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City Dreamers (Free Movie Showing)

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Cities have historically been built and designed by men. And it’s only fairly recently that women’s needs - or the needs of folks with other intersectional identities - have been considered in city planning. So it’s exciting to look at the work of four women who were trailblazers in their day, planning cities around their own experiences, and those of other women, and changing an industry that had, historically, excluded their perspectives.

We’re proud to be co-hosting a showing of the film, City Dreamers, on November 6. Along with our City Planning colleagues, we look forward to celebrating women’s achievements architecture and city planning. Please join us at Metro Cinema for what will definitely be a fascinating evening, as part of World Town Planning Day.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019 at 7 PM
Metro Cinema, 8712 109 St NW


*Disclosure: My spouse is employed by Metro Cinema
 
Sounds like a really interesting film, and no better place to show it then here! Edmonton has three really big historical connections to the country's trailblazing female architects.

In 1914 Alice Malhoit graduated from the University of Alberta's architecture program, becoming Canada's first female architectural graduate. Then there's Esther Major Hill, who was the daughter of the head of the Edmonton Public Library, who became Canada's first registered female architect, and served for a time here at noted firm Magoon & MacDonald, helping to design the Carnegie Library. Author Todd Babiak, writes that at her graduation, “the chair of the department, a man named C.H.C. Wright, refused to participate, in protest. No one would hire her in Toronto so she came back to her hometown, where she registered as an architect — the professional association denied her application.”

Another two major figures who had a real lasting impact on the city were Jean Wallbridge and Mary Imrie, who together founded one of the country's first all-female firms. They for a time worked at the City’s Architect Department, where they quickly gained a stellar reputation, that prompted their boss, Maxwell Dewar (architect responsible for the 1957 City Hall), to desperately try and get them the same pay as their male counterparts — he was denied by the City. They went into private practice in 1950 and would be responsible for over 200 projects around Edmonton, many which survive to this day. They were both unmarried and seemed to have been lovers.

Anyways, sorry for the spiel.
 
Just boosting this again; it's not a free showing, but your $15 ticket goes toward supporting women's charities in Edmonton:
 
I have not seen this movie, but I see Edmonton Public Library has it. (We can still request items from EPL, we can't just go in the buildings; most locations have pick-up service where the librarians will bring your holds outside). I will request it.
 
Pandemic related reasons. Perhaps I should have also added a wink emotion to note that of course a "PASS!" is given to anything I love right now aka urban life. Dining out, bars, movies, sporting events, lectures, etc. Unless it's on zoom it's not or shouldn't happen...

Saddened to say that's a thing but it is. I haven't sat in or been in a communal space since early February 2020 for more than 15-20 minutes when I buried a family member and the funeral was under restrictions. It hurts my heart to watch soooooo many people be so cavalier about a pandemic that has OFFICIALLY as of yesterday crossed the 400,000 deaths in America and 2,000,000 deaths worldwide... Do I miss "normal life?" Who doesn't, but also I am not ignorant enough to think that going maskless or EVEN masked in a room full of people for a variety of reasons isn't a good idea until we've all had our shots... HVAC's in study after study have shown to be the central spreading agent of communal COVID-19 cases... Just saying... As an immune compromised Albertan (born with a heart defect which paralleled into a liver disorder that WILL be fatal according to my doc) I am a rarity and need to take extra precautions HOWEVER the lack of solidarity and even R-E-S-P-E-C-T is downright sickening. Just my two bits. Don't want to hijack the thread, but also give you some context.
 
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For those of you STILL interested as am I and want to stay safe, EPL has 4 DVD copies. 2 are in use. I will be putting it into my hold list shortly... https://epl.bibliocommons.com/item/show/2280226005

And for the record, I'd still have voted Zaha Hadid for the AGA competition... But that's just my love of slinky concrete neo-futurism talking...
 

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