The Daniels Faculty would like to congratulate Donald Schmitt (BArch 1977) on being appointed to the Order of Canada. The principal of Diamond Schmitt Architects and esteemed Daniels Alumnus was recognized by Governor General (and fellow U fo T Alumna) Julie Payette "for his rehabilitation of iconic heritage buildings and for his sustainable architectural designs."

One of the country's highest honours, the Order of Canada "recognizes outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation." The award's motto Desiderantes Meliorem Patriam translates to "They desire a better country."

Writes Diamond Schmitt on its website:

Don's portfolio includes many iconic buildings across Canada. Among recent projects are the high-rise laboratories of The Peter Gilgan Centre for Research and Learning at Sickids in Toronto; the new campus of Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver; and the highly collaborative academic environment of Lazaridis Hall at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario.

He is also known for the re-imagination of landmark historical buildings, notably the National Arts Centre and The Senate of Canada Building in Ottawa, where he is currently leading the design for the Ottawa Public Library and Library and Archives Canada joint facility. A giving, civic-minded architect, Don lends his expertise to numerous cultural initiatives and design review panels.
 

For more information, visit Diamond Schmitt's website, Canadian Architect, or U of T News.

Photos, top: 1) Donald Schmitt, by Jim Ryce; 2) Emily Carr University, by Tom Arban Photography; 3) Senate of Canada Building, by Tom Arban Photography

Cities contain a lot of stuff. If only there were an easier way to share it all — and cut down on the number of infrequently used items that fill our closets and storage spaces until they are ultimately sent to the landfill.

Inspired by an ambition to cut down on wasteful consumption, Daniels alumnus Alejandro López has dreamed up Stuff Cloud: A Smart Infrastructure for Buying, Selling, Sharing, Swapping & Remaking Things in Cities. Based on his 2011 Master of Architecture thesis, Stuff Cloud mixes "techniques taken from architecture, interaction design, and physical computing."

The proposal received an honourable mention in the Ontario Association of Architecture's inagural Shift 2019 Ideas competition.

“Conceptually, the project addresses the challenges of the sharing economy and the cultural shift away from rooms and houses filled with things," said the OAA jury. "It questions the nature of how storage could work, and how scarce resources might be managed.”

From Lopez's proposal:

The building blocks of the Stuff Cloud are the interactions between humans and their things. With a unique ID for each thing, and harnessing web-based technology, it becomes possible to simply add one’s things to the Stuff Cloud. Once your things are ‘in the cloud,’ Stuff Cloud can suggest various scenarios for use or exchange—­for instance, sharing things with nearby friends or swapping things with strangers across the city. The Stuff Cloud can learn from our interactions with our things and give us insights on how to devote less mental and physical space to things we may not always want or need. This introduces new scenarios for ownership and exchange, potentially altering the way in which we exchange and dispose of things in public spaces.

As alternative modes of owning and exchanging things gain popularity, a physical infrastructure supporting these exchanges begins to take shape. This could come in the form of smart lockers, pods and large-scale pop-up shops. The cumulative result is a patchwork infrastructure that is built from the bottom-up in response to its social context and more importantly, as a result of ‘real’ versus ‘manufactured’ demand for things.
 

For more information, visit the Shift 2019 website.

An exhibition on the past, present, and future of the Sidi Harazem Thermal Bath Complex, a modern Moroccan masterpiece, opens this June in Morocco. Built in 1960 by Jean-François Zevaco, the complex is now undergoing restoration thanks to Associate Professor Aziza Chaouni, who received a Keeping it Modern grant from The Getty Foundation to revive the historic site.

The exhibition will showcase the conservation plan and collaborative method that will transform the brutalist complex and reveal the architectural, human, and natural richness of the site. It will also display the work of young Moroccan artists involved in the project.

Running until October, the exhibition has been made possible thanks to the Getty Foundation in the United States and the Fondation Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion (CDG) Foundation in Morocco. The Getty Foundation’s Keeping It Modern grant was established to support important works of modern architecture around the world.

This past February, Chaouni, together with architect and Professor at Escola da Cidade in São Paul Silvio Oksman, led a workshop at the Sidi Harazem complex.

Seven Daniels Faculty students — Treasure Zhang, Yi Zhang, Saaraa Premji, Ted Francis Marchand, David Alba, Muyao Zhang, and Avery Clarke — have worked with Chaouni as research assistants on this project.

For more information, visit: https://www.kimmhup.com/

ARC381, Technology Studio IV: Adaptive Architecture, provided an opportunity for undergraduate students to compare digital design and physical fabrication techniques while creating architecture that can adapt and respond to its environment, changing shape in respond to stimuli such as humidity and light.

Taught by Tom Bessai and Nicholas Hoban, the intensive experimental workshop introduced students to current theories and methods for design and production and enhanced their fabrication skills.

Over the course of the semester, students were challenged to design a deployable enclosure, such as a pavilion, that could adapt to the specific physical and environmental conditions of a given location. They worked in groups of two or three to create both physical prototypes and digital models, and engage in ongoing testing of materials and assembly properties.

