Dawnthots

Design Build Ponder

    • Voicings – a multispeaker audio installation in the lobby of MaRS Discovery District

      Voicings – a multispeaker audio installation in the lobby of MaRS Discovery District

      19 interviews with MaRS clients cut thematically and played in a multi-speaker audio composition that changes throughout the day, depending on where you position yourself in the lobby of the MaRS building.

      Listen in on a journey of discovery and creation, revealing the human passions and motivations that drive the process of innovation. From the everyday to the truly profound, hear a symphony of voices offering insights into the personalities driving innovation at MaRS Toronto.

      Architectural Model, Installation, Interviews, Video
      Architecture, Collaboration, Innovation, Interviews, Leadership, MaxMSP, ProTools, Prototyping, Toronto, Urban Planning, User Centered Design, Wayfinding
    • Architectural drawings for a Junction 1890s rowhouse renovation, built in Sketchup

      Architectural drawings for a Junction 1890s rowhouse renovation, built in Sketchup

      By using the DWG files supplied by my excellent property surveyor, Rouse – I was able to use Sketchup to create a 3D animated model of my current house and output my proposed renovations in 2D form (see attached) for approval to the City of Toronto Planning Department. Sketchup also allowed me to connect the location of my property to Google terrain maps – which was extremely useful, and made me wonder why the City of Toronto doesn’t use this technology.

      Architectural Model, Map, Official Proposal, Report
      Architecture, Computer Aided Design CAD, Construction, Google Maps, Home, Junction Neighbourhood, Land Survey, Sketchup, Toronto, Urban Planning, Wayfinding
    • Junction Commons

      Junction Commons

      In 2013 a dedicated group of Junction neighbours saw the opportunity for a community hub in a former police station. I got involved in 2014 as a researcher, helping run design charettes and creating this slideshow summary of our findings – which I presented at a townhall of over 125 neighbours.

      Report, Slideshow Presentation, Website
      Architecture, Audience Research, Business Plan, Demographic Research, Junction Neighbourhood, Presentation, Public Building, Public Meeting, Toronto, Urban Planning, User Experience Design, Wayfinding
    • Labour Literacy in the Workplace, Stories from the Front Lines

      Labour Literacy in the Workplace, Stories from the Front Lines

      This French and English video series, website and book tell how literacy became important to the Canadian union movement, how it developed in the work place and how it changed people’s lives in profound ways. Developed for the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

      Book, Interviews, Video, Website
      Canada, Clear Language, History, Literacy, Multicultural, Multilingual, Unions, User Centered Design, Wayfinding, Working Class
    • Vanishing Point

      Vanishing Point

      13 min video – Electra tries saves Vancouver from the great flood 2015 by elevating the city on stilts. Only Roman Sudgrave won’t give her the data she needs to do it – and she needs to find another way to get the mythical construction workers to do her bidding.

      Speculative fiction working through many theories of urban planning, architecture and the role of the artist/idealist to society.

      Architectural Model, Video
      20th Century Architecture, Animation, Architecture, Art History, Marcel Duchamp, Rem Koolhaus, Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Urban Planning, User Centered Design, Vancouver, Wayfinding