Open During Construction

The Plangineers talk about how the input of technical experts can help round out storytelling to add the "why" to the "who cares?" (Sorry for the confusion in the intro...this is actually episode #5, you're right.) Reporting on the GO Train flooding of 2013 may have exaggerated the frequency of this occurrence Check out Rob's CityFloodMap blog post on the matter Discussing the context of numbers and the value of infographics How technical input to the media can add the "why" to the spice of storytelling as well as the mechanisms of mini-advocacy The lesson of communicating like an activist while telling a good story The need for our professions to push past humility and tell good stories that will resonate and inform people in positive ways Listeners might be interested to know that during our cut, to keep the show within our regular ~20-25min length, we sacrificed a dialogue on "open data", it's emergence, relevance and potential value as a tool for healthy skepticism. Though it was a relevant part of the o

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Episode #4: Dancing About Infrastructure Michelle and Rob reflect on the artistry that reveals our invisible services and why these reminders are an important part of our urban existence Talking about music, is like dancing about architecture. But we’ll try dancing about infrastructure anyway Older underground sewers are brick works of art like the photo shown by clicking here of the Garrison Creek storm sewer Aesthetic inspirations for the Herb Gray Parkway pedestrian bridges Is the River Longing? The beauty of water treatment, as seen through the RC Harris filtration plant How a tight butt can be a tribute to aging infrastructure Wishing for the "Big Bridge Theory" A timely tribute to Hamilton’s first water pumping station Send us your feedback at chat@openduringconstruction.ca if you have any suggestions for projects or topics you'd like us to explore.

At the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Ontario, we ask is there a "woman's place" in the Plangineering space? Ontario became the fifth province in Canada to grant women the right to vote on April 12, 1917. This came following more than half a century of activism. Discussing how the controversial dialogue between Jane Jacobs and Robert Moses was storied. Recognizing areas of internal strength and vulnerability. Statistics on women’s representation in engineering from the Ontario Network of Women in Engineering Where the engineering information gap may be? -overall lack of awareness of what engineers do -misconceptions about engineering (not being related to people) in contrast to the high prestige, say, for the medical profession which is seen as important work Judgement blocks internal action, but may also be a barrier to acceptance of others. A cure for this is found through the rules of Improv as told by Tina Fey. Rule no.1: Agree. Send us your feedback at chat@openduringconstruction.ca if you

Episode #2: Good, or good enough? Michelle and Rob, our Plangineers, discuss how paradigms were broken for the revolutionary Deep Lake Water Cooling system. Our ancestors first form of “district energy,” sharing fire in a cave Vancouver’s Olympic village district energy system Sustainable development at the Regent Park Revitalization Discussing Enwave Toronto’s Deep Lake Water Cooling (DLWC) Baffin Island Mining project Creativity is just ingenuity, applied. The DLWC was a showcase project for Toronto, and Enwave. Bringing along others so when we have the answers, others can see the questions. The enemy of doing something great is doing something good. Even moreso, even better than good...is good enough. Mentioned: Good to Great by Jim Collins Send us your feedback at chat@openduringconstruction.ca if you have any suggestions for projects or topics you'd like us to explore.

In the debut podcast, Michelle and Rob talk about what inspired them to urban planning and engineering and why the bridge between their practices is shorter than we think. This month, we talked about: Urban dictionary reference to Plangineer The three pillars of planning: Public Health, Legislation & Architecture Rob's toothpick bridge Discussing how, "Form follows function" The curious case of building the Sydney Opera House Zooming-in versus zooming-out Engineering the Windsor-Essex Parkway Muneef’s take-away: Thinking inward versus outward Rob's take-away: Appreciate the complexities of planning, design and constructing big City-building projects Michelle's take-away: Respect and curiousity Send us your feedback at chat@openduringconstruction.ca if you have any suggestions for projects or topics you'd like us to explore.