Ground 54 – Summer 2021 – Rising by Ground Magazine

Landscape Architect Quarterly

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Round Table Rising: Black and Indigenous women expressing healing, history and lived experience through the landscape

CSLA Awards

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OALA Awards

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Grounding

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Summer 2021 Issue 54

Masthead

OALA

About

About the OALA

Ground: Landscape Architect Quarterly is published by the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects and provides an open forum for the exchange of ideas and information related to the profession of landscape architecture. Letters to the editor, article proposals, and feedback are encouraged. For submission guidelines, contact Ground at magazine@oala.ca. Ground reserves the right to edit all submissions. The views expressed in the magazine are those of the writers and not necessarily the views of the OALA and its Governing Council.

The Ontario Association of Landscape Architects works to promote and advance the profession of landscape architecture and maintain standards of professional practice consistent with the public interest. The OALA promotes public understanding of the profession and the advancement of the practice of landscape architecture. In support of the improvement and/or conservation of the natural, cultural, social and built environments, the OALA undertakes activities including promotion to governments, professionals and developers of the standards and benefits of landscape architecture.

Councillors Cynthia Graham Aaron Hirota Shawn Watters

Upcoming Issues of Ground Ground 55 (Fall) Connect

Associate Councillor—Senior Chen Zixiang

Deadline for advertising space reservations: July 14, 2021

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Editor Glyn Bowerman

2021 OALA Governing Council

Photo Editor Jasper Flores

President Steve Barnhart

OALA Editorial Board Saira Abdulrehman Trish Clarke Tracy Cook Eric Gordon Mark Hillmer Helene Iardas Eric Klaver Sarah Manteuffel Alexandra Ntoukas Nadja Pausch (Chair) Kaari Kitawi Dalia Todary-Michael Stacey Zonneveld

Vice President Stefan Fediuk

Web Editor Jennifer Foden Social Media Manager Jennifer Foden Art Direction/Design Noël Nanton/typotherapy www.typotherapy.com Advertising Inquiries advertising@oala.ca 416.231.4181 Cover CSLA / OALA Awards - see page 14. Ground: Landscape Architect Quarterly is published four times a year by the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects. Ontario Association of Landscape Architects 3 Church Street, Suite 506 Toronto, Ontario M5E 1M2 416.231.4181 www.oala.ca oala@oala.ca Copyright © 2021 by the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects. Contributors retain copyright of their work. All rights reserved. ISSN: 0847-3080 Canada Post Sales Product Agreement No. 40026106

Treasurer Cameron Smith Secretary Justin Whalen Past President Jane Welsh

Associate Councillor—Junior Jenny Trinh Lay Councillor TBC Appointed Educator University of Guelph Brendan Stewart Appointed Educator University of Toronto TBC

Ground 56 (Winter) Home Deadline for editorial proposals: July 9, 2021 Deadline for advertising space reservations: October 13, 2021

University of Guelph Student Representative Matthew Canaran University of Toronto Student Representative Morgan Quinn OALA Staff Executive Director Aina Budrevics Registrar Ingrid Little Coordinator Juleen Anderson

See www.groundmag.ca to download articles and share content on social media. See www.groundmag.ca for a digital, searchable, archival database, listing all articles, authors, subjects, key words, etc. published in Ground over the years.

TO VIEW ADDITIONAL CONTENT RELATED TO GROUND ARTICLES, VISIT WWW.GROUNDMAG.CA.

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Advisory Panel

Andrew B. Anderson, OALA – Inactive Member, BLA, MSc. World Heritage Management Landscape & Heritage Expert, Oman Botanic Garden John Danahy, OALA, Associate Professor, University of Toronto George Dark, OALA, FCSLA, ASLA, Principal, Urban Strategies Inc., Toronto Real Eguchi, OALA – Retired Member, Toronto Donna Hinde, OALA, FCSLA, Partner, The Planning Partnership, Toronto Ryan James, OALA, Senior Landscape Architect, Novatech, Ottawa Alissa North, OALA, Associate Professor, University of Toronto, Principal of North Design Office, Toronto Peter North, OALA, Assistant Professor, University of Toronto, Principal of North Design Office, Toronto Nathan Perkins, MLA, PhD, ASLA, Associate Professor, University of Guelph Victoria Taylor, OALA, Principal, Victoria Taylor Landscape Architect, Toronto Jim Vafiades, OALA, FCSLA, Senior Landscape Architect, Stantec, Toronto

Contents

Up Front Information on the ground

President’s Message

Editorial Board Message

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President’s Message

Editorial Board Message

For my inaugural Ground message, I wish to highlight a few themes of a maturing professional association that will remain a central focus over my term as your new President.

As with all Ground Magazine themes, Rising can be interpreted many ways. As the summer issue, it feels particularly hopeful and forward-looking. The past year has been largely defined by a rising awareness and criticism of our societal structures. Colonization, capitalism, and racism have been brought to the forefront of our collective consciousness. This is a step in the right direction, however so much work still needs to be done. These issues are immense and complex, and touch all aspects of our lives. It can be difficult to know where to begin.

Rising: Round Table Rising: Black and Indigenous women expressing healing, history and lived experience through the landscape

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MODERATED BY SAIRA ABDULREHMAN

CSLA Awards

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OALA Awards

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Grounding Mashkiki: Anishinabe healing and traditions

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TEXT BY MILLIE KNAPP

Notes A miscellany of news and events

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Artifact Digital Landscapes TEXT BY ALEXANDRA NTOUKAS

Adaption of Public Space After finishing the first CSLA/OALA joint virtual conference, participating in several discussions around Nature-Based Solutions, I see tremendous potential for landscape architects to be the lead role in the adaption of public space to support the big move outdoors, and in providing outdoor design solutions for addressing larger societal issues like mental health, by bolstering human connection with nature. The time is right to look at how we utilize nature to help achieve healthy living goals. Different Light Over the last year, political leaders at all levels of government have been advancing priorities for our shared public spaces, streets, and parks to function in a different light. Promoting the importance of physical distancing outdoors, reducing available space for vehicles within right-of-ways, and managing parking congestion at recreational trail access points is an urgent focus for municipal planners. As a profession, we need to respond quickly to the design challenge of improving public space, and promoting public health and safety.

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Member Engagement As we embark on a new strategic plan, we’re hearing from you! The recent membership survey to 1,895 members generated 508 responses—we’re calling that a 27 per cent response rate, which is excellent! Members’ input will form a large part of the 2021– 2023 strategic plan development with membership engagement, a key theme for this term of Council. Raise Awareness Increasing our efforts to raise awareness of the association cannot be accomplished by Council alone, it is the collective effort of members: whether meeting with their local politicians, or being active in addressing issues of public policy. Supporting volunteers will be a key theme. Our association can make a difference if we have a collective voice, which comes from volunteers assisting committees and Council.

Summer 2021 Issue 54

I look forward to the year ahead, as we move closer to the majority of Ontarians receiving vaccines and our population becoming re-energized with its newfound love of the outdoors. STEVE BARNHART, OALA, CSLA OALA PRESIDENT PRESIDENT@OALA.CA

The Rising Round Table discusses joy and connection, both to self and to community, as a wonderful entry point for the larger healing work we are all called to engage in. It is a thoughtful and affirming discussion between women of colour, working in the public realm, and I hope you feel as grateful as I did for the privilege to hear and learn from these voices. Our summer issue is also where we celebrate our members who have been distinguished through the CSLA and OALA awards. A sincere congratulations to all those recognized; your hard work and accomplishments aid in the rising of our profession to new heights, and we thank you. As I write this, the Ontario government has announced the province is moving into Step One of the COVID-19 re-opening strategy. The days ahead will no doubt be filled with patios, parks, and reconnecting to friends and family face-to-face. For many of us, it will be the first time we’ve been able to see each other in over a year. In reflecting on this, I found myself flipping through last summer’s magazine (Issue 50, Flow). Previous Editorial Board Chair Eric Klaver offered us this hope, that we might “persevere, so that in a year’s time, if all goes well, we can better appreciate the privilege of practicing our life’s work in each other’s company.” As the temperatures and our collective spirits rise, we are finally in a place where this feels possible. From the entire Editorial Board, we hope that you all remain safe and well, and we look forward to seeing you soon. NADJA PAUSCH, OALA, CSLA CHAIR, EDITORIAL BOARD MAGAZINE@OALA.CA

Up Front

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A colourful street mural doubles as a bike lane demarcator.

