On March 13^th and 14^th, Associate Professor Liat Margolis participated in a “think tank” design charrette hosted by MIT’s Center for Advanced Urbanism as part of the Future of Suburbia biennial. The workshop was one of five design charrettes that centred around the biennial's theme.

Margolis participated in the workshop "Home on the Range: Preserving the Value of Public Lands Through Suburban Subdivision Development," which explored how urban design can address the fact that a majority of growth occurring in metropolitan areas happens in the suburbs. Other participants in this workshop included Peter Arnold (Arid Lands Institute), Dennis Frenchman (MIT), Ted Nelson (Newland Real Estate Group), and Fred Turnier (City of Reno), with Mary Anne Ocampo (MIT) acting as moderator.

The biennial will conclude in April 2016 with a major conference and exhibition. A number of lectures, courses, design charrettes, and other events exploring the future of of the suburbs will be held up until that date. In 2016, the Centre for Advanced Urbanism plans to deliver three major "products:"

“The first product will be a published book, which will be a defining tome on suburban issues, including but not limited to the following topics on suburban development around the world: design, architecture, landscape and planning, history and demographics, social justice and familial trends, policy, energy, mobility, health, environment, economics, applied and future technologies. Approximately 30 contributing essays will explore suburban conditions throughout the world and speculate on their future.

 

The second product will be a traveling exhibition that will open at MIT in April 2016 to coincide with the biennial conference. The exhibition will feature about a half-dozen large scaled models of future suburbias, which will be designed by faculty, students, and global experts who convene at MIT for “think tank” design charettes throughout AY 2014-2015.

 

The third product will be a conference held in spring 2016 at MIT’s Media Lab entitled “The Future of Suburbia,” which will be organized over two days: the first day will feature closed sessions with high level working groups from CAU industry partnerships; the second day will be a public program with lecturers invited from the book’s list of contributing authors. Each day will feature one keynote address”

Liat Margolis is a landscape architect, researcher and Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture at the Daniels Faculty at the University of Toronto. Professor Margolis’ research focuses on how to better track and improve the performance of green roofs and green walls in Canadian urban environments. She is the Principle Investigator of the Green Roof Innovation Testing Laboratory (GRIT Lab), an award-winning facility on the roof of the Daniels Faculty at 230 College Street in Toronto.

For more information on the Future of Suburbia biennial, visit: http://cau.mit.edu/overview/biennial-theme

Related:

• Professor Liat Margolis joins Sustainable Canada Dialogues at the People's Climate Forum on Sept. 21
• Professor Liat Margolis and Dean Richard Sommer featured in new U of T Cities podcast series
• Professor Liat Margolis keynote speaker at Materials Education and Research in Art and Design Symposium at RISD
• Prof. Liat Margolis to present at book launch in New York, Feb 1
• Liat Margolis named one of the 54 people who made Toronto better this year