A History of the Two-by-Four: Why Buildings Stand Up

Friday March 18, 2005 – 7:30 p.m. at the Almonte United Church Social Hall

Speaker: Don Westwood

Topic: A History of the Two-by-Four: Why Buildings Stand Up

Don Westwood has had a distinguished career in architecture, both in Canada and England, before returning to Canada in 1971 to teach in the School of Architecture at Carleton University, Ottawa, becoming a full professor in 1990.

His students have always identified with and celebrated his wit, enthusiasm and mastery of his subjects, primarily in the areas of architecture and stage-set design, structures, technology and building construction. He has also taught courses in the School of Industrial Design and Civil Engineering, and at the opposite end of the University he became involved in a Childrens Classic Literature course by creating a popular video series recreating for adult students the childhood experience of hearing these stories read by a master story-teller. He has won two Carleton Teaching Achievement awards in 1993 and 1998, was named as the inaugural Teaching and Learning Scholar to the Teaching and Learning Resource Centre in 1994, and in 1997 became the first professor of architecture in Canada to win a National 3M Teaching Fellowship. He has constantly attempted to bridge the gap between academe and the general public with his publicly televised lectures, which led to writing and hosting the TVOntario series “The Science of Architecture” in 1988, and “A Sense of Design” in 1991. These have been distributed in over 30 countries and have earned him five ACTRA Awards.

Don’s current research interests range from an exploration of multi-media applications in design education, to on-location studies of the architectural, social and cultural history of Southwest France.