Learning to Listen to Place: Beyond Restoration at the Former Royal Alberta Museum

In light of the climate crises of the 21st century, the need for the conservation, restoration and adaptive reuse of existing buildings is crucial to meeting Canadian and global ecological sustainability goals. Focusing on the adaptive reuse of the building and site of the former Royal Alberta Museum in Edmonton, Alberta, this project promotes a holistic approach to sustainability that equally recognizes societal, ecological and economic considerations. This thesis argues that a material and conceptual methodology of critical questioning, disassembly, evaluation, and reassembly can create a culture of renewal and repair in which architecture consistently adapts to our future needs. By listening to Indigenous ways of knowing and by framing time through the seven generations model, the thesis places itself in opposition to current, fast-paced building methodology. It suggests a future that moves towards conciliation through a multi-generational process to create new, heartfelt and lasting connections to people and place.