BLDGBLOG recently featured An Incomplete Atlas of Stones, by Elise Hunchuck (MLA 2016). The 250-page book is the culmination of the extensive research Hunchuck conducted for her Master of Landscape Architecture thesis, presented in 2016.

As Geoff Manaugh of BLDGBLOG writes, in 2015, Hunchuck travelled “around Japan’s Sanriku coast, documenting every available tsunami stone in photographs, maps, and satellite views, and accumulating seismic and geological data about each stone’s local circumstances.”

The research trip was made possible thanks to the Peter Prangnell Award, which provides travel funds to Daniels Faculty students wishing to study the way architecture, landscape architecture, urban design — or another aspect of the human-built environment —shapes and/or is shaped by everyday life.

In her thesis description written for the faculty, Hunchuck wrote that “These tablets performed a dual function: as warnings they marked inundation; as monuments, they were part of rituals memorializing those lost. Later, people erected another stone — seawalls — to keep the sea away from the land. And people moved down the slopes, believing they had engineered away the risk of coastal living. In 2011, almost every seawall failed under the forces of the earth and the sea.”

Visit BLDGBLOG to read the full article: “Warnings Along the Inundation Line.”

U of T’s expertise in cities runs deep with urban research taking place on all three campuses in disciplines including (but not limited to) public health, social work, engineering, urban planning, law, and of course, architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design.

To showcase the wealth of research, teaching, and engagement in this area, the University created Cities@UofT, a new website designed to increase the visibility of its urban initiatives. One of the features of the website, the Cities Blog publishes posts written by professors across campus about their work.

Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture and Urbanism, Fadi Masoud (MLA 2010) recently wrote about his research on coastal cities that “reclaim land” from oceans and lakes in an effort to meet housing, industry and recreational demands.

Caofedian in Bohai Bay: One of the world’s largest Land Reclamation Project. Image Credit: Developing the Littoral Gradient Atlas (Masoud / Ryan)

“Coastal plains comprise about 8% of the surface of the Earth, and are among the world’s most densely populated and most industrialized areas,” writes Masoud. “Today about half the world’s population lives within 100 km of the coast or an estuary, where eight out of the ten largest metropolitan regions are currently situated.”

But this expansion comes at a cost. According to Masoud, sand (an important component in the development of new coastal land) is “the second most consumed natural resource on the planet,” and new densely populated coastal communities face increased challenges due to climate change.

Qianhai reclaimed land near Shenzhen, China. Image Credit: Developing the Littoral Gradient Atlas (Masoud / Ryan)

Masoud has been working with MIT professor Brent Ryan and other collaborators at the MIT Leventhal Center for Advance Urbanism to develop an online atlas of coastal development projects (now in beta phase). And given that land reclamation continues (Masoud writes that in China “at least 11 coastal provinces and 39 coastal municipalities are carrying out decades-long land reclamation projects supported by the central government”), the team of researchers are exploring how to address the challenges such coastal developments face. Could they be designed to be more adaptive and resilient, less costly, and to allow for more affordable housing in the mix?

Toronto land reclamation by Sarah Ko — one of the 36+ International case studies of urban districts built on reclaimed land drawn and analyzed by Daniels Students.

Though not a seaside city, Toronto has a history of land reclamation of its own. The above map by Daniels Faculty student Sarah Ko shows waterfront development closer to home. Masoud taught a seminar this past semester in which students looked at global case studies of urban districts built on reclaimed land throughout the centuries.

Feature image at top: Development on Bohai Bay near Tianjin. Image Credit: Matthew Niederhauser and John Fitzgerald: Future of Suburbia Exhibition – MIT Norman B. Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism

Visit the Cities@UofT Cities blog to read Masoud’s article “Developing the littoral Gradient — Urbanism on reclaimed land.”

Follow Cities@UofT on twitter

Master of Visual Studies graduate Sandra Brewster has been awarded the Gattuso Prize for her exhibition It's all a blur… on at Georgia Scherman Projects (133 Tecumseth Street) until June 24.

The Gattuso Prize of $5,000 acknowledges an outstanding Featured Exhibition in the CONTACT Photography Festival. The jury, which includes Rosemary Heather (writer and curator) and Anique Jordan (executive director, Whippersnapper Gallery), based their decision on the caliber and concept of the work, the curatorial vision, and overall impact and presentation of the exhibition.

