Practical Impracticalities: Lessons from the Classrooms of Professional Practice

Practical Impracticalities: Lessons from the Classrooms of Professional Practice 

This webinar is part of the RAIC 2024 Conference on Architecture, now available to stream!

Topics: The Practice and Business of Architecture

Length: 1 hour | What's Included: Video, Quiz, and Certificate of Completion

Architecture is facing increasing disruption to traditional practices. The professional practice course is an architectural student’s window into the profession that teaches not only how the Architect works, but also the dos and don’ts. The architectural profession is evolving so quickly that a snapshot of it today would be practically obsolete by the time students enter the profession. The professional practice course tends to be a misunderstood component as it is often unclear how the content is relevant to students. Foreign-trained architects taking the course also often struggle with the course as it fails to deliver comprehensive instruction for them to integrate and thrive in Canada. As the profession shifts towards a more socially responsible role for the Architect, are there lessons from classrooms that can inform practice? This session promotes a trilateral discourse between practitioners, educators & students on the role that professional practice courses play in shaping architects in Canada.

By the completion of this session, participants will be able to:

• Describe the methodology of delivering a professional practice course, and recognize its strengths, weaknesses, & opportunities, so that they can participate in its development and co-creation.
• Distinguish the CACB’s performance criteria & explain of how they affect the professional practice curriculum, so that they understand the connection to accreditation & licensure in Canada.
• Develop a knowledge of the intent of professional practice courses in Canadian schools of architecture, so that they can apply the classroom lessons to their own studies & careers.
• Identify the standard elements of the current professional practice curriculum in Canada, so that they can best apply the education of the students & interns they hire into their own practices.

Subject Matter Experts:

D Cameron Gillies
BA (Urban Studies), BEDs, March, Architect AAA, MRAIC, LEED AP, Sessional Instructor SAPL University of Calgary
Architect AAA, University of Calgary & City of Calgary

Mr. Gillies is an Architect with The City of Calgary. He is also a sessional instructor with The University of Calgary’s School of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape, where he teaches professional practice. In over 20 years of his career, Cameron has worked with some of Canada's best-recognized Architects, and he has contributed to over $3B worth of design, construction, and conservation projects. Cameron is a Subject Matter Expert and contributing author of the RAIC's Canadian Handbook of Practice, 3rd Ed. You can interest Cameron with anything that has two wheels, six strings, or caffeine.

Dr. Henry Tsang
B.Sc.Arch., M.Arch., Ph.D., Architect, AAA, FRAIC, RHFAC, LEED GA, WELL AP, 
Associate Professor, RAIC Centre for Architecture, Athabasca 

Dr. Henry Tsang is an associate professor in the RAIC Centre for Architecture at Athabasca University, and the principal of Henry Tsang Architect, based in Calgary. Certified LEED, WELL and RHFAC, his community-centric designs strive to be sustainable, healthy and accessible. As an academic, Tsang’s papers are widely published in scholarly journals and books. He is a passionate educator and particularly enjoys teaching design studios and professional practice courses at Athabasca University and the RAIC Syllabus. Tsang is a Fellow and appointed Advisor to Professional   Practice to the RAIC and contributed extensively to the Canadian Handbook of Practice for Architects 3rd edition. He is also the recipient of Construction Canada’s Emerging Leader Award and the National Association of Career Colleges’ Educator of the Year Award.