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Courtesy of City of Toronto

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A new Danforth emerges.

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Courtesy of City of Toronto

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The street mural being installed.

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Courtesy of City of Toronto

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destination danforth

Up Front: Information on the Ground

At 7 a.m. on a Saturday in June, we were at a street corner on Danforth Avenue, staring down the four-lane arterial road. Toronto City Council just tasked us with transforming a 5-kilometre stretch into a “complete street,” with bike lanes, patios, public art, pedestrian improvements, and more. We had 12 weeks to develop a detailed design, coordinate restaurant patios, go through rounds of consultation and approvals with internal and external stakeholders, procure a $4-million construction contract, and manage weeks of 24/7 installation. 03

Up Front

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An aerial view of Danforth, looking east.

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Courtesy of City of Toronto

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A bird’s-eye view of the Danforth’s new traffic engineering.

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Courtesy of City of Toronto

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Hand Sketch

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Maili Sedore

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New bike lanes, separated by street art murals and planters.

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Courtesy of City of Toronto

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COVID-safe pop-up patios for socially distant dining.

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Courtesy of City of Toronto

Over the summer of 2020, we were part of a small, multidisciplinary City team that led the design and installation of the Destination Danforth Complete Street pilot. The urgent need to provide space for physical distancing, support local businesses, and provide a safe cycling route for people made this pilot a City priority. It became one of the fastest and most ambitious transformations in the pandemic.

Quickly Pilot projects are a popular tool that help test the feasibility of street design projects. Prototypes are relatively quick and cheap to install and adjust as issues arise. They also give the public a chance to “try out” new designs in a tangible way. Even then, it can still take months to plan, design, and secure approvals and bylaw changes to implement pilots.

Up Front

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Because Destination Danforth was part of a COVID response, City staff received delegated authority from City Council to fast track the initiative and submit any necessary by-law changes and Municipal Code amendments directly to Council. The motion also gave staff authority to use expedited procurement, including purchase order amendments and non-competitive procurement. Though generally not preferred, these methods reduced the typical months-long tender process to weeks. City staff were quickly reassigned to take on the project. In our small, integrated team, everyone worked as designer, manager, and decision-maker, simultaneously. This made for both a quick turnaround on deliverables and weeks of 15-hour days. With time restrictions and few precedents for some of the design elements we needed to integrate, design was sometimes “quick and dirty,” using hand-drawn sketches, mock-ups with spray paint on the street, and postinstallation adjustments. Completely In several past City pilot projects, the major transportation change came before, and sometimes in the absence of, any public realm enhancements. On Danforth, these enhancements held equal weight, and were rolled out simultaneously whenever possible. It considered all road users: adding curb extensions and other pedestrian

improvements, integrating protected cycle lanes, and adjusting traffic signals, turning lanes, and transit stops to improve traffic flow for vehicles and buses. It integrated 63 private patios in the curb lane and three public seating areas. Further business supports included 24/7 parking and loading areas, and more bike parking. The design is also seasonally adaptive: patios can be set out in summer, and the materials reconfigured to accommodate parking in winter. The pilot also combined beautification and place-making with planters and various murals—the design themes of which were developed in consultation with the local community to reflect the character of the different areas.

Conclusion Two months after installation, the City conducted a survey of Danforth street users. With 53 per cent overt support and 11 per cent overt opposition. More people were cycling, visiting more often, and congestion and parking issues were minimal. The elements people felt had the most positive impact on the street were patios, bike lanes, planters, and colourful road markings. The pilot has provided a positive precedent, helping Toronto’s city councillors and mayor to support three more major street transformation projects in recent months. On all occasions, the mayor and some councillors named Destination Danforth as the source of their confidence these other projects could be successful. When Mayor Tory was describing what helped convince him to vote for Yonge Tomorrow, he described the many emails he got from people and skeptics who said the Danforth made the city look and feel better. This pilot approach emphasized the “to” as much as the “through,” and quickly gave people an idea of how our roadways can function as people places.

TEXT BY DANIELLE DAVIS, PROJECT MANAGER ON THE DESIGN AND DELIVERY OF THE DESTINATION DANFORTH COMPLETE STREETS PROJECT – DESIGN LEAD, BIA COORDINATOR, AND SITE REVIEW. DANIELLE, OALA, CSLA, IS A STREETSCAPE DESIGNER AND PROJECT MANAGER IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND CULTURE AT THE CITY OF TORONTO. WITH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM MAILI SEDORE, PROJECT MANAGER ON THE DESIGN AND DELIVERY OF THE DESTINATION DANFORTH COMPLETE STREETS PROJECT – DESIGN LEAD, AND SITE REVIEW. MAILI, BLA, LEED AP, IS A PROJECT MANAGER IN NEIGHBOURHOOD PROJECTS, TRANSPORTATION SERVICES AT THE CITY OF TORONTO.

Up Front

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intrigued by the possibility of using plants to remediate it.” In 2018, testing on-site confirmed polluted groundwater was flowing towards Etobicoke Creek. Tests also confirmed soil pollution.

There is something special about the AyA Kitchens and Baths head office in Mississauga, Ontario. Rather than the typical light industrial landscape of asphalt and mowed-lawns, the site is a living laboratory beginning to take root. The intersection between the Etobicoke Creek ravine system, a rail corridor, and an 11-acre manufacturing facility and showroom is the perfect place to explore landscape regeneration.

For the last three years, Assistant Professor Pete North has been developing this phytoremediation research pilot project as part of a course at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design. North’s Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA) students are transforming the site and experimenting with phytoremediation methods. Through interventions of landscape regeneration, the site has become a living laboratory that can be studied and enjoyed. North hopes to collaborate with U of T’s Centre for Landscape Research as well.

Despite their name, light industrial areas can have a heavy impact on their local environment. As areas zoned for manufacturing, processing, and fabrication, these sites and their processes can inherently create air, water, and soil pollution. These

The most recent intervention is a site plan and monitoring station designed by Emily McKenna and myself (now MLA graduates), and Pete North. For students, McKenna says, the project was “a real-world opportunity to develop a buildable concept.”

09 RESEARCH

living laboratory

impacts are more extreme with proximity to ravines and other regional systems. The typical landscape of light industrial sites (asphalt and mowed-lawn) does little to slow down or clean polluted water before it enters the water system. 11 09/

Pallets are a home for animals and catch seeds to take root.

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Morgan Quinn

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A new outdoor structure.

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Morgan Quinn

Dave Marcus, the owner of AyA Kitchens and Baths, says, “The property [was] used for manufacturing long before I purchased it in 2000. There was some low-level legacy contamination of the property and I was

As part of the design, the lawn area of the site has been allowed to grow freely into a meadow, except for paths created and maintained through a carefully designed mowing regime. “Simple things like not cutting the lawn and watching it grow naturally back into a meadow teeming with wildflowers and wildlife [is] amazing,” Marcus says. Without much human intervention, the site has entered a state of natural attenuation. Within the meadow are

Up Front

pallet piles—stacks of recycled shipping pallets that act as catalysts for biodiversity by providing habitat and shelter for birds, animals, and plants, as well as capturing wind-dispersed seeds. The pallet piles are hubs for ecological activity meant to slowly decompose over time. The monitoring station is a place to observe ecological activities and remediation processes, as well as a place for workers to relax and ultimately connect with nature.

