In collaboration with guest curators Becky Quintal and Frederico Duarte, MFA graduates from the Design Criticism program at the School of Visual Arts in New York, the CCA created the Day Camp Putting Architecture in its Place.

The five-day camp was conceived as an editorial project, an intensive laboratory in the selection, discussion, and criticism of architectural projects and ideas, which would produce an online journal as part of the process. As an educational program, the camp created a situation where participants developed editorial roles and responsibilities, then had to negotiate with each other, and with the guest curators and CCA staff, in order to carry them out.

“With no fear of judgement and liberated from taboos that those versed in architecture dare not speak, the fifteen-strong group of 13 to 17 year-olds revealed a refreshingly honest point of view, condemning and lauding aspects of their built environment in and outside of the CCA, focusing on selected architectural projects and subjects.

Our study of design criticism stems from a desire to communicate issues of architecture to a broader audience and the campers represented the uninitiated audience that we, as design critics, seek connection to. Their candid responses to questions such as “what do you think about this building?” and “what do you think about mixing older architecture with newer architecture” revealed the information and details that critics and architects alike seem to gloss over or deem irrelevant or superfluous.

This camp confronted the notion that the architect and the public do, for the most part, operate in ideologically disparate universes—not to mention different media landscapes—to arrive at a reasonably similar goal: the overall improvement of the city. When discussion of preservation and integration of buildings into contextual environments began, we looked at some of the different approaches architects have taken — such as Lord Norman Foster’s Hearst Building in New York or Daniel Libeskind’s Michael Lee-Chin Crystal extension for the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto.

As we showed the students images of the newly-completed, Demetri Porphyrios-designed Whitman College complex at Princeton University, we were jerked into reality when images of the building—constructed in what superficially appears to be the exact style of buildings 100 years older—garnered quite a favorable acceptance from most of the teenagers. As we tried to explain what could be “wrong” (or “right”) with this building, it became clear that such explanation would be no easy task. Even if Whitman College undeniably “fits” its context, it was difficult to make a case for neo-Collegiate styling—something most architects would consider disappointing to say the least.

Issues such as these emerged as basic thematics that we explored over the course of the week. Students spent the first two days of the Camp becoming acquainted with some of the broader issues of architecture criticism.

On day three, we ventured into the Complexe Desjardins to ask the people of Montreal (citizens and visitors alike) about their thoughts and criticisms of the built environment.

Daily editorial meetings established each participant’s interest and focus: a unique point of view about a specific subject or project, in and around Montreal.

Armed with the strong opinions of their interviewees, the students continued to nurture their perspectives with a Q&A session with local architect Eric Gauthier about his project reconsidering Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s iconic Nun’s Island gas station, followed by a visit to the municipal design agency Design Montreal.

On the second-to-last day, the team split up for site visits, with some visiting the Expo ‘67 Islands, others the Olympic Stadium and the Habitat ‘67 and Old Port area of the city. Others remained at the CCA, taking advantage of the institution’s resources for their research.

On the night prior to the journal’s launch, the entire editorial team worked till late (architecture charrette late, very late) on their projects and drafts, preparing them for the final presentation.

On Friday, using the Camp’s microsite as a publishing platform, the week’s findings and results were presented by each team member and critiqued by CCA director Mirko Zardini, curator Giovanna Borasi, web editor Lev Bratishenko and special guest and blogger-in-residence Geoff Manaugh.

Over the course of this intense week, we feel this group of young citizens were able to build and express their own ideas and opinions about architecture. And by addressing criticism as an expression of authority, but also of citizenship, we think they’re ready to communicate the role architecture plays in our lives, hopefully to an increasingly a wider audience.”

- Becky Quintal & Frederico Duarte, guest curators