The Department of Architectural Science at Ryerson University has two events in store for those interested in the coming days.

The first is a new exhibition of student work at the recently opened Paul Cocker Gallery in Ryerson's Architecture Building on Church Street. Called Identi-city: Creating a Second Generation of Museums for Toronto, the exhibition will showcase works where students have been challenged to reboot the idea of 'museum'. Debated and presented collaboratively by graduate and post-graduate students, the challenge is this:

"Rather than viewing museums as repositories of artifacts and places of display and interpretation, the 2014 Collaborative Exercise proposes that museums infiltrate the city to become vehicles for exploring individual and collective identities, reflecting these back to Torontonians while at the same time presenting them to the world at large.

Rather than being centred on collecting artifacts or displaying them, these Second Generation Museums (M_v2.0s) are seen as places that allow for Torontonians to explore and express their identity and shared values, and give voice to social change. These installations will create places of reflection, display and engagement for our citizens, with reference to important ideas and events that have shaped our consciousness, both in the community and in the city-at-large, while pointing to future directions that our city may take. They are loci of cultural exchange, information and community engagement, debate and consideration. Rather than being seen as monuments to individual events or ideas, these Second Generation Museums (M_v2.0s) are to become nodes in a network of installations across the city, which seek to answer the questions, Who are we? / What are we? / When did we become thus? / Where may be going? / Why does this matter?"

The new Paul Cocker Gallery in the Ryerson Architecture Building, image by Craig White

Starting at 6 p.m. on Friday, 10 January 2014, the exhibition will remain on display through to January 27, 2014 in the Paul Cocker Gallery, located on the main floor of the Architecture Building on the Ryerson University campus at 325 Church Street, Toronto. The gallery is open to the public for touring during normal school hours.

Next week, interested parties are also invited to attend the Department of Architectural Science's latest lecture in their 2013/14 series on Thursday, January 16, 2014 at 6:30 PM in 'The Pit' (ARC 200). 

David Battersby and Heather Howat draw on combined degrees in architecture, interior design, and landscape architecture and on two decades of work together. They have been recognized with national and international awards including the Ronald J. Thom Prize for Early Achievement in Architecture 2006, and Canadian Architect Awards of Excellence for the Gulf Island Residence in 2001, for the North Bend Residence in Washington state 2003. David has been awarded the AIA medal. Their work has been featured in Metropolitan Home, Wallpaper, Interior Design, Azure, Canadian Architect, Hauser, Western Interiors and Design, Sunset, Dwell, Surface and others. Their studio works through collaborative processes, drawing on a diversity of interests and skills to achieve a balance between sculpture and function. For more information, you can visit the department's website here.