Wrote the jury:

With It’s all a blur… Sandra Brewster takes portraiture in a strongly metaphoric direction. Using a labour-intensive method, the artist creates tactile works suggestive of a number of ideas. While evoking the customary role of the photograph as memento, at the same time, these works appear to call forth the emerging subjects of history. The unavoidable scale, presence, and motion embedded in these still images command the attention of viewers to discover the details and traces left behind by the portrait participants.
 

Sandra Brewster is a Canadian multi-disciplinary artist based in Toronto whose work has been exhibited nationally and abroad, engaging many themes that grapple with notions of identity, representation and memory.  

For more information, visit the CONTACT website.

Presented by the Art Museum at the University of Toronto, and curated by Yan Wu (MVS-Curatorial 2016), MAKING MODELS is an exciting new project that brings together architecture and art, staged to advance innovative and critical ideas in experimental architecture in Toronto.
 
Nine Toronto architecture studios and artist groups — which include a number of Daniels Faculty members and alumni — have been invited to propose ideas and prototypes in model form that foster analytical, conceptual, physical and tectonic frameworks for inhabiting and constructing urban space and the public sphere. Produced in various scales that involve speculative, functional, representational and/or relational approaches, these architectural models, in response to the theme “meet me there”, take as their point of departure an exemplary public space – the Sir Daniel Wilson quad, an outdoor courtyard and urban oasis located on the downtown campus of the University of Toronto.
 
The nine proposal models will be on display as a group exhibition MAKING MODELS at the Art Museum from September 6 - October 7, 2017. A select jury composed of art and architectural professionals and university students will choose one model to be realized in 1:1 size on site at the Sir Daniel Wilson quad, in dialogue with the quad’s complex network of movement, vegetation, infrastructure, furniture, and architecture. The installation will be on display from September 21 - November 25, 2017.  The winning model will be announced in August 2017.
 
The nine Toronto architecture studios and artist groups participating in MAKING MODELS include CN Tower Liquidation, LAMAS (the firm of Assistant Professor Vivian Lee and Lecturer James Macgillivray, Lateral Office (the firm of Associate Professor Mason White), Nestor Kruger and Yam Lau, Assistant Professor's Mitchell Akiyama and Brady Peters, Public Studio, studio junction (the firm of alumni Peter Tan and Christine Ho Ping Kong, both BArch 1996) , Terrarea (an art collective that includes Emily Hogg, MLA 2003; Janis Demkiw, and Olia Mishchenko), and UUfie.
 
The five noted professional jurors are Alex Bozikovic (Architecture critic, The Globe and Mail), Tom Dean (artist), Bruce Kuwabara (Founding Partner, KPMB Architects), November Paynter (Director of Programs, Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada), and Irene Sunwoo (Curator, Arthur Ross Architecture Gallery; Director of Exhibitions, Columbia University GSAPP).
 
While the city continues to experience unprecedented urban growth, especially in the area of generic condominium towers, there is also a chronic absence of major exhibitions and public forums for serious, in-depth considerations of the role that architecture plays in the shaping of the urban environment. MAKING MODELS provides a rare and coveted opportunity for established and emerging architects and artists to develop experimental and speculative approaches toward the built environment for broader public consideration.

Model Proposals
September 6 – October 6, 2017
University of Toronto Art Centre
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1:1 Model Installation
September 21 – November 25, 2017
Sir Daniel Wilson Quad, St George Campus (map)

Daniels Faculty alumna Huay Wee (BArch 1996) joined Rios Clementi Hale Studios (RCHS) in 2007, and recently contributed to the firm's first monograph titled Not Neutral, For Every Place, Its Story.

With more than 30 years in business, the Los Angeles-based firm's projects include Downtown Los Angeles' ROW DTLA,  Columbia Square, Grand Park, and the modernization of The Greek Theatre.

Wee has been a project manager for many of RCHS's residential commissions and advises the firm's teams in navigating the residential building permit process. She has also led the development of the firm's drafting and project organization standards. Her focus on marrying outdoor and indoor living spaces has played a important role in two key projects included in the monograph: The Panorama Residence and Venice House. Huay highlighted both projects in her essay "Three Lessons."