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pollutants in the soil and groundwater. For example, the roots of some plants help to activate microbes in the soil that break down pollutants, while other plants can absorb pollutants from groundwater and store them in their tissues. “I believe [phytoremediation] is an incredible tool that solves both smallscale soil health problems and contributes to the well-being of ecological systems at the regional scale,” says McKenna. Recent MLA graduate Morgan Quinn is responsible for monitoring the natural attenuation, observing ecological activity, and assessing the health of the phytotechnologies installed on site. This 16

In April, 2018, four test plots of 100 native trees each were planted by AyA employees, their families, and MLA students during a massive planting event. The idea is to test the phytoremediation power of each tree species over time (birch, willow, polar, and aspen). Many of the trees are established now, but it can take up to five years for them to grow big enough to reach the groundwater and begin to show results. Phytoremediation is a process that uses plants to remove, transfer, and destroy

project hopes to set a precedent by exploring new methods to address pollution in urban areas. “If we can make it work at AyA then we can advocate for these solutions to be deployed across the city and potentially make a big difference,” Quinn says. “That’s what I find really exciting!” We don’t know where this living laboratory will take us, but it is exciting to be on the journey.

TEXT BY STACEY ZONNEVELD, A LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT AT THINC DESIGN AND GRADUATE OF THE MASTER OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE PROGRAM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO.

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A jar test.

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Morgan Quinn

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Spontaneous plants growing in and around the pallet piles.

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Morgan Quinn

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Landscape architecture students and their professor Pete North from the University of Toronto on planting day.

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Nelson Costa

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View of phytoremediation test plots and monitoring station.

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Morgan Quinn

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View of pallet piles placed throughout the meadow.

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Morgan Quinn

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Eventually, the pallet piles will decay naturally.

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Morgan Quinn

Round Table

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Black, Indigenous, women of colour expressing healing, history, and experience through landscape

Round Table

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MODERATED BY SAIRA ABDULREHMAN BIOS/

CHEYENNE THOMAS IS AN ANISHINAABE DESIGNER FROM PEGUIS AND SAGKEENG FIRST NATIONS. SHE HAS A BACHELOR OF ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA. AFTER GRADUATING, SHE WORKED AT AN ENGINEERING FIRM, BEFORE MOVING TO PROJECTS. SHE HAS PRESENTED OVERSEAS AND ACROSS CANADA. ONE OF HER BIGGEST PROJECTS IS AS A FACILITATOR AND DESIGNER FOR THE INDIGENOUS GARDENS AT THE $75-MILLION TRANSFORMATION AT ASSINIBOINE PARK IN WINNIPEG, MANITOBA. SHE ALSO A MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR THE FORKS NORTH PORTAGE. REANNA MERASTY (CREE, BARREN LANDS FIRST NATION) IS THE CO-FOUNDER OF THE INDIGENOUS DESIGN AND PLANNING STUDENT ASSOCIATION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA (UOFM), ADVOCATING FOR REPRESENTATION AND INCLUSION IN DESIGN EDUCATION, AND THE CO-EDITOR OF THE PUBLICATION VOICES OF THE LAND: INDIGENOUS DESIGN AND PLANNING FROM THE PRAIRIES. REANNA IS A MARCH CANDIDATE AT THE UOFM, AND AN ARCHITECTURAL INTERN, FOCUSING ON RECIPROCITY AND LAND-BASED PEDAGOGY. FOLLOW @UM.IDPSA ON INSTAGRAM

KRISTEN JEFFERS WAS ONE OF THE FIRST PEOPLE TO BRING THE CONCEPT OF BLACK URBANISM TO THE INTERNET AND SOCIAL MEDIA IN 2010 BY PURCHASING AND LAUNCHING THE BLACK URBANIST, WHICH IN ITS 11TH YEAR CONTINUES TO BE A RESOURCE FOR BLACK URBANISM AT THE INTERSECTION OF FEMINISM AND QUEER/TRANS LIFE. SHE IS THE AUTHOR OF THE FORTHCOMING A BLACK URBANIST JOURNEY, A MEMOIR/MANIFESTO FOR BLACK QUEER FEMINIST URBANISM. SHE IS THE CREATOR OF THE K. JEFFERS INDEX FOR BLACK QUEER FEMINIST URBANISM, A GUIDE, MEASURE AND DATA CENTRE TO ASSESS THE THRIVANCE OF BLACK QUEER FEMINIST URBANIST PEOPLE GLOBALLY AND CURATOR OF THE BLACK QUEER FEMINIST URBANIST BOOK CANNON AND SCHOOL. FINALLY, UNDER THE BANNER OF KRISTPATTERN, SHE SHARES HER OWN JOURNEY INTO SUSTAINABLE FASHION AND INVITES OTHERS TO DO THE SAME. A SOUGHT-AFTER PUBLIC SPEAKER AND WORKSHOP LEADER, SHE MAKES HER HOME JUST OUTSIDE OF WASHINGTON, DC AND NEVER HAS HER HOMETOWN OF GREENSBORO, NC FAR OUT OF HER MIND. LINK: THEBLACKURBANIST.COM SAIRA ABDULREHMAN IS AN EXPERIENCED URBAN DESIGNER WORKING BETWEEN TORONTO CANADA AND LONDON, U.K. (WERE SHE IS A CHARTERED LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT) SINCE 2015. SHE IS ONE OF THE FOUNDERS AND PRINCIPAL DESIGNERS AT THE [204] DESIGN COLLECTIVE, A POC AND WOMEN LED DESIGN STUDIO THAT CHALLENGES AND EXPLORES INEQUALITY IN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT, AMPLIFIES THE VOICES OF MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES, AND EXPLORES ALTERNATIVE FORMS OF PRACTICING ARCHITECTURE, WORKING TOWARDS ESTABLISHING A MORE ACCESSIBLE AND DIVERSE PROFESSION. SHE IS A MEMBER OF THE LANDSCAPE INSTITUTE’S DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION BOARD, THE URBANISTAS LONDON, AND THE EDITORIAL BOARD FOR GROUND MAGAZINE AT THE ONTARIO ASSOCIATION OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS.

Round Table

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Saira Abdulrehman: I want to begin with a story that got my mind turning on this topic and interested to have this conversation. I’m sure you guys know Beyoncé’s sister, Solange Knowles—who I love and always say is my favorite architect. In 2016, she wrote an article in response to harassment she and her family faced at a concert in New Orleans. She was standing up and dancing with her family and there were people in the crowd throwing objects, jeering, and telling them to sit down. It led her to write an article called “And Do You Belong? I Do.” She writes, “The biggest payback... was dancing right in front of them with my hair swinging from left to right. My beautiful black son and husband, and our dear friend Rasheed, jamming the hell out with the rhythm our ancestors blessed upon us saying... We belong. We belong. We belong. We built this.” I begin with this because I think Solange does a beautiful job of applying the concept of joy, wellness, and healing to her work. She uses dance, fashion, makeup, music, architecture, and community performance, and puts it all into her art, leading with confidence, femininity, and joy. That really evokes a strong healing energy in her work (I think that’s what makes her such a good architect). So, I’d like us to talk about how we might begin merging healing and wellness, and/or prioritizing feelings of love and joy within our professional practice.

