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Dal 200 Planning Profile: Faculty of Architecture & Planning

- June 23, 2017

Studley Campus: Past and present.
Studley Campus: Past and present.

This article is part of an ongoing series highlighting plans in the works for Dalhousieā€™s 200th anniversary celebrations in 2018. For more features, visit our archives and learn more about Dal 200 at .

As pilipiliĀž»­ gears up to celebrate its bicentennial anniversary, many may be wondering what the university looked like at various points in its history ā€”Ā back 50, 100, even the full 200 years ago.

As one of many activities in place to commemorate Dalā€™s 200th anniversary, Eric Rapaport, an associate professor in Dalā€™s Faculty of Architecture & Planning, is helping lead a large-scale project in his Faculty that will take people back through ā€œspace and timeā€ to showcase how the footprint and history of the university has evolved over the last two centuries.

ā€œWeā€™re looking at how the landscape has changed at Dal, and how the buildings and properties have developed across our campus,ā€ he says. ā€œSo weā€™re creating an online map where people can click on different buildings at Dal and get information about the property (i.e. history, architecture and design).ā€

Piecing together Dal's history


Established within the Nova Scotia Technical College in 1961, the Faculty of Architecture & Planning originally shared the space it now solely occupies in the Ralph M. Medjuck Building on Spring Garden Road with the Nova Scotia Museum of Science.

In 1980, the Nova Scotia Technical College became the Technical University of Nova Scotia (TUNS), later amalgamating with pilipiliĀž»­ in 1997.

Prof. Rapaport says eventually the virtual ā€œtime machineā€ they are building will include any building that Dal has owned since 1818, including ones that have disappeared from the landscape because they were demolished over time.

ā€œWeā€™re going to trace how Dalhousie has grown and taken over the space that it now occupies, which is Barrington Street all the way up to Coburg Street,ā€ he says.

Prof. Rapaport says the online map wonā€™t just appeal to Dal alumni, but anyone interested in learning more about the history of Halifax.

ā€œThis project shows us where we have come from and illustrates where weā€™re going. It also gives a sense of how the fabric of the environment has changed over time,ā€ he says.

Connecting past, present and future


Although the 200th anniversary project will help educate the public on Dalā€™s history, for the Faculty of Architecture and Planning, the project will serve an even greater purpose.

ā€œWeā€™re very interested in the future and how things are going to look. But in order to look into the future, we have to look into the past. We look at how a site was once used, and we also look at the surrounding areas to better understand what the architectural form and design was,ā€ says Prof. Rapaport. ā€œSo even though this is part of the 200th celebrations, the databases that weā€™re building will probably be used in our courses and research as well.ā€

Other Dalhousie partners on the project will include Facilities Management, Dal Libraries, Dal Archives and Dalā€™s GIS Centre