Connecting the classroom to city-building
Adam Clark gives future planners a hands-on role in shaping real communities.
Two residents stand over a scale model of their neighbourhood, moving miniature buildings around. They debate where new homes belong, question each other's ideas and imagine how their community might grow. Adam Clark (BAS '06, MArch '09) doesn't interrupt. Watching the conversation unfold without an expert leading it is his favourite part of the process.
Years earlier, Clark had experienced something similar when he was a University of Waterloo architecture student. A third-year urban design studio challenged his class to reimagine a large section of Toronto, from Fort York to the Don Valley. His team built an 8-by-60-foot model. That project changed the trajectory of his career, shifting his focus from buildings to cities.