The Past, Present and Future of Black Spaces and Architecture in Canada

Architecture in the Clouds - SSAC 46th Annual Conference

The challenge of creating a home in a place that is set on your destruction is one that has plagued the experiences of many African descendants living in the Diaspora for centuries. This is a challenge that African American migrants continued to face even after moving to the so-called ‘promised land’ now known as Canada. Despite continuing to be met with the very racism they were fleeing from in the US, these freed Black men and women built multiple settlements across the country. Through the physical act of building Black settlements, they negotiated their identities as Africans, their ex-enslaved identities as property, and their futuristic identities as freedwomen and men. This very complex negotiation and its manifestation through architectural space will form the basis of this discussion.

Organized as part of the Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada's 2021 Annual Conference under the theme “Architecture in the Clouds,” this roundtable discussion will center on the past, present, and future of Black architectures and spaces in Canada. Some questions this conversation will attempt to engage are: how did the lived experiences of Black migrants inform the architectural designs of their settlements? What are the consequences of the subsequent destruction of these Black communities? How can we preserve these important buildings and the histories they reveal?

Overall, this discussion aims to bring into focus a previously ignored dimension of architectural inquiry, and move the architectural contributions of Black Canadians to the foreground to create a platform from which new Black architectures can be created.

Session chair: Destiny Kirumira

Panelists:

Dorothy Williams
Cheryl Foggo
Sabrina Jafralie
June Francis

No need to register!

This event is free and open to all. Simply visit https://canada-architecture.org/this-years-conference/ and click the image to join the event on May 28 at 3pm EDT.

Sponsored by the Research Group on Democracy, Space and Technology at the Yan P Lin Centre