{"id":6286,"date":"2017-06-01T14:40:19","date_gmt":"2017-06-01T18:40:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=6286"},"modified":"2025-10-10T11:09:45","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T15:09:45","slug":"inspiration-village","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/inspiration-village\/","title":{"rendered":"Inspiration Village"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Inspiration Village\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

Ottawa\u2019s Inspiration Village<\/a>, a temporary exhibit and entertainment hub built out of shipping containers in the heart of the ByWard Market<\/a>, gives locals and visitors another place to gather and celebrate Canada\u2019s 150th<\/sup> birthday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But students in the third-year design studio run by Carleton University Architecture<\/a> Prof. Benjamin Gianni are already looking ahead to how a stretch of York Street that\u2019s usually used for parking could be reimagined when the sesquicentennial site is disassembled in early September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Carleton University Architecture Prof. Benjamin Gianni, an expert in housing and urban development who collaborated on Inspiration Village with Carleton Architecture instructors Tom Leung, Honorata Pienkowska and Jay Lim.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Their thoughtful and eye-catching proposals \u2014 10 of which are on display inside an Inspiration Village container \u2014 represent a sustainable and social approach to revamping public space and could influence the city\u2019s plans for the market\u2019s future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese types of ideas need to be considered and applied,\u201d says Gianni<\/a>, an expert in housing and urban development who collaborated on the project with Carleton Architecture instructors Tom Leung, Honorata Pienkowska and Jay Lim. \u201cWe want to help transform the city into something better. This is what architects do, and the students love projects like this.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cThere was a period when the practice of architecture was rather hermetic,\u201d he continues.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cThis generation is different, and urban design and transportation issues are becoming much more important for environmental and social reasons. When people live in close proximity, design can make the difference between being able to live together or not.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Repurposing the Space
for Inspiration Village<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The 41 shipping containers that comprise Inspiration Village have been repurposed into a stage for free performances, a sound studio for sharing stories, dress-up and animal cut-out photo booths, and showcases for attractions from across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cInspiration Village will animate the ByWard Market like never before and will be a gathering point for the millions of visitors who will come to Ottawa this summer,\u201d Mayor Jim Watson said in a news release.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cIt will showcase the beauty of Canada\u2019s regions and the diversity of Ottawa 2017<\/a> partners, while entertaining and educating passersby about the people and places that make this country so great.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The location \u2014 York Street, between Sussex Drive and ByWard Market Square \u2014 had been home to 92 parking spaces. Some nearby shopkeepers are concerned<\/a> about potential loss of business with less parking, even though studies consistently show that retail sales remain steady and even increase<\/a> when there\u2019s more foot and bicycle traffic in an area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And though they don\u2019t shy away from practical realities such as cost and parking, the Carleton proposals are focused on connecting the green space of Major\u2019s Hill Park and the Parliamentary Precinct \u2014 just up the grand staircase from Sussex \u2014 to the bustling pedestrian-oriented market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe wanted to create something that would be comfortable and interactive, not just a big open space,\u201d says Eric Goldstein, whose design, \u201cThe Jungle,\u201d created with classmate Dhruv Patel, includes a pair of green-roofed shelters that don\u2019t quite meet, leaving an opening in the middle for small-stage performances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut we didn\u2019t want to ignore parking,\u201d adds Patel, \u201cso we put space for cars underground.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People can walk atop the angled structures in \u201cThe Jungle,\u201d which provide elevated views of the site, and the black angled columns scattered throughout will light up at night, drawing more visitors to the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kathryn Dekraker\u2019s \u201cCut Shift Curl,\u201d with arcing protrusions inspired by the way a piece of paper can be manipulated, features zones for sitting and eating, performances and a reflecting pool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEverything around here is rectangular,\u201d she says, looking around a busy Inspiration Village on a sunny and warm weekday afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cI wanted to create something with curves, and spaces that people can interact with. I know people complain about the lack of parking, but this is Canada\u2019s capital \u2014 is a parking lot really the best way to show off our city?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Architecture is also one of the most impactful ways to address sustainability challenges, says Dekraker, whose proposed design encourages active (cycling, walking) and public transit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWe always put time and energy into our classroom projects,\u201d she adds, \u201cbut it\u2019s exciting that there\u2019s a possibility that these ideas could be incorporated into whatever the city does after this summer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heather Norcott and Clarisse Cheung created \u201cAgora,\u201d with columns, wall stones and paved open areas that evoke an ancient Greek marketplace. The design project\u2019s public-facing component, says Norcott, pushed her out of her comfort zone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur idea is fairly practical,\u201d she says, \u201cbut it could help create a more spectacular vibe in Ottawa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Potential of the Space
\nYet to be Realized<\/h2>\n\n\n
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Fifty students spent some time observing York Street in January \u2014 the strip has been used by Gianni and his colleagues for years as an example of an urban space whose potential has yet to be realized \u2014 and completed their projects in just three weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working mostly in pairs, the students developed 27 proposals. Along with faculty, they selected 12 for display at Inspiration Village, which opened during the Victoria Day long weekend and was designed and built by Greely\u2019s Dymech Engineering, a company that\u2019s run by Carleton graduate Tom Van Humbeck and has several other Carleton alumni on staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The proposals have been shared with members of the ByWard Market Business Improvement Association, and Gianni hopes the city keeps these ideas in mind in conversations about what he sees as an overdue evolution of York Street.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cIn current urban thinking, if you tell people you\u2019re going to remove parking, they\u2019ll panic,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cBut if you say it\u2019s temporary, they get used to it and get more comfortable with the idea of a reconfigured space.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manhattan\u2019s Times Square is an excellent example. Several lanes of traffic were transformed into a temporary pedestrian plaza in 2009, and the new public space was so popular that the changes became permanent last year and a new civic plaza<\/a> was born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is an opportunity to think about what York Street could become without parking,\u201d says Gianni, \u201cand how the ByWard Market could be even stronger with spaces like this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ottawa\u2019s Inspiration Village, a temporary exhibit and entertainment hub built out of shipping containers in the heart of the ByWard Market, gives locals and visitors another place to gather and celebrate Canada\u2019s 150th birthday. But students in the third-year design studio run by Carleton University Architecture Prof. Benjamin Gianni are already looking ahead to how […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[1592,19],"cu_story_tag":[1918],"class_list":["post-6286","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","hentry","cu_story_type-teaching-learning","cu_story_type-technology-innovation","cu_story_tag-faculty-of-engineering-and-design"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/6286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/6286\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98028,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/6286\/revisions\/98028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=6286"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=6286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}