Beneath the pines: rebuilding the natural image of Sudbury through alternative residential development strategies.

Abstract

Sudbury Ontario has been host to to innumerable extraordinary events, both natural and man-made, that have created polarizing perspectives of the natural. The relatively short 140-year history of white settlement in the Sudbury area at the hands of industrialists has seen the scarring of a unique and geologically rich landscape composed over billions of years which has contributed to an uncertain image of the city, a loss of northern identity, and more generally, an image that does not reflect the spirit of the place of the people that reside inhabit the area. More recently, the suburbanization of Sudbury has further alienated the concept place and identity through the quick development of sub-divisions complete with foreign concepts of living in manufactured landscapes. The thesis explores the relatively short history of settlement within the natural landscapes of Sudbury and how it can inform strategies for the slow development of architecture that is distinctly of the place and of the people. The study of the morphology around Ramsey Lake informs new strategies for the public stewardships of important natural contributors to the image of the city. The thesis questions how alternative strategies for community building united by strong and formalized position of stewardship, can be formalized into new architectural typologies that contribute to the natural image of the city. Ultimately, a scarred image of the city has emerged and as the mining industry slows, and arguments against suburbanization strengthen, the thesis explores how individuals can reclaim a sense of ownership in the development of the image of the city through thoughtfully considered individual dwellings united by a collective focus of sensitive growth in tune with that of the natural landscape. Since the permanent settlements in the Sudbury area, industrialization have damaged the natural image of the city to the point where descriptions and pictures of the ancient landscapes only live in the imagination. This is a story of understanding the humans place within the timeline of history and serves to create new perspective of development in the naturally rich landscapes of Sudbury. There is a beauty of the Sudbury landscape, a beauty worth preserving through the oil paints of the Group of Seven that lies under scars of industry.