The Daniels Faculty is happy to welcome Dr. Jewel Amoah as its inaugural Assistant Dean, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. Dr. Amoah is a Trinidadian-Canadian rights advocate and academic who has dedicated her career to the promotion and protection of human rights and to gender and racial equality. The new role of Assistant Dean, EDI is a reflection of the Faculty’s commitment to bringing about the changes required to foster equal access and representation at Daniels at an institutional level. 

“By appointing Dr. Amoah as Assistant Dean, EDI, we are acknowledging that real inclusivity and diversity require not only a director or committee, but an integrated advocate working with students, faculty and staff throughout our academic endeavours,” says Dean Juan Du. “Jewel’s experience as an advocate and activist has been diverse and effective; we look forward to benefitting from her knowledge and perspective as we engage in this important work.”

A graduate of McMaster University, the University of Ottawa and the University of Cape Town, Dr. Amoah has inspired and produced systemic change, enhancing access to justice and the promotion of full rights for all, in a number of educational settings. Prior to joining the Daniels Faculty on July 25, she was the Human Rights and Equity Advisor with the Halton District School Board in Ontario. She also sits on the McMaster University Research Ethics Board and is a part-time Commissioner with the Ontario Human Rights Commission. 

In her view, one of the biggest challenges to effecting systemic change in educational institutions is “fear of and resistance to the unknown.” 

“The system,” says Dr. Amoah, “was not designed to critique itself — in the words of Audre Lorde, ‘the master’s tools will not dismantle the master’s house.’ And so part of the initial response to this challenge is an awareness that an equitable and inclusive house has no master, but a community of occupants who recognize that their survival and ability to thrive is based on inclusive collaboration.” 

“I approach my role,” she continues, “from the perspective that new tools need to be developed and used: tools that carve out flexibility, transparency and accountability in all that we want to be and do. Part of this reference to new tools is also about new designs and new social positionality: giving voice to the disempowered and redrawing the lines of inclusion so that the margin becomes the centre.” 

In the pursuit of these goals at Daniels, Dr. Amoah’s portfolio encompasses a range of activities and tactics, including but not limited to strategic planning, leadership and advice; data collection and analysis; training, workshops and program development; and committee work both internal and external to the Faculty. 

Among her very first tasks, though, will be with the building of relationships with faculty, students and other stakeholders, in order to “facilitate the collaboration and strategic interaction that is to come.” 

“Even if activities have not been formally framed in the language of equity and inclusion,” Dr. Amoah says, “members of the Daniels community will have ideas about what needs to be done to advance inclusion and many will have their own examples of what they have been doing in their own spheres to meet these aspirations. In many ways, I see the role of Assistant Dean as coordinating and inspiring the work that everyone at Daniels is doing in this area.” 

In addition, “I hope to apply my human rights expertise to building and sustaining a culture of human rights throughout the Faculty. This could involve anything from policy development to advising on complaint resolution to proactive initiatives to raise awareness of the intersections between human rights and architecture, landscape and design.” 

As well as her work in Canadian legal, K-12 and postsecondary educational environments, Dr. Amoah has considerable international experience from which she draws, having worked on the promotion and protection of human rights, good governance and gender equality in Sierra Leone, Malawi and Namibia, and as a lecturer in the Faculty of Law at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad.  

Her own life as a Trinidadian-Canadian and as a Black woman, she adds, also informs her work. 

“I am the embodiment of multiple intersections and can appreciate that no one is ever only one thing, nor do all aspects of my identity impact all circumstances all of the time,” she says. “My particular identity intersections have enabled me to occupy both majority and minority spaces, to hold both dominant and subordinate roles, to be both teacher and student, all depending on context.” 

“Personally,” she concludes, “I am excited about joining Daniels because it presents an opportunity to be more engaged with the concepts of architecture and design that will change the world as we respond to current urgent and evolving crises — housing, migration, climate change, public health — all of which relate to systemic social inequities.” 

