Let's Talk Design with Shane Laptiste

​Are we actually designing what we need ?

​Shane Laptiste is a Toronto-based architect and the Principal and co-founder of SOCA | Studio of Contemporary Architecture. A Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada and a recipient of the 2023 Canadian Prix de Rome, he investigates how communal narratives and spatial imagination—particularly within Black communities—can be translated into built form. Licensed in Ontario and Quebec, Shane holds BSc(Arch) and MArch degrees from McGill University, where he has also taught as a studio instructor.

​He currently serves as a sessional instructor at the University of Toronto in a design studio exploring culturally and climate relevant housing in Barbados. A cofounder of Black Architects and Interior Designers Association (BAIDA), he has also previously served as a director for the Canadian Architectural Certification Board, Capital Region Housing, Media Architecture Design Edmonton, Nuit Blanche Edmonton and NCC Charles H Este Community Centre. Spanning architecture, urbanism, and public art, his award-winning work transforms spaces into catalysts for belonging, joy, and systemic change.