Cheyenne Thomas: With the Assiniboine Park project in Winnipeg, they gave the park that huge renovation, $75 million, and they wanted to have Indigenous gardens as part of it. So they handed that aspect of the project over to me and my father and HTFC Planning & Design landscape firm, and we were the lead designers of that process. We wanted to bring in community members, youth, elders from all different communities and hold intimate gatherings and share a space with everyone in an intimate way of getting ideas, concepts of our people, and our teachings. That lasted about six months, so we gathered all this knowledge and developed principles about how our people used to lead, and values that we hold within our culture—dancing, music, the drum—and we use those principles to embed that into the design of the park. There are very specific nodes, led by those principles and concepts, that are embedded in the park now to be healing, in a way, for our people—to heal the land, and the relationship between nonIndigenous and Indigenous people. Reanna Merasty: Every part of my creativity, artwork, or design comes back to myself. And what really changed or shifted when I was in school was the idea of reconciling and restoring relations with myself. That included my confidence in being brown, being Indigenous, being Cree, and understanding what all of that meant, and how I could tie it all in to what

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Concept rendering for the Indigenous Peoples Garden in Assiniboine Park.

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Courtesy of Assiniboine Park Conservancy

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Kristen Jeffers leading workshops.

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Courtesy of Kristen Jeffers

Round Table

I’m creating. In the first three years of my undergrad, I didn’t want to be myself. I was restricted, and completely overwhelmed. But once I started to understand my feelings of love and those joys that your culture brings and what that offers you, it changed how I saw design and everything else. Everything that I created was an extension of myself. SA: Reconciling with self is so important because, institutionally, our fields, schools, and the workforce doesn’t always look like the four of us. So it’s difficult to not lose yourself in the process of becoming a professional in these fields. And realizing self confidence and connection to our identities actually makes us better designers. What has been the general reception of this kind of work when you bring the concept of leading with joy and healing when you’re approaching a project? CT: In my personal experience, it’s refreshing. A lot of times our projects seem so confined and restricted. But the Assiniboine Park is what my and my dad’s work is all about. And because he’s my father, we have a certain kind of bond when we’re working on projects, and firms or employers see that, and it’s different than the typical colleaguework dynamic. The park, when we’re working through it, is all based on beautiful teachings of healing through ceremony, and love and patience. Even the fact that it took four years to do just gives space for genuine emotion, and when people see our work now it’s finally materializing, these spheres

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that I’ve designed like the women’s node are all carved in cedar, which is healing in our culture. When we present now to different people, showing the actual pieces, we’ve never seen anything like this before. Kristen Jeffers: I’m glad to hear you all talking about healing, because it’s so necessary. We burn ourselves out quickly. This is my 11th year of doing this as a formal work and it’s been up and down. Years ago, when I started The Black Urbanist, I could count on my hands how many people were okay with using the word “Black” in a professional setting, and people of the African diaspora that actually accepted and affirmed their own Blackness, professionally. When I first started, I would not wear my hair like this, it would be straight. If it wasn’t straight it would be perceived a certain way. It’s evolved over time. At first, people were not sure what I was doing, and thought it was mostly an academic thing. In my last monthly newsletter, I called out a lot of people who have used, especially last year, the current awareness of social justice issues—Black Lives Matter, or Landback, or the #solidarity hashtag—saying, ‘I went to this march, we hired someone new, we have had this task force, we had a meeting, I’ve read this book.’ Well, what are you doing if there are grievances in your office? If there are people you’re only listening to because you like them or their message is more palatable, have you really done the work? I know some of my acceptance right now is genuine acceptance. I’ve heard that

when I start talking about healing amongst women of colour. That part it brings me joy, because that’s what I want. We want our communities to thrive. We get into this because we’ve seen disparities. I mean, I was seeing my father walk six lane roads with no sidewalks. My mom talks about how, in her classrooms, some children’s parents didn’t want her to teach, well after Brown vs. The Board of Education supposedly integrated all of us (which did not happen). I would say, as a whole, the media world gets it. In the design world, it depends on how willing to be outside of the mainstream folks are. It’s the same, internally, with fellow Black women, queer people, folks of colour, or other marginalized folks: it depends on their relationship and their process of decolonizing, looking towards liberation, looking towards their own self care and self determination. Otherwise, it’s still kind of an up and down, it varies by group. I would say it’s up to a 50/50 balance of not getting it and really getting it. Because of that 50 per cent, I have at least enough energy to take it to 51, to keep going with the work because I know the approach

Round Table

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design. We really started to use our voice to speak about misrepresentation, or lack of representation. And we’re getting into the realm of curriculum development. Everyone is willing to learn and wants to play a part in the process, but, because there’s so few of us in this field, it can get overwhelming. People are willing to learn, but I don’t think they realize how much weight it is on us, as BIPOC people, to be advocating for all of this work, speaking up and using our voice. It puts a lot of weight on us as individuals, and I don’t think they realize that. In this process, it shouldn’t just come from us, it should come from everybody. Everyone should see this lack of representation, or be able to see what’s lacking in our spaces and institutions. 05 05/

Voices of the Land: Indigenous Design and Planning From the Praries, co-edited by Reanna Merasty

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Courtney Champagne

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Reanna Merasty

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Courtesy of Reanna Merasty

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Voices of the Land: Indigenous Design and Planning From the Praries, co-edited by Reanna Merasty

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Courtney Champagne

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Co-Editors from Left to Right: Naomi Ratte (M.LArch Candidate), Danielle Desjarlais (M.Arch Candidate), Reanna Merasty (M.Arch Candidate), Desiree Theriault (M.LArch/20’)

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Courtney Champagne

KJ: What this work has asked me to do is to make sure I’m not saying I speak for everyone. When people are outside looking in, when our plights hit the media or are presented at academic or professional organization conferences, or we are contracted to be this resource, we’re supposed to put ourselves in a box. But that’s not always our place. It’s a space of healing to say “no.” It’s a space of healing—even though you may benefit financially—to say “this person is actually better for this, this is what that person does. This person has more of the regional experience, or lived experience,” or “this person that you’re rallying behind, they have a community already.” 07

is needed. It took time for us to get where we are today, where there are disparities and needs to unpack and decolonize, and we have a ways to go. Sometimes that journey has to start within ourselves and we have to build a foundation for ourselves before we can look back. RM: In terms of academic faculties, my work has been well received. But there’s still a long way to go in terms of institutions and colonial structures that are within it. For our association, that’s partially the reason I stayed there for my masters: to change it, to use my voice, to speak up and develop it more for people like me that could go through architecture and 06

I started deliberately shifting the focus of my work towards inter-community healing. I was left on the proverbial side of a road because I wasn’t going the direction that our movements, or at least our professional places, were going. So what was I going to do? I had to look at where we are, at what other people are doing, and examine myself to see if I’ve been going with paradigms that don’t work for me. It’s been two or three years since I started that process of re-examining my work, and it’s been rewarding me because I know that it’s coming from a better place and I have more energy to get out there and do it. I also want to tell people to continue to reach out to more voices. Yeah, there are several of us who we’ve heard from a lot,

Round Table

For me, being involved and active where I live is why I’m able to speak for so many places. The challenge for us is to dig in and not necessarily think because somebody else is doing something we can do it—while still keeping it in mind. My hope is we really work on solutions individually, as well as collectively.

who people like hearing from. We all have great things to say. But continue to reach out to all of us. Examine all of our work and our backgrounds and think about our journeys. Especially since this is about public space. We’re creating public space. Each protest movement or mobilization has not affected everyone equally. Anybody who is reading this and trying to be involved, know your limits, know your boundaries, get to know, on a local level, what’s needed, and then find that exact place where you fit in. Don’t feel like you have to do it all, don’t feel like you have to stand up in front of people and be somebody you’re not, or represent everyone, because that’s the quickest way to burn out. SA: What do we think or anticipate the future of our cities look like? How do you see us moving forward, when we’re talking about leading with community and healing? Do you see our spaces being shaped in a different way at all? KJ: When I get asked the future of cities question, they always want me to have an overarching, global answer. I want to really zoom in on our specific ethnic communities and our regionalisms and be able to modify architecture, urbanism, planning, or whatever it is, because there are nuances. My hope for the future of cities is that we look inward. Specifically, those of us in communities of colour. We solidify ourselves, our villages, and our cities inside of the major metros, and then we evaluate the questions that the regions we live in are asking of us.

