JHI Undergraduate Fellow
Laurel Wilson is a 4th year architectural studies student with a specialist in design of architecture, landscape, and urbanism at the Daniels Faculty of Architecture. Her research interests stem from her upbringing in the historical Muskoka-Parry Sound district of Ontario which fostered a deep passion for the environment, Canadian history, and vernacular design from a young age. When she isn’t studying, Laurel enjoys reading, painting, and exploring the forests of Ontario.
Fellowship Research Project—Agency Within Absence: How Unorganized Townships Can Provide Solutions to Canada's Housing Crisis
The historical unorganized townships within the Parry Sound District of North-central Ontario have existed for 150 years with an absence of municipal government meaning there is no regulation of building codes, permits, or zoning regulation. When the agency of design is placed into the hands of the everyday person, what alternative solutions to housing occur? Specifically, what lessons can be learned through the analysis of newly built or adapted historical structures within these unorganized townships and can they offer alternative solutions to the housing crisis in Canada?