Physical tests and prototypes were cross referenced with digital design strategies. For each physical model, students were required to create a similar digital model and compare the two.

“The studio’s focus on technical processes will help give the students an edge in both the profession and in industry, where all parties are struggling to stay current,” says Bessai. “While we emphasized the use of cutting-edge technologies, we remained focused on iterative design, which is a central plank of the broader curriculum in design at Daniels.”

One of the goals of the undergraduate program's Technology of Architecture, Landscape, and Urbanism design stream is to advance design strategies within the changing technological context of the building industry, he explains.

“Our students are already working with confidence with the next wave of powerful tools and techniques.”

Over the course of the semester, Pablo Espinal Henao and Alex Reiner created a kinetic shelter that tracks the position of the sun and modulates its surface to block harsh sunlight.

After building their first prototype (image 2), the duo experimented with a different method to block the sun: curve folding, based on how flower petals expand and contract (image 3 & 4).
 
"We were inspired by [the work of architect] Jan Kaplicky so we strove to make something capable of existing anywhere," says Henao. "Mars is a bit of a stretch, but we just wanted to get playful with it."

Cezanne Llagan and Afsah Ali's project explored techniques for forming three-dimensional plywood shapes determined by two-dimentional cutting and darting patterns. The process delivered strongly figural modular components with axial symmetries. Ordered groupings of the components were developed into porous enclosures that responded to topography and other environmental features.

For their project, Mina Yip and Qin Wang created a structure that could modulate light within a black box theatre.

Evan Guan, Sarah Garland, and Sanjana Patel worked together to develop a textile-like, light screen made of wood. They designed a dynamic system that can alter the amount of shade that the screen casts.

Hao Wu and Jue Wu's project was developed as a shading structure made up of an aggregation of interlocking geometric shell components, carefully developed in a parametric environment. Secondary and tertiary systems responsive to climatic and humidity change were nested within and throughout the main components.

Kevin Nitiema and Raphael Kay experimented with curing wood veneers in low and high moisture content environments. The grain direction in the thin pieces of wood influenced how they bent in response to high or low humidity — similar to how pine cones naturally respond to different degrees of humidity, opening and closing  to effectively burrow into the ground without consuming any electrical energy. The students' series of experiments explored how climate-responsive-driven systems could be deployed in a variety of ways with no mechanical input to drive the movement.

Taught by Katy Chey, ARC3712 "Multi-Unit Housing in Urban Cities: From 1800 to Present Day" explored the development and evolution of different types of multi-unit housing in cities around the world.
 
At the start of the semester, students were introduced to a different housing typology in a different city each week. Examples include Haussmann apartments in Paris, tenements in New York, tong lau in Hong Kong, or high-rise condos in Toronto. An examination of case studies highlighted the historical, social, economic, and political circumstances that lead to the development of each type.
 
The students also had the opportunity to work on their own semester-long research project focused on a multi-unit housing typology of their choice. "There was so much incredible and in-depth research that went into these projects," says Chey.
 
For their chosen multi-unit housing type, students examined the characteristics, historical context, building components, building organization, and construction materials. They drew floor plans, sections and elevations, and researched how residents lived in the space. They also looked at government policies and regulations and the influential individuals who helped shape the design. In addition, the students explored how their housing type functions in the present day. For their final project, they were required to submit a written document and present a slide presentation to the class.

Images above: 1) Dingbat, Los Angeles by Andrew Harvey; 2) Four-Plus-One, Chicago by Nicholas Ager; 3) Microdistricts, USSR by Francesca Lu

"Since none of the typologies had readily available information, the students had to  learn to be resourceful and be detectives following leads to uncovering the information they required and piecing it together," says Chey. "Learning how to research, is extremely important because not everything is Google-able, and if it is is, it may not be trustworthy. If one takes the time to investigate, one can be rewarded with deeper, undiscovered information, which was what my students found with their projects."
 
The course was based on Chey's recent book Multi-Unit Housing in Urban Cities: From 1800 to Present Day, published by Routledge. The book emphasizes the importance of understanding the direct connection between housing and dwelling in the context of a city, and the manner in which the city is an instructional indication of how a housing typology is embodied.
 
"Housing has the ability to make cities and can define much of a city's presence and mood," says Chey. "It is important to try to learn from the good housing precedents and not repeat any bad examples."

Multi-Unit Housing in Urban Cities is available in-stores at the U of T Bookstore, Swipe Books + Design, Type Books on Queen Street, and Indigo in the Eaton Centre, and other major online retailers.

Image, top, Microdistricts, USSR, by Francesca Lu

Daniels Alumna Utako Tanebe (MArch 2013) — now an architect and designer at DLR Group | Westlake Reed Leskosky, based in Cleveland — was recently interviewed by Madame Architect, an online publication dedicated to sharing stories of women in the architectural field.   

Tanebe spoke about her experiences as an architecture student and the transition from school to professional practice. She shared some of the challenges she worked to overcome when she started her career, and what she learned while working on the Samson Pavilion (pictured above), a new health education campus designed by Foster and Partners. (DRL Group | Westlake Reed Leskosky is the Architect of Record for the project.)

