Reconciliation in Action – VCC Indigezining The Urban Built Environment
When Vancouver Community College (VCC) began planning its new Center for Clean Energy and Automotive Innovation at its Broadway campus in Vancouver, BC, they turned to Ginger Gosnell-Myers and Cory Douglas to help ensure that Indigenous knowledge be incorporated every step of the way.
Cory Douglas, David Wells, Ginger Gosnell-Myers and Ian Humphreys at the 2023 Indigenous Partnerships Success Showcase.
Gosnell-Myers, an urban planner of Nisga'a and Kwakwak'awakw heritage, and Douglas, an architectural designer and member of the Squamish Nation, are cultural advisors contracted by VCC to help build the institution’s capacity to collaboratively engage local First Nations in decision-making.
VCC, British Columbia’s oldest public postsecondary institution, has had a campus in downtown Vancouver since 1880; the Broadway campus has existed since 1890. However, as David Wells, VCC’s Vice President Academic & Applied Research notes, “The lands that we exist on have a history much beyond that, much more important.”
As part of the new development’s planning process, Gosnell-Myers and Douglas created an Indigenization User Group that included key VCC staff along with the architect and design teams. They hosted a workshop with knowledge keepers from the local Squamish, Musqueam and Tsleil-Waututh Nations, on whose traditional territories VCC is located. They also arranged a session with Tsleil-Waututh Councilor Charlene Aleck and Squamish Nation Hereditary Chief Ian Campbell, who shared Indigenous maps of the area showing historic village sites, place names, water and land usage, plants, animals, legends, and ceremonies.
“What we've learned is that Vancouver Community College is situated on a place that we kind of call Great Northern Way Corridor, but it had a place name that was very ancient,” says Gosnell-Myers. “Its name was Skwachàys. It was a place of spiritual and cultural significance. There are many stories from each of the Nations attached to Skwachàys.”
For the Indigenization User Group, learning about the historical traditions of the land emphasized the importance of reflecting and respecting those traditions in the overall design of the new building. The resulting preliminary design is a modern take on three elements important to the Coast Salish peoples—the land, the water, and the canoe—using construction materials in innovative ways.
Drawing Change Illustration by Erica Bota.
“When we think about incorporating indigeneity into buildings, into architecture, we're primarily thinking about putting a mural on the side of a wall and calling it a day,” says Gosnell-Myers. “And we forget that there are number of other processes involved in understanding the history of this land and the connection that Indigenous peoples have to the land. Not only that, but the role that all of us play in ensuring that transmission of knowledge from generation to the next generation is incorporated. Because every time we tell a story, we're defeating the purposes of the residential school system. And so, putting a mural on the side of a wall and calling it a day isn't contributing to reconciliation in a way that we need.
“What we did is that we took a contemporary view of how we look at indigenizing the building. It's a conversation starter. Indigenous knowledge doesn't need to be relegated to past built forms. We are allowed to grow. We are allowed to be innovative too. We're allowed to use new building materials. We're allowed to be abstract with how we view our identity. And so that was my biggest learning, that we are able to both identify that and then create something that we are all inspired by.”
Douglas says that he has often felt invisible as an Indigenous person in Vancouver, in that his cultural identity is not reflected in the built landscape.
“The architectural building industry has played a significant role in the erasure of our identity and our own territory. And this project is going to showcase what a high collaborative effort looks like.”
He notes that, at times, the process felt daunting.
“There's no standard out there that that we've had to follow. We've had to uncover every opportunity for some form of cultural expression. We've had to explore it. We've had to talk very deeply and openly about it.”
Ian Humphreys, VCC’s Vice President Administration and International Development, says that the development of the Center for Clean Energy and Automotive Innovation is just the first phase of a larger re-development of the VCC campuses, and that the institution plans to continue incorporating Indigenous knowledge into that process.
“This has been a truly memorable project for the institution and the guidance that Cory and Ginger have offered us has been remarkable,” he says.
He also lauds Councilor Aleck and Chief Campbell for their sharing of traditional stories and knowledge.
“What [the stories] have to offer from a design perspective is extraordinary. [The architects] have told us on several occasions that they've never been engaged in a project like this that has been so fruitful in terms of their creative energy. For all the developers, architects out there who might be concerned or worried or nervous about engaging in projects like this, don't be, because the opportunities are enormous, and you should embrace those opportunities as much as possible.”
Sponsored by Vancouver Community College.