The John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design at the University of Toronto is excited to present its Winter 2023 Public Program.  

Through a series of exhibitions, lectures, book talks, panel discussions and symposia, we aim to foster dialogue and knowledge exchange among our local and international communities on important social, political and environmental challenges confronting our disciplines and the world today.  

Our Public Program this semester addresses a range of pertinent issues concerning the natural and built environments, including design and social justice, urbanization and housing, art and media, and ecology and landscape resilience. 

All events are free and open to the public. All lectures will be held in the Main Hall of the Daniels Building unless otherwise stated. Register in advance and check the calendar for up-to-date details at daniels.utoronto.ca/events.  

January 26, 6:30 p.m. ET 
Housing Multitudes Lecture: Freedom Schools for Accountable Architecture 
Featuring Jae Shin and Damon Rich (HECTOR) 
Moderated by Richard Sommer (Daniels Faculty, University of Toronto) 
 
February 1, 6:30 p.m. ET 
Designing Black Spaces with Community Accountability  
Featuring Tura Cousins Wilson (Studio of Contemporary Architecture), Jessica Kirk (Wildseed Centre for Art and Activism) and Jessica Hines (Black Urbanism Toronto) 
Moderated by Anne-Marie Armstrong (Daniels Faculty, University of Toronto) 
 
February 7, 12:30 p.m. ET  
Understanding and Predicting the Changing Environment in the Coming Decades 
Featuring Brian Leung (Department of Biology, McGill University)  
Moderated by Patrick James (Daniels Faculty, University of Toronto) 

February 9, 6:30 p.m. ET 
Book Launch—Innate Terrain: Canadian Landscape Architecture  
By Alissa North (Daniels Faculty, University of Toronto) 

February 14, 6:30 p.m. ET 
Exhibition Opening—Recent Work by Marina Tabassum Architects (MTA)  
Curated by Marina Tabassum, 2022-2023 Frank Gehry International Visiting Chair in Architectural Design (Daniels Faculty, University of Toronto) 

February 16, 6:30 p.m. ET 
George Baird Lecture: Becoming Frank Gehry  
Featuring Jean-Louis Cohen (The Institute of Fine Arts, New York University) 
Moderated by Jason Nguyen (Daniels Faculty, University of Toronto)  

March 2, 6:30 p.m. ET 
Michael Hough/OALA Visiting Critic in Landscape Architecture Lecture: What Would Cornelia Do? 
Featuring Julie Bargmann (School of Architecture, University of Virginia) 
Moderated by Elise Shelley (Daniels Faculty, University of Toronto) 

March 7, 6:30 p.m. ET 
Phyllis Lambert: Observation Is a Constant That Underlies All Approaches 
Featuring Phyllis Lambert (Canadian Centre for Architecture) 
Moderated by Juan Du (Daniels Faculty, University of Toronto) 

March 14, 12:30 p.m. ET 
Civic Urbanism Without Borders 
Featuring Jeffery Hou (College of Built Environments, University of Washington)  
In collaboration with the Global Taiwan Studies Initiative at the Asian Institute, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto 

March 16, 6:30 p.m. ET 
Exhibition Opening—Resolutions for the Antarctic: International Stations & the Antarctic Data Space
Curated by UNLESS and featuring works by International Collaborators  

March 30, 6:30 p.m. ET 
Ruinophilia 
Featuring Lyndon Neri (Neri&Hu Design and Research Office) 
Moderated by Juan Du (Daniels Faculty, University of Toronto) 

Located in the heart of Canada’s biggest city, the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design at the University of Toronto offers graduate programs in architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, forestry and visual studies, as well as unique undergraduate programs that use architectural studies and visual studies as a lens through which students may pursue a broad, liberal arts-based education. Take a virtual look at everything we have to offer.
 

A tree planting and additions to Forestry’s commemorative Woodwall were on the program when the Daniels Faculty community gathered at the Earth Sciences Centre on November 24 to celebrate past and present forestry achievements. 

The ironwood tree (Ostrya virginiana) was planted in the Carolinian Forest Courtyard in honour of former professor Erik Jorgensen, who founded the University of Toronto’s Shade Tree Research Laboratory in the 1960s and is considered the father of urban forestry, a previously unexplored branch of forestry studies that he largely defined and promoted. 