The Dean’s Office would like to take this opportunity to provide further information on the decision to form a First Peoples Leadership Advisory Group for the Daniels Faculty.

This development significantly expands the existing First Peoples Leadership Advisor role from one to three positions, diversifying the Indigenous perspectives and experiences within the Dean’s Office. It also evolves the existing role, creating pathways for all members of our Faculty—academic and administrative leaders, students and staff—to access this support and expertise. Moreover, it formalizes and sustains what has, to date, been a part-time and time-limited appointment. Advertising an open call to all qualified candidates and affirming the value of both lived and academic experience express the Faculty’s long-term commitment to providing meaningful and culturally appropriate support to all members of our community. Recognizing the foundational contributions of the inaugural First Peoples Leadership Advisor, our current Advisor was invited and encouraged to apply to join the Advisory Group, and a contract extension to bridge the transition was offered and accepted prior to the public announcements of the open call. 

The Dean’s Office arrived at the decision to evolve the First Peoples Leadership Advisor position after consulting Indigenous and non-Indigenous members at the Daniels Faculty, members of Indigenous organizations at U of T, and Indigenous experts beyond the University. Consultation will continue to play a primary role in decision-making as we collectively build on the Faculty’s work to answer the Calls to Action articulated by the University’s TRC Steering Committee.  

Banner image: A Master of Architecture student presents her Design Studio 2 (ARC1012) project for review in the Daniels Building earlier this year. Part of the Faculty’s ongoing commitment to integrating meaningful Indigenous content into the curriculum, the studio tasked students with designing a seedbank for the non-profit Kayanase organization using both science-based approaches and Traditional Ecological Knowledge. The course addresses Call to Action No. 17 in U of T’s response to the report by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and was developed in collaboration with multiple Indigenous experts. (Photo by Harry Choi)

The Daniels Faculty is pleased to announce that Elise Shelley has been appointed to a three-year term as director of the Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA) program, effective July 1, 2022. 

Recently promoted from Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream to Associate Professor, Teaching Stream, the award-winning landscape architect has been with the Faculty for 19 years, having joined it as a sessional lecturer in 2003. Shelley has taught graduate-level studio design, planting design, site technology and professional practice courses in both the Architecture and Landscape Architecture programs, and is a thesis advisor for MLA candidates. 

“I see my primary role in the coming year being based on service to Daniels, specifically MLA students and faculty,” says Shelley. “This coming year will see us fully transitioning back to a situation that will be fundamentally altered from pre-pandemic learning. The experiences we have shared and witnessed in the world over the past few years will impact teaching, public programming, events and interaction within the Faculty, and I look forward to stewarding and facilitating these new and renewed directions for the MLA program.” 

A graduate of the University of Virginia School of Architecture, where she acquired her Bachelor of Science in Architecture, Master of Architecture and Master of Landscape Architecture degrees, Shelley has also served as an adjunct professor in the School of Architecture at the University of Waterloo.

In addition to her academic roles, she is currently the Director of Landscape Architecture at the interdisciplinary design practice gh3*. Among the projects that she has worked on at the firm are the widely acclaimed Borden Park Natural Swimming Pool in Edmonton (Canada’s first chemical-free outdoor swimming pool, it features water cleansed via stone, gravel, sand and botanic filtering processes), the elegantly austere Stormwater Treatment Facility in Toronto’s West Don Lands (where the treatment plant and reservoir are linked by a striking paving feature) and the Galbraith Building Landscape and Forecourt on U of T’s downtown campus. 

Distinctive hardscaping and a rich variety of plantings distinguish the Galbraith Building Landscape and Forecourt by gh3*. New MLA program director Elise Shelley is the interdisciplinary design firm’s Director of Landscape Architecture.

Shelley’s own research focuses on material innovation, user-focused landscapes and universal design, while her private gardens and public spaces exemplify these interests, merging dynamic elements and space-making strategically and sustainably. 

