On Indigeneity, Capital, and Design Intelligence
In this talk, Dr. David Fortin offers an overview of the challenges facing Indigenous design within a mostly commodified built environment. With a focus on housing, the discussion will centre around what design intelligence means to contemporary mainstream architectural production and how this has historically been used as a tool for control over Indigenous peoples. Can Indigenous design offer a different path forward?
David Fortin is a member of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (MRAIC), a LEED accredited professional, and a registered architect in the provinces of Ontario, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, British Columbia, and Alberta. He completed his doctoral studies at the University of Edinburgh in 2009 and has since taught undergraduate and graduate courses in architectural design, history and theory, in the UK, USA, and Canada. At the McEwen School of Architecture, he developed and taught an introductory building science course emphasizing the impact of climate change on architectural thinking and maintains research interests in speculative thinking in design.
David was the inaugural Associate Director of the Maamwizing Indigenous Research Institute and the Director of the McEwen School of Architecture from 2018-2021. Raised in northern Saskatchewan, David is a citizen of the Métis Nation of Ontario and member of the RAIC Indigenous Task Force that 'seeks ways to foster and promote indigenous design in Canada'.
This seminar is open to the public: all undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, staff, visitors are welcome to attend. If you are a prospective high school student and would like to attend this seminar, please contact ki@uwaterloo.ca to plan your visit!