Lessons from the land: how Northern Ontario architecture can be Influenced by land-based Learning

Abstract

Health and well-being are a relationship that can be explored through the Land. Understanding this connection is something the Indigenous peoples living in Canada have been doing for thousands of years. Analyzing the social determinants of health in urban and rural communities, the work conducted tries to rekindle ancestral knowledge to create a strong relation to the Land using a series of reciprocal connections with various members of the community of Sudbury. Utilizing three main stakeholders: Conservation Sudbury, professionals at Laurentian University, and Indigenous scholars, the process undertook a bottom-up approach to design that fulfils as much of the community’s needs and wants as possible. Located on the Lake Laurentian Conservation Area, the proposed project aims to bring small-scale architectural interventions along various trail segments to encourage experiential education and Land-based learning to ultimately increase peoples’ health and well-being.