Diasporic intimacies: stitching the South Asian communities of Sudbury together through autonomous design

Abstract

Since 2019, Sudbury’s South Asian population has grown exponentially, doubling with each census. Despite this growth, the community remains fragmented between Cambrian College in New Sudbury, in the North of the city and Laurentian University in the South. The city’s motor-centricity furthers this divide, limiting opportunities for efficient social and cultural interaction. This study thus explores the potential for a Communo-Ethnic Space in Downtown Sudbury to bridge these cores fostering cultural integration for the South Asian immigrants and supporting the development of a prospective South Asian urban ethnic enclave. The study questions what it means for a South Asian settler to build a relationship with indigenous land, and how to navigate that with respect. Architecturally, by taking on the role of a “seed”, the proposed intervention is set to practice and demonstrate non-extractive relational design over Sudbury’s pre-existing colonial-modernist urban fabric, with community-driven participatory design at its forefront.