“As a practitioner and an academic, and as an architect as well as a landscape architect, I’m interested in interdisciplinary directions that work to emphasize and clarify the significance and distinction of each field as we move forward in increasingly complex urban contexts,” she says. 

In this regard, Shelley adds, the Daniels Faculty’s MLA program is unique among academic offerings and well suited to addressing the social and environmental challenges of the future. 

“I know of no other program that shares physical and intellectual space with programs of architecture, urban design, visual arts and forestry,” she says. “The position of our MLA program among these other fields of study creates a unique opportunity for learning from our peers, neighbours and colleagues, both for students and faculty.” 

An unusually attractive piece of public infrastructure, the Stormwater Treatment Facility in Toronto’s West Don Lands is defined by its geometric forms, as this overhead shot of the paving feature linking the treatment plant and reservoir demonstrates.

Shelley succeeds Liat Margolis as director of the MLA program. Margolis had overseen it since 2017. 

Established in 1998, the MLA program was last reviewed in 2018, when it was granted a five-year term of accreditation.  

The Daniels Faculty is pleased to announce that, as part of our ongoing commitment to developing and enhancing Indigenous knowledge and capacity in our Faculty, the role of the First Peoples Leadership Advisor is being expanded to a First Peoples Leadership Advisory Group in order to diversify perspectives and include multiple experiences and expertise from broader Indigenous communities. The expanded role and responsibilities, as well as the public open call for applications, have been made in close consultation with U of T’s Office for Indigenous Initiatives and First Nations House.  

In expanding this role to an Advisory Group to include three members, the Daniels Faculty, its students and our community will benefit from the contributions and advice of multiple perspectives. This group will work closely with a Faculty leadership team and use Wecheehetowin: Answering the Call, U of T’s response to the TRC report, to guide the directions of our efforts and build on work already undertaken within the Faculty.  

This First Peoples Leadership Advisory Group will provide leadership and guidance within the Faculty to enable greater incorporation of Indigenous knowledge into the teaching curriculum and research activities. It will also expand connections and engagement with Indigenous peoples and communities for our students and faculty. And, perhaps most importantly, they will further support the next generation of students in the Daniels Faculty.   

Key responsibilities include: 

Curriculum enrichment: 

• Providing curriculum and research support to the Daniels Faculty to ensure relevant and culturally grounded elements are included 
• Collaborating with faculty on the design and implementation of Indigenous research and education content 
• Supporting targeted requests from faculty for perspective and insight 

Student support: 

• Supporting current Daniels Faculty Indigenous students on culturally specific, financial, academic support or other issues as they arise; liaising with the Registrar or First Nations House as appropriate 
• Advising non-Indigenous students seeking cultural perspective, input, resources or guidance  

Advisory and outreach: 

• Offer advice and counsel to the Dean and Faculty leadership 
• Facilitating outreach or introduction into communities for projects or initiatives 
• Supporting cultivation of pathways for future students to the Daniels Faculty 
• Providing advice on pathways to admission for Indigenous youth and other potential students.  

Service: 

• Establish connections with the U of T Office of Indigenous Initiatives 
• Working with Assistant Dean, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion on broader Faculty initiatives 
• Advising or participating in ceremonies as requested  
• The First Peoples Advisory Group will lead the creation of its Terms of Reference 

Open Call: Those interested may apply via the following link by Friday, July 29, 2022:  

First Peoples Leadership Advisory Group – Application Form 

Applications will be reviewed by a committee comprised of members from U of T’s Office for Indigenous Initiatives and the Daniels Faculty Leadership Team, as well as representatives from Daniels Faculty Indigenous students and alumni. 

