Guided Distractions

Guided Distractions 2.0 (GD2.0) is an exhibition of student work from Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design. It is a fourth year undergraduate course led by Sessional Instructor Reza Nik. It was a course in which experimental and critical thinking was applied to a specific site within Parkdale with an emphasis on the existing community.

In its second iteration, GD2.0 provided an introduction to the experimental processes of a multidisciplinary group of inventors and experimenters such as John Cage, Lebbeus Woods, Buckminster Fuller, Allan Wexler, Perry Kulper, Virgil Abloh, and poet Harryette Mullen, amongst others. Through the careful study of their varying strategies of abstraction and experimentation, we extended our architectural thinking beyond building and into poetry, drawings, sculpture, film, which culminated in what you see at this exhibition.

The aim of the course was to use alternate materials and techniques in a studio setting to look beyond the typical architectural toolbox in order to address difficult socio-economic city-building issues more effectively.

Follow the process and more work at @guideddistractions