The most impactful aspect about my community partner was her sincere passion for developing her new baking/ catering business. It was unique that she framed her life as a series of events influenced by God - in a way, she copes with loss and uncertainty through admirable confidence in her faith. I found this very beautiful; her strong faith contrasts Western, secular worldviews and is a clear outcome of her Romanian background.
I felt overwhelmed and grateful when she disclosed how meaningful this food interview was for her. On her recent birthday a week ago, her only wish was for “God to open the doors to her business”. The next day, Jaime contacted her to interview for this class, which she took as a sign from God to pursue her dream of expanding her business. This was similar to other immigrant stories where they navigate through unfamiliar, and sometimes unfriendly, sensorial experiences by clinging onto something safe and representative of their home countries, like religion or food. Simona is a very elegant, resilient, and sincere woman which reflects in the artistry and quality of her baked goods. I honestly wish her all the best in her future business. Louise Barraza
0 Comments
Margaret Stycynska is an excellent interviewee whom we interviewed. The story she was telling us about her coming to Canada as a refuge, took me back to the time when I entered Canada as an immigrant. She explained her notion and experience about her landing in Canada with her husband and her two daughters. Her experience could tell the experiences of the thousands of immigrants and refugees who have selected Canada as a destination for living. For her, everything in Canada was different from her home country. Food, people, cultures, and language. The barrier she felt the most was the English Language that she did not speak at that time. She shared her experience about the first day and the first breakfast in Calgary. In the breakfast, they got cold milk and they did not expect that they got cold milk. In Poland, people drink hot/warm milk. The cultural and environmental differences, the barriers and the ambiguity of the future are the common things that every immigrant/refugee has been experienced. The story she told, reflect the hundred thousand of new comers’ story who enter in this country in each year. She acknowledged that she is happy right now and Canada is a great country. And that again tells the notion and experience of every other newcomer. Canada is a great country and life is good.
Today’s interview, held with Alyona Drychkova, was a very pleasant experience! It is always fun to hear the stories of others that move to Canada. As an immigrant myself, I love to listen to other's stories and experiences and how they feel or have felt during their journey to a new country. The excitements and loneliness that follow are something that always sparks an interest.
Alyona was such a happy and cheerful person; she seemed to enjoy speaking with others. She definitely did not come off as a shy person. I loved to hear how enthusiastic and eager she was to share with us! It was also fun to listen to stories from an individual from Kazakhstan (I have never met anyone from that country, so it is a new experience for me!) A part of the interview that struck me was when Alyona mentioned her love for sweets and particularly donuts. It was a huge surprise to hear that she really enjoyed eating donuts from Tim Hortons, especially Boston creams (she is basically a Canadian at this point). The light that sparked in her eyes whenever she mentions sweets was so enjoyable. However, when discussing Kazakh’s donuts, a different light hit her eyes, a more sombre and lonelier look. Kazakh donuts, called Baursak, are not as sweet as the ones in Canada. Alyona described them as not sweet at all. Surprisingly, they are slightly salty. She mentioned how her mother used to make them for her, although not often, they did remind her of our mother and that motherly home cook taste. Her joy and reflection in talking about donuts, both from Canada and Kazakhstan, reminded me of my mother and her love for Korean donuts. My mother did not enjoy overly sweet treats, particularly the donuts in Canada (hence her drinking black coffee whenever she had half a donut – one whole donut was too sweet for her). However, she had a sweet tooth for the donuts from Korea. Korean donuts' flavour is sweet in a different manner. I am always surprised to see my mother be excited to eat them when given the opportunity. Although I have never tried donuts from Kazakhstan, hearing Alyona's story reminded me of my own, and I reflected Korean donuts' taste to Baursak (Kazakh’s donuts). I do not know if Baursak even tastes remotely similar to Korean donuts. Still, the stories told provided a simulation of what it would be like. This experience was both fun and sombre for me, as I too miss my parents, who are living in Korea. Relating to Alyona, I can enjoy the taste of donuts in a significantly more meaningful manner. The next time I go to Tim Hortons, I may even give a call to my mom. Jennifer YeEun Choi My reflection is on the importance of seeing our world through other senses beyond the primordial sight. For so long, architects have only been designing only through visual perception. However, we have several other senses which if activated hold the potential for creating performative buildings and cities.
