Ivy Chan
Places of Refuge. Finding Home in Toronto
This project examines a genealogy of commons related to the
domestic spaces of two very isolated communities: aging seniors
and unaccompanied refugee children. These communities are often
overlooked, and they both suffer from chronic loneliness and social
alienation. I propose retirement communities as a starting
point of an urban strategy for fostering engagement between seniors
and refugee minors.
I'm interested in the agency of architecture to engage with social groups that are often isolated, overlooked or forgotten, supporting their space of appearance, need for shelter, and commons. Specifically, aging seniors in retirement homes and unaccompanied refugee children. How can we bring together these two communities that suffer from chronic loneliness and give them an opportunity to connect and learn from one another? Can we use established retirement communities as a starting point to integrate a foundation where by we can build facilities and homes for unaccompanied children to foster their growth allowing them to feel safe to connect to the community around them?
I'm interested in the agency of architecture to engage with social groups that are often isolated, overlooked or forgotten, supporting their space of appearance, need for shelter, and commons. Specifically, aging seniors in retirement homes and unaccompanied refugee children. How can we bring together these two communities that suffer from chronic loneliness and give them an opportunity to connect and learn from one another? Can we use established retirement communities as a starting point to integrate a foundation where by we can build facilities and homes for unaccompanied children to foster their growth allowing them to feel safe to connect to the community around them?
© Archipelago Studio 2020 @ the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, University of Toronto.