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SA: I appreciate that because oftentimes, as people of colour, we’re asked questions and people expect this utopic solution: how are we going to solve inequality in public spaces, period? What are the main steps towards that? That doesn’t leave space for nuanced conversations, or to explore what that actually might look like in our respective communities. We still need the space to do that, and we weren’t afforded that space. Reanna you were talking about how you decided to stay at the University of Manitoba for your masters degree, because you felt like there was more you could change internally by staying. How do you see that future unfolding for you and your organization? RM: I am very optimistic in this, but I still think it has a long way to go. I was reflecting this past year, because I’m about to leave and I’ve been working on this for about two years: how could you maximize the retention and reach out to more Indigenous youth to come into the idea of architecture design and planning. But then I think about the amount of Indigenous students right now. We were able to have about 16 Indigenous students in our entire faculty, which is probably the most in all of Canada. We will be part of the built environment, we’re building up our cities, we’re building up our architecture, design, our landscape. When I think about that, I feel very optimistic. But the one thing, in terms of the faculty or the design community as a whole, is to still think about the broader community. That, although we have all these voices and perspectives, we can’t speak for everybody, like Kristen says. We can’t speak for other members of the community that are not within post-secondary education, but still have community knowledge, are very knowledgeable and have their own strength, who are doing important work for our houseless relatives, and our northern relatives.

We think we know everything but we don’t. We don’t have all the answers. Those come from those lived experiences that we should be able to use in order to build our cities up. We’re not superior just because we’re in post-secondary. We’re not superior, with these degrees, over other members of the community. I want to emphasize that we’re just as equal as someone who is homeless in inner-city Winnipeg, we’re on the same level as someone working on community initiatives in the north end. Those voices should be raised up in order to build our cities and communities up. That’s what I want to emphasize, in terms of our public spaces and how we create our own environment. SA: Nothing can really replace lived experience, right? When we’re charged with designing the public realm, we don’t know everything. Architect Iddris Sandu says architects are the most empathetic people in the world because they design spaces for everybody except for themselves. And I want that to be true, but I don’t actually think that’s the case at all. There’s the ego of the architect and the designer who thinks they have the capability of stepping in anybody’s shoes and designing for them and that’s just not true. Maybe that’s part of healing too: realizing we don’t actually have all the answers, realizing that we’re not the face of the community and stepping back and letting other people take up space.

THANKS TO SAIRA ABDULREHMAN FOR COORDINATING THIS ROUND TABLE.

CSLA Awards

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CSLA AWARDS Canadian Society of Landscape Architects Awards of Excellence— Ontario Region

The Canadian Society of Landscape Architects Awards of Excellence are given for outstanding accomplishment in landscape architecture. Congratulations to the following OALA members whose projects received awards. The recipient of the 2021 Jury’s Award of Excellence and a National Award is:

Project Name: Dale Hodges Park Consultant: O2 Planning & Design and Source 2 Source Inc. with AECOM and Sans façon for Watershed+ Contact: Matt Williams and Bernard Amell Category: Large-Scale Public Landscapes Project Description: Dale Hodges Park is a transformative landscape along the Bow River in Calgary. The project was born of the need to restore the environmental health of the area, while addressing stormwater treatment opportunities for runoff. Once a gravel quarry, the site is now a fully integrated 40-hectare park, stormwater treatment facility, and one of the largest public artworks in North America.

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Dale Hodges Park Courtesy of O2 Planning & Design and Source 2 Source Inc. with AECOM and Sans façon for Watershed+ / CSLA

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CSLA AWARDS

The 2021 National Award Recipients are:

Project Name: Accidental Wilderness: The Origins and Ecology of Toronto’s Tommy Thompson Park Contact: Walter H. Kehm, with photos by Robert Burley Category: Research

Project Description: Accidental Wilderness is a collection of essays curated by landscape architect and original designer of Tommy Thompson Park, Walter H. Kehm, complemented by a collection of photographs by renowned landscape photographer Robert Burley. The book documents the entire planning process for the park, including the park’s master plan principles and design; the native-plant succession process; the park’s unique flora and fauna; public advocacy; and public recreation in the park and its effect on health.

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Accidental Wilderness: The Origins and Ecology of Toronto’s Tommy Thompson Park Walter H. Kehm and Robert Burley / CSLA

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Project Name: Gordonridge Community Multi-Sport Court Consultant: ERA Architects Inc. Contact: Rui Felix Category: Residential Landscapes Project Description: A community-led project located at the heart of a Toronto Community Housing campus. Led by ERA Architects as landscape architect, this dynamic project organizes play for all ages and abilities in an integrated landscape, at the centre of a post-war apartment tower community at Danforth Road and Midland Avenue in Toronto’s Scarborough area. The project was funded by Toronto Community Housing, MLSE Foundation, and Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities.

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Gordonridge Community Multi-Sport Court ERA Architects Inc. / CSLA

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CSLA AWARDS

Project Name: University of Guelph Child Care and Learning Centre Consultant: Earthscape Play Inc. Contact: Dan Van Haastrecht Category: Small-Scale Public Landscapes

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University of Guelph Child Care and Learning Centre Courtesy of Earthscape Play Inc. / CSLA

Project Description: The playscape at the University of Guelph Child Care and Learning Centre (CCLC), completed in 2019, sets an aspirational standard for children’s outdoor spaces in Canada. Reflecting the latest research on child development and the importance of restorative nature connections, the design presents young children with opportunities to play and learn in explorative ways. The design was developed by landscape architects and designers at Earthscape Play, in close collaboration with the CCLC educators and administrators.

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Project Name: Saugeen First Nation Creator’s Garden and Ampitheatre Restoration Master Plan Consultant: Brook McIlroy Inc. Contact: Andrea Mantin Category: Planning and Analysis Project Description: The Saugeen First Nation Amphitheatre and Creator’s Garden Master Plan is a codesign between community members and the design team at Brook Mcllroy—a team led by landscape architects in collaboration with Indigenous architects and designers. The project will strengthen the community’s long-term economic viability, while supporting the recovery of land-based knowledge known to Indigenous Peoples for millennia. The master plan serves as a model of how landscape architecture can partner with Indigenous communities. 29-35/

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Saugeen First Nation Creator’s Garden and Ampitheatre Restoration Master Plan Courtesy of Brook McIlroy Inc. / CSLA

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CSLA AWARDS

Project Name: Uptown Brampton Transit-Oriented Communities Toolkit Consultant: Yvonne Yeung, Ken Greenberg, and Matti Siemiatycki for City of Brampton and Urban Land Institute Toronto District Council Contact: Yvonne Yeung Category: Planning and Analysis Project Description: Transit-Oriented Communities (TOC) expand healthy, convenient, high-quality living along transit networks, creating a new form of “Regional City,” and an affordable landing ground for new families to meet GTHA’s unprecedented population growth. The Uptown Brampton Transit-Oriented Communities Toolkit explores a collaborative city-building model to empower effective collaboration and alignment among public sector, private sector, non-profit, and local communities. The Toolkit aims to shift development culture and accelerate implementation by amplifying synergies, creating new combined benefits, and fostering lateral thinking.

