PIMRAVEE PORTFOLIO

Do You Remember?

Academic Work (Winter, 2023) • Site, Matter, Ecology, and Indigenous Storywork

University of Toronto • Advisor: Adrian Phiffer • Partners: Harkirat C.

Spread under pre-existing and imposing settler beliefs and convictions, indigenous knowledge and understanding has become muddled. Our proposal for the Indigenous Center of Excellence aims to direct visitors through a split and an ultimate blurring of boundaries, allowing for the action of questioning the relationship between settler-imposed notions of indigenous knowledge and culture. Sheltering the whole site, the double canopy blurs the distinctions between inside and outside, situating the Center of Excellence in an in-between space. The in-betweenness of the space created also helps create a variety of different ecological and microclimates. Controlled by the canopy height, ground conditions, moisture, temperature, and lighting conditions, the spaces created under the canopies vary throughout the site and develop over time. While landscaping was originally composed of a select variety of plants, over time natural sporadic urban planting would occur and begin the process of growth and learning.