David Howes in Architecture of the senses theorizes that sensing bridges theory, language, and experience. He further states that sensing encompasses sensation and signification and that it includes both feeling and meaning. He poses an important question of meaning: if we cannot always theorize meaning through spoken language, how else can meaning be expressed? How can design be augmented with sensory ethnography? This is where the senses of sound (echolocation), smell, etc. come into play to add some much-needed definition and dimension to visual perception and oral tradition. In summary, Juhani Pallasmaa in The Eyes of the Skin proclaims that: "Architecture is the art of reconciliation between ourselves and the world, and this mediation takes place through the senses"- and by that he means all senses. Activating and utilizing all our senses as much as possible is the only way to create a new architecture that maps people and cities most effectively. Obinna Ekezie In interviewing Rita today, the thing that struck me the most was how she said that as a refugee,
you do not get to choose to come to a new land. You are forced to come to the new land. uprooting , leaving and settling in is not a choice, and is usually abrupt and sudden. Usually, your home is somewhere you go to as a shelter and safe space, but in this case she was fleeing her home to find shelter and safety. Prior to boarding the plane to Canada,she and her husband looked back and realized that once they leave they may never be able to return, and decided to make this huge life changing decision for the future of their son who was just 5 years old when they left. This resonated with me profoundly because as someone who is far from home, i cannot imagine not being able to go back home to see my family. Coming from a huge social network of friends, family and network, the thought of not being able to at least visit was fathomable. As such, to be able to make this huge decision and leave was very brave of them. In doing this they exhibited courage in the face of fear. Reading food, place and memory, the explanations and the interviews with the immigrants in Chicago also resonated with me because the book was able to put into words the feelings I experienced while living here. It also expressed explicitly how food has brought a sense of familiarity and culture for me. Place making is very important as it brings about a better sense of belonging and community. Even though meeting new people from diverse backgrounds is undoubtedy one of the best things to experience, the feeling of belonging to something and being able to identify with a community, especially one so familiar, I believe is an important part of any immigrant life that should never be taken for granted. Esther Ephraim-Osunde During today’s lecture and interview session, I gained new perspectives on multiple topics. The lecture in the morning was very dense in terms of interpreting mapping as far more than a 2-D drawing. Instead, it is a very subjective topic that can inform through multiple mediums, subjects, and perspectives. In addition, we think of mapping as a visual medium. But learning about sensory applications to the built environment, such as the sense of smelling, can produce interesting relationships and connections through a different lens. This lens can be transcribed into a map, that can link to ideas of time, place, context, and memory.
The afternoon was spent with our interviewee, which was a very inspiring experience. Although the focus of the interview was based on the Syrian cuisine, the general topic of food became a relatable subject that myself and my group members were all able to connect with. The topic of food is an international language. Our interviewee stated that food connects people together, and the art of enjoying something through taste, touch, and smell, can become a wonderful activity that everyone can enjoy. This resonated quite well with the lectures from today and yesterday. The amount of passion and joy that can come out of the art of cooking creates relationships and connections that brings people together. Today’s interview reminded me that taking time to sit down, give all my attention to someone else, and to truly listen to their story is very enriching. The person I interviewed today is a recent immigrant from Kazakhstan. We are both close in age but are from completely different backgrounds. Despite the differences, she made me realize the similarities we shared. We bonded over the topic of food and how traditional recipes can remind us of home and how food is a way to build connections. Although not as far, I too have moved recently and needed to adjust to a new home. When she told stories of her friends, family, and favourite places, I can understand the desire to feel comfort in the familiar. I admire the amount of changes she has overcome to date. Lastly, I can relate how the decision to move is for a greater purpose and I look forward to where it would bring us in the future.
