John Dewolf

What do you do in your current job?

I run Narrative Environments, a small studio contributing to inclusive, informed, and healthy communities by aligning placemaking and experience with brands. We assemble bespoke teams and work for communities, not-for-profits, governments, and NGOs to create interpretive plans, exhibitions, wayfinding programs, and branded environments. We try to work on public initiatives that benefit communities. Working in the built and natural environments, we strive to convey culture and heritage to generate a sense of place.

What are you doing right now that you are most excited about?

Working with the Northern British Columbia Tourism Association, we are developing a series of roadside signs for the northern half of the province. Deeply informed by the area’s First Nations, these interpretive panels are intended to help visitors become more aware of the area’s culture and history and, thus, become better guests to the area.

What is your proudest achievement since graduation?

Close to thirty years ago, I developed an exhibit for the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic (MMA). The museum’s permanent “Halifax Wrecked” exhibit recounts events leading up to an unprecedented explosion—the largest before the advent of nuclear weapons. On December 6, 1917, a devastating explosion occurred when a munitions ship blew up in the harbour of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The wake of the disaster left more than 2.5 square km of the city flattened. From a population of 50,000, nearly 2,000 people died, 9,000 were injured, and 10,000 were left homeless.

To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Halifax Explosion, the city looked to refresh Fort Needham Memorial Park—overlooking the explosion’s epicentre—to reflect the diversity of current community needs and interests while balancing the desire to honour the city’s past. While working for the MMA some thirty years ago was truly rewarding, the opportunity to revisit the topic decades later was an immense honour.

The park’s design balances ceremonial, symbolic, informative, and recreational/everyday functions by incorporating narrative elements into the landscape. Material choices such as cor-ten steel, precast concrete, and wood were used throughout the site in subtle interventions that reference the collision of two ships on December 6, 1917, and the devastating aftermath.

The exhibit at the MMA is still on display but will likely be renewed at some point. The materiality and timeless nature of the interpretation in the park may last for decades if not a century or more.

What do you find to be the most challenging, and the most rewarding aspects of your career?

The most challenging aspect of my work is understanding my role—of settler descent—in a time that necessitates cultural awareness, understanding, conciliation, and respect. As we all attempt to reconcile and improve, I find the path forward fraught with unknowns and unchartered ground. We make mistakes in achieving the goals outlined in Truth and Reconciliation. In an era of heightened ambitions for more inclusive environments, we must be knowledgeable of a wide array of topics and issues to ensure we are producing our best world for the widest audience.

Engaging, listening, learning, and responding through design can be rewarding. However, the most challenging part of what we do as designers is to be better citizens through our craft. We must consider more inclusive perspectives to address the perspectives, desires, and needs of others.

What future goals do you have for the upcoming year(s)?

As a small studio of two, I aim to be a team of five or more within the next five years. At the same time, I wish to continue teaching, lecturing, speaking at conferences, and writing for magazines and journals. We currently work from coast to coast, and I intend to expand to include more work in the North. As a designer, I plan to build a substantial body of work that informs newcomers and residents about the heritage of place as a means to enhance our cultural understanding. As a studio director, I aim to empower young designers, allowing them to work on exciting and impactful projects to advance their careers, whether with Narrative Environments or elsewhere.

What advice would you give to those who are considering a career in interior design?

I regularly tell my undergraduate students this thought: “Look around your studio. All your peers should be part of your life for the rest of your career.” Graduate school is no different. Your peers will think of you when they are working, and a job comes up or a skillset is required. It would be best if you did the same. After years of working together, you know each other’s strengths and skills. Inevitably, a day will come when you help someone out, and there will be times when you need the assistance of friends, colleagues, and peers.

What drew you to interior design? What do you love most about it?

I was interested in architecture at an early age but instead pursued graphic design. When I chose to return to school in my forties, I considered architecture, but I found that I was more drawn to interior design. Much of my career focused on graphic design and its application to the built environment: exhibition design and wayfinding. However, I knew my graphic design skills could be better applied to interior environments. Thus, I decided to pursue a graduate degree in interior design to further my knowledge and hone my existing skills.

However, there were other considerations. I am most creative when working with clearly defined and sometimes immovable constraints. From a graphic design perspective, my expertise concerns  working with clients to articulate the problem to be solved. From an interior design perspective, working with existing built environments—or those designed by architects or engineers—provides parameters and constraints to work within (from ceiling heights to chases and structural supports). From another perspective, I believe many spaces have paid their environmental dues, and working on the adaptive reuse of space is the most rewarding.

