DDes Research

The Doctor of Design is a post-professional program for mid-career design practitioners.

The School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape at the University of Calgary offers Canada's first online, design-based doctoral degree. The DDes is a unique three-year program for architects, landscape architects and planners who want to leverage their expertise in a specific topic area into an innovation with real-world impact. The following works are examples of the research projects by the Doctor of Design students.

Despite massive declines in established area population, school closures, and recreation facility reductions; the reality that welcoming new growth into neighbourhoods has been wildly contentious and often considered at the expense of community ‘character’ and in opposition with community stability.

In March 2021, Calgary City Council hosted their longest public hearing in the City’s history, focusing on the first tools introduced to help modernize Calgary’s local area planning; The Guidebook for Great Communities (later renamed The Guide for Local Area Planning) and the North Hill Local Area Plan. Reactions to this work were highly charged; social media was messy, and some local communities organized together to fight against these tools with whatever means necessary. In reflection, were these acts clever populist tactics aimed to polarize us vs. them? Were communities caught off-guard and feeling attacked by The City’s proposals? How can local area planning use community momentum to garner participation in the process instead of against? 

This research examined shared accountability between the public and The City and considered planning within a co-design/ co-vested model of community growth and change, rather than reactionary. It focused attention on pilot and pivot strategies, as well as examining who we need to be as practitioners to do this work.

The Handbook for Community Connection- A Practitioners Guide to Creating Empathy in Community Planning has been developed to purposefully provide a series of tools to explore community co-design and harness the community’s emotional knowledge into future planning approaches.

Walking as a method for Improving Practice
Micheal Williamson | Landscape Architecture | Alberta, Canada | Class of ‘23

It is here, in which I am presenting the design processes, works, and projects that ground this research. While it is my practice which grounds the research, the process by which I have used to find my way through the process is primarily though walking – both in the physical world and within my own minds imagination.

The process of walking as a means of traveling through my case studies may be considered uncommon – or, minimally not considered a traditional methodology for research. However, I view the idea (the plan, the methodology) of walking as one to initiate my own reflections through purposely illustrating a journey. This forces me to consider where I am going, and what has influenced the journey’s components and decisions for trip decisions (starting, stopping, taking breaks, re-routing, reading signs, etc.). I see the walk as something more about deep-reflection, conscious observations, and purposeful discovery. All resulting in ways and approaches toward entry points around experimentation within my practice.

Although it should be noted that the idea of mapping my journey is not directly related to Health and Landscape, nor is it necessarily imperative to be an effective Landscape Architect. Rather, it is about the discovery and exploration of practice-led design approach to establishing a research methodology. The hope is that the mapped journeys can be interpreted as one component of what will ultimately be my investigation into the business of big business – from the perspective of an individual who doesn’t have company oversight.

The development of the walking journey maps involves the act of illustrating my practice, and then analyzing the routing and purpose of the discoveries. The utility of these journeys is around the ideas of experience, exploration, and ideology. In a sense, the past, present, and futures which help acknowledge and identify where we came from and where we might be going – The situatedness of the walk.

Within this framework, my strategy involves communicating my walking journeys – illustrating my theoretical framework for prospective works. The project considers these journeys as imperative to the product. Illustrating both the proposed project and subsequent reflections on the outcome of the walking. Beyond these illustrations, the project attempts to communicate the space between the ‘idea’ and the ‘product’. Meaning that this is attempting to articulate my processes of design and reflection – concluding with a creative project which situates the trail head which points toward a subsequent journey for the practice. 

A Framework to Address Anti-Black Racism in Housing  and Homelessness
Marie Cecile Kotyk | Planning | Alberta, Canada | Class of '24

Black history in Canada consists of racial inequities deeply rooted in a colonial legacy of legalized slavery, dispossession, racial segregation, and discriminatory practices. This history is directly related to the current social inequities experienced by Black people today due to Canada being a former British colony with colonial government systems, institutions, and approaches that were never changed. The pervasiveness of anti-Black racism throughout society and in government policies, systems, and institutions has compounded the intersecting factors that Black people experience. The continuation of the euro-centric colonial approaches has disregarded Black people’s distinctive needs, creating unsuccessful solutions and further marginalizing Black communities. This is demonstrated by the lack of homelessness data collection on specific ethnic groups in Point-in-Time Counts; Black people have been lumped in with other racialized groups, often categorized as monolithic “Other” or “Unknown” groups. This eliminates possible interventions specifically targeted toward addressing the distinctive needs of Black people. 