Three of Wee's projects (pictured above) are also featured in the book: the Modern Barn House, The Exchange on 16th, and the Mesa Residence project.

A California-licensed architect and a LEED-Accredited Professional, Wee was born in Singapore, and lived in Calgary and Toronto before moving to Los Angeles in 1998. Before joining RCHS, she worked with a prominent Santa Monica design-build firm. Writes RCHS on its website: "We constantly rely on her excellence in translating design ideas into exquisitely built forms."

 Modern Barn House (images 1&2) | photos by John Ellis

“Instagram is high-speed design,” says Adrian Phiffer (MUD 2007). The Daniels Faculty Lecturer was written about in Canadian Art as an example of how architects are using the social media platform as part of their practice. He has since followed up with a piece in ArchDaily   explaining “why instagram should be part of every architect’s design process.”

He references Any Warburg, an iconographer, whose work “Mnemosyne Atlas” (1929) included symbolic images “juxtaposed and placed in a sequence in order to construct a visual understanding of the subject matter.” He also talks about OMA’s website, which displays “images of their buildings posted by the buildings’ ‘users’ via instagram.” (The homepage on the Daniels Faculty’s new website also includes instagram images from its own account @uoftdaniels and its followers.)

Last year, Phiffer’s own instagram account @officeofadrianphiffer was listed his account among ArchDaily’s “25 Architecture Instagram Feeds to Follow Now.”

You can read Phiffer’s full article on ArchDaily.

In addition to all the buildings that will be open for the public to explore this weekend — including One Spadina — Doors Open Toronto is presenting a Speaker Series focused on Canadian Architecture, with lectures Friday, May 26 and Sunday, May 28.

From the Doors Open Toronto website:

Keynote Event: What is Canadian Architecture?
East Harbour, 21 Don Roadway
Covered bike racks and free parking available
Friday, May 26, 7 pm

Canada’s landscape is vast and varied, with immense distances separating communities and cities. Much like the diversity that defines the country's identities and geographies, many Canadians embrace multiculturalism rather than assimilation. However, this is not the viewpoint of all, nor entirely representative of Canadian Culture.

Buildings and spaces created by Canadian architects illustrate and illuminate the many varied perspectives of Canadian identity – but, does a distinctly Canadian voice exist in Canadian architecture? A diverse group of leading architects from across the nation (and beyond) debate this in acknowledgement of Canada's 150^th birthday.

Venue provided by East Harbour
Closed-toed shoes are strongly recommended.

Panelists: A.J. Diamond, Omar Gandhi, Valerie Gow, Murray Legge, Susan Scott, Pierre Thibault
Moderator: Beth Kapusta

In partnership with the Toronto Society of Architects

MIA: Where Are the Women Architects?
The Great Hall, 1087 Queen St. W.
Sunday, 4 pm

The representation of women as practising lawyers and doctors in Canada is approximately 40 percent (rising to 61.4 percent for doctors under 35). Why is it then that the similarly demanding profession of architecture stagnated in 2005 and remains at 25 percent? What are the barriers women face in this field, why are they not advancing to leadership levels and what can be done? These questions and more will be discussed on this timely topic, featuring a panel of women architects from all positions in the profession.

Panelists: Mary Lou Lobsinger, Camille Mitchell, Barbora Vokac Taylor, Delnaz Yekrangian
Moderator: Elsa Lam

In partnership with The Great Hall

Photo above: detail of the graduate design studio at One Spadina, by Nic Lehoux

In April, Daniels Lecturer and alumnus Ultan Byrne (MArch 2013) and alumna Elise Hunchuck (MLA 2016) were invited to present their respective research at the "Architectures, Data & Natures: The Politics of Environments" conference in Tallinn, Estonia. Organized by Maroš Krivy and featuring keynote talks by Matthew Gandy (Cambridge) and Doug Spencer (AA, Westminster), the conference interrogated the “two themes that stand out in contemporary architecture and urbanism: ecology, revolving around sustainability, resilience, metabolic optimization and energy efficiency; and cybernetics, staking the future upon pervasive interactivity, ubiquitous computing, and ‘big dat­a’.” The hypothesis discussed at the conference is that “they are really two facets of a single environmental question: while real-time adjustments, behaviour optimisation, and smart solutions are central to urban environmentalism, the omnipresent network of perpetually interacting digital objects becomes itself the environment of everyday life.”

