On October 24 and 25, architects, urbanists, policy-makers and designers of all stripes are set to converge in downtown Toronto. Taking place at the Waterfront Campus of George Brown College, the two-day AZURE Human/Nature conference will bring together an impressive array of Canadian and international talents, harnessing interdisciplinary knowledge from around the world to address the issue of climate change through design.

Featuring a diverse series of CEU-accredited Keynotes, Panels and Workshops, the Human/Nature conference talks will be complemented by social gatherings and networking opportunities, an immersive field trip organized in partnership with the Toronto Society of Architects, as well as exciting co-programming with the Architecture and Design Film Festival. While further details about the programming — also detailed on our dedicated Human/Nature website — are set to be shared in the coming weeks, we take a detailed look at our full series of talks below:

Four world-leading designers will deliver the plenary keynotes, helping set the stage for the myriad discussions that will animate the conference. Our opening speaker, Julia Watson, is an acclaimed New York-based landscape designer and and author. Watson is a leading proponent of what she describes as “LO–TEK,’ a design philosophy (and a best-selling book of the same name) that embraces site-specific, highly local strategies — adopted by Indigenous peoples around the globe — as a wellspring of contemporary design thinking. Susan Carruth, a partner at 3XN/GXN, will deliver a talk examining the Copenhagen-based firm’s world-leading portfolio of low-carbon and recycled buildings. A leading specialist in behavioural design, Carruth will also explore GXN’s innovative research practice, which integrates material and environmental sustainability with a distinctly human-centred ethos.

The visionary founder of Beijing landscape firm Turenscape, Kongjian Yu will share insight from his globally renowned “Sponge Cities” concept of regenerative landscape design. Guided by a rigorous triple bottom line — which integrates environmental, economic and social benefit into every built project — he boasts a portfolio that includes the award-winning Fish Tail Park in Nanchang City and Tongnan Dafosi Wetland Park. He is also the  winner of the 2023 Cornelia Hahn Oberlander International Landscape Architecture Prize. Finally, Tommaso Bitossi of Transsolar — the climate engineering company that has collaborated with firms including Renzo Piano Building Workshop, KPMB and MASS Design Group, to name a few — will explore how a synthesis of design and engineering can reshape our shared environments and our daily lives.

Our multi-perspective plenary panels bring together Canadian and international expertise for a global design audience. Acclaimed Vancouver-based Indigenous architect Alfred Waugh and Tsleil-Waututh Nation Councillor Dennis Thomas, will discuss a landmark project to redevelop the 90-acre ʔəy̓alməxʷ/Iy̓álmexw /Jericho Lands site in Vancouver’s West Point Grey neighbourhood as part of the ʔəy̓alməxʷ/Iy̓álmexw /Jericho Lands: Indigenous Urban Futures panel. In Forecast for Hotter Cities, meanwhile, our international panelists — including Rasmus Astrup of Danish landscape firm SLA, and Dorsa Jalalian of DIALOG — will share design-driven (and socio-political) strategies for mitigating rising urban temperatures.

How do we develop furniture and textiles for a cleaner planet? Featuring Caroline Cockerham of Cicil Rugs and Justin Beitzel of COMMON OBJECT, Circular Design for a Circular Economy will present ways of closing the loop through design, manufacturing, shipping, storage and end-of-life strategies. Finally, The Green Public Realm, featuring Pat Hanson of Toronto’s gh3*, Loreta Castro Reguera of Mexico City’s Taller Capital, SpruceLab’s Sheila Boudreau, as well as Paul Kulig of Perkins&Will, will spotlight projects that make the most of our shared outdoor spaces.

Complementing our plenary keynotes and panels, 12 immersive and collaborative workshops will bring attendees up close to the grand and granular issues facing practitioners. These focused yet inspiring deep dives into problem-solving span the breadth of the design disciplines.

Architects, including affordable housing champion Naama Blonder, net-zero civic design specialists specialists MJMA, and adaptive reuse innovators Giaimo, will share their expertise across a range of typologies and context, as well as the emerging tools for assessing carbon (presented by KPMB and Perkins&Will), and the integration of community wellbeing and food security into design practice (presented in a workshop by LGA Architectural Partners and MabelleArts).

Led by Gensler, a look at healthy, low-carbon interiors, will explore strategies for combining wellbeing and sustainability in fit-outs, while the innovative team at Arper will share their experiences using bio-based materials in furniture design. Tackling the public scale, the Lemay team will offer a look at Montreal’s public realm and transit infrastructure, which holds vital lessons for the rest of North America. What’s more, authors and thought leaders including American mass timber specialist Lindsey Wilkstrom and healthcare design visionary Tye Farrow will share the thinking that informed their acclaimed recent books.

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More information about the AZURE Human/Nature – including our full roster of speakers, descriptions of talks, as well as the agenda — is available via our dedicated conference website. Tickets are on sale now!

Human/Nature plenary panel sponsors are Ciot, Formica and Architek.

Workshops are sponsored by TAS, Arper and Mitrex, and the social gathering sponsor is Urban Capital.

The conference is presented in partnership with George Brown College / Brookfield Sustainability Institute, MaRS, Lemay, Flash, GFI Investment Council Ltd., Instituto Italiano di Cultura Toronto, and Small Change Fund.