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?














































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