Dalhousie School of Architecture is one of the only architecture programs in Canada that integrates theory with practice in a school setting. Each winter semester, the professional practice course is condensed into an intensive one-week extravaganza featuring lectures, seminars, modules, workshops, and discussions led by Dalhousie professors and guest architects alike.

This year’s theme was “Leadership and Advocacy” and its role in the architecture community. Guest lecturers from all over the [Western] world came to talk about their work and philosophies, after which discussion panels were led on stage. Students also had a chance to talk with architects individually and ask any questions they might have.

In addition, every class was assigned a different assignment-based module: The B2’s got to visit a number of construction sites around the city and learn about technical details as well as various construction processes. The B5’s were involved in a costing module and tasked with the challenge of reworking a (theoretical) building design proposal whose budget had been cut by $2.8 Million. And the M6 class got to learn all about codes - oh fun!

Another exciting activity had the B5’s showcase posters of their B4 work term experiences and share this with the B2 class. This way, the B2 class not only gets valuable advice from their seniors, but can also begin considering where they would like to do their work term placements, which creep up surprisingly fast!

In summary, the whole week was a densely-packed ball of knowledge about the realities of architecture and practice outside of school. As one architect on the construction site had said: “School is only 25% of what you actually apply in the job”.

P.S. There was a well-deserved party hosted after this intense week - time for some chocolate cake!

Here is the list of guest lecturers Dalhousie has hosted over the last semester:

05 March - John Leroux - Author of Glorious Light. Offered stunning examples of stained glass windows in architecture of the Maritimes.

06 March - Christine Macy - Dean at Dalhousie School of Architecture and author of Dams. Gave a lecture entitled: “From Mining to Hydropower in the American West.”

09 March - Yves de Fontenay and Hubert Pelletier - Principal architects at Pelletier de Fontenay. Talked about both research and commission work, including interesting methods of (formal) idea generation in architecture.

12 March - Gair Williamson - Principal architect at Gair Williamson Architects.

29 March - Roger Connah - Director at Carleton University School of Architecture. Read from several of his written works and talked about how poetry and writing relate to architecture.

29 March - Gregory Burgess - Principal architect at Gregory Burgess Architects.

02 April - Taymoore Balbaa - Principal architect at Taymoore Balbaa Design Studio.

02 April - Adam Yarinsky - Principal architect at ARO.

03 April - William Tate - Principal architect and professor at Umbau School of Architecture. Talked about his experiences teaching architecture, as well as the elements of discovery and exploration in a proper architectural education.

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Our very own Christine Macy!

Aside from the usual late nights spent hard at work in the studio, this fall Dalhousie Architecture students had a chance to participate in several very exciting events:

1. 50:50 Vision of Halifax: Celebrating 50 years of architecture and planning education in Nova Scotia

This three-day event kicked off on October 18 with Capital Conversations, a public dialogue and open discussion on future capital planning in Ottawa and Halifax. On day two, students were joined by design professionals and urban planners alike in an all-day brainstorming session on what Halifax might be like fifty years from now. Topics included: accessibility, heritage and modernization, greening the city, neighbourhoods of the future, the waterfront, and zero-net energy development. The last day featured an exhibit that looked at the fifty years since the establishment of the architecture program at the Nova Scotia Technical College in 1961, as well as up with presentations of “future Halifax” from the day before. The event concluded with awards for the most innovative groups.

2. Lecture Series: Catherine Mosbach on “Building a Landscape”

Catherine Mosbach, a renowned French landscape architect, was invited by the Dalhousie ASA to give a lecture on her work. She talked about several of her projects, including the Taichung Gateway Park and the Musee Park Louvre Lens. It was fascinating to hear about such large-scale work and its evolution over time, as well as the literally hundreds of design considerations that go into designing park systems and man-made landscapes.

3. Parade of Lights 2011

Following the annual tradition, architecture students gathered to brainstorm the design entry for the November 19 Parade of Lights celebration. This year: Giant glowing balls of awesomeness. With the help of our friends the engineers, we managed to plan and build several of these lightweight structures clad in a variety of translucent materials. In addition, we decided not to use motor transportation and instead pulled our floats through the streets of Halifax using only bicycles. The result? A glowing delight that earned first place out of more than fifty entrees!