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Uptown Brampton Transit-Oriented Communities Toolkit Courtesy of City of Brampton / CSLA

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Stills from Memoirs of Pioneering Landscape Architects of Quebec and Ontario Courtesy of EVOQ Landscape Architecture / CSLA

Project Name: Memoirs of Pioneering Landscape Architects of Quebec and Ontario Consultant: EVOQ Landscape Architecture (formerly Arcadia Studio) Contact: Isabelle Giasson Category: Communication Project Description: This video documentary series presents the personal, professional, and academic memoirs of eight individuals who pioneered the discipline of landscape architecture in the 1950s, ‘60s, and ‘70s. Their trailblazing careers indelibly influenced future generations of landscape architects, while moulding our landscapes and cities. Through interviews with these pioneers, the project gathers oral “snapshots” of previously undocumented memories. These recordings are available to general and professional audiences, promoting landscape architecture’s history and vitality as a design discipline.

OALA Awards

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2021 OALA AWARDS

Congratulations to all those honoured with the 2021 OALA Recognition Awards, and special thank you to the OALA Honours, Awards and Protocol Committee (HAP) members: Doris Chee (Chair), Nelson Edwards, Khatereh Baharikhoob, Chen Zixiang, Stefan Fediuk, and Jim Melvin.

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OALA AWARDS

OALA EMERITUS MEMBER Emeritus members are full members of the OALA who have ceased full-time practice and who are nominated by another full member in recognition of their years of service to the profession.

40 landscape architects and landscape designers—the largest employer of landscape architects in Canada. Gordon’s role in ensuring an active livelihood for landscape architects in the future is the very reason for honouring him with the OALA Emeritus status.

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FORREC Ltd. project: Wanda Xishuanba Theme Park Courtesy of the OALA Helene Iardas on site. Courtesy of the OALA

OALA PUBLIC PRACTICE AWARD This award recognizes the outstanding leadership of a member of the profession in public practice who promotes and enhances landscape architecture by working for improved understanding and appreciation of the work of landscape architects in both public and private practice. There are two recipients this year.

Gordon Dorrett, OALA Gordon retired in 2019 from his position as President and CEO of FORREC Ltd. after nearly 20 years. His work at the helm of FORREC is evident in its wide-ranging field of projects and diverse staff. Gordon’s leadership brought a plan for companywide professional development through mentorship and structured learning. His mentorship program fostered the next wave of FORREC leaders (many of whom are landscape architects), and had an indirect impact on the OALA, given that FORREC currently employs and promotes roughly 02

Helene Iardas, OALA Helene has worked for several municipalities during her career: the Cities of Oshawa, Markham, and Toronto. She is a University of Guelph landscape architecture graduate, and member with the Ontario Professional Planners Institute. Landscape architecture has been the driving force in her planning reviews. Helene has been an essential member of the North York District’s Urban Design team and had a hand in every major project in North York since amalgamation, and she helped create ground-breaking policies through urban design guidelines and secondary plans. Some of her major works in Toronto are: Don Mills Center, the Aga Khan Museum, Concord Park Place – Streetscape and Urban Design Guidelines, York University Secondary Plan, and Percent for Public Art Guidelines.

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THE DAVID ERB MEMORIAL AWARD This award recognizes the outstanding leadership of a member of the profession in public practice who promotes and enhances landscape architecture by working for improved understanding and appreciation of the work of landscape architects in both public and private practice.

Jane Welsh, OALA Jane is the Acting Manager of Policy in the Strategic Initiatives, Policy and Analysis division of Toronto City Planning. Her 37 years of municipal planning experience include development and implementation of new innovative land use policy tools to address sustainability, resilience, climate change, biodiversity, and natural heritage protection. Jane was also responsible for preparing the environmental policies for the City of Toronto Official Plan and preparing waterfront plans for Metro Toronto, the City of Mississauga, and Halton Region Conservation Authority. Throughout her work in public practice she has been a strong voice for the role of landscape architecture in city building. She is recognized by the profession, nation-wide, as an authority on the landscape architect’s role in combatting climate change.

the role of Chair of the Social Committee, which has resulted in a great deal of interest in participation, and also sits as a private practice member on the Municipal Outreach Committee to demonstrate how municipalities can effectively recruit and retain landscape architects. THE JACK COPELAND AWARD FOR ASSOCIATE LEADERSHIP AND CONTRIBUTION

Justin Whalen, OALA Justin has been an active member of the Association since his first term on Council as Associate Rep in 2016, and successfully ran for Council once his Associate term ended. He has always been extremely active and willing to offer advice and assistance, especially when it involves inclusion of Associate and Student Members of the organization. He continues to support associates through his involvement as a PDP reviewer and has served on the OALA HAP Committee. Justin assumed

Jack Copeland was an enthusiastic advocate for Associate members. This award recognizes the outstanding leadership and contribution of an associate for going above and beyond to assist fellow associates, including being an associate representative on OALA Council.

Jenny Trinh Jenny epitomizes what makes Associate leadership. She volunteers on the OALA Social Committee and finds venues and organizations to support and hold OALA events. She also strongly encourages 03

OALA Awards

participation from fellow Associate members. Recent activities include the Ottawa Chapter holiday social, with guest speaker Gina Ford, FASLA and principal of Agency Landscape + Planning in Boston. Jenny has helped in reaching out to students in the BLA and MLA programs at the University of Guelph about volunteering and becoming active in the OALA. She provided reviews of portfolios and gave insight into the LARE exams. We are pleased to note that a cheque for $500 also accompanies this award to help offset the cost of a LARE exam.

THE CARL BORGSTROM AWARD FOR SERVICE TO THE ENVIRONMENT This award recognizes an OALA member or landscape architectural group, organization, or agency recognized by the OALA whose practice promotes special or unique contributions to sensitive, sustainable design and use of the environment.

number of other provinces. His tenure with firms including ESG International, Stantec, MMM Group, WSP, and, currently, the City of Guelph, has seen Jay evolve into a literal trail blazer. It is evident from even a select group of Jay’s projects that he has a love for pedestrian and cycling trail designs through some of Canada’s most majestic country.

OALA AWARD FOR COMMUNITY SERVICE TO THE ENVIRONMENT This public outreach award recognizes and encourages special or unusual contributions for sensitive, sustainable design solutions, leading to the improvement of environmental health, community livability, and human interaction in the environment.

Jay Cranstone, OALA Early in his career, Jay had the opportunity to assist with development of Canada’s first Great Trail pavilion site (formerly the Trans Canada Trail), in Caledon East, Ontario. For over 25 years, his work has focused on managing projects involving research, conceptual planning and design, public consultation, detailed design, and construction related to trails and active transportation facilities in Ontario and a

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charity created in 2011 that animates and improves parks. He always brings a thoughtful, solutions-based approach to the challenges he has helped governments and organizations address, and he’s devised and driven many of the Toronto region’s most significant greenspace and city building initiatives. Dave served as Senior Advisor to the Premier of Ontario, working to develop, implement, and communicate the government’s agenda in the areas of environment and natural resources, and played a key leadership role in the Greenbelt, the GTA Growth Plan, and the City of Toronto Act. Dave Harvey and Park People play an important advocacy role in keeping the environment and open space at the forefront of planning and design. 03/

The striking cover photo for the Biodiversity Strategy for Toronto (Sept 2019).

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Courtesy of Robert Burley

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Justin Whalen meeting his MPP – Laura Mae Lindo.

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Courtesy of the OALA

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Great Trail Pavilion

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Courtesy of Jay Cranstone / OALA

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Park People event

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Courtesy of Park People / OALA

Dave Harvey and Park People Dave is the founder and Executive Director of Park People, an independent

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OALA RESEARCH & INNOVATION AWARD This award recognizes the outstanding leadership, research and/or academic achievements of a member or nonmember who, through scholarly activities and/or the development of innovative practices, academic papers, research, publications, books, e-applications, or public presentations, contributes to the knowledge base that furthers the advancement of the art, science, and practice of landscape architecture.

