Round Table: Occupying Space, Shaping Community

Shane Laptiste’s architectural interests investigate community informed architecture that is responsive to the cultural and spatial needs of the impacted users. He has a particular interest in the spatial and environmental dynamics of Black communities and is a licensed architect in Ontario and Quebec and holds BSc(Arch) and MArch degrees from McGill University, where he also serves as a studio instructor.
Shane is a sessional instructor at the University of Toronto and serves as a board member with the Canadian Architectural Certification Board. He has previously served as a director for Capital Region Housing, Media Architecture Design Edmonton, Nuit Blanche Edmonton and NCC Charles H Este Community Centre. He is currently leading several projects supporting art, gathering and joy in marginalized communities.

Sonia Blank has been an architect and research associate at Architecture Without Borders Quebec (AWBQ) since 2022. In recent years, she has been a studio instructor at McGill University and has collaborated on several multidisciplinary research projects across Canada. At AWBQ, she explores participatory design methods involving marginalized communities and develops architectural practices adapted to their needs. In 2023, Sonia contributed to the catalogue Architecture + Homelessness: Inclusive practices for urban solidarity, an overview of design practices that support the wellbeing of homeless people.

Sonia studied architecture at Université de Montréal (BScArch, 2016) and McGill University (MArch, 2018). Her research-creation thesis examined design practices in former conflict zones in Berlin. In addition to being a member of the Ordre des architectes du Québec (OAQ), Sonia has practised architecture for bogevischs buero in Munich and EVOQ Architecture in Montreal. Alongside her work, she is actively involved in community initiatives addressing homelessness and reflects on the role of design in collective action.

Olivia Daigneault Deschênes is an OAQ architect and project manager for Architecture Without Borders Quebec’s Urban Solidarity program. She holds a bachelor of architecture from Université de Montréal (2015) and a master of architecture from the University of British Columbia (2018). Her thesis focused on critical and feminist spatial practices by exploring gynecological exam spaces. Throughout her academic and professional career in architecture, Olivia has developed an interdisciplinary research-creation practice combining design and social sciences, with a particular focus on feminist theories in architecture. In 2023, she completed an architectural research residency at the British School at Rome, where she explored the feeling of fear in public space.

She joined the AWBQ team in 2021, where she leads design projects for community organizations as part of the research-action and dissemination project on architecture and homelessness. Her approach to architectural design is adapted to the realities of the community sector and based on participatory methods.

Sonia and Olivia both participated – as curators – in the exhibition (In)visible : le design au prisme de l’itinérance, presented at the Centre de design de l’UQAM in 2024 by the Collectif architecture + itinérance.

Tania Paula Garza Rico se définit comme femme, architecte et immigrante. Elle a débuté ses études au Mexique avant d’obtenir une maîtrise en architecture à l’Université Laval. Membre de l’Ordre des Architectes du Québec et chargée de cours à l’Université de Montréal et à l’Université Laval, Paula a exploré les liens entre habitat et justice sociale dans des projets à plusieurs contextes tels que la Tunisie, le Mexique, les États-Unis et le Québec.

En tant que cheffe d’expertise en architecture et habitation chez Société Logique, Paula met en œuvre ses connaissances techniques et conceptuelles ainsi que son expérience en leadership interdisciplinaire pour prôner une démarche de conception inclusive et collaborative. Elle s’intéresse aux outils architecturaux pour combler les failles systémiques qui limitent l’accès aux espaces de qualité pour tou·te·s.

Elle est convaincue que l’architecture n’est pas seulement un reflet de nos priorités et valeurs sociétales, mais qu’elle constitue aussi un moteur de changement.