Ashley Hu Growing up with a coffee snob, I understand the importance of the pursuit of the perfect bean. It must exude flavour, be potent in aroma, and abundant in experience. Simona searched high and low for 3 years, just as my father did, to uncover the sacred caffeine that runs rich through their veins. Both of their adventures ended with the delicious brew that can only be found in Calgary at Analog. The “Godfather” checks all of the boxes. Fulfilling both of their high standards of what an espresso should contain, with its notes of silky chocolate and caramel that produce the perfect crema, they fell head over heels. The coffee being evocative of memories of faraway lands, deepening the connection between mouth and soul, intrigued by the flavour’s ability to transport them to another place and time. The discovery allows both individuals to enjoy Analog’s coffee within the Calgary cityscape, within a sensory memoryscape, and within the comforting bounds of their own home.
Rhea Jenkins Throughout my experience in interviewing Alyona Drychkova allowed me to place myself in the perspective of her view of food and the city. It provided me a new outlook on how newcomers from different parts of the world to see the city of Calgary and the difficulties and hardships they may encounter and face. Food became one of the main source of comfort as it connected her back home, it also became a common topic of conversation that we all can relate to and understand. Trying new foods has opened her up to a different taste of culture and experiences in which she enjoys. An impactful story that has stuck with me was how she compared traditional Kazakhstan donut with the Tim Horton’s Boston Crème donut. She compared and contrasted it with her home country through taste and shape. Some parts of the donut reminded her of her home while there are also some clear differences. Through this conversation it showcases that different parts of the world define and sees things differently through a simple description a donut.
-Anonymous The dialogue produced today was extremely powerful and inspiring in terms of the exploration of life passions and endeavors. To speak with other people about what motivates and drives them to a much deeper and more personal level helped me to understand that one must listen very actively and attentively in the pursuit of knowledge. The conversations today proved a correlation between the importance of someones story and how that in turn influences who they want to be. In reflecting on how these realizations relate to my own life, it helped me to analyze my own story, and different as it may be, related that to the choices I’ve made and things that are most important as a part of my everyday. I felt very engaged with this discussion about culinary passions because it is something that I share: a desire to share my cooking with others. I was inspired by the approach of using food as a tool for disseminating culture, values, and personal interests. With this in mind, it really made me consider how food can impact the city. Since it seems to be a very strong way of reaching people, and something that all cultures and people can share in and appreciate, food is a way to engage with communities and learn more about individuals. Eating and cooking is so much more than what it seems. It is also a means of cultural expression, of exchange, of sharing, and of the production of dialogue between others. I think that was made very clear to me today.
Faith Lynch I knew even before listening to Simona speak that I would understand her on some level. Knowing that she is Romanian is a big deal to me since both my mother and my father are from Hungary and both countries share an extremely deep and emotional past. Simona has a burning passion in her voice that she expresses with pure confidence and she carries through her entire speech. I believe, like with all people who travel the world, are in search of many things on smaller and larger scales. Her stories of searching for the right coffee were more than just looking for a tasty beverage. On a larger scale, she spoke about leaving Romania behind in search of a new life and a desire to fulfill her passion in cooking and baking, which she didn’t fully realise until being reassured from her close friends. However, there is a certain “breath of air” that she still needed to fulfill. Something to remind her of home or maybe even just to remind her of the passion she has for freedom. And it could quite possibly be simply the taste of a perfect espresso. To me, it sounded like a lifestyle or a reason to be out in the city along with the sense of freedom. Simona left me wanting to hear more simply from the passion in her voice and the excitement to express herself.
Adam Majer In reading Arijit Sen’s article entitled Food, Place, and Memory: Bangladeshi Fish Stores on Devon Avenue, Chicago I was intrigued by the idea of palate’s memory. In particular, how the palate memory can be influenced and altered by the sustainable food practices of the home country. In the article he indicates that due to the overfishing of a particular fish in the Ganges plains of South Asia they have had to import and substitute this fish, resulting in a taste change of a particular dish. Therefore, the palate memory in diaspora, as studied in migrants in Chicago, can be closer to that of the original dish. It had never occurred to me that the traditional dishes else where in the world me be more accurate in taste of traditional dishes then that of their home country due to sustainable food practices. The memories and nostalgy of a food are based on something that does not exist today.
