Image | Mumbai Street - Colin Ellard

Caption: “One of the things I enjoy the most about travelling is the kind of spatial culture shock I experience when I find myself in an environment that is entirely new to me — I don’t know what’s around me, don’t understand the flow of the people or traffic — I’m completely disoriented and I have to piece things together on the spot. This market street in Mumbai generated this kind of delicious shock for me.” (Colin Ellard)

Image | Lake Victoria, part of the Avon River in Stratford Ontario

Caption: “I really enjoy well-designed green spaces and I think they’re very important to one’s mental health. …It’s hard to beat a stroll along Stratford Ontario’s Avon river on a Sunday afternoon. The green, the winding path beside the river, all embraced by some pretty architecture makes for a stunning setting.” (Mike McGregor, via Wikimedia Commons. License: http://ow.ly/SuKpl)

Image | University College Quad, St George Campus, University of Toronto

Caption: “The quad at University College Toronto is one of my favourite places on the planet. In part this is because of its design. I love the long, stone corridors with the wooden columns and arches overhead. I also resonate to the feeling of refuge around the edges of the quad and the views out to the plantings and the trees. But what’s just as important as what I see here is what I remember when I’m here. It takes me back to student days in Toronto, starting out as an adult and even falling in love.” (User: eduardozarate, via Flickr. License: http://ow.ly/SuKHx)

Image | The Boardwalk, Kitchener, Ont.

Caption: “I hate this area. It’s a typical monster box store mall with endless confusing traffic circles, boring generic buildings for all the usual corporate chains, very little landscaping. Blah! It’s also built next to a landfill so the smells there can be a little unpleasant. I’ve always been amused that it was called “The Boardwalk” because the developer saw it as a setting where people would like to take a nice stroll and eat an ice cream. I admit I’ve shopped here from time to time. Dashed in. Dashed out. No ice cream.” (Colin Ellard)

Image | Psychology, Anthropology and Sociology building (PAS), University of Waterloo

Caption: “I’m so sorry to say this, but one of my least favourite buildings in this area is the building where I work at the University of Waterloo. Generally, it’s a pretty campus (though recently all the development has made it look a little like condo-crazy Toronto) but my building, this brutalist monstrosity fails to work for me on almost every level. On the outside, it’s forbidding, impenetrable and sad-looking. There isn’t really even a proper entrance to the building. The inside of the building is so illegible that it almost guarantees that a visitor will become lost. When we have guests come to visit, we have to post a greeter at the door to pilot them to their destination. Otherwise we won’t see them for days. (Colin Ellard)

Image | The Kitchener downtown strip

Caption: “Kitchener-Waterloo are paired cities but each with a distinctive feel. Waterloo is called 'Uptown' by locals and the main street (King Street) has an upscale, gentrified feel to it. Kitchener’s King Street is 'Downtown' and though it’s undergoing a transformation as Kitchener shrugs off its industrial roots, the area still has a grittier edge that attracts me. The facades are chaotic, complex and interesting. I resonate to the mix of old and new and the slightly risky feel of the area. The proportions of road width and building height make for a nice sense of enclosure without being oppressive.” (Colin Ellard)