Zoning affects a city's social fabric
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By Brent Bellamy, Architect + Creative Director
Originally published in the Winnipeg Free Press
All North American cities use zoning to regulate the development of land and buildings. By assigning properties into different categories of parkland, commercial, residential and industrial uses, zoning establishes the rules for what can and can’t be built. The vast majority of residential neighbourhoods in Canadian cities fall under a single-family zoning category called R-1, which generally mandates a land use of one detached house per lot.
The first municipal zoning ordinance in North America was established in Los Angeles in 1908, to ensure factories were not being built beside houses. The move toward specific single-family zoning, however, has a much more disturbing origin, rooted in deliberate social impacts that continue to affect cities today.
Image: 5468796 Architecture - A proposed infill development in Osborne Village will add new residential options to a community that is already a diverse mix of single- and multi-family housing.
Manitoba’s a great place to ‘staycation’
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By Brent Bellamy, Architect + Creative Director
Originally published in the Winnipeg Free Press
With borders closed and travel restricted, this year’s summer holidays are a unique opportunity to take a provincial "staycation" and explore some of the historic buildings and places in our own backyard. Most of Winnipeg’s important heritage structures are well known, but we sometimes overlook the province’s rich architectural history outside the city, where several National Historic Sites offer an "only in Manitoba" experience as unique as anything found on a vacation abroad.
If you grew up in Manitoba, the last time you visited Lower Fort Garry, just north of Winnipeg, was probably during a Grade 8 field trip. The stone fort rarely receives the appreciation it deserves, as the oldest intact fur-trading post in North America. There are many recreations and reconstructions across the West, but our old fort is a very rare, real thing.
Housing key to deracializing cities
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By Brent Bellamy, Architect + Creative Director
Originally published in the Winnipeg Free Press
The killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis has ignited a vital conversation about systemic racism across all sectors of our society. An important part of this discussion is how we design our cities, which has been guided by policy rooted in racist history, and reinforced by decisions that continue to divide our cities and create social barriers today.
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the racial inequity that exists in North American cities, with racialized neighbourhoods being hit disproportionately hard by the virus. The solution to combat systemic racism in urban design reads much like the solution to make cities more resilient against future pandemics. At the foundation of the challenge is housing.
Pandemic shows need for affordable housing
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By Brent Bellamy, Architect + Creative Director
Originally published in the Winnipeg Free Press
As half the world hid in their homes trying to avoid a deadly virus, we had a lot of time to wonder what our "new normal" would look like. As we watched New York melt down, Gotham City imagery of skyscrapers, bustling streets, and tiny apartments made it easy to assume that population density might become a COVID-19 casualty.
Drawing a line between population density and viral transmission seems like simple logic. New York is the highest-density city in the United States and its biggest hot spot for COVID-19. Living near more people intuitively means closer contact with others. It seems to add up.
Pandemic presents obligation to change our world
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By Brent Bellamy, Architect + Creative Director
Originally published in the Winnipeg Free Press
Crisis creates opportunity and leverage for change. As governments prepare to make once-in-a-generation stimulus investments to fight a global recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we are faced with an opportunity, if not an obligation, to use it to change our world.
(Daoust Lestage Architects) The Market Lands development on the former Public Safety Building site will bring transformative change to downtown Winnipeg.
Number TEN Blog
Number TEN Inspired! captures the knowledge, passion and ideas of our award winning architects, interior designers and supporting staff, as they navigate through the complexities of the modern design landscape. We are creative problem solvers, advocates for better ways of doing things, and observers of all that is interesting and noteworthy in our field. This blog is our effort to share our knowledge and ideas in a way that resonates with everyone. Whether you work in the industry as an architect, interior designer, building manager, property developer, or are just someone with an interest in creativity and new ways of doing things, this blog has something for you.