In an interview with Atiya Ashna she discussed an interesting perspective of the Covid pandemic regarding food security. She describes how the immigrant families of Calgary were severely impacted as they were already facing economic challenges which only worsened through the pandemic. They were forced to rely on food banks for sustenance which introduced further implications. The food provided by the food banks is primarily canned food and pasta which is not culturally appropriate for the immigrant families who in some cases did not even know how to the cook the food. In response to this problem the government, which rarely funds these organizations, stepped in to support these communities by providing food security. These newly created ethnic food banks provide specific items such as halal options. I found these issue eye opening as I would have never been aware or have seen these difficulties that others faced during the Covid pandemic. Mac McGinn With diverse lived experiences, immigrants who call Calgary home have a distinctly unique way of altering the way we reimagine the city of Calgary, its people, and its food culture. Jaya Dharan, who was born in India and later immigrated to Canada from Dubai, represents one of these many perspectives. Having been influenced by her past places of residence and her many travels, Jaya’s footprint on Calgary and interpretation of the local cuisine has been formulated by a wide array of cultural exposures to various people and places. While she has an adventurous palette and savours all types of food, more often than not, her preference is to stay home and enjoy a home-cooked meal put together by locally purchased ingredients and inspired by her many cultural encounters. Here a hybrid of past and present experiences come to fruition resulting in food production. Though Jaya’s voice is one of many, her story highlights how varied individual experiences create different venues for culinary experiences to take shape. For Jaya, being in the home she owns, in the country she immigrated to, and sharing culturally inspired dishes with the ones she loves, is one of the many way’s her “experiences, perceptions, and interactions” as Arijit Sen has said, shape her life and create “spatial imaginaries”.
Arijit Sen, “Food, Place, and Memory: Bangladeshi Fish Stores on Devon Avenue, Chicago,” Food and Foodways 24:1-2 (2016): 67-88 Hannah Mousek The conversation had with Manashri today was incredibly insightful in not only beginning to understand her journey and how food played a role in her immigration to from India to Canada, but also in my own reflection on my family’s journey to Canada. She was so passionate in the way she spoke about not only her immigration story, but about her passion surrounding sustainability and food. Manashri seems like such a positive light in her community and it really radiated during the interview. There were many points when she spoke, where I could draw parallels with the stories my parents have told me. While immigrant and refugee experiences are vastly different, feelings of uncertainty, a shaking of identity, and the emotional toll of having to reorient yourself in a culturally different space are all things felt by newcomers in any country. Manashri spoke extensively about the importance of food accessibility not only regarding food in general, but accessibility to culturally relatable foods as a way for people to feel connected to their home country in times of struggle. I feel like many of us can relate to this regardless of being born in Canada or not. Many of us with immigrant or refugee parents are likely used to eating foods they grew up with and know the recipes to. Once we leave home, it becomes apparent the importance of those foods which tie us back to our previous generations. I thought a lot about the readings, in particular Codestal’s Eating Abroad, Remembering Home where they speak about the role of food in reinforcing ties between migrant Ecuadorian workers and their families back home. Codestal speaks a lot about the importance of accessibility to familiar foods in not only creating community in other countries, but in maintaining a sense of community in Ecuador. In our interview today, a point was brought up about the value and importance of transportation and accessibility to these foods in Calgary. Unfortunately it can be difficult for people to find ingredients or restaurants especially in the older populations because of our underdeveloped transit system and urban sprawl. The needs and experiences of immigrants intertwined with the way our city develops becomes so complex and while there are many problems that come out of that, there are also moments of beauty that emerge as two different cultures come together.
Our interviewee, Jaya is a pleasant, warm and compassionate person who is originally from India. Jaya migrated to Canada from Dubai, where she spent about 15 years before which she lived in her home country. What was interesting was Jaya’s take on life and how she looked forward to opportunities and by putting behind her a pleasant past to look at. From her sharing the experiences, of 3 distinct places that she lived in, she had mammoth of experiences and stories to share. One of the stories that etched me in particular though is the struggles she went through recruitment when she migrated to Canada and how she sailed through the tough times by being optimist, progressive and never giving up on building a life she desired for herself and her family. It is indeed wonderful to realize and admire the hardships she went through have been put behind and the life she leads today is full of gratitude, contentment, and belief. A good take away was to see Calgary from the eyes of Jaya and it only seemed like a vibrant city with a glimpse of Indian culinary and culinary from around the world beating within, as Jaya fondly enjoys relishing then.
