Building Alternative Systems

Architecture Lobby Toronto / Tkaronto

A participatory panel discussion with architectural workers & allies

People Design Co-op

Update! Our in-person tickets are sold out. Please register to join virtually <a href="https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/building-alternative-systems-virtual-ticket-tickets-1408114732069?aff=oddtdtcreator" title="https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/building-alternative-systems-virtual-ticket-tickets-1408114732069?aff=oddtdtcreator" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">here</a>.We're excited to invite you to our third event in our May Days series, a participatory panel discussion on the issues we're facing.Day 3 - Building Alternative SystemsSaturday June 14th - 2pm - 5pmPeople Design Coop (943 Queen St. E, Suite 200) Join us for the last event of our May (into June) Days series! How can we organize our discipline in alternative ways to private practice? We’ll hear from members of worker co-operatives in Ontario and collectively brainstorm how we can actively build more just practices that are better for workers and produce work that serves communities. -Panelists: <h2>Joel - People Design Co-operative</h2>Joel is a co-founder of People Design Co-op, a non-profit co-operative architectural practice dedicated to sustainability, equity, and community-driven design. A Certified Passive House Designer and leader in Canada’s sustainable design community, Joel brings deep experience in architecture, building science, participatory methods, and policy-level housing strategies.He designs and consults on some of Canada’s most forward-thinking, high-performance housing—advocating for low-carbon construction, healthier materials, and long-term climate resilience. Joel also supports housing providers in developing portfolio-wide strategies and decision-making tools that move the needle on decarbonization and sustainability.Joel is committed to advancing equity within the architecture and construction sectors, helping to build inclusive and collaborative workplaces that reflect the communities they serve. His work is guided by the belief that design can—and must—contribute to a more just, resilient, and sustainable future. <h2>Yvonne - Arise Architects</h2>Hong Kong born and Vancouver raised, Yvonne Ip (OAA, MArch, BFA, BA) now makes Kitchener, Ontario home. In preparation for architecture, she studied sociology and visual arts, and worked as a construction labourer. Yvonne has been immersed in architecture for over two decades. She is the past chair of the Grand Valley Society of Architects and a founder of Ontario’s first architectural worker co-operative, Arise Architects Co-operative. <h2>Jonny Sopotiuk - Union Cooperative Initiative</h2>Jonny Sopotiuk (he/him) is the Managing Director of the Union Cooperative Initiative (UCI) and a founding member of several creative sector union cooperatives. As a professional artist with over 2 decades of community and labour organizing experience, Jonny’s current organizing practice focuses on organizing precarious workers towards a new economy based on the principles of mutual aid, solidarity, reciprocity, and redistribution.As a political and community organizer, Jonny has managed labour union and political campaigns organizing tens of thousands of workers. Jonny brings his skills in political, labour, and community organizing along with his background as a professional visual artist to message and creative director roles for value-aligned projects that seek to build community and worker power and elect progressive leaders to all levels of government. <h2>Andi Argast - Hypha</h2>Working in communications in the early 2000s, Andi Argast contributed to the rise of social media and has gone through many hype cycles since then. As she’s built her mastery in applying emerging technologies, she’s always fed her curiosity about how to use technology’s growing power for good. Andi’s experiences span the nonprofit, library sciences, government, and education sectors, and have included leadership roles at Girl Guides of Canada, the Ontario Ministry of Research, Innovation and Science, and the Toronto Node of the Open Data Institute. An expert in raising digital literacy and building usable tech through human-centered design, Andi believes the key to doing good is understanding the toolset — something she helps her clients and team do every day as Co-Creation Lab practice lead.

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Building Alternative Systems

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