Centretown architect Allan Teramura has taken his career to new heights.
He was recently appointed president of the Royal Architecture Institute of Canada (RAIC), the organization that represents professional architects and individuals of accredited architecture schools in Canada.
“I’m excited,” says Teramura. “This wasn’t something I thought I was going to do when I first joined the board.”
Sarah Murray of Centretown’s Nicholas Caragianis Architect Inc. is pleased to see a local architect achieve such an esteemed industry position. “We are extremely proud that Allan has been appointed president,” Murray said in a statement over email. “He is a thoughtful and resourceful person.”
Teramura works primarily on the conservation of historic buildings in Ottawa. Recent projects in Centretown include the restoration of a greenhouse at the Central Experimental Farm and an ongoing repair of Centre Block on Parliament Hill.
As president of the RAIC, he wants to focus on advocating for and supporting the built environment of indigenous communities. Teramura was deeply affected after learning about the floods and fires in James Bay in Northern Ontario, and sought insight into the different ways in which he or the RAIC could help.
“I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what an organization like ours can reasonably do,” he says. “We’re normally concerned with new construction or things that happen in the more conventional environment where architects are involved. But our mandate is to advocate for the equality of Canada’s built environment.”
Teramura hopes to obtain a research grant to determine what an appropriate course of action might be. He also hopes to support indigenous Canadian architects and students who are able to provide insight into the practice of architecture in these communities.
“If there’s a way to give people the tools and means necessary to shape their own communities, I think they’ll be healthier places,” he says.
Canadian author Joseph Boyden delivered the inaugural keynote address at Teramura’s investiture ceremony in January. “Mr. Teramura, to quote him, says reconciliation with Canada’s indigenous peoples is the most important issue of our time,” he said. “I believe Allan is dead on.”
Teramura graduated from Carleton University’s School of Architecture in 1990 and became partner of Watson MacEwen Teramura Architects in 2009. He served as the RAIC’s Regional Director for Ontario East, North and Nunavut from 2011 to 2015, before becoming president of the organization this year.
In addition to focusing on indigenous architecture, Teramura wants to elevate the RAIC’s public profile.
The organization recently gained public attention for its involvement in the Victims of Communism controversy in Ottawa. The RAIC, alongside Heritage Ottawa and architects Barry Padolsky and Shirley Blumberg, filed an application in Federal Court against the NCC. The commission planned to erect a memorial on a judicial precinct site without following proper public consultation procedures.
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The application proposed that the NCC relocate the memorial to a more appropriate site while also considering other designs.
On Jan. 20, the NCC agreed to the conditions set out in the application and the court case was discontinued.
“The Victims of Communism controversy was interesting. It was amazing that we received that much coverage and exposure,” says Teramura. “To keep the RAIC out there as an organization that the media can think of as a reliable source of helpful information is something that I’d like to build on.”
Ultimately, Teramura hopes to use his new position as a means of advocating for the development of architecture in Canada.
“We’re looking forward to his continuing contribution to the evolution of the Canadian architectural scene,” said Murray.