Yasushi “John” OHKI, B.Sc (civil), B.Arch
Executive Director
Yasushi was raised in Edmonton and has called it home since completing degrees in civil engineering (University of Alberta) and architecture (University of British Columbia). For over 22 years, he has worked in the land development industry, including greenfield development, infill residential construction and project management.
Yasushi has also spent a good portion of his professional life in civil service, first in Strathcona County’s Current Planning Department, then in the Government of Alberta’s Ministry of Infrastructure, and finally in the City of Edmonton’s Housing and Homelessness Section. In his most recent nonprofit role, he served as Director of Housing at Homeward Trust Edmonton, an organization focused on the homeless-serving sector.
Yasushi brings to his work a love of urban design and a keen eye for how people interact with architecture, combined with a sensitivity to the realities of building construction and maintenance. He continues his work in community development with the establishment of a trio of sustainability-oriented organizations: the Green Violin Community Development Company, the Rose Cello Affordable Housing Society, and the Prairie Sky Property Management Corporation.
“I am all about Caring and Sharing. I love the indigenous philosophy of One Bowl One Spoon and I too want to make sure that everybody has enough to eat and that we don’t take more than our share, both from nature and from each other.
For a career I worked as a Developer in the Land Development industry and plowed over farmers fields and paved over our land in the pursuit of making my bosses ever more money. Then there was a downturn in the economy which slowed down development and I looked for alternative work. I spent three years at the City in Housing and Homelessness and saw the light.
That’s where I learned of the damage being done by an inequitable system of producing housing in our city. Ever since, I’ve been working to find a better way to get neighbourhoods back into a healthy balance. First I was the Housing Director at Homeward Trust and then I set off on my own to start up a non-profit land development company to pursue innovative housing options to prototype and test. That company is Green Violin.
Green Violin is all about Caring and Sharing too. We are actually in the business of fighting the system and pushing housing solutions into the gaps where we can make a difference. We are quietly looking at better ways of being a neighbour and we want to melt the walls that separate people from housing.
I want to start acknowledging the land and using a new perspective to start building “with” the land and not just “on” the land. I want to build for people, not for money. I want to see happiness and well-being replace desperation and survival tactics. There must be a way. Which brings us back to the beginning of our conversation. The way is to take only our share and make sure that everyone has enough to eat.
That way is the Green Violin Way.”
1. How did you come to be involved in the field of housing? When I was in Grade 4, my homeroom teacher looked at a piece of art I was working on and commented "that looks like a city map, one day you will be a city builder." I only recently remembered those words and I wonder if my journey from civil engineering to architecture and on to land development and housing builder was shaped in some way from the seeds planted by that teacher?
2. Why is housing important? Well-being starts at night and the security of having a place to call home. From there we can build ourselves, our families, our communities and our environment. I believe in sharing and caring. Taking only our share and making sure that there is enough to go around. Housing is important because part of the sharing and caring that a city can do is to provide housing for the well-being of its citizens.
3. In your opinion what is innovative when it comes to affordable housing? Innovative is taking the profit line out of the housing equation. When money and housing are separated, then it will become possible to adequately house everybody. In moving towards that goal, projects can utilize other means of ownership, find alternative means of financing, and be designed with better relationships between housing units for a more robust and active environment to which to call home.