Groundwork is a three-part film and exhibition series exploring the conceptual development and field research of contemporary architects cultivating alternative modes of engagement with new project sites. Using documentary as a curatorial tool, the CCA will take a critical look at how designers across diverse geographies and contexts engage with their environments in preliminary phases of projects. In doing so, thinking processes, research, and stages of transformation will be highlighted as revelatory aspects of architectural work that help to deepen our understanding of new critical modes of practice and engagement. In light of the ecological crisis, the project questions how different architects situate themselves in relation to changing natural and disciplinary boundaries.

The exhibition is on from now until September 14, 2025.

For more information, click here.

Kiyoshi Izumi is the earliest known Canadian architect of Japanese descent. His design firm Izumi Arnott and Sugiyama was responsible for many important civic buildings in Saskatchewan during the 15 years of its existence from 1954 to 1969. Born in Vancouver, British Columbia to Japanese immigrant parents, Izumi’s personal journey from Vancouver to Regina following the introduction of Canada’s War Measures Act in 1942 is remarkable. He avoided the internment camps of British Columbia and settled in Regina with the aid of its small Japanese Canadian community. He went on to become one of the brightest graduates from the School of Architecture at the University of Manitoba in 1948, a testament to his perseverance.

The exhibition will run from September 12, 2024, to January 19, 2025.

For more information, click here.