Born in Denmark in 1921, Jorgensen and his colleagues at the Shade Tree Lab were especially instrumental in the study and control of Dutch Elm Disease (DED). Jorgensen passed away in 2012. 

Others honourees on the 24th included a dozen new additions to Forestry’s commemorative Woodwall, located inside the Earth Sciences Centre. Initiated in 2007, when Forestry at U of T celebrated its 100th birthday, the Woodwall recognizes illustrious alumni, faculty and staff on an artfully hung array of individual square wood plaques. 

The installation of the 12 new plaques — an initiative supported by Forestry’s Class of 1966 and led by alumnus Derek Coleman, who acquired his Bachelor of Science degree in Forestry that year — completes the current display.  

“Our increasing awareness that forestry reserves are key to mitigating climate change,” says Dean Juan Du, who attended both events and addressed attendees afterward, “makes forestry knowledge more important than ever. The research and instruction done in forestry at the University of Toronto has been vital in contributing to regional and national practices and policies. Now that our various forestry programs share a home with our programs in architecture, landscape architecture, visual studies and urban design, we have an opportunity to refine our educational and research approaches with a more comprehensive understanding of one environment, the natural alongside the built.” 

This perspective resonated with many in attendance, says Forestry Director Sandy Smith, who describes attendees as “a very receptive crowd of urban foresters who have been waiting for this opportunity to build on the beginnings of urban forestry at U o T.” 

“It was great to get together in person and to celebrate past achievements in urban forestry,” she adds. “Everyone who participated was excited by the new vision for forestry at Daniels shared by the Dean.” 

Among those on hand for the planting in the Carolinian Forest Courtyard, a studiously maintained space studded with native trees and shrubs, was Erik Jorgensen’s granddaughter, Stoney Baker.  

The names completing the Woodwall include Dr. Smith, Dr. Coleman, Dr. Shashi Kant, Dr. Sally Krigstin, Dr. Jay Malcolm, Deborah Paes, Fred Pinto, Dr. Danijela Puric-Mladenovic, Dr. Mohini Sain, Dr. Sean Thomas, Tony Ung and Amalia Veneziano. 

Image slideshow: 1. Attendees gather in the Earth Sciences Centre after the November 24 tree planting honouring former professor Erik Jorgensen, a pioneer of urban forestry. 2. Forestry Director Sandy Smith and alumnus Derek Coleman (Class of ’66) unveil the newest honourees on Forestry’s Woodwall, which recognizes illustrious alumni, faculty and staff both past and present. 3. Daniels Faculty Dean Juan Du addresses the gathering after both ceremonies. (Photos by Evan Donohue and George Wang)

Banner image: Erik Jorgensen’s granddaughter, Stoney Baker (holding shovel), joined Dean Du (third from right), Forestry Director Smith (second from right) and others for the tree planting ceremony in honour of her grandfather. Jorgensen founded the Shade Tree Research Laboratory at U of T in the 1960s. (Photo by Evan Donohue)

Monday, December 5 to Tuesday, December 20
Daniels Faculty Building,
1 Spadina Crescent, Toronto, Ontario 

Throughout December, students in architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, visual studies and forestry will present final projects to their instructors. Students of the Daniels Faculty will also present to guest critics from both academia and the professional community in attendance. 

Staying up to date with COVID-19 vaccinations is strongly encouraged, and UCheck continues to be available for uploading proof of vaccination. Please see the latest University of Toronto COVID-19 FAQS. 

Follow the Daniels Faculty @UofTDaniels on Instagram, and join the conversation using the hashtag #DanielsReviews22.
 