“Typical CAPTCHA Threshold” screenshot by Ultan Byrne, 2017

In response to this environmental question, Ultan Byrne presented his work “Digital Thresholds and the Classification of Network Users” in which he looked to the technologies of the threshold that seek to distinguish ‘human’ from ‘bot,’ questioning them within the framework of urban theory: how can these technologies be conceptually positioned in relation to other technologies of the threshold (the password, the lock, the door, the city gate)? In what way did they develop over time (and with what relationship to research in Artificial Intelligence)? Byrne’s presentation looked to understand the contemporary moment, when it remains technologically feasible and is also considered valuable (economically, socially) to distinguish network users in this way.

Elise Hunchuck presented her project, Incomplete Atlas of Stones, in a presentation with Christina Leigh Geros (Harvard GSD) titled “Cartographies of Residence for Cities yet to Come: Points, Lines, and Fields.” Reassessing the terms of engagement with sustainability and resilience through her field work in northern Japan, Hunchuck presented her survey and mapping of historical environmental data for community-based resilience in the form of tsunami stone markers along the Sanriku Coast. A network of historical data at the scale of 1:1, Elise asks what the epistemological status of these markers might be; what kind of knowledge do they produce; and, what is the effect of these markers on the way communities and governments understand the always present risk of an earthquake or tsunami?

Presented as a case study alongside the PetaBencana initiative (in which the power of citizen cartographers is harnessed by the gathering, sorting, and displaying of geotagged tweets; each tweet sharing individual information about flooding, inundation, or critical water infrastructure in Jakarta, Indonesia), Elise’s Incomplete Atlas asks increasingly urgent questions while proposing transferable, multi-scalar, multi-centered approaches as a way to think in relation to our environments.

Both presentations will be made available online by the Faculty of Architecture, Estonian Academy of Arts, Estonia, in cooperation with the Department of Geography, Cambridge University, UK (the research project Rethinking Urban Nature).

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Ultan Byrne is a researcher with previous degrees in architecture and philosophy. In a combination of teaching, writing, and programming, Ultan considers the relationships between technologies of digital networking and persistent questions of architectural/urban design. Ultan is a lecturer at Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design at the University of Toronto.

Elise Hunchuck is a researcher and designer with previous degrees in landscape architecture, philosophy, and geography whose work focuses on bringing together fieldwork and design through collaborative practices of observation, care, and coordination, facilitating multidisciplinary exchanges between teaching and representational methods as a way to further develop landscape-oriented research methodologies at the urban scale. Elise is currently based in Berlin as the research coordinator of anexact office and the project assistant for Reassembling the Natural. A University Olmsted Scholar, Elise is also a member of the editorial board for SCAPEGOAT: Architecture / Landscape / Political Economy. Elise’s field work and research in Japan that formed the basis of her talk and MLA thesis was generously supported by the Daniels Faculty Peter Prangnell Travel Award (2015).

Lead image: “77 Tsunami Stones” from An Incomplete Atlas of Stones by Elise Hunchuck, 2017

Several faculty and alumni will be recognized at the Ontario Association of Architects annual OAA Awards, presented May 26th. 

The OAA Awards offers the Ontario architectural profession an annual opportunity to present its work to a public and professional audience. It advertises the excellence of both individual award winners and the profession as a whole, and it fosters a greater appreciation of architecture and architects among all levels of society, professional and non-professional.

The Daniels Faculty would like to extend its congratulations to alumni and faculty members recognized this year.

Boulevard Club West Wing Replacement by Teeple Architects Inc. Photo by Scott Norsworthy

The Design Excellence category recognized the “innovative skills of Ontario architects in creating spaces, buildings and communities that respect and enhance the environment an enrich human activity.”

