Many Norths: Spatial Practice in a Polar Territory

Book by Lola Sheppard and Mason White

Actar (hardcover, 472 pages)

Global warming and resource development are causing unprecedented change in Canada’s Arctic, a part of the country that is often misunderstood by outsiders. Built on research for the 2014 Venice Biennale exhibition Arctic Adaptations, Many Norths is an attempt – from the founders of Toronto design practice Lateral Office – to dispel the myth of the hinterland. A study of the spatial practices that are shaping the environmental and cultural dynamics of the North, the book considers architecture equally alongside resources, urbanism, mobility and monitoring, with a section devoted to each factor. Infographic timelines open each section, and these histories – as well as potential futures – are then explored through essays, case studies and interviews. Together these sections paint a North that is far more diverse than southerners perceive, and which requires a variety of creative approaches in order to meet its potential for progressive change.