​*DATE UPDATED TO APRIL 14

​Many want to create new futures for Toronto, but in general, few succeed. Why is this? Is there something about this city that resists or even punishes the new? And what can we do about that?

This series takes seriously the idea that in order to create wonderful things—be them products, organizations, political movements, forms of art—we must first begin by understanding where we live, and how this place works. How can we learn to "build with local materials" when it comes to culture itself?

This Event

This is a 2 hour interactive event that combines a lecture, a workshop and a discussion. Our focus is the question: What stories do we tell about this city? How do broader economic and cultural forces shape how difficult or easy it is to "locate" ourselves here?

Come expecting to learn new concepts and to immediately apply them in your own projects, or the projects of other Torontonians.

This is Part 2.5 of an event series that focuses on the cultural reimagining of the Toronto scene. Part 2 introduced the concept of "American Glasses"; 2.5 is a continuation and deeper revisiting of the central ideas of Part 2.

Please note: this is a standalone event, with no pre-requisites. Feel free to come if it's your first Toronto Theory.


IDEAL FOR:

- Artists or introverts who want to more deeply ground themselves in the city they live in
- The culturally sensitive/interested who want to understand Canadian cultural output and how different forces shape that throughout history
- People who want to love Toronto but don't know how
- Newcomers wanting to understand what makes this city great, special, unique, interesting
- People who are generally "up to stuff," whether that's hosting events or creating new things for the sheer joy of it
- People looking for a bigger audience/scene/community/LIFE in this city

About the Host

​​​Michelle is a design ethnographer, writer and artist who teaches at the Stanford d.school. Toronto Theory is the inaugural offering of IRID (Institute for Relational Intelligence in Design), a design school that was founded to help foster authentic, inspired and unusual civic works in the city of Toronto.

The "Toronto Theory" series will conclude with "Toronto Theory 3" before the end of 2026.

Accessibility

New Stadium is not a ramp accessible venue. There are bathrooms, but they are down a flight of stairs. If you require any access accommodation but want to attend this event, please message the hosts directly.

​About New

​New is a media company that reveals depth.

​We take subjects the world thinks it already understands and show them in a way that makes people see them for the first time.

​New Stadium is our collaborative third space in which we enable creatives, technologists, academics to host events and gather with each other, located at 83 Walnut Avenue.

​​We expect everyone here to treat people with basic dignity. No harassment, no discrimination, no behaviour that makes someone feel unsafe — in person, online, or in any interaction that started here.

​​If something happens, reach us at [email protected] or speak to any staff member on site. We take every report seriously.

​​Anyone whose conduct doesn't meet this standard may have their access to New Stadium revoked