Immigrant landscapes: architecture in the age of migration

Abstract

North American cities are being transformed both architecturally and culturally by migration, yet their infrastructure is often too standardized and homogenous to accommodate diversity. Using the City of Sudbury as an example, this thesis imagines an Immigration Support Centre that repositions the relationship between the people, ethnicity and place. Rather than assuming migration only happens in bigger centres this thesis addresses the desire for a local community to attract newcomers to a Northern city. This brings to light the need to provide cities with inclusive designs that can welcome. Now more than ever, architects and designers are faced with the problem of designing for diverse people. What if, instead of favoring spatial homogenization and cultural assimilation, we start from the premise of cultural diversity in architecture as crucial to humanity? Although this thesis aims to provide an architectural project for Sudbury, it is intended to be a framework of research that may be applied to other cities regardless of size.