Rujuta Naik On interviewing the community partner today, we asked the volunteer to describe their experience in their home country, India, the bridging country, Dubai and the destination, Canada, and the response was Nostalgia, Formative and Peace respectfully. This response raises questions as the relations of immigrants in spaces in which they inhibit, and how those spaces could either act as a haven or only a means to an end. Dubai, arguably, the city of the 21st century, with its bustling city cores and highly sophisticated systems of everyday life, a city of opportunity one could describe, but regardless of this, certain obvious policies pertaining to temporary workers and no potential routes to citizenship create a temporary condition especially for immigrants or migrants searching for permanence or stability. The lack of grounding to a place from the inability to permanently purchase a home, to the continuous feeling of transience only made Dubai a means to an end for the community partner. Canada on the other hand offered a future, stability, a path towards being deeply rooted in a place, with opportunities to buy a home or enroll in a university or be able to see a future in the work she does. Taking aside policy differences between Dubai and Canada, the community partner also occasionally used descriptions of the place in terms of their architecture or city scape to distinguish what a home is. She generally saw a home as being quiet, peaceful, and an increased interaction with the neighbors, in contrast to Dubai which she explained as glit, new buildings, glamorous cars, ‘the biggest, tallest, widest, fattest everything, everything that ends in an est,’ and all the creature comforts which all signified a means to an end not home. Her response raises the question as to the description of home, how does a cityscape or the architecture of cities contribute to the feeling of home or even stability, or is this definition of home inbuilt into the past memories and knowledge of the individual who passes through the city, and hence based on personal perspective? If the former is the case how can we design an Architecture of Belonging? To hear my interviewee today was fascinating as it reminded me a little bit of my parents when
coming to this country. As a polish refugee, Margaret discussed her real life stories and her experience of opening up her own resettlement centre. This interview was so important to me as it taught me so much about survival and what it takes for an individual to become successful from being relocated in another part of the world. What I agree with is how she states that refugees that come to different parts of the world should have all equal rights. This statement is very important it does not matter about the type of ethnicity you are and that freedom and human rights should be distributed equally. Food is another topic we touched upon as it becomes a struggle for immigrants or refugees that relocate to a different part of the world. For Margaret to sense her way into Canada through the use of food was interesting to hear. It was her smell that guided her to understand the differentially of being in two different countries. Examples she states: The difference between warm and refrigerated milk, real and non ethnic Polish food, sensing the familiar and unfamiliar and thinking that Safeway was the only grocery store in the whole city. These type of experiences is what created a chain linked effect and for me to basically understand how two parts of the world with food is operated. I am thankful to have this interview and it was great experience for myself to be an interviewer and ask the many questions that I can propose within a span of an hour. For my interviewee to be energetic and to feel the positive energy within our conversation helped even more as it brought smiles to our faces when reminiscing through past experiences. Daniele Orsini Today was successful in our interview. We prepared the questions thoroughly and ensured the
order and conversation would flow but our interviewee was very friendly and natural during the process and it went better than expected. We were able to learn about her experience with Indian food in Calgary as well as how she has felt about trying different cuisines within the city and her ability to branch out and try food she would not have tried if she still lived in India. Additionally, this interview gave me a lot of perspective on how people access food and issues surrounding privilege due to the location of many Indian restaurants being in the North East and not many people being able to access the downtown restaurants if they are not in a certain income group. This also gave me perspective on why groups of restaurants are located within certain zones and the importance of access to those zones in order to accommodate additional groups and populations. After reviewing this interview we were able to see how we could start to map some of the locations she mentioned surrounding food for the future assignment. Natalie Sandelli Food is a universal language that any individual can relate to, it has the power to create communities and bring individuals together, no matter their culture or ethnicity. Whether it is cooking as a family or with friends and loved ones, food is a medium that binds strangers, that celebrates life and relationships. Such values are highly respected by Rita Khanchat Kallas, the community interlocutor. Making meals with love is often the essence of food, it is something that can be shared with everyone, where no form of bias can occur. It is through these shared experiences with strangers or loved ones that we can develop intimate relationships, and memories.
