The Architecture of Understanding Emissions: Nathalie de Vries and Sanne van den Burgh to lead Carbon Confessions keynote in Toronto

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On June 4, Nathalie de Vries, Founding Partner of MVRDV, and Sanne van den Burgh, Head of MVRDV NEXT, will take part in a keynote conversation at the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design in Toronto, moderated by architecture critic Alex Bozikovic.

Titled "Carbon Confessions: The Architecture of Understanding Emissions", the conversation builds on MVRDV’s travelling exhibition Carbon Confessions, currently on view in Toronto in its first North American presentation. Drawing on more than three decades of MVRDV’s work, the exhibition reflects on experiments, milestones, and missed opportunities in sustainable architecture, while examining how climate ambitions evolve in practice.

During the keynote, Nathalie and Sanne will discuss how carbon considerations are reshaping architectural practice, from individual buildings to the scale of the city. Using MVRDV’s “Carbon Cases” as a framework, they will share insights into the ambitions, challenges, and trade-offs involved in working towards lower-carbon design, including strategies related to mixed-use development, intensification, and adaptive reuse in projects in Toronto and elsewhere in Canada.

Set within the context of Toronto and its evolving climate policies, the discussion will also reflect on the relationship between buildings, mobility, and emissions, and the tensions between preservation, densification, and new development.