Christie Pearson is a practicing architect, artist, and researcher. Designer of cultural, institutional and residential projects focused on adaptive reuse and community process. Creator of utopian bathing environments re-imagining infrastructural, social and sensual typologies. Author of The Architecture of Bathing: Body, Landscape, Art (MIT Press, 2020); co-author of WADE (YYZ Books, 2007). Founding and editorial board member of the critical journal Scapegoat: Architecture/Landscape/Political Economy (est. 2010). Adjunct Professor, University of Waterloo and Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada. Masters of Architecture, Cornell University, USA.

Selected Work

Events

Guerilla Bathing Installations
2000-present

With Art Spin:

Geospheric Sweatbath
Public Sweat, Harbourfront
2023

With Thewaves:

Fire on the Water
Sunnyside Bathing Pavilion
2012

Night Swim
Nuit Blanche Toronto
2006

With Wade Collective:

WADE Festival
Toronto wading pools
2002-07

With Urbanvessel:

Oculus Rain for riverMOUTH
Oculus Pavilion, Humber River
2022

Slip immersive theatre
Harrison Baths Pool
2006

Four Lines performance
Urbanvessel Continuum soundAxis Festival
2006

With October Group:

Fabricator T-shirt Exchange
Power Plant Gallery
1998

Mattress City
Nathan Philips Square
1997

Inflatable Tube Shelter
Nathan Philips Square
1996

Building

Project Architect / Design Lead

With Christie Pearson Architect:

Margueretta Garden Studio (300SF)
2023

Mackenzie Crescent (1,330SF)
2022

Vermont Avenue (2,100SF)
2022

O’Hara Avenue (3,000SF)
2021

Webb Avenue (1,300SF)
2021

Parkdale Home (3,000SF)
2019

Bathurst Live/Work (2,600SF)
2016

With Odami:

Aesop Yorkville (900SF)
2022

With Team Project:

University of Toronto Art Centre (1,000SF)
2018

401 Richmond Media Arts Commons (6,800SF)
2017

With LGA Architectural Partners:

Eva’s Phoenix Shelter (41,000SF)
2016

Kitchener Public Library (110,000SF)
2014

Scadding Court CC Redevelopment
2011

Centre for Native Child and Family Wellbeing (35,000SF)
2009

Pari Nadimi Gallery (4,300SF)
2005

Trinity Bellwoods CRC (30,000SF)
1999

Writing

Anna Paul – Seven Things
On Bathing Together Spector Books
2024

Lithium Spa
Architecture of the European Mineral Spa Het Nieuwe Institute X Editions ARQ
2023

On Serena Lee’s Wave Hands, Like Clouds, Not Eyes
Dew from Petals: The Condensation of Space
2022

Sanatorium Gallery, Istanbul
Skin: Christiane Peschek’s Oasis Spa
2022

Outdoor Swimming Society
Architecture of Swimming
2021

Kontakt magazine
The Art of the Dip
2020

The Architecture of Bathing
MIT Press
2020

UBC School of Architecture ROOM
The Baths Issue #1 Bathroom
2019

Scapegoat Journal
10 NIGHT Issue Co-editor
2017

Scapegoat Journal
Interview with Philippe Rahm
2017

Scapegoat Journal
09 EROS Issue Co-editor
2016

Scapegoat Journal
Space-Espace-Escape
2016

C Magazine
WET Issue Interview with Leonard Koren
2014

Scapegoat Journal
ExRotaprint
2013

Urban Ecologies
Urban Interventions, OCADU Press
2013

Scapegoat Journal
Review: OMA’s Milstein Hall
2012

Scapegoat Journal
Interview with Jutta Mason
2011

Ground
Spring Cultures of Play
2010

Alphabet City WATER
Public Bath and City, MIT Press
2009

Ascent
Interview: Marion Woodman
2009

Descant
10th Street Baths
2008

Ascent
Winter Ashram Lit with Marcus Boon
2008

Senses and Society
Bath Spa review
2006

WADE
Exhibition Catalogue w/ S Rechico YYZ Books
2007

On Site
Spring Dry Bath Ice Bath Mud Bath Feather Bath
2006

Spacing
Toronto’s Wading Pools w/ S Rechico
2004

Alphabet City OPEN CITY
October Group MIT Press
1998

Speaking

The Architectures of Bathing and Participatory Art
Ravensbad Bagno Popolare Baden Switzerland, 2023

Space and Transformation: Bathing in Public as Tactical Urbanism
CityLAB Berlin, 2022

Urban Bathing and Ecological Renewal
Flussbad Garden Berlin, 2023

What Can a Park Be?
Friends of Randy Padmore Park, 2023

Public Bathing as Tactical Urbanism
Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada, 2022

On Bathing Practices
Or Gallery Vancouver, 2022

Art & Culture of Public Bathing: A Landscape Perspective
Ontario Association of Landscape Architects 2021

New Architectures of Wellbeing
London Festival of Architecture, UK, 2021

Bathing in Lithium: Architecture of the Mineral Spa
Het Nieuwe Institute Rotterdam, 2021

Public Bathing in Culture-Nature
Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada, 2021

The Architecture of Bathing
University of Montreal School of Architecture, 2021

The Architecture of Bathing
LGA Architectural Partners, 2021

The Architecture of Bathing
MJMA Architects, 2021

Bathing Place as Public Space Roundtable series
University of Waterloo, 2020

Architecture of the Baths
Pecha Kucha at the Beaver, University of British Columbia, 2019

Thewaves: Immersive Vibratory Environments
KUNCI Cultural Studies Centre, Yogyakarta, 2018

