Michelle Gagnon-Creeley
School of Architecture & Landscape Architecture
Research Themes: Language, Sustainability and Transnationalism
Michelle Gagnon-Creeley received her BA in Urban Planning from Concordia University in Montreal and her MLA in Landscape Architecture from the University of British Columbia.
In her final graduate project, Michelle explored how language has spatial connotations, and sought to examine the relationship between language, place and local ecology. The project looked at how local environments play a role in shaping language, ultimately influencing the speaker’s perception of space and environment. This phenomena can especially be seen in Indigenous languages, many of which have underwent a loss in language users.
The research project investigates the possibility of landscape architecture being a vehicle for developing outdoor spaces conducive to language revitalization. This project focused on the archipelago of Haida Gwaii, where only 20 fluent speakers of the Haida language remain. Through interviews with Haida language educators and elders, a series of sites (stories) explore the possibility of using landscape architecture as a vehicle for creating spaces conducive to learning language.
Research Interests: Ecolinguistics, language revitalization, landscape architecture, place-based learning, Indigenous community design.
