Cultivating resilience: BCIT instructor Jim Taggart is a role model for students

Building a LEGO set was a fun pastime for many children, but for Jim Taggart, a long-time instructor of the BCIT Bachelor of Architectural Science program, it had a special meaning. “I vividly recall getting a LEGO set on my eighth birthday. It came with a booklet of drawings, showing how you can build different things. It was the first time I appreciated the connection between design and construction. And since then, I began drawing and building things myself,” he recalls.

Jim moved to Canada shortly after he graduated with a Master of Arts in Architecture from the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom. He was employee number 22 at Expo ’86, working in planning, design, and construction administration over a five-year period. By then, Jim was a registered architect in both the UK and Canada; his other long-term involvement was as an associate with Busby Bridger Architects, which ultimately became Perkins+Will Canada.

Adapting to adversity

In 1990, Jim was diagnosed with a degenerative eye condition that had no cure. Three years later he reluctantly gave up his architectural career, as he could no longer carry out his job related duties. After some soul searching, he took on a volunteer position at the Architectural Institute of British Columbia (AIBC), where he helped with the development and the launch of the partnership program Architects in Schools. He also started writing for architectural magazines. Through a colleague at the AIBC, he became aware of the new Bachelor of Architectural Science program being planned at BCIT, where he expressed interest in curriculum development and teaching. He started his career at BCIT in 2003. The program was launched in 2004, with the first graduating class in 2006.

Inspiring young learners

Jim has been an instructor since the inception of the Architectural Science program, where he teaches History of Building, Language of Architecture, Sustainable Design, and Wood Design courses. What Jim likes the most about architectural education is that he could continue to develop his interests in art, math, science, and sociology.

“I like working with young people, learning about what motivates them, being energized by their enthusiasm, and inspiring them to take on the many challenges we face as designers of the built environment and citizens of the world.” Jim believes that as a foundation course that teaches both the craft of building and the creativity of design, the Architectural Science program was a natural fit. “The value placed by the industry on our graduates is the confirmation we are doing the right thing,” he says.

Bringing a wealth of expertise

Although Jim has left architectural practice, he is still very involved in the architectural industry. In addition to teaching at BCIT, he is the editor of Sustainable Architecture and Building Magazine (SABMAG), professional advisor to the annual Canadian Green Building Awards program, executive director of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) Foundation, and a director of Gateway Navigation – a community contribution company promoting audio-based interior navigation systems to improve accessibility for the blind and visually impaired. Jim also writes case studies and other technical and educational publications for the Canadian Wood Council.

With the focus of his research and writing on the use of wood in contemporary architecture, Jim has been invited to deliver lectures on the subject to architects and engineers in more than 50 cities across North America and at conferences as far afield as Sweden and New Zealand.

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Award-winning author

In addition to his wide range of roles in the architecture industry, Jim is an author of award-winning books. His most notable books include: The Architecture of Engagement – A Human Centered Approach to Sustainable Design (2018 – Winner of the Independent Book Publishers Association gold medal in 2019), Toward a Culture of Wood Architecture (2011 – Winner of an Independent Book Publishers Association silver medal in 2012), and Tall Wood Buildings: Design, Construction and Performance (with Michael Green in 2017, updated and expanded in 2019). In total, Jim has written, co-written or edited almost twenty books.

Views on architecture and the industry

Architecture is the lens through which Jim interprets the world.  “When you look at the structures we have built and the cities we have planned over many centuries, they reflect the values and priorities of the societies who created them,” he explains.

In his professional work for the past 25 years, Jim’s primary focus has been advocating for meaningful change in support of environmental, economic, and social sustainability. “I would say that the challenge has been constant, and is only growing in intensity as we edge nearer to the precipice.” In the near future he would like to see meaningful, selfless, concerted, and coordinated action to address the climate change crisis with the kind of urgency that the rhetoric promises but has yet to deliver.

Jim believes that the study of architecture provides a strong foundation for life, whatever career one may ultimately choose.

A vibrant lifestyle outside the field of architecture

Jim’s eye condition can’t keep him from a healthy and active lifestyle. He is a water person and loves sailing, kayaking, and dragon boating. In 2009, he was one of the four paddlers from the Eye of the Dragon – a team that included 50% visually impaired and blind athletes – to be featured in the documentary We Can’t See You Beating Us. In the same year, his personal story was made the center of the annual fundraising campaign for Fighting Blindness Canada , where he had a three-minute spot on stage in the Comic Vision fundraising comedy event in Richmond, BC.

Jim also climbs the Grouse Grind and runs in the Sun Run: in both cases, his ambition is to complete them in fewer minutes than his age in years.

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