ʔəy̓alməxʷ/Iy̓álmexw /Jericho Lands: Indigenous Urban Futures

Today, the City of Vancouver sits on the unceded traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Individually or in consort, the three Lower Mainland First Nations have now become the largest developers of housing and comprehensive communities in Vancouver, with $20 billion worth of buildings in planning or under construction. Three of Vancouver’s key city-building thinkers will show and discuss some of these projects, describing the successes and frustrations both in integrating new players at the city-building table. Dennis Thomas is co-founder of Kwasen Enterprises, and North Shore cultural liaison for the massive MST Development Corporation. The founder of Formline Architects and a member of the Fond du Lac Band, Alfred Waugh FRAIC has earned two Governor-General’s Medals for his designs, and is currently finishing the First Nations Centre at U. Toronto’s Scarborough campus. Trevor Boddy FRAIC is a Vancouver architecture critic and curator, whose books include CITY-BUILDER: The Architecture of James K. M. Cheng and The Architecture of Douglas Cardinal, winner of the Alberta Book of the Year Prize.

Dennis Thomas-Whonoak

Dennis Thomas, whose ancestral name is Whonoak, is a member and elected Councillor of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation (People of the Inlet) in Deep Cove, North Vancouver. In 2021, he was named among Business in Vancouver’s Top Forty Under 40. He manages Nation-owned businesses and leads new ventures as a senior business development manager in economic development at Tsleil-Waututh Nation. For the past four years, he has also been a consultant to the Musqueam Squamish Tsleil-Waututh (MST) Development Corporation as a cultural liaison who helps to ensure that Tsleil-Waututh Nation’s history and culture are embedded in modern development, landscapes and building design.

Trevor Boddy

Trevor Boddy is a critic and curator of contemporary architecture and a Vancouver-based consultant to designers, developers and governments. His books, articles, exhibitions, public events, and consulting are dedicated to exploring the relationship between design and contemporary city-building. Boddy’s writing on buildings and cities have earned the Jack Webster Journalism prize, Western Magazine Award, the RAIC Advocacy Award, and an Honorary Membership in the American Institute of Architects and the Bulgarian Union of Architects. The critical-biographical monograph The Architecture of Douglas Cardinal won both its subject and writer the Alberta Book of the Year prize. His most recent books are: CITY-BUILDER: The Architecture of James K M Cheng (Images, Melbourne); Glacier Skywalk, and Stantec: Airports (both Figure 1 Press, Vancouver). Currently teaching part-time at Calgary, he has held academic positions at UBC, Oregon, Manitoba, Carleton and Toronto, and lectures globally on contemporary design.

Alfred Waugh

As leader of Formline Architecture + Urbanism, Alfred Waugh is dedicated to developing solutions that reflect the culture, community and geographic regions specific to each project. His designs are a direct response to site context, topography, climate, and regional materials. As part of a sustainable design philosophy, Waugh aims to maximize comfort, longevity, functionality and energy efficiency. Waugh is Status Indian and part of Treaty 8. He was born and raised in Yellowknife, North West Territories, Canada, and was the first Aboriginal person to graduate with honours from UBC School of Architecture (in 1993), to become a registered architect and to be LEED certified. He is influenced by Indigenous culture, the northern climate and frontier architecture. His connection to, and respect for, nature is inherent to his work.