Banner image: This year’s Design Studio 2 (ARC 1012) tasked Master of Architecture students with designing a seedbank for the non-profit Kayanase organization (student Alice Dong’s is pictured above) using both science-based approaches and Traditional Indigenous Knowledge. Part of the Daniels Faculty’s ongoing commitment to integrating meaningful Indigenous content into the curriculum, the first-year core MARC course was developed in collaboration with multiple Indigenous experts and directly addresses Call to Action No. 17 in U of T’s response to the report by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. (Photo by Harry Choi)

Newly minted BAAS grad Jessie Pan’s research into the use of trees in building simulation has come full circle in a little over a year.

It started in May of 2021 when she won the NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award to study how better tree modelling could improve building designs. Flash forward 12 months and she will be presenting the fruits of her research, which include a framework for the creation of more dynamic tree models than typically used by designers, at the e-Sim conference in Ottawa on June 22.

“I am excited about the presentation,” says Pan, who received her Honours Bachelor of Arts in Architectural Studies degree on June 15. “It is a great honour to be presenting my first paper at my first conference.”

Titled Simulating the Impact of Deciduous Trees on Energy, Daylight and Visual Comfort: Impact Analysis and a Practical Framework for Implementation, the peer-reviewed paper that Pan will be presenting at eSim encompasses the research she undertook with Assistant Professor Alstan Jakubiec over the past year.

The current practice in building simulation, she notes, tends to use solid or simplified trees, disregarding their complex and fluctuating effects, especially when it comes deciduous varieties. 

“Deciduous trees are sophisticated due to tree phenology and leaf senescence that impact their foliage density and colour throughout the year,” Pan explains. “We created a framework for developing dynamic tree models that integrate temporal schedules of colour change, leaf drop and regrowth, as well as physical measurements of gap fractions.”

What she and Jakubiec discovered was that, “when compared to our detailed tree models,” there are “significant differences in lighting, heating and cooling loads when using simplified models…or no trees at all.”

More sophisticated tree modelling, in short, can quantifiably lead to better, more energy-efficient buildings.

The eSim Building Simulation Conference — organized by Carleton University, National Research Council Canada and Natural Resources Canada — is slated to be held at Carleton on June 22 and 23. The theme this year — the conference’s 12th — is Simulating Buildings for the New Normal, with a focus on “using building performance simulation to model and research indoor air quality and other strategies for mitigating risks related to transmission of infectious disease.”

Typically, some 200 delegates attend each conference, with more than 75 peer-reviewed papers presented. Pan is scheduled to present hers on the first day of the event.

In addition to receiving the NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award, Pan also won the 2021 Project StaSIO Summer Challenge, which was focused on the subjects of daylight and glare, for her graphics illustrating her findings.

She created the graphics using Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Excel, Grasshopper/Rhino and Python. The tools used in the simulation analysis were ClimateStudio, Radiance and Python.

The entire project was “my first exposure to academic research and I am very grateful for this experience with Professor Jakubiec,” Pan says. “This opportunity has jumpstarted my research interest, skillset and background, and I look forward to applying it all during my future graduate studies.”

Banner image: BAAS student Jessie Pan poses for a portrait after receiving an Academic Merit Award during the Daniels Faculty’s Graduation and Awards Celebration at 1 Spadina Crescent on June 14. (Photo by Sara Elhawash)

Assistant professor Bomani Khemet is the 2022 beneficiary of the Mayflower Research Fund, the research endowment established four years ago at the Daniels Faculty. 

An expert in building science and HVAC systems, Khemet will direct his grant, totalling $10,000, into his research on improving fresh-air circulation in multi-unit buildings, an issue that has taken on extra resonance in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Khemet’s specific area of focus is the feasibility in Canada of skip-stop and single-loaded corridors, designs that give building occupants greater control over indoor air quality. 

“As a new faculty member, this financial assistance helps me jumpstart my research exploration into how building air movement in the form of natural ventilation can impact various aspects of occupant comfort and building operations,” he says. 

“The first step of the research is to (1) create a comprehensive design catalogue of existing buildings using single-loaded and skip-stop treatments, and (2) understand the design barriers, financial barriers and regulatory barriers to implementing these design strategies in a Canadian context.” 

