About me.

I am a Ph.D. candidate in sociology at the University of Toronto. My research focuses on the cultural and cognitive dimensions of the urban environment. I am interested in the meanings we invest in buildings, streets, parks, and other physical features of the city, and how these meanings affect (rather than just reflect) social life.

My dissertation research examines the recent "iconic" architectural expansions of the Royal Ontario Museum and the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, focusing specifically on the role that civic identity played in both the development of these buildings and their reception in the surrounding community.

Areas of interest.

Urban Sociology, Sociology of Culture, Social Theory, Legitimacy, Public Space, Culture and Cognition, Sociology of Architecture, Urban Political-Economy, Public Cultural Institutions

Contact:
Matt Patterson
Department of Sociology, University of Toronto
725 Spadina, Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5S 2J4

Above photo by Claudia Hung. The photos in the title bar of this site were taken by me and Dorothy Li.