Birth of a City: Is There a "There" There in Mississauga

Heritage Mississauga is very excited to announce our 2022 Placemaking Webinar Series!

In our first webinar of the series, we invite you to join Michael Spaziani for his webinar "The Birth of a City: Putting the “There” There in Mississauga"

In 1935 Gertrude Stein returned from Paris to her childhood home, Oakland California, 45 years after she had left, only to find that the joyful place she experienced as a child was gone. The city had become dreary and uninspiring place prompting her quip, “there is no there there”. There were certainly no Parisian boulevards and finely wrought urban places there.

Mississauga is a young city going through its own growing pains. 45 years ago it was little more than a collection of historic villages connected by agricultural fields, concession roads, and sprawling single detached homes, a kind of early Oakland. A bedroom community with little urban life or character.

Today it has emerged as a successful city financially, but not yet known for its sense of place, its soul. I will trace the growth of the city with a focus on placemaking and city-building as the way to make the city memorable as a complete community with a focus on livability, walkability, and beautiful memorable places.

Michael Spaziani, B.E.S. (Environmental Studies), B. Arch., OAA, FRAIC, is the principal of MSAi, an architectural firm specializing in urban design and architecture. Founded in 1986, the firm is celebrating its 36th year of practice, headquartered in a restored heritage building in Port Credit, Ontario.

Mr. Spaziani commenced his architectural career winning the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Medal for academic excellence upon graduation from Carleton University in Ottawa in 1977. In 2010, Mr. Spaziani was inducted into the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada College of Fellows, an honour reserved for only a few Canadian architects each year, recognizing their contributions to the Canadian architectural community.

A Dean’s Honour Roll member at the University of Waterloo, he has been the recipient of many urban design awards in Ontario for building projects in Oakville, Kitchener, Mississauga, Pickering, and Brampton. He has advised the municipal councils of Markham, Mississauga, Toronto, Guelph, Whitby, Ajax, Caledon, East York, Oakville, and Vaughan on architectural and urban design matters over the past three decades. He has on two occasions acted as a juror for the Vaughan Urban Design Awards program and was a professional juror for the 2004 Oakville Urban Design Awards.

In 2006 he was selected as a juror for the Absolute Condominium international competition in Mississauga. The winning selection, the "Marilyn Monroe" building has emerged as a remarkably powerful orientation symbol for Mississauga. In the same year he was honoured to be chosen as a juror for Mississauga’s 25th anniversary Urban Design Awards program.

Don't forget to register for the entire series!

#Webinar #Mississauga #History