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Latest Episodes:

The Day After Tomorrow? Jul 16, 2017

Show notes

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 overall dialogue that dialogue almost stood on its own so we cropped it from the final edit that you hear.

Send us your feedback at chat@openduringconstruction.ca or if you have any suggestions for projects or topics you'd like us to explore.

ArtWorkX re-cap Jun 04, 2017

Show notes

Check out what went down at ArtWorkX by clicking here

ArtWorkX Jun 04, 2017

Show notes

ArtWorkX fused art & infrastructure at Celebration Square in Mississauga on May 27, 2017.

Artists Gaya Kairos, Claudio Ghirardo, Dominic Simone & Nisreen Askar turned otherwise remnant pieces of infrastructure into a creative cityscape mash-up.

Kids took turns in a wide variety of interactive crafts. Here you can see the result of their efforts making pipe look good.

Credit Valley Conservation was representing and supporting the event. Melanie was ready to answer questions from participants on a range of planting techniques. Whether it was what to plant in a pollinator garden, what might attract birds or what to use in a raingarden, she had the answers.

Just around the corner from CVC's booth was a functional raingarden. This standalone feature helped answer a lot of questions since you could see and feel what the end product could look like. And thanks again to Sean for explaining how the water recirculated.

The incredible Joanne Jackson, Producer of the Messenger, during an interview just before the screening of the acclaimed documentary about the plight of songbirds.

Corrugated plastic pipe becomes the Marilyn Towers.

It was an incredible event that helped change the way people look at infrastructure and imagine creative possibilities.

Cheers to the event organizers!

Dancing About Infrastructure May 08, 2017

Show notes

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.

Is the River Longing? May 08, 2017

Show notes

In episode #4, Michelle recounts her experience viewing this sign in Calgary for the first time. It was a simple yet powerful reminder of what is around us that can be seemingly invisible.

A Woman's Place is in the... Apr 08, 2017

Show notes

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 have any suggestions for projects or topics you'd like us to explore.

Good or Good Enough Mar 13, 2017

Show notes

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.

Plangineers Feb 07, 2017

Show notes

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.