Pat is a Paraguayan-Canadian Mestiza architect, designer, researcher and educator whose practice bridges South America and Canada. Their work explores the intersections of systems thinking, service design and climate action, with a focus on land-based design, sustainability and social innovation. Pat’s industry experience spans architecture, exhibit and experiential design, visual communication, placemaking and wayfinding for airports and transportation systems. A PhD candidate at RMIT University in collaboration with Parsons School of Design, their SSHRC-funded research investigates technology’s role in equitable design futures. Pat teaches Design and Critical Studies at ECU and received the 2023 Ian Wallace Award for Teaching Excellence.
Courses
Course Name
Department
Course Code
Term
Foundation Studio Courses
FNDT 115
27/SP
Description
This foundational course (open to all levels)
introduces students to Indigenous peoples,
worldviews, cultures, and ways of knowing through
the lens of contemporary Indigenous artists and
their cultural expressions. Situated within a
basket of Indigenous values, this curriculum
privileges Indigenous presence and the gifts that
Indigenous cultures have contributed and continue
to contribute to the social, ecological, cultural
and political fabric of Vancouver, British
Columbia and Canada. Through thematic based
lessons, presentations, interviews, readings and
films, we will trace important moments in
Indigenous histories emphasizing the diversity of
Indigenous peoples in Canada and North America.
This course will also track the impacts of
Indigenous-settler relations as they inform our
current historical moment and aims at decolonizing
our lenses and developing an understanding and
validation of a plurality of knowledges and
alternative histories. A central tenet of this
course is understanding the spirit of place and
the importance of the local, and the ways in which
place informs us as artists, designers, guests and
community members. By fore-fronting place and the
land, we are situated, as teachers and learners,
in a reciprocal, responsible relationship with the
Indigenous ethos of "all my relations." An
integral part of this course will teach Indigenous
values through Indigenous material workshops that
may include beading, brush-making and working with
natural ochres. This course may also include field
trips on the land and attending local Indigenous
cultural events like powwows or Hoobiyee (New Year
Festivals). All students are welcome.
Pre-requisites
No prerequisites.
Industrial Design
INDD 210
27/SP
Description
This Core Studio builds on the knowledge and
skills learned in INDD 200 Core Studio in
Industrial Design, and offers further exposure to
key aspects of Industrial Design. Projects involve
primary and secondary design research methods and
practices as well as prototyping using a variety
of form-giving strategies. Students engage in all
aspects of the design process: research, analysis,
iteration, prototyping, presentation and
evaluation in order to meet the required
objectives through individual and group projects.
Discussion and reflection help students make
informed decisions about their personal and
professional development.
Pre-requisites
No prerequisites.
Foundation Studio Courses
FNDT 115
26/FA
Description
This foundational course (open to all levels)
introduces students to Indigenous peoples,
worldviews, cultures, and ways of knowing through
the lens of contemporary Indigenous artists and
their cultural expressions. Situated within a
basket of Indigenous values, this curriculum
privileges Indigenous presence and the gifts that
Indigenous cultures have contributed and continue
to contribute to the social, ecological, cultural
and political fabric of Vancouver, British
Columbia and Canada. Through thematic based
lessons, presentations, interviews, readings and
films, we will trace important moments in
Indigenous histories emphasizing the diversity of
Indigenous peoples in Canada and North America.
This course will also track the impacts of
Indigenous-settler relations as they inform our
current historical moment and aims at decolonizing
our lenses and developing an understanding and
validation of a plurality of knowledges and
alternative histories. A central tenet of this
course is understanding the spirit of place and
the importance of the local, and the ways in which
place informs us as artists, designers, guests and
community members. By fore-fronting place and the
land, we are situated, as teachers and learners,
in a reciprocal, responsible relationship with the
Indigenous ethos of "all my relations." An
integral part of this course will teach Indigenous
values through Indigenous material workshops that
may include beading, brush-making and working with
natural ochres. This course may also include field
trips on the land and attending local Indigenous
cultural events like powwows or Hoobiyee (New Year
Festivals). All students are welcome.
Pre-requisites
No prerequisites.
Graduate Studies Design
GSMD 502
26/FA
Description
This seminar exposes students to critical and
theoretical contexts within which their
understanding of contemporary design can be
provoked. As the traditional discipline expands
to include hybrid practices that reform the
meanings of culture and society, students are to
examine multiple trajectories through which
designing can intervene. Through a review of
media phenomena, literature and case studies,
students will engage critical debates challenging
the world as they know it.
In addition to required readings, presentations,
writing assignments and discussions, each student
is expected to demonstrate leadership in debates
of choice. Such debates will be shaped around
critical engagement with the pivotal case studies
that make up the thrust of the course content.
Such cases will be chosen for the depth of their
examination of social, economic, technical,
environmental and aesthetic issues affecting
practice into the future. These case debates will
enable students to consolidate and extend their
knowledge and understanding of design practice as
part of a complex and shifting web of cultural,
political, rhetorical and technological
dynamics.
Pre-requisites
No prerequisites.
Industrial Design
INDD 200
26/FA
Description
This introductory Core Studio acquaints
students to key aspects of Industrial Design.
Students will learn fundamental design principles,
diverse materials, issues of sustainability,
fabrication and making, while simultaneously
exploring varied social and cultural contexts of
industrial design. Students will engage in all
aspects of the design process: research, analysis,
sketching and iterative prototyping, and design
development alongside presentation techniques in
order to meet the required studio objectives,
through both individual and group projects.
Discussions and critical reflection throughout the
development of their studio project work help
students make informed design decisions.
Pre-requisites
No prerequisites.
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