Accommodation

Julia Child’s Kitchen, Washington, DCDrawing by John Ota — Julia Child’s Kitchen, Washington, DC
Drawing by John Ota

Right now, It’s almost impossible, and certainly irresponsible, to think about the built environment without considering the effects of COVID-19. In our last issue, we discussed discomfort in the built environment, acknowledging “a new, more insidious, form of discomfort” that had entered our lives in pandemic form. In this issue of The Right Angle Journal, we examine how two separate meanings of a single word can collide, collaborate and assume special importance under these unusual circumstances.

The word is accommodation, which can mean either a place to dwell, or adjustments made in response to changing circumstances. Both definitions are especially pertinent. We had originally planned to dedicate this issue to the growing crisis in affordable housing, but thanks to COVID-19, this problem has been joined by others, just as urgent, especially those affecting the places in which we have all learned to spend more time: our homes and neighbourhoods.

Bowing to another COVID-19 circumstance, the current economic slump, our journal will be temporarily switching to semi-annual publication. Meanwhile, our website www.therightanglejournal.com will be ramping up to fill the gap. You will see us again in print in about six months. Stay well.

by Gordon S Grice 2/28/21 by Gordon S Grice 2/28/21

Introduction

Written in the first months of the pandemic: what accommodation really means, from Danish hygge to the homes we were suddenly stuck in.

by Kosta Derbish 2/28/21 by Kosta Derbish 2/28/21

Quarantine in the City has Resulted in a New Collectivity

A Toronto planner on how the pandemic turned porches, parks, rooftops, and empty streets into the city’s new commons.

by Bill Birdsell 2/28/21 by Bill Birdsell 2/28/21

Our Housing Crisis is not Going Away

Neoliberal housing policy keeps building luxury condos while affordable supply shrinks, and the pandemic made the gap impossible to ignore.

by John Ota 2/28/21 by John Ota 2/28/21

A Book Discussion

Gordon Grice puts tricky questions to John Ota about his book on the history of the kitchen, from Julia Child’s stove to Elvis Presley’s, and what cooking at home taught us during COVID.

by Gordon S Grice 2/28/21 by Gordon S Grice 2/28/21

LOCATIONS: Discovering the Humber

Locked down in 2020, the author rediscovers the river across the street: 12,000 years of Humber history, from Indigenous portage to a daily dog walk.