Ruth Kaplan’s Bathers
The Assembly: Red Flagg Gallery, 2017

Architectures of the Night
Bridge Gallery, Cambridge, 2017

Architecture as Art
Aga Khan Museum, Toronto Society of Architects Doors Open, 2016

Immersive Vibratory Environments
Tuning Speculation III The Occulture, 2015

Immersion and Art
Tasmanian College of the Arts, Australia, 2015

Energy and the Arts: Immersion, Bathing, Art
Sydney Museum of Contemporary Art, 2015

Night Gardens and Pleasure Palaces
The Urban Night Colloquium, McGill University, 2014

Sauna Symposium Open
C Magazine, Hart House Farm, 2014

Playing With Landscape panelist
Gallery 1313, Art Builds Gladstone Hotel Grow Op, 2014

Public Baths, Public Spaces
University of Waterloo School of Architecture, 2013

On Collaboration
Canadian Music Centre, 2013

Practice
OCAD University, Urban Ecologies, 2013

Geneology
A Month of Sundays Series, 2010

Love and Politics panel
University of Toronto, 2010

Water and Bathing
Alphabet City Water Festival, 2009

Art in the Parks
Toronto Arts Council Foundation, 2008

Creative Activism
Toronto Free Gallery, 2008

Writing

Anna Paul – Seven Things
On Bathing Together Spector Books
2024

Lithium Spa
Architecture of the European Mineral Spa Het Nieuwe Institute X Editions ARQ
2023

On Serena Lee’s Wave Hands, Like Clouds, Not Eyes
Dew from Petals: The Condensation of Space
2022

Sanatorium Gallery, Istanbul
Skin: Christiane Peschek’s Oasis Spa
2022

Outdoor Swimming Society
Architecture of Swimming
2021

Kontakt magazine
The Art of the Dip
2020

The Architecture of Bathing
MIT Press
2020

UBC School of Architecture ROOM
The Baths Issue #1 Bathroom
2019

Scapegoat Journal
10 NIGHT Issue Co-editor
2017

Scapegoat Journal
Interview with Philippe Rahm
2017

Scapegoat Journal
09 EROS Issue Co-editor
2016

Scapegoat Journal
Space-Espace-Escape
2016

C Magazine
WET Issue Interview with Leonard Koren
2014

Scapegoat Journal
ExRotaprint
2013

Urban Ecologies
Urban Interventions, OCADU Press
2013

Scapegoat Journal
Review: OMA’s Milstein Hall
2012

Scapegoat Journal
Interview with Jutta Mason
2011

Ground
Spring Cultures of Play
2010

Alphabet City WATER
Public Bath and City, MIT Press
2009

Ascent
Interview: Marion Woodman
2009

Descant
10th Street Baths
2008

Ascent
Winter Ashram Lit with Marcus Boon
2008

Senses and Society
Bath Spa review
2006

WADE
Exhibition Catalogue w/ S Rechico YYZ Books
2007

On Site
Spring Dry Bath Ice Bath Mud Bath Feather Bath
2006

Spacing
Toronto’s Wading Pools w/ S Rechico
2004

Alphabet City OPEN CITY
October Group MIT Press
1998

Speaking

The Architectures of Bathing and Participatory Art
Ravensbad Bagno Popolare Baden Switzerland, 2023

Space and Transformation: Bathing in Public as Tactical Urbanism
CityLAB Berlin, 2022

Urban Bathing and Ecological Renewal
Flussbad Garden Berlin, 2023

What Can a Park Be?
Friends of Randy Padmore Park, 2023

Public Bathing as Tactical Urbanism
Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada, 2022

On Bathing Practices
Or Gallery Vancouver, 2022

Art & Culture of Public Bathing: A Landscape Perspective
Ontario Association of Landscape Architects 2021

New Architectures of Wellbeing
London Festival of Architecture, UK, 2021

Bathing in Lithium: Architecture of the Mineral Spa
Het Nieuwe Institute Rotterdam, 2021

Public Bathing in Culture-Nature
Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada, 2021

The Architecture of Bathing
University of Montreal School of Architecture, 2021

The Architecture of Bathing
LGA Architectural Partners, 2021

The Architecture of Bathing
MJMA Architects, 2021

Bathing Place as Public Space Roundtable series
University of Waterloo, 2020

Architecture of the Baths
Pecha Kucha at the Beaver, University of British Columbia, 2019

Thewaves: Immersive Vibratory Environments
KUNCI Cultural Studies Centre, Yogyakarta, 2018

Ruth Kaplan’s Bathers
The Assembly: Red Flagg Gallery, 2017

Architectures of the Night
Bridge Gallery, Cambridge, 2017

Architecture as Art
Aga Khan Museum, Toronto Society of Architects Doors Open, 2016

Immersive Vibratory Environments
Tuning Speculation III The Occulture, 2015

Immersion and Art
Tasmanian College of the Arts, Australia, 2015

Energy and the Arts: Immersion, Bathing, Art
Sydney Museum of Contemporary Art, 2015

Night Gardens and Pleasure Palaces
The Urban Night Colloquium, McGill University, 2014

Sauna Symposium Open
C Magazine, Hart House Farm, 2014

Playing With Landscape panelist
Gallery 1313, Art Builds Gladstone Hotel Grow Op, 2014

Public Baths, Public Spaces
University of Waterloo School of Architecture, 2013

On Collaboration
Canadian Music Centre, 2013

Practice
OCAD University, Urban Ecologies, 2013

Geneology
A Month of Sundays Series, 2010

Love and Politics panel
University of Toronto, 2010

Water and Bathing
Alphabet City Water Festival, 2009

Art in the Parks
Toronto Arts Council Foundation, 2008

Creative Activism
Toronto Free Gallery, 2008

Based in Toronto
christie@christiepearson.ca
CV