What do you see as the most compelling trends in the interior design field?

While far from a trend, the field’s most exciting and compelling movement is seeing more Indigenous voices in design. We are increasingly meeting and reading about a small and growing number of First Nation, Inuit, and Metis designers working in architecture, landscape architecture, and interior design. As a designer of settler descent, no design or engagement process I develop can wholly respect those whose land this has been home to for millennia. Seeing frameworks for decolonization, along with designers of Indigenous origin, can only enhance our collective understanding of the culture and heritage of place, thus improving the field of design and moving towards common goals of reconciliation.

If you could turn back time to your MID years, what would you have done differently/ have taken advantage of as a student?

As an AuDHD adult, masking my neurodivergence protected me in many ways. While unaware at the time, I have since learned about my coping mechanisms and how I differ from neurotypicals. I severely struggled during my years of study at the University of Manitoba. I could neither read as fast nor comprehend as quickly as my cohort. I was easily bogged down in details, unable to see the bigger picture. I honestly am not sure how I fulfilled the program’s requirements. While some people say people with ADHD have superpowers, I vehemently counter that perspective. Perhaps we see the world differently—and I acknowledge how it benefits my approach to design—but that does not make working with neurotypicals any easier.

What would I have done differently? For those who struggle, I remind them that the University is there to help. There are many services and accommodations in place to help you succeed. I wish I had both known I needed help and recognized that the assistance available for others also included help for me. Hindsight permits me to say I needed help; the institution is there to help you succeed.

To answer the question, I would have sought help. Fundamentally, I knew I could not keep pace with my classmates, but I did not know how to make it easier.

How did your MID degree at the UM help prepare you for your career?

If my undergraduate degree laid the groundwork for a vocation in design, then decades of work experience leading up to my graduate degree studies at the University of Manitoba opened doors for serious and directed study that built upon previous training to enhance an understanding of my practice. For this aged designer, returning to school was a rare opportunity to build upon my experience and hone my design approach.

My undergraduate degree was rooted in rhetoric: schemes, tropes, and other means of communication. Only years later did I realize those studies laid the foundation for my professional practice. My graduate degree allowed me to use a theoretical framework to focus on my design process. My investigation into narratology helped me better understand my undergraduate studies. If schemes and tropes are the devices we employ to communicate, then storytelling is how we pull it together.

As a designer, I regularly employ the communication skills I learned at the undergraduate level. These skills, combined with storytelling, translate design into more universal experiences for all users.

In what ways did your experience at the UM contribute to your success?

My time in Winnipeg has led to a better cultural understanding. Before arriving in Winnipeg, I lived in the United States for many years. I started at the University of Manitoba about the same time the Truth and Reconciliation events began (2010, I believe). When my studies and time in Winnipeg were nearing a close, the University and partners started the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. In hindsight, I now see this time as formative. Unknown to me then and likely to many who called themselves Canadians, our understanding of those who came before us was limited. The province of Manitoba, the City of Winnipeg, and the University of Manitoba were fundamental in exposing me to more than the settler histories I grew up with. The University of Manitoba takes great pride in being more inclusive, and I am grateful for the exposure. My deeper exposure to the impacts of colonization laid the foundation to ensure I consider a wide array of audiences and experiences with my work.

What was the best part about your experience in the graduate program at the UM?

The program not only provided the academic rigour required of an exceptional program but also gave us opportunities. From field trips to different cities and studios to opportunities to contribute to publications, conferences, papers, internships, and teaching, the Department of Interior Design takes pride in giving students a well-rounded experience through opportunities outside the studio classroom.

What motivated you to pursue a graduate degree at the UM?

I had taught post-secondary for many years, but doors were slowly closing. I needed a graduate degree. Instead of exploring another graphic design degree, I was keen on using my bachelor’s education to influence another field of study. Furthermore, an interior design education can lead to professional status in design. Thus, a graduate degree is an essential next step for a variety of motivations. I am teaching again, and the graduate degree—the degree and the experience—made me a better instructor.

What was the most valuable lesson you learned at the UM?

Be open to new experiences. Listen to the needs of offers. Be observant to different cultures. Respect the land you are on and the deep history associated with it.