Émilie Pinard
Biography
Emilie Pinard is an Associate Professor at the McEwen School of Architecture where she teaches Design Studio and Cultural Sustainability courses. She holds a Master of Architecture Degree and a Doctorate in Architecture and Anthropology from Université Laval. She completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of the Witwatersrand, in Johannesburg. Emilie’s work and teaching experience focus on people-environment relationships, housing, informality and collaborative architecture. She is conducting research on the role of vernacular and “popular” building know-how and practices in contemporary architecture. With the Habitats + Cultures Group from Université Laval, Emilie worked on different design and research initiatives conducted in collaboration with members of the Innu communities of Nitassinan and Inuit of Nunavik. She is a co-researcher in the Living in Northern Quebec: Mobilizing, Understanding, Imagining an Interdisciplinary Research Partnership (http://www.habiterlenordquebecois.org/), which has as its research subject the culturally appropriate and sustainable planning of Innu and Inuit habitats.
Education
Ph.D. Architecture and Anthropology, Université Laval
M.Sc. Architecture
M.Arch.
Research
Housing , gender and space, collaborative research-design practices, informality and urban planning in the Global South, vernacular architecture
I am currently conducting research in the context of the following projects:
Construire sur les traditions : savoir-faire et innovation dans l’architecture vernaculaire au Sénégal et en Guinée-Bissau (2018-2023)
L’objectif principal de ce projet est d’étudier les savoir-faire et connaissances pratiques liées à la construction vernaculaire en Afrique de l’Ouest et leur contribution actuelle et potentielle pour la pratique et la recherche architecturales contemporaines. L’importance croissante accordée au développement durable a induit, à l’échelle mondiale, un intérêt renouvelé pour l’utilisation de matériaux locaux et renouvelables. Ce projet suggère qu’il est nécessaire de se pencher sur la manière dont les savoir-faire et les connaissances liés à la conception et à la construction dans ces contextes sont hérités, transmis et adaptés afin d’évaluer les impacts réels des innovations développées.
This project aims to study the know-how and practical knowledge related to vernacular construction in West Africa and its current and potential contribution to architectural research and practice. The importance of sustainable development has led to a growing interest worldwide for the use of local and renewable materials and artisanal techniques. This project suggests that is it imperative to understand how the local and vernacular building know-how is inherited, shared and adapted in these contexts, in order to assess the social and cultural impacts of such innovations.
Apprendre du territoire : mobilisation et conception en collaboration d'un centre de transmission de la culture innue (2018-2022)
Ce projet vise à développer un ensemble d'outils programmatiques, de visions et de dessins architecturaux pour le développement d'un centre de transmission de la culture innue destiné aux jeunes, qui favorise l'expérience directe et la relation avec le territoire, le Nitassinan. Ces propositions ont pour but d'éclairer la prise de décision des intervenants dans le domaine de la planification, de l'éducation et de la culture avec lesquels travaille au quotidien ITUM (Conseil de bande Innu Takuaikan Uashat mak Mani-Utenam), partenaire de ce projet.
Living in Northern Quebec :Mobilizing, Understanding, Imagining (2015-2020)
This project has as its research subject the culturally appropriate and sustainable planning of Innu and Inuit habitats. It tackles northern housing in all its complexity, by examining the three dimensions that provide structure and meaning, and direct its development: communities, living environments and governance. The project is based on the hypothesis that a collaborative strategy among people with different knowledge can expand perspectives about how to look at the issue (understanding/integrating), about the variety of solutions that could be adopted (imagine/conceive), and about learning and adapting practices (mobilize/value). http://www.habiterlenordquebecois.org/home
Awards
2020 UNESCO Chair
2018 Insight Development Grant (SSHRC)
2018 Partnership Engage Grant (SSHRC)
2015 Partnership Grant (SSHRC) - Co-researcher
2014 Postdoctoral Fellowship – Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)
2012 Doctoral Research Award – International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
2009 Joseph-Armand Bombardier CGS Doctoral Scholarship – Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)
2009 Doctoral Scholarship – Fonds québécois de recherche, société et culture (FQRSC)
2008 ECOPOLIS Graduate Research and Design Award – International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
Teaching
Cultural Sustainability (ARCH 4016)
Community Building Studio (ARCH 5515)
Thesis (ARCH 5555 and 5565)
Past:
Northern Buildings Studio (ARCH 3505 and 3515)
Integrated Design Studio (ARCH 4505 and 4015)
Publications
Blais, M. et Pinard, E. (2021) Introduction – Construire et habiter l’Inuit Nunangat / Building and Dwelling in Inuit Nunangat. Études Inuit Studies, 44(1-2): 11-36.
Pinard, E. (2021) The consolidation of ‘traditional villages’ in Pikine, Senegal: Negotiating legitimacy, control and access to peri-urban land. African Studies, 80(2): 172-189.
Piché, D. & Pinard, E. (2019) Genre, villes et développement : regard sur l’Afrique subsaharienne, in Levy, C. & Martinez, A. (éds.) Genre, féminismes et développement international : une trilogie en construction. Presses de l’Université d’Ottawa, 367-391.
Vachon & al.(2017) Vers des visions partagées: des outils visuels pour l'aménagement durable des communautés innues de la Cote-Nord. Recherches amérindiennes du Québec, 48(1): 121-136.
Pinard, E. (2016) Les femmes propriétaires à Pikine, Sénégal: entre nouvelles responsabilités familiales et désir d’autonomie. Recherches féministes, 29(2) : 43-62.
Pinard, E. (2016) From courtyard houses to villas: The incremental transformation of Dakar’s urban landscape. Open House International, 41(2) : 15-22.
Pinard E. (2015) Empirical knowledge and alternative built environment practices. A research through design process to support self-managed housing production in Maputo. Who wins and who loses? Exploring and learning from transformations and actors in the cities of the South, Dortmund: Technical University Berlin / Dortmund University.
Pinard, E. (2012) Participatory Transformation of the Women’s Centre of Malika (Senegal): Strategies for the Development of a Productive Ecosystem in the Periurban Context. In Robertson, M. (ed.) Sustainable Cities: Local solutions in the Global South, Bourton-on-Dunsmore, GB: Practical Action, 65-80.