Architecture 2024

ARCH 001: ReCONstruct: Building Energy Retrofit Solutions for Canada; (Jemtrud)

Professor Michael Jemtrud

michael.jemtrud [at] mcgill.ca
514-398-1619

https://www.mcgill.ca/architecture/michael-jemtrud

Research Area

Building Retrofit strategies, social housing, prefabricated panel design and manufacture, BIM (Revit) modeling, envelope and mechanical system design, software architecture design.

Description

Buildings account for 40% of global carbon emissions. An estimated 80% of buildings that will be standing in 2050 in Canada already exist. Deep energy retrofits (DERs) are renovations that reduce a building's energy consumption by 50-70%. DERs have many benefits beyond energy savings, including extending building lifespan, increasing resiliency, improving resident health, and easing strain on the electricity grid by decreasing peak loads. DERs represent a viable and essential strategy to help Canada meet its GHG emission targets, and substantial funding is being allocated to accelerate their mass deployment.

ReCONstruct, led by the Chair in Architecture, Energy and Environment held by Prof. Michael Jemtrud, is a cross-disciplinary collaboration of academic researchers working with government, industry, and community partners to develop and implement solutions for mass deployment of DERs for Quebec and Canada. We're developing prefabricated over-cladding panel solutions to facilitate the mass deployment of low-carbon DERs through project pipelines: solutions and processes developed in pilot projects can be applied to a vast stock of similar buildings. Our first pilot project is a community centre in Ile-Bizard. We're engaging with partners from the Quebec social housing sector for our second pilot project, a multi-unit residential building (MURB). Many social housing MURBs are in poor condition and present a golden opportunity to maximize DER benefits equitably. Our intention is to drive and support development of the industry capacity needed to realize mass DERs quickly and affordably, including manufacturing infrastructure, product supply, professional expertise and adapted procurement processes.

Tasks per student

By sub-project listed below, tasks will be adjusted according to the student's skillset and specific interests:

Social housing MURB pilot project: Assist in engaging with organizations from the social housing sector to assess candidate buildings and partnership potential to realize a second pilot project. This may include participating in building assessment and health checks, understanding organizational processes linked to retrofits, understanding organizational needs, priorities and bottlenecks within these organizations, supporting funding applications.
 

 

Deliverables per student

i) Communication and/or assessment tools to engage with social housing sector stakeholders and support selection of a pilot project;

ii) updated report on LCA needs for DER and existing resources/tools & LCA model and output for several proposed DER scenarios;

iii) BIM model and renderings of prospective designs and solutions for building owners and prospective industry collaborators;

iv) Report and/or design proposal on existing technology available in Quebec and proposed designs or required/desired specifications;

v) Update and expand existing digital tools, with appropriate documentation & recommendations for future developments.

 

Number of positions

3

Academic Level

No preference

Location of project

in-person

 

ARCH 002: A Virtual Earthquake Museum for Türkiye; (Tureli)

Professor Ipek Tureli

ipek.tureli [at] mcgill.ca
 

Research Area

post-reconstruction memorialization & design

Description

SURE students will help develop a prototype virtual museum of earthquake for Turkiye.

Earthquake museums serve a special purpose: for survivors, they can act as commemorative spaces; for new generations and the general public, they are learning and reflection spaces. For scholars, they can be resources to tell a story about society at large. They can potentially help us remember effectively so that we do not repeat the same mistakes and avoid immense suffering and environmental damage. This project responds to the February 6, 2023 earthquakes (of 7.8 and 7.7 magnitude) in eastern Turkiye and northern Syria. While both quakes were larger than any recorded in the region, experts argue that the death toll could have been avoided. This disaster will continue to unfold as survivors deal with emotional trauma, physical injuries, health hazards due to collapse and demolition of buildings, and economic ruin. There are several earthquake museums built in response to the devastating 1999 earthquake in western Turkiye (Adapazari Deprem ve Kultur Muzesi, 2004; Kandilli Rasathanesi ve Deprem Arastirma Enstitusu Muzesi, 2006). The virtual museum will complement these existing efforts, firstly, by providing a long duree perspective on a century of earthquakes, and secondly, by being accessible on a web platform. Linguistic proficiency in Turkish is an asset but not a prerequisite.

