Architects, artists and community actors.

Architects, artists and community actors.

Each project is an opportunity to tell a story, imagine a place and broaden the scope and dialogue between art and architecture.

Each project is an opportunity to tell a story, imagine a place and broaden the scope and dialogue between art and architecture.

National and international recognition

National and international recognition

Public engagement is at the heart of KANVA's practice.

Public engagement is at the heart of KANVA's practice.

KANVA is a firm whose practice is rooted in a desire to imagine, design and build collective space. Our team is inspired by place-based narratives and seeks, for each project, to understand how users interact with their environment, with a strong belief that architecture, art and science are tools for learning to transform the built environment and those who live within it.

We are convinced of the power of architecture and art to resonate with and influence the public at different scales. KANVA assumes the responsibility of being a social actor, uniting design and construction technology to produce sensitive architecture and artworks, addressing the contemporary complexities of culture, economics, sustainability and innovation. Our design process is informed and effective, confronting current constraints to generate meaningful design and demonstrating that investment in architectural excellence produces value on multiple levels.

Our innovative projects are engaging, memorable and sensitive to the human experience and contemporary culture.

Recent projects

KANVA 20+1

KANVA 20+1 is an opportunity to take a look back at our journey, the evolution of our practice and the values we have developed through the relationships and projects that have enriched our last 20+1 years. From this reflection came the desire to better communicate who we are. This new website reflects our image, constantly evolving and showcasing our daily lives, thoughts and successes.

Humanity, community and collaboration are at the heart of the values shared by our entire team. KANVA 20+1 also provides us with the opportunity to step out of our comfort zone and invest more time and energy into the concepts we hold dear. At KANVA, each of us is proud to be a founding member of the non-profit organization VAKAN.

Work in progress

Ongoing exhibition

CO-HABITATS is an ephemeral public art installation and manifesto emerging from cumulative research led by KANVA and international collaborators. With the goal of raising awareness on current ecological circumstances, the installation challenges the domination of territory by humans and outlines the necessity to adopt a more inclusive, biocentric attitude towards other living beings. These questions, distilled from years of research to extract the essence, unfold as a textual landscape, provoking a reaction, an emotion.

In 2017, KANVA was the recipient of the Professional Prix de Rome in Architecture, awarded by the Canada Council for the Arts. With its proposal Adaptive Boundaries, the firm seeks novel creative approaches that integrate a more inclusive vision, and a mutuality encompassing all living beings sharing the built environment. CO-HABITATS is an answer to a need to translate research into action.

Recent news