OALA HONORARY MEMBERS The Honorary category of membership is for non-landscape architects who have performed notable service in advancing the course of landscape architecture in the Province of Ontario whom Council wishes to recognize for outstanding contributions in their own fields to improving the quality of natural and human environments. There are three recipients this year.

Peter Kells Peter is one of Canada’s foremost authorities on playground safety. As a member of the Technical Committee for CSA Z614 “Children’s Playspaces and Equipment” (published in 1990), he helped industry and children’s safety experts craft Canada’s first national standard for playground safety. He was instrumental in the development of criteria for children’s playgrounds and equipment that are accessible to persons with disabilities. More recently, he was a member of the International Standards Organization working group mandated with harmonizing international playground equipment standards. His concern for safe play spaces led to the formation of Grace-Kells Consultant Inc., which provides playground safety inspection services. With Peter’s help, the recent update of CSA Z614 has evolved to assist designers with the safe inclusion of natural materials and structures.

industrial lands into more equitable, walkable, livable, beautiful, and resilient places. His commitment to design quality led to the founding of the Design Review Panel. These policies and initiatives always involve landscape architects in key decision-making roles. Leo DeSorcy—Program Manager— Urban Design, City of Toronto Leo joined the City of Toronto in 1988 as an Urban Designer and Planner. Through that office, many OALA members have met Leo as a hired consultant for studies, or across the approvals table. His work is focused on creating a better public realm, and he maintains a unique understanding of the historical context and the role of landscape in creating places. Under his management, there have been numerous, area-specific growth plans exploring the challenges of the urbanized, post-war suburbs of Toronto, and transforming

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Peter Kells impact testing a swing seat.

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Courtesy of the OALA

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Design Review Panel

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Courtesy of Leo DeSorcy / OALA

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TOcore: Downtown Parks and Public Realm Plan.

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Courtesy of Leo DeSorcy / OALA

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Stefan Szczepanski—Manager of the Parks Development Department, City of Mississauga A graduate of Ryerson University, Stef is educated in the field of landscape architecture and continues to apply his knowledge in his role at the City of Mississauga. He oversees a staff of 20, including 14 landscape architects, and insists landscape architects be involved in all City Park and Urban Design projects. His passion for design can be found in many of the parks in Mississauga, including the Japanese influence at Kariya Park, the development of one of the first accessible playgrounds in Ontario at Zonta Meadows Park, the O’Connor Park development that saw almost 50 per cent of the space developed for wetland habitat, and no less than six major waterfront parks within the City.

Dr. Karen Landman—Professor, School of Environmental Design and Rural Development, University of Guelph Karen’s field of interests continued beyond a Landscape Architecture degree, as she also earned a Master of Science in Planning, followed by a PhD

in Cultural Geography. Dr. Landman’s accomplishments have made profound contributions to the profession and to students of landscape architecture. Her contribution to the profession goes beyond teaching skills. Her tireless work includes updating the standards and procedures for the accreditation of Canada’s landscape architecture programs, ongoing support and contribution to Ground Magazine’s content over the last decade, through her own writing and that of her student’s, and as Program Coordinator for both the University of Guelph’s BLA and MLA programs and the Rural Studies PhD program.

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Karen Landman and students in the studio.

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Karen Landman at Jim Tovey Lakeview Conservation Area.

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Kariya Park, Mississauga.

Grounding

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Anishinabe healing and traditions

TEXT BY MILLIE KNAPP

Laura “Lola” Odjick and Catherine “Cotty” Cayer make mashkiki the way their families and community members taught them. Their medicine walks take them throughout Anishinabeg unceded territory. Learning about and sharing mashkiki or traditional medicines inspires them. “I never charge people for medicine,” says Cayer. She lays tobacco down on the day of her medicine walks. There is spirit in mashkiki. “This is why we lay down our tobacco when we take medicines from the ground or from a tree. It’s an offering back to the spirits,” says Odjick.

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Cayer’s mashkiki for Wilmer Decontie Jr.

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Courtesy of Millie Knapp

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Catherine Cayer and Laura Odjick.

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Courtesy of Millie Knapp

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Catherine Cayer holds Labrador tea.

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Courtesy of Millie Knapp

Their search for a particular flower, root, or branch depends on the month. At summer’s end, when weekenz (or rat root) blooms, Odjick’s ready. Weekenz is good for sore throats, colds, or fevers, and can be found in Bitobi Lake near her house. “I usually need somebody that’s strong, because you can’t pull that out by yourself,” says Odjick.

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medicines you’re going to make. I put that [wiijina] in my mashkikiwabo.” When she was a child, Odjick’s recalls a room temperature drop of otter tail oil placed in her ear by her mother. Her moans from a painful infection kept everyone awake. “I was the youngest in the family. They had to find somebody with that medicine,” she says. The otter tail oil was found, a drop placed in her ear, and off to sleep she went. She woke up with no pain. Red willow eases pain, too. Odjick recalls how red willow helped her one winter when she fell, hurting her hip. She and Wilmer Decontie, Jr. drove “up by Congway” to pick red willow branches. She brought him so she wouldn’t get stuck on the other side of a snowbank with a pained hip. At home, she boiled willow branch scrapings to make a cup of tea before bed. She woke up pain-free.

She prefers to find her medicine in the forest. “With Western medicine, there’s too many side effects, I can’t take pills. I don’t like taking anything. What interested me was to know more about the mashkikis we have. That’s why I do what I do,” says Odjick of the Anishinabe healing practice. “There’s always something to learn.” 03

They invite community members to go with them to see and learn how mashkiki is almost everywhere in the forest. “Wherever golden thread is, you’re going to find peppermint. You also find thousand root,” says Odjick. She has many stories to tell about when, where, and how to find mashkiki. Odjick uses mashkiki to make mashkikiwabo, a daily tea. This tea aids in the treatment of many ailments. The roots she uses for teas are harder to find. “I don’t know whether people are picking in the same spot or it’s not growing like it used to. Just like with the clearcutting—all those trees are gone.” She recalls going on a hunting trip to Bark Lake with her nephew, Wilmer Decontie, Jr. “It was just clear cut. I bawled my eyes out,” she says. They left the area bereft. “That’s why we don’t see moose today: because of that [clearcutting]. They’re

migrating and gone up wherever it’s safe for them, probably up James Bay area. I heard once from them they didn’t see much moose up that way and now they do. They’re gone north,” she says.

When its purpose is complete, mashkiki is returned to the earth. “I never put it in the garbage. I bring it to the special site where I return it back to Mother Earth,” says Cayer. Much respect is given to mashkiki from beginning to end.

“If we had more trees, we’d have more animals. That’s what they live off. All that for what? Look at how the earth is off balance,” she says. Seeking balance, Odjick and Cayer make specific teas for specific purposes. Odjick recently made a tea with yarrow to treat diabetes, and another with golden thread for an eye infection. She describes how, when weensik (yellow birch) is first cut, it smells like Pepto Bismol. The birch bark tea soothes the stomach. Odjick uses otter tail fat, bear grease, and beaver testicles (or wiijina). Wiijina clears infections inside and outside the body. “It’s very powerful. You’re not to use too much of it,” she says. “Good for many

BIO/ MILLIE KNAPP, ANISHINABE KWE, WRITES ABOUT ARTS AND CULTURE AND MINO PIMADIZAWIN, THE GOOD LIFE.