Given the history of Black people in Canada and the complexities perpetuating their experiences with homelessness and housing hardships, Cecile’s research focuses on developing a framework to address anti-Black racism in the housing and homelessness sector. The framework will be applied to proposed and current housing and homelessness policies and programs to identify where they can be discriminatory and adversely impact Black people. Furthermore, this research aims to affirm Black experiences and elevate the voices of Black people to bring awareness to the need for Black inclusion and targeted interventions to address the housing hardships experienced by Black communities.  

I started with a research problem that was rooted in food & architecture. Is architecture complementary to food production?  

Permaculture, as the design and development of agricultural ecosystems, is intended to be sustainable and self-sufficient. What can I learn from this agricultural context that would change how we design architecture?

The values in my design practice align with the approach to permaculture, specifically; mutual beneficial synergies, a multidisciplinary toolbox, conscious design, diversity, stability and resilience, harmonious integration, thoughtful observation, allowing systems to demonstrate their own evolutions, ethical training, and seeing potential.

These questions came out of an examination of my own practice. Compared to the challenges we are facing with climate adaptation, the traditional approach to architecture doesn’t fit anymore, it isn’t improving our community’s self-reliance or independence or food security.

Permaculture is a design theory approach, and I think it will broaden the conversation about what is a northern architecture. I would like to focus on agriculture, farming, agri-food systems and food sovereignty, with unique solutions that are currently working in the North. 

Within the confines of the current practice model, I found the disheartening transformation of architects into passive recipients troubling. As architects, celebrated for our boundless innovation and creativity, it perplexes me that we often falter in effecting transformative change that truly benefits society. This disquietude grew more pronounced during my building science master's program, where I immersed myself in exploring the energy efficiency of low-rise retail strip plazas. Simultaneously, I became enthralled by the detrimental impact of gentrification on cities and communities. This captivation ignited a fervent desire within me to actively intervene as a practicing architect, presenting a compelling alternative model that addresses the negative aspects of gentrification head-on.

In my pursuit to challenge the prevailing practice model, I am committed to presenting an alternative approach that boldly confronts a multitude of pressing challenges. These challenges encompass severe housing shortages, the alarming escalation of rents resulting in increased evictions, and the distressing neglect of the urban, cultural, and environmental worth intrinsic to gentrified neighborhoods. Central to this transformative endeavor is a novel practice model that wholeheartedly embraces the immense potential for revitalizing strip plazas while safeguarding their invaluable social, cultural, and economic contributions. This paradigm shift resonates harmoniously with the resounding call for addressing environmental challenges and embracing sustainability as paramount guiding principles.

My research revolves around tackling the fragilities of strip plazas and their community context as the central premise. These fragilities serve as the gateway to innovative and sustainable solutions that counteract the gentrification model. By comprehending the social, economic, and physical barriers hindering the integration of these plazas in the revitalization process, we can establish a robust framework within the practice model for their densification. In this context, the term "fragilities" encompasses both limitations and opportunities, liabilities as well as assets. Through a deep understanding of these fragilities, my research aims to lay a solid foundation for transforming strip plazas into vibrant community placemakers, thriving mixed-use developments, and catalysts for diverse and lively small retail typologies.

Priyanka Bista | Architecture | Nepal/United States | Class of ‘24

As an individual trained in architecture turned participatory designer, I was introduced to biodiversity issues and crises not in an academic setting or even in the western context but rather in a village on the ground in Nepal. In 2016, I was introduced to the crisis of pangolins, a scaly anteater with an evolutionary history of 50-55 million years. Much like the rest of the world, this species, found in Yangshila, a village in Eastern Nepal, faced possible extinction.

In response to this crisis, along with local elders, youth, and community members, we launched a series of educational workshops, outdoor classes, media outputs, and small-scale interventions. However, over the last five years, I have seen how poachers can turn into conservationists, young men and women can turn into pangolin conservation leaders, and even children can turn into monitors of pangolin habitats. And so, I've learned that if we provide space, support structure, and time, we can engage the curiosities of local people; they will not only participate but steward conservation efforts in their communities.

An inclusive approach to economic growth needs to recognize, validate and integrate the working poor in the informal economy.

Cities must support informal workers by modifying urban design, zoning laws, and policies to take the working poor into account in order to minimise urban poverty. Additionally, participants among the working poor must be heard during urban planning procedures.

Cities that acknowledge and include informal workers in all aspects of development will be cleaner, greener, and more socially sensitive. It is imperative that a framework or process be put in place which will address the exclusivity being experienced by the informal economy.