski-Yerex, ED-Landscape + Urbanism

Wild Winnipeg

With Prof. Kamni Gill 

Tell us about the research you have been doing this summer: 

At Wild Winnipeg, we aim to document the interaction of people and animals in the urban and suburban woodlands around the city. We use a network of ten wildlife camera traps located in greenspaces to record the diversity and activity of urban wildlife. We also have a website where residents of Winnipeg are invited to submit their own animal encounters and narratives to add to our database.

Starting the summer off, I took field notes for each of our cameras, documenting site info like prevalent plant species and their average density, and relationships with the immediate context, then layering this info onto atmospheric drawings that attempt to capture the visual-spatial experience of the site. I have also been regularly maintaining our trail cams and collecting their memory cards, processing collected images through classification software, as well as organizing our public outreach effort. We are now drawing from our archive of over 700,000 images to create data visualizations representative of the city’s animal population.

What have you found most exciting?

Access to our database of animal images is a singular privilege – the constant influx of new and fascinating photos spurs so much intrigue, prompting questions about animal relationships with the urban environment, the human population or other species; about identifying patterns of movement and behaviour that lend themselves to design interventions; about whether they get up and start walking on two legs when nobody is watching, and so on. These would be very difficult to even begin to answer without such a broad and encompassing foundation like this image repository that Profs Gill and Meagher have laboriously assembled. I also very much appreciate having the opportunity go out on my bike to check the cameras regularly. Working from home leaves a certain desire for “doing-something-other-than-just-sitting-at-the-desk-in-your-room-for-7-hours-a-day.” This research got me out in the city.

How is the experience sparking ideas for future studies or career goals?

The premise of this research – a multi-faceted inquiry into urban wildlife – should be very important to landscape architecture, considering that humans and animals coinhabit outdoor space on earth. Yet, consideration for animals in LA projects is often, but not always, less than satisfactory: animals may superficially suggest form, or even be taken for ornamentation in a space designed solely for humans. This underrepresentation has made me quite curious about the intersection of wild animals with people in urban environments. I’ve become eager to explore that in my studio work this fall term.

How can we find out more?

We can be found online at https://www.wildwinnipeg.org/, where the participation tab is hungry for your responses. Please participate, should you feel inclined!

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Go Jets go! And listen to my friends’ band Jamboree, they really rock!

_____________________________

Yutaka Dirks also worked with Dr. Sarah Cooper as part of the URA program this summer.