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Asian Heritage in Canada’s Built Environment: Why It Matters

Thursday, May 11, 2023 @ 5:00 pm MDT 6:00 pm MDT

Join us on May 11, 2023, at 5:00 p.m. on Zoom as Dr. Henry Tsang presents Asian Heritage in Canada’s Built Environment: Why It Matters as part of Asian Heritage Month at AUSU.

Dr. Tsang, an Assistant Professor at Athabasca University, is an award-winning architect in the RAIC Centre for Architecture. His design, teaching, and research work explores the intersections between sustainability, health, and culture in the built environment. He teaches virtual design studios and coordinates courses in the communication, professional, theory, history, and technical streams.

About The Presenter

Dr. Henry Tsang is an architect, professor and activist for inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility (IDEA) in the built environment. He is the founding principal of Henry Tsang Architect, a design firm specializing in sustainable development and the historic conservation of Asian heritage buildings. His projects include the Calgary Japanese Community Centre which honours the cultural legacy of Japanese immigrants. It was awarded the Mayor’s Urban Design Award by Mayor Jyoti Gondek and a Canadian Architect Award of Excellence for its unique design that marries Japanese and Canadian aesthetics, a process he describes as “fusion architecture”. Tsang is also leading the retrofit design for the Calgary Chinatown Seniors’ Centre by preserving its distinctive Chinese character and motifs. His work with BIPOC and underserved communities earned him Construction Canada’s Emerging Leader Award in 2021.

Tsang is also an assistant professor at the RAIC Centre for Architecture at Athabasca University. He is currently working on “The Politics of Placemaking in Chinatown”, a federal-funded research project investigating the architectural heritage of North American Chinatowns. Serving the community, Tsang advises and speaks publicly on topics related to the socio-cultural impacts of architecture. In 2020, he presented “Fusion Architecture: Approach to Designing Asian Culture & Identity in Canada” at the National Asian Heritage Month Symposium in Montreal. He also presented “Understanding Japanese Architecture” a webinar hosted by the Japan Foundation in Toronto, with 6100+ views on YouTube. He has also spoken at TED and United Nations-hosted conferences worldwide. The National Association of Career Colleges selected him as Canada’s Educator of the Year.

Tsang has volunteered for many community organizations. He is the current Co-Chair of the Membership Committee of the RAIC tasked to diversify the architectural profession, as well as a Board Member of the Rick Hansen Foundation, with the mission to create “a world without barriers”. He also currently serves as an appointed member of the Nuksahtowin Council of Allies tasked to channel indigenous knowledge to all the faculties at AU.

Tsang was born to Hong Kong immigrant parents and spent his childhood in Montreal, where he remembers being bullied in school because of his ethnicity. However, proud of his Asian roots, he persevered in his studies and embraced his “Asian-ness” by expressing it through his creative works. Upon graduating from McGill University, he ventured to Asia with a one-way ticket to learn about his ancestry. He travelled to Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, and the UAE. In 2002, he was admitted to the University of Tokyo with a full scholarship as a Monbukagakusho Scholar, and upon graduation, he worked as an architect for Nihon Sekkei Inc., one of the world’s largest architecture firms. In 2015, Henry was appointed an assistant professor at Keimyung University in Korea. After spending 14 years in Asia, he finally returned to Canada in 2019 to work at AU. As an Asian-Canadian changemaker, Henry Tsang has continuously strived to break down barriers and construct a better, more welcoming world for all, one building at a time.

Free

AU Students’ Union

Zoom