No.9 is an arts organization that uses art and design to bring awareness to environmental concerns. They deliver programs in schools and in the public domain designed to encourage the use of creative thinking to resolve environmental issues and to promote a sustainable lifestyle.
Imagining My Sustainable City is inspired by the special places and unique character of Toronto’s diverse communities. No.9, in collaboration with the Toronto District School Board, is introducing one Grade 7 class in each of Toronto’s 44 Wards to a four-day sustainable urban planning and architectural design program.
Students and their teachers work with two professional architectural educators to create sustainable urban design and architectural projects. With the assistance of these professionals, students study the components of a city by going on a neighbourhood walk to observe and document the existing systems in their own communities. In the first phase of the program, the students are introduced to ways that make a city more sustainable and develop an urban plan for their neighbourhood. The urban plan that is created informs the type of architectural design solutions the students explore in the second phase of the program.
Students draw up their ideas and participate in building a collaborative scale model incorporating their design solutions into their chosen site. Photography, writing, collaborative brainstorming and oral presentations further assist to articulate the students’ visions.
The goal of this project is to collaborate with the Toronto District School Board and its teachers to infuse the real world interdisciplinary aspects of the architectural profession with the required Grade 7 curriculum and providing additional eco-literacy learning in the classroom.
Join No.9 as one of the architectural educators in the classroom by volunteering, and earn up to 25 hours of structured and unstructured continuing education credits. Participate in a short training session in September 2013 before joining them for one to four days in the classroom.
Please contact [email protected] for details, or visit www.no9.ca.