The Mayflower Research Fund was established by a generous donor in 2018 to encourage and stimulate research in the fields of architecture, landscape architecture and urban design, and allows for collaboration with other areas of the University when deemed appropriate. Since then, $10,000 has been given annually to three assistant professors in the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design: Fadi Masoud, Maria Yablonina and Alstan Jakubiec. Any faculty member with a full-time appointment at Daniels is eligible to apply.  

Khemet, who began teaching building science at Daniels in 2018, became a permanent member of the school as a tenured assistant professor in 2021. In addition to teaching building science and HVAC courses to undergraduate and graduate architecture students, he has conducted a number of groundbreaking studies during his time at the Faculty, including a large-scale analysis of airtightness in Canadian single-detached homes (his data was culled from a Natural Resources Canada survey of over 900,000 properties) and another on the airtightness of the Daniels Building at 1 Spadina Crescent itself. 

Khemet’s newly funded research into skip-stop and single-loaded corridors — a response to the fact that most of Canada’s mid- and high-rise residential buildings “use double-loaded corridor floor plans [that] prevent effective natural ventilation” — is in keeping with his interests in air quality, building performance and resilient design.  

The corridor designs he aims to catalogue and promote have also been cited as effective ways of combating the transmission of airborne viruses such as SARS and COVID-19.  

“Skip-stop and single-loaded designs are highly recommended as best practice for multi-unit residential buildings primarily due to the placement of operable windows on opposing facades,” Khemet said in his funding proposal. “Unfortunately, there is precious little information on the implementation of skip-stop and single-loaded corridors in multi-unit housing for Canadian climates.” 

Khemet’s research, which will be conducted with co-investigator Marianne Touchie, an assistant professor at U of T of civil engineering and of mechanical and industrial engineering, aims to remedy that. 

U of T's Marianne Touchie

In addition to creating a record of Canadian buildings that utilize skip-stop and single-loaded corridor designs and to cataloging any barriers to their incorporation, the research team aims to disseminate its findings through a variety of media, including public lectures, trade publications and academic journals.  

Two research assistants — Master of Architecture students — will be engaged to work on the project, in Fall 2022 and Fall 2023 respectively.  

Khemet and Touchie plan to have the research completed by 2024. 

Banner image: Assistant professor Bomani Khemet, who joined the Daniels Faculty in 2018, will apply his Mayflower Research Fund grant to researching how certain corridor designs might improve air circulation and quality in Canadian multi-unit buildings.

Acclaimed architect Douglas Cardinal, who served as the Daniels Faculty’s Frank O. Gehry Chair in 2020/21, has been awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree by the University of Toronto. 

Known for his longtime commitment to sustainable design and for such landmark buildings as the Canadian Museum of History, the 88-year-old received his degree during the spring Convocation ceremony for Daniels Faculty students. 

“I feel so honoured to be here,” Cardinal told the assembly in Convocation Hall on the morning of June 15, adding that he was also representing the Elders “who have taught me to live in harmony with the land and with each other.” 

Born in Calgary to a father of Blackfoot heritage and a German/Métis mother, Cardinal is one of the world’s most prominent Indigenous architects, although he didn’t fully embrace his Indigenous heritage until he was a young man and has eschewed describing his work simply as “Indigenous architecture.” 

“I never thought of expressing myself as an Indigenous architect,” Cardinal once told CBC Radio. “I thought of expressing myself as an organic architect that emphasized the beauty and vitality and richness of nature.” 

In addition to the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Cardinal’s body of work includes a number of iconic structures, from St. Mary’s Church in Red Deer, Alberta (designed very early in his career, it was featured on a Canada Post stamp in 2007) to the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. (completed between 1993 and 1998). 

In 2020/21, he served as the Frank O. Gehry International Visiting Chair in Architectural Design, an endowed chair that brings an internationally recognized architect to the Daniels Faculty each year. This spring, Cardinal returned to Daniels to serve as a reviewer and advisor during final thesis presentations. 