Tasks per student

The students will collaboratively work on the following tasks:

  1. Create an international inventory of existing earthquake museums.
  2. Study the virtual museum format and propose models for presenting.
  3. A preliminary database of earthquake coverage in Turkiye’s mainstream newspapers and architectural and planning journals has already been conducted for the past 100 years. SURE assistant(s) will build on and expand this database.
  4. Prototype the Virtual Earthquake Museum for Turkiye.

Please contact professor with info on your competencies, proficiencies and motivation to work on this project.

 

Deliverables per student

The students will collaboratively design a prototype the Virtual Earthquake Museum for Türkiye.

Number of positions

2

Academic Level

No Preference

Location of project  

in-person

ARCH 003: Design for the Global Majority; (Tureli)

Professor Ipek Tureli

ipek.tureli [at] mcgill.ca

https://www.mcgill.ca/mchg

Research Area

History of sustainability in architecture and design; sustainability education in architecture and design.

Description

SURE students will work on a short film that will disseminate the Design for the Global Majority project as well as helping manage a book-form publication.

This is a research-creation (creative) project that seeks to record and interpret the contributions of the Minimum Cost Housing Group (MCHG) a postgraduate program at McGill University's School of Architecture that was founded in 1971.

In 2023, the project team realized a two-stage exhibition and accompanying events including an international symposium, workshops and guided tours.

The exhibition(s) traced how the MCHG transformed industrial waste into building materials, reduced the environmental impacts of construction, developed culturally appropriate and context-specific design norms, promoted urban agriculture, and challenged conventional urban design and policy. Selected archival materials including photographs, drawings, research reports, videos, tools, and artifacts showcased the MCHG' wide-ranging contributions.

Workshops and guided tours connected to new and emerging research that takes up similar themes. And the symposium on October 19-20 brought to McGill, alumni to talk about how they have built upon the experimentation at the MCHG. All these events were recorded on video toward a short film that will be developed by SURE students during the summer of 2024.

As rising costs, inequalities, and inadequate and insufficient housing continue to afflict communities worldwide, Design for the Global Majority revisits the lessons of the MCHG as inspiration for contemporary architects and designers to help us navigate our uncertain future. SURE students will contribute achieve this goal.
 

Tasks per student

The students will collaboratively work on the following tasks:
1) Manage and develop the existing MCHG website and database and the Design for Global Majority pages https://www.mcgill.ca/mchg/about-mchg
https://www.mcgill.ca/mchg/news-events/design-global-majority-project
2) Edit the project's footage and visual material into a short film
3) Conduct new interviews as required.
4) Help find venues for the dissemination of the film (film festivals, architecture/design film awards etc)
5) Help manage editing of the book-form publication: Follow-up with symposium speakers/alumni of the MCHG regarding their written contributions; development of book design ideas, e.g., synergy between the film and book design.
 

 

Deliverables per student

The students will collaboratively work on the following tasks:
1) Manage and develop the existing MCHG website and database and the Design for Global Majority pages https://www.mcgill.ca/mchg/about-mchg
https://www.mcgill.ca/mchg/news-events/design-global-majority-project
2) Edit the project's footage and visual material into a short film
3) Conduct new interviews as required.
4) Help find venues for the dissemination of the film (film festivals, architecture/design film awards etc)
5) Help manage editing of the book-form publication: Follow-up with symposium speakers/alumni of the MCHG regarding their written contributions; development of book design ideas, e.g., synergy between the film and book design.
 

Number of positions

2

Academic Level

No preference

Location of project

in-person

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