Monday, December 5 | Graduate

Design Studio I
LAN1011Y
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET

Instructors: Behnaz Assadi (Coordinator), Pete North, Elnaz Sanati
Rooms: 230, 330

Tuesday, December 6 | Graduate

Design Studio I
ARC1011Y
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET

Instructors: Vivian Lee (Coordinator), Fiona Lim Tung, Miles Gertler, Chris Cornecelli, Julia DiCastri, Carol Moukheiber, Tom Ngo
Rooms: 230, 330, Main Hall (170)

Wednesday, December 7 | Graduate

Intergraded Urbanism Studio
ARC2013Y, LAN2013Y, URD1011Y
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET

Instructors: Roberto Damiani (Coordinator), Fadi Masoud (Coordinator), Michael Piper (Coordinator), Christos Marcopoulos, Aziza Chaouni, Laurence Holland, Drew Adams, George Baird, Lisa Rapoport, Jon Cummings, Natalia Echeverri, Rob Wright
Rooms: 215, 230, 240, 330

Architectural Design Studio:  Research 1
ARC3020Y
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET

Instructor: Marina Tabassum
Room: 340

Thursday, December 8 | Graduate

Intergraded Urbanism Studio
ARC2013Y, LAN2013Y, URD1011Y
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET

Instructors: Roberto Damiani (Coordinator), Fadi Masoud (Coordinator), Michael Piper (Coordinator), Christos Marcopoulos, Aziza Chaouni, Laurence Holland, Drew Adams, George Baird, Lisa Rapoport, Jon Cummings, Natalia Echeverri, Rob Wright
Rooms: 215, 230, 240, 330

Friday, December 9 | Graduate

Design Studio Options
LAN3016Y
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET

Instructor: Ivan Valin
Room: 230

Design Studio Options
LAN3016Y
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET

Instructors: Liz Wreford, Rob Wright
Rooms: 330

Tuesday, December 13 | Graduate & Undergraduate

Architectural Design Studio:  Research 1
ARC3020Y
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET

Instructor: Jeannie Kim
Rooms: 230

Architectural Design Studio:  Research 1
ARC3020Y
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET

Instructor: Zachary Mollica
Rooms: 330

Architectural Design Studio:  Research 1
ARC3020Y
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET

Instructor: Brian Boigon
Rooms: 240

Architecture Studio III
ARC361Y1
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET

Instructors: Petros Babasikas (Coordinator), Shane Williamson, Carol Moukheiber
Rooms: Main Hall (170), 215

Capstone Project in Forest Conservation
FOR3008H
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET

Instructor: Catherine Edwards
Rooms: 200

Wednesday, December 14 | Graduate & Undergraduate

Architectural Design Studio:  Research 1
ARC3020Y
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET

Instructor: Petros Babasikas
Rooms: 330

Architectural Design Studio:  Research 1
ARC3020Y
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET

Instructor: Shane Williamson
Rooms: 230

Architectural Design Studio:  Research 1
ARC3020Y
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET

Instructor: Laura Miller
Rooms: 315, 340

Architectural Design Studio:  Research 1
ARC3020Y
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET

Instructor: John Shnier
Rooms: 1^st Floor Hallway

Architectural Design Studio:  Research 1
ARC3020Y
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET

Instructor: Lukas Pauer
Rooms: 240

Architectural Design Studio 7:  Thesis
ARC4018Y
9 a.m.–1 p.m. ET

Instructors: Michael Piper, Miles Gertler, Reza Nik
Rooms: 209, 242

Landscape Architecture Studio III
ARC363Y1
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET

Instructor: Behnaz Assadi
Room: 215

Technology Studio III
ARC380Y1
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET

Instructors: Nicholas Hoban (Coordinator), Nathan Bishop
Rooms: Main Hall (170)

Capstone Project in Forest Conservation
FOR3008H
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET

Instructor: Catherine Edwards
Rooms: 200

Thursday, December 15 | Graduate & Undergraduate

Architectural Design Studio:  Research 1
ARC3020Y
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET

Instructor: Marc McQuade
Rooms: Graduate Studio

Drawing and Representation I
ARC100H1
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET

Instructors: James Macgillivray (Coordinator), Brandon Bergem, Saarinen Balagengatharadilak, Sonia Ramundi, Si Fei Mo, Danielle Whitley, Monifa Charles-Dedier, Jeffrey Garcia, Anamarija Korolj, Quan Thai, Ji Hee Kim, Anne Ma, Angela Cho, