Stephen Meijer

Advisor: Neil Minuk

Floor plan and side elevation with text. The layout features community spaces like pools, a summer house, and fitness area highlighted in pink.
Collage with urban and historical elements depicting a man gesturing, a procession of red silhouettes, architectural backgrounds, and a vintage map.
Collage exploring the events of Bloody Saturday during the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919.
Aerial view of a city map with purple-highlighted proposed sites and surface parking lots. Green lines mark cycling routes and blue lines indicate roadways.
Transportation map of the Winnipeg Exchange District. Magenta = Parking Lots, Cyan = Driving Paths, Green = Bike Paths.
Colorful, abstract map diagram on black background. Features geometric shapes in yellow, red, blue, and green, connected by multicolored lines.
Activity study of several workers and inhabitants of the Exchange District.
Floor plan of a recreational facility with labeled zones: lap pool, shallow pool, sauna, fitness area, and lobby. Green circles depict plants, set on a black background.
Early floorplan of the [x]change: an elevated pool in the heart of the Exchange District that seeks to remove class barriers and increase interactions between all citizens.
Blueprint-style diagram on a black background showing a building section. Labeled areas include pools, skywalk, changing rooms, elevator, lobby, stairs, and trees.
Early exploratory section of the [x]change: an elevated pool in the heart of the Exchange District that seeks to remove class barriers and increase interactions between all citizens.

the [x]change

Architecture serves as the contextual stage in which people play out their lives. The importance of architecture extends beyond merely the programmed spaces and into the spaces in-between; the spaces within which random social interaction occurs. Therefore, considering the in-between spaces is essential to fostering a feeling of social belonging between all members of a given society. Through a strong socially based programme and careful consideration of the spaces in-between, it is possible to provide a space that fosters random interaction between a diverse sample of society, thereby increasing understanding and building relationships across many barriers that would otherwise divide different communities.

Many issues within the social network of Downtown Winnipeg stems from a socio-economic divide between the unhoused community, the community living in single room occupancies (SROs), and the middle class who live and work in the Exchange District. Although living within proximity of each other, there seems to be little interaction between them. Currently, their preferred socializing locations differ from each other and therein lies an opportunity: to provide a space within which the inhabitants of Downtown Winnipeg can enjoy equitably. In doing so, random interaction can be encouraged across the socio-economic divide, and a better understanding of the issued affecting society can be developed amongst the members of each community.

In reflecting on a possible programme for my thesis, I have settled on designing a pool that provides ample in-between spaces to foster random interaction throughout the day. The aim is to design a space that is welcoming to all; a space that limits explicit signs of wealth and that allows all inhabitants to express themselves in a safe environment. To this end, I am proposing a public pool that includes both interior and exterior elements. The pool will be elevated above the ground plane to provide public space beneath the building.