Culture Talks: Art, Architecture, the Public Realm and Social Infrastructure

Culture Talks:
Art, Architecture, the Public Realm and Social Infrastructure

Featuring Calvin Brook and Ryan Gorrie of Brook McIlroy Architects

Culture Talks continues conversations between artists, architects, designers, city builders and urbanists, shining a light on exemplary buildings, public art.

Brook McIlroy Architects approach design and planning from a broad, holistic perspective. As architects, landscape architects, planners, and urban designers it was the only way they felt they could address the complexity of communities, cities and the diverse, interconnected natural and human-made ecologies that we inhabit. Working in the medium of the built and natural environments they create environments where people can prosper and thrive while protecting the land, water, air and the other species that make life possible. Their work is driven by a uniquely Canadian design ethos derived from research into place, diverse cultures, Indigenous world views, sustainability, natural materials, and the application of new technologies. They hold offices in Toronto, Thunder Bay and Winnipeg.

Calvin Brook is an architect, urban designer and planner and co-founder of Brook McIlroy. His practice merges the fields of urbanism, architecture and landscape through projects that touch all scales of place making. A key focus of his practice is through collaborations with the firm’s Indigenous architects and interns through the Indigenous Design Studio.

Ryan Gorrie is a key member of the design team for the award-winning Spirit Garden in Thunder Bay and leads the Indigenous Design Studio. Ryan is a member of Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabek (Sand Point First Nation on Lake Nipigon) and strives to ensure the perpetuation of Indigenous culture through creative opportunities ranging from the crafting of traditional items for ceremonial use to large-scale landmark architecture. His work was showcased in UNCEDED: Voices of the Land at the Venice Biennale along with the work of 17 other Indigenous architects and designers across Turtle Island.

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Imagery courtesy of the speakers.