The Life Between Umbrellas competition review will take place with the support of a six-person jury. Jury members will be responsible for:
identifying a short-list of entries for the Stream 1 People’s Choice voting process
selecting jury prize winners for both Stream 1 and Stream 2 entries
The jury is comprised of design professionals, sustainability, cultural and social experts. The composition of the jury aims to reflect the diversity of residents in the city. As the city of Vancouver’s population is diverse in many ways and consists of multiple equity-seeking groups, equity and diversity were considered when selecting the individual jurists and the overall composition of the jury.
The Life Between Umbrellas jury is comprised of:
RJ Aquino is a proud Filipino-Canadian, parent and community activist who works in the local high-tech sector. RJ co-founded the Tulayan Filipino Diaspora Society, is on the board of the Collingwood Neighbourhood House, and is a former member of the City Planning Commission.
June Chow 周慕慈 is a heritage practitioner teaching mahjong play, Cantonese language and other daily rituals in Chinatown’s public spaces, in learning and experience of the area’s intangible cultural heritage and values. She is a co-founder of the Youth Collaborative for Chinatown 「青心在唐人街」 grassroots group running the “hot+noisy” Mahjong Social series now entering its fourth summer at the Chinatown Memorial Plaza. The series is part public space activation and part place-keeping effort with the area’s seniors in mind. A place-based model is used in their Saturday School program to teach Cantonese, using Chinatown’s shops and spaces as practice sites. The group’s work contributes to local urban planning issues and public space policy, and provides opportunities for young planners of racialized backgrounds. June works as a community consultant for projects in and impacting Chinatown. She is as a second-generation Chinese Canadian serving on the board of her family clan society, the Hoy Ping Benevolent Association.
Gemma Dunn is the founder of Uisce (Ishka) Consulting International. She helps the water industry and local governments transition to more sustainable water systems. Over the past two decades Gemma has worked on innovative water management projects across Europe, North America and Australia, in both the public and private sector. She is known for her in-depth water expertise and her ability to communicate complex ideas to a broad audience. Her passion is helping people understand the critical role water plays in making cities more liveable, resilient, sustainable, and productive, and connecting people to innovative solutions to solve complex water problems. When she is not working on water you will find her outside enjoying the abundance of nature Vancouver has to offer, from walking in the local forests and parks to working up a sweat dragon boating. She also loves to drink coffee.
Joe Fry is the founding principal of Hapa Collaborative and a contemporary voice for landscape architecture and urban design in Vancouver. Throughout his career, Joe has dedicated himself to deepening the discussion around the economic, societal and environmental values of civic placemaking. Over two decades, he has advocated for these ideals as a member of the Vancouver Advisory Urban Design Panel, the chair of the Richmond Urban Design Panel, a director of the BC Society of Landscape Architects, and as an adjunct professor and advisory board member for UBC’s School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. Joe is a coach, a parent, a volunteer and a committed participant in our City’s discussion about design and the public realm. He is the design lead for many of Hapa’s projects including šxwƛ̓ənəq Xwtl’e7énḵ Square at the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Foot of Lonsdale Plaza and Shipyards Plaza in North Vancouver, the award-winning Sun Hop Park in Vancouver, Langley’s McBurney Lane revitalization, and Market Lane in London, Ontario.
Courtney Healey is a Vancouver-based Architect with a keen interest and experience in public realm design. She received her Master of Architecture from UBC School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, and apprenticed at design firms in Rotterdam and Berlin. In Vancouver, Courtney has contributed to the portfolios of PUBLIC Architecture + Communication and, most recently, MIZA Architects. She has worked on projects big/small, fast/slow, real/unreal, silly/serious, from exhibition design and interiors to institutional projects and large-scale public spaces. She is also a writer on art and architecture for Canadian Architect Magazine. Prior to Architecture, Courtney collaborated on high-profile public art installations across North America and served as Art Director for a non-profit artist workspace in NYC.
Kees Lokman is an assistant professor of landscape architecture at the University of British Columbia. He joined UBC’s School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture in 2014, after teaching at Washington University in St. Louis. Kees holds degrees from Wageningen University and the Harvard Graduate School of Design.His research focuses on design challenges related to sea level rise adaptation, water and food shortages, and the energy transition. Recent and ongoing research has been published in various journals, including the Journal of Landscape Architecture, Landscape Research, New Geographies, TOPOS and the Journal of Architectural Education. This work has been funded through various agencies and municipalities, including Natural Resources Canada, the Dutch Creative Industries Fund, and the City of Vancouver. He is also the founder of Parallax Landscape, a collaborative design platform, which been recognized internationally and with numerous awards and mentions for contributing innovative design proposals. In 2014, Keeswas a finalist for the Dutch Prix the Rome, the most prestigious Dutch prize for architects and visual artists below the age of 40.