Over his long career, Cardinal has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Governor General’s Award for Visual and Media Arts, a Gold Medal from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, and a National Aboriginal Achievement Award. 

In 2018, he led a team of Indigenous architects and designers who represented Canada at the Venice Architecture Biennale, and he continues to design residential, institutional and industrial buildings. 

Cardinal has also been an influential voice for the dignity of Indigenous Peoples. 

With files from a U of T News story by Scott Anderson

Banner image: Honorary degree recipient Douglas Cardinal addresses the Daniels Faculty’s Class of 2022 at Convocation Hall on June 15. (Photo by Harry Choi)

Watch Douglas Cardinal's speech at Convocation Hall:

How do you transform a standard shopping-plaza parking lot into a thriving community space that people actually want to be in?  

In late spring, students enrolled in the Design Build Studio architecture course called Corner Commons pondered just that, designing and then building two shade pavilions and a stage canopy in an area outside Toronto’s Jane Finch Mall. 

Architect, urban designer and Daniels Faculty alumnus Clint Langevin co-led the course alongside Amy Norris, an architect at Diamond Schmitt Architects, as a social-purpose exercise with the Jane Finch Community and Family Centre. The result was Corner Commons, a temporary informal gathering space that transformed a portion of the Jane Finch Mall into a multifaceted public resource that the community will be using all summer long. 

Among the interventions that the students made on the site were a new focal point for visitors, a substantial shaded area where residents could gather and relax, and a flexible space for performances and other community-led programming.   

“These studios are an incredible learning experience for everyone involved,” says Langevin, an architect at Perkins&Will. “For the students, it is often the first time they encounter the real challenges and rewards of designing a built project for an actual client, who they meet, present to and receive honest feedback from.” 

“For us,” adds Norris, “it is hugely energizing to jump into this wild sea of ideas and perform the balancing act of guiding the group toward something that is achievable within our timeframe and budget but retains their design aspirations for the project. The design week alone is super satisfying, but the real magic is the week of turning the lines on paper into an occupiable public space with our own hands.  

“There are too many personal and professional lessons learned to list, but watching the development of everyone’s skills, knowledge and confidence over that week and ultimately their pride in building a unique public space for the community is hugely rewarding.” 

With the Mall’s support, the Jane Finch Community and Family Centre will be hosting a wide range of activities and events in the space this summer, with local artists, resident leaders, grassroots groups and various community organizations from the neighbourhood participating.  

The Corner Commons project was awarded a 2022 National Urban Design Award of Excellence by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC), which called it the product of “an exceptional community-driven process.” 

“It is clear,” one jury member wrote, “that the community came together under the banner of this initiative. Because of this ownership in process and purpose, the result is a space for the community and by the community. With enough infrastructure to sponsor a wide diversity of programming, from community gardens to performance spaces to spaces for protestation, it is truly the hallmark of authentic public space.” 
 
Additional studio and site support was provided by Jonathan Wong and Perkins&Will staff. To learn more about the course, visit this web page.  

Photos by Urban Designer, Eunice Wong of Perkins&Will.

What are the scientific, bioethical and regulatory challenges regarding the use of gene-edited organisms and technologies for pest control?

That’s the question being studied by a multidisciplinary panel of experts assembled recently by the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA) on behalf of Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency. Among those experts is Professor Sandy M. Smith of the Daniels Faculty’s Institute of Forestry and Conservation. The Panel on Gene-edited Organisms for Pest Control, which includes 13 others from universities across North America, convened for the first time on May 30.

“As a member of the Expert Panel, Professor Smith will be making an invaluable contribution to evidence-based policy in Canada,” says Heather McGeer, Communications Coordinator for the CCA. “It is through the hard work of expert committee members who donate their time and expertise that the CCA is able to produce high-quality assessments that the federal government and others have come to rely on to inform decision making.”

