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| AV俱乐部 architecture students are silhouetted at the work site on Spencer's Island. (Photo courtesy Roger Mullin) |
For the past three summers, AV俱乐部 has opened a satellite campus of sorts on Spencer鈥檚 Island, a rural community located on the Bay of Fundy just down the shore from Parrsboro.
It鈥檚 there where Roger Mullin, professor with the Faculty of Architecture and Planning, brings his students for their 鈥渇ree lab,鈥� a class which complements normal studio-based learning through hands-on work in a group format.
As master鈥檚 student Paul Zylstra says, 鈥淚t鈥檚 a real place with real people and not a theoretical assignment.鈥�
For two weeks in July, the students camp out on the beach, meet with residents and expand on the concept developed by Spencer鈥檚 Island resident Laurie Currie, who wanted to find a way to highlight the area鈥檚 shipbuilding heritage. Spencer鈥檚 Island (which is actually on the mainland but named for a nearby island) is where the famed ghost ship, the Mary Celeste, was built in 1861; what happened to the brig and its crew is one of the enduring mysteries of the 19th centuries.
Spencer鈥檚 Island was an important shipbuilding centre during the latter days of the Age of Sail. Brigs and barques, brigantines, full-rigged vessels such as the Glooscap were built and launched from its bustling shipyards.
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| The Mary Celeste |
鈥淟et鈥檚 make the Mary Celeste the foundation of what we can do here,鈥� says Mr. Currie, a sixth generation resident of tiny Spencer鈥檚 Island. 鈥淟et鈥檚 be proud of what we have. Heck, we live in the community where the Mary Celeste was built and that ship is still an unsolved mystery. We live in a community surrounded by incredible scenery and with the highest tides in the world.鈥�
鈥淟et鈥檚 give people a reason to come here,鈥� continues Mr. Currie, the father of three teenage girls. 鈥淟et鈥檚 give people a reason to stay here.鈥�
In the first year of the collaboration between students and residents, an outdoor cinema was built on land donated by the Currie family. The 32-metre line of a hull and keel鈥攅vocative of the Mary Celeste鈥攚ere recreated out of stone and salvaged wood to form a seating area. The ship鈥檚 double mast is suggested by the movie screen.
The following year, construction began on an interpretive centre, a shelter envisioned to act as an interdisciplinary arts centre by comprising classroom, gallery and market space. The building, long, narrow and open to the sky, is modeled after the community鈥檚 wharf.
鈥淚t has a geometry that鈥檚 familiar to people in the area,鈥� says Prof. Mullin. 鈥淭he wharf is a 鈥榟inge point,鈥� connecting the town to the rest of the world.鈥�
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| Architecture students on a free lab assignment in Spencer's Island. (Photo courtesy of Roger Mullin) |
In the third year, the movie screen was improved and a live performance stage added. As well, the students kicked off the Foggy Lens Filmy Festival, which featured independent films and live music performances.
This summer, Prof. Mullin and the students will return to Spencer鈥檚 Island to continue work; they may decide to build accommodations on site, begin an artist-in-residence program or create interactive kiosks that will provide information on the history of the area and point out nearby attractions, such as Cape Chignecto Provincial Park, Joggins Fossil Cliffs and coastal hiking trails along the Bay of Fundy. And, another edition of the Foggy Lens Filmy Festival is already in the works.
Paul Zystra, for one, can鈥檛 wait. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not like you鈥檙e in an office in front of a computer. It鈥檚 working with your hands, placing stones, nailing boards, building together.鈥�
Prof. Mullin says the free lab experience allows students to look at architecture from perspectives other than the architect鈥檚: 鈥淎s an architect you鈥檙e often not aware of the implications of the environment, the building materials. So this is an invitation to think differently; you鈥檙e wearing the hats of the designer, the contractor, the craftsperson.鈥�
Both Mr. Zylstra and Prof. Mullin are hoping to strengthen ties in the community and to get more people involved. 鈥淲e鈥檝e built a skeleton, but we鈥檙e hoping the people of Spencer鈥檚 Island will put the life blood in it,鈥� says Mr. Zylstra.聽
Paul Callison, who owns a sawmill in the area, admits that community folk still look askance at the newcomers, but are gradually coming around. They鈥檝e been encouraged by the return visits of former students, who鈥檝e brought friends and family with them. He says he enjoys what the students bring to Spencer鈥檚 Island鈥攖heir enthusiasm and genuine interest鈥攁nd that they always end up surprising him. 鈥淭hings have turned out not the way I expected them too,鈥� he muses. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 OK. They see things we don鈥檛 see.鈥�
鈥淚t only grows from here,鈥� adds Sarah Griebel, the proprietor of Wild Caraway Restaurant in nearby Advocate. 鈥淭hey come back with their families, and then the families come back with their friends. Good people bring good people.鈥�
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