Connection to a Vanishing Land in the face of Climate Change awarded 2010 Cohos Evamy Scholarship in honour of Michael Evamy

Cohos Evamy integratedesignTM and the Michael Evamy Board of Trustees has announced that Shannon Wiley has been awarded the 2010 Cohos Evamy Scholarship in honor of Michael Evamy. Shannon Wiley, a Master of Architecture student at University of Toronto’s John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, is receiving the award based on her impressive submission entitled “Maintaining a Connection to a Vanishing Land: Reconstituting the Village as Climate Change Transforms the Arctic Landscape.” 
 
In her submission, Shannon states that “…for those that do know and respect the North, the Arctic landscape exists not as void, but as provider. The Inupiat of Alaska have subsisted in the Arctic for thousands of years because of a common memory of adaptation, stewardship, and inventiveness.” She goes to explain that despite the Inupiat’s responsible subsistence living, they “are living in one of the areas of the world that is now most affected by climate change.” 
 
Shannon proposes to research the issues of community disruption resulting from climate change as well as the worldview of the Inupiat people for the purpose of developing a framework for conceiving of a reconstituted village.  As part of her research, Shannon plans to visit the Alaskan communities of Shishmaref and Kivalina. In addition, she has plans to attain northern climate design and building experience through a planned work term in Oslo, Norway.
 
Upon completion of her research, Shannon will prepare a summary of her findings for public presentation. Scheduled lectures are anticipated to take place in the spring of 2011.
 
This year’s selection committee was greatly impressed by the quality of the submissions and the strength of the ideas. The submissions ranged from the exploration of enhancing ecological behaviour through responsive environments, to designing new tools that combine old and new technologies to support the architectural design process, to investigating sustainable architecture through a performative process that aims to produce an interactive experience for uses. 
 
Awarded annually since 1998, the Cohos Evamy Scholarship programme in Honour of Michael Evamy is in its twelfth successful year. Established in memory of Michael Evamy, a founding partner instrumental in building Cohos Evamy’s practice from 1966 to 1993, the award provides financial assistance to a Canadian student attending a Canadian School of Architecture in the year prior to his/her final year of study. The scholarship allows the recipient to undertake a research project based on a field of study of personal interest. The intent of the research is to enrich and advance the recipient’s personal and professional experience and knowledge on a topic relevant to the practice of Architecture.

For more information visit www.cohos-evamy.com
 
 
Previous Recipients:
2009 – MATTHEW BEALL University of British Columbia’s School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture
2008 – DANIEL RABIN University of Toronto, School of Architecture, Landscape & Design
2007 -  KELLY NELSON DORAN University of Toronto, School of Architecture, Landscape & Design
2006 – GRAEME STEWART University of Toronto, School of Architecture, Landscape & Design
2005 – MANSON FUNG University of British Columbia, School of Architecture
2004 – STEVEN CHODORIWSKY University of Waterloo, School of Architecture
2003 – NAZIA AFTAB McGill University, School of Architecture
2002 – ALISON WOLANSKI University of Waterloo, School of Architecture
2001 – THEODORE SANDSTRA University of British Columbia, School of Architecture
2000 – IAN DOUGLAS University of Toronto, School of Architecture, Landscape & Design
1999 – CAMERON TURVEY University of Toronto, School of Architecture, Landscape & Design