"This is the largest scale international design project in Cleveland in decades and I was lucky in that I was placed in such project so early on," said Tanebe.

Born in Tokyo, Tanebe became interested in building and design as a young child. After high school, she pursued a degree in engineering, but found she was hungry for something more creative. She completed another undergraduate degree in architectural history and theory before joining the Daniels Faculty's Master of Architecture program.

"Of the three degrees I completed, the MArch degree was the most rigorous and enduring experience, but also the most rewarding and exciting," said Tanebe. "I felt most comfortable in the studio environment and knew right away that it was the path for me."

Tanebe encourages new graduates starting out in the profession to stay curious and inspired.

"You must find something that excites or motivates you within every task, however mundane it may be, and make it yours to conquer. If you do it well, you can prove to yourself that you’re ready for the next step and a new challenge," she says. "Often young designers fear that they will be pigeon-holed into a task at the office, but once other architects see that you have a fire within to take on more roles, they will be more than happy to support your growth as an architect."

Visit the Madame Architect website to read the full interview.
 

Write Allen and Furgiuele:

Assistant Professors Mitchell Akiyama and Brady Peters have been selected to participate in The Bentway's inaugural Artist Residency.

The Bentway is a unique and innovative public space that has transformed 1.75 kilometres underneath Toronto’s Gardiner Expressway into a new gathering place for Toronto's growing population.

From The Bentway's press release:

The initial residency, Sound and the City, will focus on the acoustic environment of The Bentway. The hum of the Gardiner Expressway above, the rush of passing trains to the north, the occasional cannon blasts from the Fort York grounds, and the general buzz from the surrounding city make The Bentway site rich acoustic territory. The artists will explore The Bentway as an instrument, experiment with the varied sonic environments along its length, and investigate new ways to interact with the site. The residency runs from April-August, and will include a series of public experiments, engagements and consultations.
 

“We’re excited to have the opportunity to work in such a singular acoustic environment,” said Akiyama and Peters. “The Gardiner is such an iconic and important entity in the city and we hope to enliven and alter the space in ways that will help to deepen our understandings of sound, space, and the built environment.”

With the first Artist Residency, The Bentway aims to expand the parameters defining sound art, the types of projects contributing to the discipline, and the way sound shapes the collective creative experience of Toronto. New Adventures in Sound Art (NAISA), who have an extensive background in the field of experimental sound, will work with the artists and provide key expertise throughout the process.

This isn't the first time that artist and Visual Studies professor Mitchell Akiyama and designer, research and architecture professor Brady Peters have collaborated. The duo also designed the model Spatial Sonic Network for the University of Toronto Art Museum's Making Models exhibition.

Mitchell Akiyama’s eclectic body of work includes writings about sound, metaphors, animals, and media technologies; scores for film and dance; and objects and installations that trouble received ideas about history, perception, and sensory experience. He holds a PhD in communications from McGill University and an MFA from Concordia University, and is Assistant Professor of Visual Studies in the Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design at the University of Toronto.

Brady Peters’ design and research work successfully bridges technology and design. He specializes in architectural acoustics, environmental simulation, computational design, and digital fabrication, using computer programming, parametric modelling, and simulation to design performance-driven forms. Peters is an assistant Professor at the John H. Daniels School of Architecture, Landscape, and Design.

The Bentway’s 2019 Artist Residency is presented by RBC.

For more information on The Beltway and its summer programming, visit its website.

Photo by Nic Lehoux

Associate Professor Brian Boigon is participating in the 12th edition of the Papier Contemporary Art Fair, which takes place April 25 to 28 in Montreal. Organized by the Contemporary Art Galleries Association (AGAC), Papier welcomes 46 major Canadian galleries at the Port of Montreal’s Grand Quay. Boigon is among the artists presented by Christie Contemporary, a Toronto-based gallery participating in the fair. His work, The Interopera, launched a Christie Contemporary in 2017.

A design theorist, artist, art director, writer and researcher, Boigon's main area of creative practice is in the field of science fiction and locomotive design. Originally trained as an architect, he has been involved with digital and pop up productions since 1994 when he was featured in WIRED magazine for the design of the first tween-based virtual avatar town called Spillville. 

For more information on the Papier Contemporary Art Fair, visit: www.papiermontreal.com

We are pleased to announce that the Daniels Faculty is launching Daniels Bootcamp: Exploring Careers in Design, a program for late high school (grades 11 and 12) and undergraduate students of all disciplines interested in architecture.

The program is designed by Jeannie Kim, the Director of the Daniels Faculty's Honours, Bachelor of Arts, Architectural Studies program. The program will include lectures with topics covering the history and techniques of architectural production as well as guest lectures from visiting professionals. They will have studio exercises that also include skills and techniques lecture.

This program is perfect for students who wish to develop an understanding of both the academic requirements and future career paths for a career in the field of architecture.

For registration and detailed information, please click on the link below.

Daniels Bootcamp: Exploring Careers in Design (Grade 11, 12 high school and undergraduate students)