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Notes: A Miscellany of News and Events

equity resources In the hopes of promoting diversity, equity, and understanding, Ground will be sharing resources for supporting, encouraging, and celebrating racial justice in the landscape architecture field. Here are a few selections:

The Bottom: The Emergence and Erasure of Black American Urban Landscapes, an essay by Ujijji Davis: www.averyreview.com/ issues/34/the-bottom

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Book cover

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Courtesy of James Dobbin

James Dobbin, OALA full member–retired, has just published a book commissioned by The World Bank Group called Spacial Planning for Resilient Economic Diversification: La Guajira, Colombia, with co-authors Tatiana Márquez and Jennifer RietbergenMcCracken. All authors are members of Dobbin International. The book “describes how strategic spatial development planning can be used to gain new insights of opportunities and constraints for mining-dependent regions and to develop multi-sector development plans for resilient and sustainable economies.” “The case in La Guajira is striking. The local economy is heavily dependent on the Cerrejón mine, one of the world’s largest coal mining operations, while most of the population rely on subsistence agriculture. With its high levels of poverty, harsh environment, and complex social dynamics, La Guajira faces enormous challenges. Yet the planning work reveals high potential opportunities in renewable energy, agricultural and forestry plantation development, tourism, and a variety of other sectors.” To read the book, check out the World Bank Group’s Open Knowledge Repository: openknowledge.worldbank.org/ handle/10986/35596

“‘The histories of Black Bottom and Seneca Village illustrate a significant message that requires more attention in the urban planning world today: Black American urban landscapes are especially susceptible to destruction because of the success of antiBlack sentiment that pollutes planning policy and thought. This culture creates a long history of governmental facilitation of—and planning for—displacing Blacks from the places they established. As a continuously socially and economically marginalized group, blacks and the spaces they occupy are vulnerable and often considered ripe for the taking.’ Ujijji Davis is a landscape architect living in Detroit. Her essay, published by The Avery Review, is an eye-opening depiction of the inherent racist values and practices that inform much of our city building frameworks. The essay is impassioned in its message about the importance of marginalized landscapes and their contributions to our cultural identities. Ujijji eloquently describes the imbalance of power between whites and marginalized Black populations and the resulting vulnerability their neighbourhoods confront. Ujijji was also a guest on episode 20 of the Transforming Cities podcast, where she talks about a range of topics from how she became interested in landscape architecture to what inspired her to research and write her essay.” — MARK HILLMER, OALA, GROUND EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBER

If you’d like to go deeper, the CSLA is providing a Diversity & Equality Resources page on their website: www.csla-aapc.ca/mission-areas/ diversity-equality-resources

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pandemic As gratitude for the tireless work of frontline healthcare providers during the COVID-19 pandemic, a grassroots group called One Bench One Tree has embarked on a project to install a bench and a tree at every Canadian hospital. A place for the people who care for us to take a peaceful break in the shade, and experience a bit of nature. The work is being done in partnership with suppliers Maglin Site Furniture for benches, Unilock for concrete slabs, and Maple Leaves Forever for trees; as well as associations like Landscape Ontario, the Ontario Horticultural Trades Foundation (OHTF), the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), and the OALA. The first bench and tree (a sugar maple) was planted in June at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto. If you’d like to learn more, or make a donation to this cause, please visit this website: 1bench1tree.ca 03

The inaugural bench and tree at Sunnybrook Hospital, Toronto. Everett Dejong

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Glenn was a Principal of Harrington McAvan Ltd. from the firm’s foundation in 1974 until his passing. Outside of his professional practice, Glenn passed on his knowledge through teaching and speaking engagements at Ryerson University’s Chang School of Continuing Education and at Trent University. In recent years, Glenn’s pride-and-joy was a former gravel pit near Cannington, north-east of Toronto, where he worked to recreate lush pastures, rolling hills, and a deep, cold water lake. In three brutally short years, ALS crushed that dream but it could never crush Glenn’s spirit. Glenn left us as he lived, on his own terms; content with his family near and the taste of Scotch on his lips. He will be greatly missed and remembered forever with love by his sons Adam, Matthew, and Jesse, his wife Cheryl, daughters-inlaw Sara and Teresa, grandchildren Ty and Maeve, sister-in-law Heather, nieces and nephew Alana, Bethany, and Brent, and by his partners Rich, April, and Bernie, as well as his many friends and colleagues.

in memoriam Glenn David Harrington The OALA is saddened to announce the passing of Glenn David Harrington on May 5, 2021. Glenn has been a full member of the OALA since March 1976. The Association was notified on May 10th 2021. This tribute was prepared by Glenn’s wife, Cheryl, and his partners at Harrington McAvan: Glenn loved the land. He used his passion for conservation to build a remarkable career in restoration across Ontario. He was widely known for his innovative approach to environmental landscape design, and expertise in collaborating with grassroots citizen groups on local landscape rehabilitation projects. After graduating in 1972 with a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from the University of Toronto, Glenn became an instrumental member of the OALA and served the organization for nearly 50 years, including stints as Chair of the By-Law Review Committee and Examining Board. He was

a proud Fellow of the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects. He represented the OALA as their delegate to the Conservation Council of Ontario for many years and served multiple terms as Council President and Chair of the Water Task Force. He also brought the OALA’s viewpoint to the board of the Ontario Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (OSSGA) where he served as a Director as well as Chair of the Rehabilitation and Land Use committees. Glenn’s projects were lauded for their quality. He was twice honoured by the Association as a recipient of the OALA Carl Borgstrom Award for Service to the Environment (2002) and the OALA Pinnacle Award for Landscape Architectural Excellence (2012). He was instrumental in introducing soil bio-engineering techniques to Ontario as a viable option for bank and stream stabilization. He pioneered the use of dormant cuttings of hardy, native plant material to stabilize soil. His expertise contributed heavily to the development of planning standards for pits and quarries in Ontario with the preparation of Generic Site Plans for the Aggregate Resources Act.

There will be a celebration of life, post-COVID. Donations in Glenn’s memory may be made to the ALS Society of Canada (als.ca).

new members The Ontario Association of Landscape Architects is proud to recognize and welcome the following new members to the Association: Jaysen Ariola *

Meikang Li

Linzey Bedard

Logan Littlefield

Emily Bernard

Patricia Lussier

Bulent Cetin

Claire McLoughlin *

Madison Dalley

Marie-Eve Parent

Danielle Davis *

Danielle Rancourt

Danielle Dibbits

Qiwei Song

Mark Ryan Doram

Yi Zhou

Serge Gallant

Stacey Zonneveld *

Omid Laalkaei *

Asterisk (*) denotes Full Members without the use of professional seal.

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Glenn David Harrington Courtesy of Rich McAvan

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Artifact

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GeoGuessr screengrab Alexandra Ntoukas Test your knowledge of infrastructure ephemera with GeoGuessr! Alexandra Ntoukas

TEXT BY ALEXANDRA NTOUKAS

When the pandemic hit Ontario, the physical landscape became a difficult place to navigate. Many people turned to their screens for work, education, connection, and play. Now, over a year into the pandemic, our screens continue to be our primary interface for connecting with the world. I was introduced to a web-based game called GeoGuessr. Using Google Street View, the game randomly places you somewhere in the world, and you have to figure out your location within a certain time frame by exploring your surroundings. The closer you guess to your location, the higher your point score.

GeoGuessr is both a digitization and gamification of the physical landscape. By gamifying Street View, user engagement is increased. There are even online communities which have sprung up to trade tips about how to win. These tips relate to knowledge of the real world, allowing for casual exploration and learning within the confines of each session, and users gain a familiarity with plants, traffic signs, licence plates, and other location-specific information that improves their score in the game. As an artifact, GeoGuessr is a success story for increasing engagement within the landscape, digital and physical, that is scalable to the practices of landscape architecture. BIO/

ALEXANDRA NTOUKAS IS A 2020 GRADUATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO’S MASTER OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE PROGRAM AND A MEMBER OF THE GROUND EDITORIAL BOARD.

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