Going North: A Reflection on Lines at the First Canadian Road to the Arctic Coast (Murray 2019)
Author: Stephanie Dawn Murray
Thesis Advisor: Ozayr Saloojee
Date: 2019
Master of Architecture
Carleton University
Abstract:
The experience of the first Canadian Road to the Arctic Coas informed the trajectory of this thesis which investigates “the line” as a tool that explores and describes spatial understandings: whether as a physical artifact in space (the road), in making (maps, notations, models and drawings), in storylines (with their material consequences) or physical perspectives (as lines of sight); all of which inform thinking and acting in and toward the site of study. A line doesn’t necessarily manifest as “the dot that went for a walk”, but often as an inclination, a thought pattern, a habit of spatial engagement, an assumption, or a physical act. The lines we draw and imagine, order our spatial and social practices and write the stories of our understandings. Through a series of reflective exercises this thesis looks for ways in which we might begin destabilizing our patterns of seeing, thinking and making.