Sidewalk Chalk: A Recipe for Reform

On Tuesday, July 14th, 2020, students chalked a call to action on the sidewalks surrounding the University of Waterloo School of Architecture (UWSA) in Galt. We, the Collective Resistance—an intersection between The Sustainability Collective and Treaty Lands, Global Stories—are calling on the university to “Break the Canon”.

In response to the Western worldview reinforced in our curriculum, we call on UWSA to confront the canon through which we are taught to think as architects. We insist on an inclusive curriculum that reflects diverse perspectives. We require a radical rethinking of the white, cis-hetero-patriarchical power structures that our School serves to reinforce. We demand an end to institutionalized inequity in our own community, schools across Canada, and the greater architectural profession.

In context of the uprising Black Lives Matter movement, the ongoing climate crisis, and the shift to online learning, we see these crises as a critical opportunity to reflect on the curriculum and implement foundational change. Although we remain physically distanced, we continue to believe in the power of visibility in public space. We hope those in favour will implement this recipe to call their own communities, neighbourhoods, and institutions into action.

We ask faculty at the University of Waterloo who are teaching in the fall to reflect on the following: How will you break the canon of your upcoming course? Do you believe this work is important, why or why not? How will you address the financial barriers of your course that disproportionately affect marginalized students? How will you ensure your style/method of teaching is as accessible as possible?

– Treaty Lands, Global Stories and The Sustainability Collective

Our full message reads:

“Within architecture, ‘Canon’ refers to the books, literature, precedents, and ways of learning that are part of the accepted norm. The University of Waterloo School of Architecture continues to teach a ‘Western Canon’ which centres the white colonial values that are all too present within our wider profession. We demand an education that accurately reflects the communities we come from and hope to serve. We call UWSA to break the canon.”

Chalk Recipe:
Ingredients:

• 1 cup water
• 1½ cup cornstarch
• Food dye*
• Paintbrush
• Bucket
• Broom handle*
• Duct tape*
• Measuring tape*
• Masking tape*
  (*Optional items) 

Instructions:

1. Mix cornstarch and water in a bucket. 
2. Add food dye for coloured paint. (Optional)
3. Use duct tape to attach a paintbrush to the end of a broom handle to avoid crouching. (Optional)
4. Use a measuring tape and masking tape to mark out text before painting. (Optional)
5. Print your message in chalk paint!