Over the past decade, advances in gene editing tools and technologies have made the process of changing an organism’s genome more efficient, thereby opening up a range of potential applications, including pest control. But while these tools have now made it possible to control insect-borne disease and invasive species, or reverse insecticide resistance in pests, the full implications of using these methods remains unclear.

“In Canada, pest control products are regulated under the Pest Control Products Act and requirements for approval are well established,” says the CCA. “However, the potential to use gene-edited organisms (e.g., mosquito vectors, agricultural pests) in pest control applications present unique scientific, ethical and regulatory challenges and considerations.”

It is these challenges, opportunities and risks that the panel will be evaluating, with the goal of producing a report that the federal government can later consult as it develops relevant policy.

In general, says McGeer, “CCA expert panels meet formally approximately five times, with lots of work in between. For this assessment, we are expecting the final report to be released spring/summer 2023.”

Based in Ottawa, the CCA is an independent, not-for-profit organization that supports evidence-based studies to inform public policy development in Canada. Over the past 15 years, it has published more than 50 studies, on subjects ranging from plant diversity to regenerative medicine. At the core of each assessment is a panel of leading experts whose knowledge and insights guide the research.

Prof. Smith, who is also the Director of Forestry Programs at Daniels, is an internationally recognized expert in the ecology and biological management of invasive forest insects in urban forest restoration and conservation. She has published over 150 journal articles and book chapters, and served as a reviewer for international journals, national NSERC committees, and scientific panels.

For more details on the Expert Panel on Gene-edited Organisms for Pest Control, including its other members, visit www.cca-reports.ca.

Described by Toronto Star columnist Shawn Micallef as “kind of like a library but for urban civics…and a fun one, too,” the Toronto Landscape Observatory has been drawing urban adventurers to Perth Avenue in the city’s west end since the launch of this year’s Toronto Biennial of Art, its home since early spring. 

Part installation and part resource kit for exploring both its immediate surroundings and the city at large, the interactive initiative co-curated by Susan Schwartzenberg and Associate Professor Jane Wolff of the Daniels Faculty was designed “to help Biennial visitors recognize, acknowledge and understand their relationships to this place — and to other people who care about it.” 

In addition to a physical display gallery housed in a building slated for demolition, the initiative encompasses a collection of tools, walks, workshops and conversations focused on “the processes, phenomena and connections that often go unnoticed” when it comes to city planning.

Programmed events investigating the Biennial’s own environs at 72 Perth Avenue have been held every week since May 2, including, on May 29, a Listening Walk led by musicologists Sherry Lee and Emily MacCallum.

The program’s final event — from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. on June 5, the last day of the Biennial — will be a Walk to Greet Plants. Led by horticultural writer Lorraine Johnson, it’ll explore the flora of the West Toronto Railpath, with the goal of building “immediate, emotional connections that help people see themselves as part of the natural world.”

“In examining the land and its relationships as they are today,” say the co-curators, “the Observatory looks toward a future made uncertain by local and global change, from development pressures to the climate emergency. It invites visitors to contribute their own observations to an open vocabulary for imagining possibilities that are kinder, more just and more resilient than the status quo.” 

The endeavour — which includes the contributions of a wide range of specialists, from landscape architects and environmental artists to Indigenous knowledge keepers and music experts — was funded by an SSHRC Connection grant and a grant from the University of Toronto’s Office of the Vice-President, International. 

“I would characterize this whole enterprise as an invitation to wonder,” Prof. Wolff told Micallef for his piece in the Star. The writer concurred. “If you need a reason to explore your city,” he concluded, “use the Biennial and the journey in between locations to look at it more closely.” 

For more information on the Toronto Landscape Observatory and remaining events, visit torontobiennial.org. 

Banner image: Visitors to the Toronto Biennial of Art take part in a Toronto Landscape Observatory walk in the city's west end. The multifaceted observatory initiative was co-curated by Susan Schwartzenberg and Associate Professor Jane Wolff of the Daniels Faculty.