• Boulevard Club West Wing Replacement by Teeple Architects Inc. — the firm of Daniels Faculty Instructor Stephen Teeple
• Eva's Phoenix by LGA Architectural Partners (formerly Levitt Goodman Architects) — the firm of Janna Levitt (BArch 1986) and Dean Goodman (BArch 1983)
• Mike & Ophelia Lazaridis Quantum-Nano Centre, University of Waterloo by KPMB Architects — the firm of Shirley Blumberg (BArch 1976) and Bruce Kuwabara (BArch 1972)
• River City – Phase 1 & 2 by ZAS Architects Inc. — the firm of Paul Stevens (BArch 1987) — in joint venture with Saucier + Perrotte Architects

• Rosemary House (pictured above) by Kohn Shnier Architects — the firm of Daniels Faculty Associate Professor John Shnier
• Story Pod by Atelier Kastelic Buffey Inc. — the firm of Kelly Buffey (MArch 2007)
• Williams Parkway (Phase 1) by Rounthwaite Dick & Hadley Architects Inc. — the firm of Rob Boyko (BArch 1974)

Shobuj Pata by Studio JCI Inc.

The Concepts category recognized the “clarity and uniqueness of expression of an architectural idea as well as promoting the involvement of individuals in the areas of design presentation, art and other design related endeavors.”

• Shobuj Pata – Multi-Unit Residential Development by Studio JCI Inc. — the firm of Jaegap Chung (BArch 1999) and Sue Jean Chung (BArch 1999)
• Forwards and Backwards by Sessional Lecturer Jennifer Davis (MArch 2011) and Jon Sasaki

Ontario Science Centre by Moriyama & Teshima Architects

The Landmark Designation category recognized the “buildings that demonstrate architecture’s beauty, endurance and lasting contribution to community and society.”

• Ontario Science Centre by Moriyama & Teshima Architects — the firm of Raymond Moriyama (BArch 1954; Hon. 1994) and the late Ted Teshima (BArch 1962)
• The Fielding Memorial Chapel of St. Mark, Thornloe University by Townend Stefura & Baleshta Architects — the firm of John Stefura (BArch 1953) and Carl Skerl (BArch 1958)

The final three awards (the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Design Excellence in Architecture, the Michael V. and Wanda Plachta Award, and the People’s Choice Award) will be announced at the Celebration of Excellence Ceremony on May 26th as part of the 2017 RAIC/OAA Festival of Architecture being held in Ottawa.

A number of artists affiliated with the Daniels Faculty will be participating in this year’s Gladstone Grow Op exhibition at the Gladstone Hotel. The annual event celebrates innovative ideas in the fields of landscape architecture, garden design, art, and place-making. Using video, sound performance, photography, new media, animal parts, the human body, and more, Grow Op promises to make us think differently about the landscapes that shape our cities and our cities’ relationship to the land. This year’s exhibition was juried by Andrea Mantin (MLA 2009), Victoria Taylor (MLA 2008), Layne Hilton, and Graham Teeple.

Daniels students, alumni, and faculty participating in the 2017 Gladstone Grow Op include Jordan Duke and Dayne Roy-Caldwell (both MLA 2016), Katie Lawson (current MVS-Curatorial student), D & S Projects — the firm of alumna Katie Strang (MLA 2015) and Christine Dewancker — Lecturer Shadi Ramos (MLA 2010), and PseudoStudio — the firm of Greg Bunker and Shira Davis (both MLA 2013).

Other artists include David Ballantine, Melanie Billark, Bruno Billio, Liam Blackwell, Micah Donovan, Agnieszka Forfa, Eve Gane, Julie Gladstone, Martha Barron Griffith, Monica Gutierrez, John Haney, Byron Hodgins, Rebecca Jane Houston, Hayden King and Susan Blight, Aisling O’Carroll & Sara Jacobs, Olga Klosowski, Becky Lauzon, Lindy Wilkins & Dushan Milic, Michelle Hunniford & Magdalena Milosz, Kate & Claire Nelischer, Rachel Grice & Rekha Ramachandran, Safiya Randera, Daniel Ranger, Miles Rufelds, and The Urban Apothecary.

Grow Op takes place April 19 to 23, with an Opening Reception on Friday, April 21. For more information, visit the 2017 Gladstone Grow Op website.

Photo, top: Urban Hermit Retrospective by Greg Bunker and Shira Davis