Certain aromas can transport us back in time to a memory that we dearly cherish; whether it is our childhood where your Mom is cooking your favourite meal in the kitchen, or family gatherings at festivals. Food is at the heart of our culture. No matter our ethnic backgrounds, every culture considers their daily meal preparations, whether it is cooking for just family, or friends and strangers. One of the more interesting conversations I feel we had today was around Tess
Richards’ presentation. I come from an architectural conservation and sustainability background. Something we’ve always been encouraged to do is to put the community we are serving first. In studios we were always encouraged to speak to community members and ask what they felt they needed or wanted. Often their feedback was very well balanced through all pillars of sustainability; environmental, economical, and cultural. I felt Tess’ presentation of her work yielded very similar results. Often, planners or designers think they know what a community needs to fix a “problem” but more often than not it has the opposite effect. Those who you are building for, who are actually using the spaces we create are who we should turn to to yield the best results, much like Tess and her group did. It’s amazing what we can discover about a city, neighbourhood, or community when we listen to what they need and conduct research and analysis accordingly. I really enjoyed conducting our oral history interviews today. Manashri was very outgoing, talkative, and had wonderful insights on how food can connect people and bring them comfort. She talked a lot about how food brought her and her husband comfort when they first moved to Canada, and how it is something they continue to connect on. She raised a lot of interesting points about how inaccessible food can be to certain groups of people, bringing up technological, linguistic, and accessibility barriers that many immigrants experience, especially those of older generations. I appreciated these first hand insights and the perspectives. Though I am unable to fully put myself in her shoes, hearing her thoughts around these issues have opened my eyes and will influence design decisions moving forward. I have never conducted an oral history interview before and this experience will help develop a valuable skill of being able to connect with community members, listen to their needs and opinions, and bring a new perspective to truly designing for the community you are serving. Erika Sieweke Today we did the interview. Our interlocutor was a wonderfully passionate woman named Atiya who was generous enough to share her story with us. At first she was unsure what four architecture masters were doing talking to her about ethnic food cultures in Calgary, but when we explained that our professional interest was in the process of discovery and the food aspect was simply a door way into understanding the community she quickly opened up. When the interview started told us she had a hard time talking about herself but she proceeded to tell us the most amazing stories. They were filled with conviction and an exuberance which drew us in to everything she had to say. While much of what she talked about was wonderful, and at moments even inspiring there were some challenges she related that were difficult to hear. It was in these moments my role as interrogator shifted. For most of the interview she made it easy, my job was only to listen, and to let myself get carried away with her words. However, but in those moments when the questions we asked or the thread of her stories would take us to challenging topics, I felt the unfamiliarity of having a complete stranger share her personal struggles with me. It was a situation I was both honored, and I’ll admit, terrified to be in. A particular moment that will stick with me from today is when she was talking about how her children love Biryani, but refuse to take it to school with them. He told of how the other student, their friends, would make fun of them for bringing curry. I was struck by the tragedy of how the friends of these young kids could not accept them who they are – making them feel ashamed for the things they like. Adding insult to injury, the kids don’t even get the ‘insult’ right. Biryani is anything but a curry. What really gets me about the situation though is that I’m still shocked by these things. I was struck afresh at how easy it is to look at the people around me and think that the bubble I live in is the norm and to view the happenings on the news as anomalous. Even when I know they are not. Hearing these things firsthand is still not an experience I’m at ease with. Hopefully I never will be. Still, what I think I will remember most is the passion that one woman has for the food which ties her family, community and the moments of her life together.
