Pedagogy 2025
Abstract
This presentation reports on the Tactical Laboratory for Inclusive Design, a graduate‐level research and design studio at the School of Architecture of the Université de Montréal that, over the past three years, aims to redefine how universal accessibility is taught. Organized as a year-long laboratory culminating in each student’s master’s project, the studio begins not with a fixed site or program, but with the lived realities of people who experience physical, sensory, or cognitive limitations. Guided by the maxim “nothing about us without us,” the course positions individuals with disabilities and other marginalized users as full partners: co-researchers, co-designers, and ultimate validators of architectural proposals. Rather than treating universal accessibility as a regulatory afterthought, the studio frames it as a primary driver of creativity and critical inquiry. Students engage in collaborative workshops with community members and advocacy groups, perform perceptual and spatial experiments, and test design hypotheses through iterative feedback. Building codes and normative constraints are treated not as barriers but as generative conditions for innovation. This integrated approach has yielded projects that challenge conventional typologies and broaden the definition of inclusive space, from civic buildings to urban interventions. More importantly, it fosters a pedagogy where research, design, and ethics converge: inclusion is not a box to tick but a political and creative stance. The presentation will outline the studio’s methodology, share representative student work, and reflect on how embedding lived experience at every stage can reshape both architectural education and the production of a truly shared built environment.
Bechara Helal, Ph.D., is Vice-Dean Research of the Faculty of Environmental Design of the U.Montréal and Associate Professor at the School of Architecture. A researcher affiliated to the Laboratoire de l’étude de l’architecture potentielle (LEAP), he focuses on experimental methods that advance inclusive and sustainable design. He leads a U.Montréal research project devoted to quality of inclusive design in the built environment and directs the Tactical Laboratory for Inclusive Projects, in which graduate students develop innovative strategies aiming to redefine universal accessibility.
Carmela Cucuzzella, Ph.D., is Dean of the Faculty of Environmental Design and Associate Professor at the School of Design, Université de Montréal. She is a member of the interuniversity Laboratoire d’étude de l’architecture potentielle (LEAP). Her research examines spatial justice in public spaces, ecological architectural practices, and the didactic role of ecological art and design in raising awareness in cities. She has authored and edited numerous publications, including Analyzing Eco-architecture Beyond Performance, which critically evaluates environmentalism in architecture, and Sustainable Architecture between Measurement and Meaning (co-edited with Dr. Goubran), which challenges conventional approaches to sustainable design.
Jean-Pierre Chupin, Ph.D., holds the Canada Research Chair in Architecture, Competitions and Quality at Université de Montréal. A Full Professor at the School of Architecture, Université de Montréal, and Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, he coordinates LEAP and has written widely on analogical thinking, competitions, awards of excellence, and architectural judgment. He leads the SSHRC partnership Quality in Canada’s Built Environment: Roadmaps to Equity, Social Value and Sustainability, uniting 14 universities, 60 researchers, and 65 organizations nationwide. He is chief editor of three online databases: the Canadian Competitions Catalogue (CCC), the Canadian Map of Award-Winning Buildings and Places, and ArchiQualiData, which integrates quality, equity, durability, and social value in rethinking Canadian living environments.
Izabel Amaral, Ph.D., is Director and Associate Professor at the School of Architecture, Université de Montréal, and is member of the LEAP. Her research investigates contemporary architectural practices through cross-cultural studies of awards and competitions, focusing on cultural and aesthetic dimensions. She chaired the Canadian Council of University Schools of Architecture (CCUSA) from 2022 to 2025.
1:30 pm - 3:00 pm
Thursday 20th November, 2025