Robin Vindum Whitteker The marginalized human is a representation of the process in which we map them and show how they are located within time and space. Traditional mapping has been a way to display data traditionally but there are other ways to display information in ways that do not box human populations under criteria and divisions but rather are celebrated and uplifted. Cities themselves are mere congested populations of people. As architects it is easy to see cities as places of havens of structure, but without the people within them, there is no point to their existence. So by identifying people first and buildings second, information can be categorized in a way that shows an anthropocentric approach that puts the importance of humanity before that of tectonics. To arrange this information we must first find out who is included within the data and then we must organize it not by statistics but by the elements of human nature that define it, both individually and in a social and global context
There is a fundamental difficulty with embedded in the idea that a marginalized person could form the center. On it’s surface it seems like a noble goal, shifting society to form an ecosystem refocusing it to help those who have been left behind. By definition a marginalized system requires a center though and a center requires that there are people who are marginalized. So by shifting an ecosystem to center on the margins it only serves to create new margins and new marginalized people perpetuating the problem in a new context. Also an ecosystem is a complex system reliant on in built hierarchies of predation, which, in a human context may manifest as hierarchies of power. Perhaps the approach should be thought of more as an equilibrium. Additionally there is a problem with intersectionality
One way we can read a city is through access. Who can access spaces and when. What are the types a space that get created what are their intended uses. What are their actual uses. As and example: public space intended for festive gatherings is only ever occasionally used. What might that same specialized space be used for at other times? Who gets to access such an amenity, both structurally and informally what are the barriers to entry or use? The answers to these questions and speak volumes about those who created the space and those who enforce or re-enforce it. Tacit knowledge is an extremely challenging thing to expose. One method might be to provide those who have it with the opportunity to try and share it. But such knowledge is always so context dependant. Tacit knowledge of the right kind of fish to do a fish fry which would be different from the tacit knowledge of correct social behaviour, these in turn would require a different approach than and understanding of safe spaces. The commonality is the human interpretation, the subjective, and sometimes transient, valuation of material context. This suggests that interviews, perhaps cross referenced might be the best way to draw out tacit knowledge. That being said, by its nature it may not be possible to fully expose. Like describing what its like to see the colour red, some knowledge, no matter how simple cannot be shared. 1. What would an eco system look like if you consider the marginalized human at it’s center?
This was a difficult question to digest because it is very difficult to define or categorize a marginalized group. It can manifest or materialize in many different ways. Viewing the city or an ecosystem through a marginalized group’s perspective or scope would guide how it would look. Their stories and perspectives are often ignored, causing an inequality. One of my group members mentioned that marginalized groups are not included in the built environment, there is something that is inhibiting them from being reflected in an ecosystem. We also discussed that there is a possibility that there are multiple different marginalized groups, so how do you choose which lens to put at the center? This sparked me to think that maybe an ecosystem that puts marginalized humans at its center is one that allows everyone to fully express themselves, there is nothing that inhibits anyone from doing so. 2. How do you read a city? What kind of data do you need to collect? Many of the readings mentioned rhythms of the city and that observing these rhythms in their proper context revealed many layers of a city. How is the city being activated by these rhythms? I think that you can read a city however you choose to, and you would collect certain data based on this. For example, Rebecca Solnit mentioned that one of her students was feeling very homesick, so she suggested he map the city from a lens of his native country. He pulled out all the products that were made in China, all of the Asian restaurants, etc. He chose to read the city from a specific lens and was able to pull data accordingly. I also think about our current studio project as another example of this. Our entire year is doing a “Museum of the City” and everyone has chosen to do vastly different things. We have all chosen to reveal and discover certain things about this city and they are all different. This could definitely be derived from our personal biases, emotions, or interests. 3. How do you organize or sort this information in order to convert tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge? My initial thought when reading this question was that tacit knowledge is different for everyone. Because of this you would either must pick a specific audience or assume that nothing is obvious to anyone. Someone in my group mentioned that using statistics could be a way to shape a narrative but I think that doing that could still leave some groups out, even though statistics are supposed to be objective. I also think it is very important to display knowledge in way that is universal. Something that is visual and can speak to everyone no matter what language they speak is very important, or something that is displayed in multiple medias so it can reach anyone regardless of their language, or abilities. If this is done well, the knowledge can be universally understood and can transcend time. |
AuthorCalgary Archives is a collaborative creation of community members and architecture students at the University of Calgary. The stories and reflections posted here are written by the student participants. ReflectionsCategories |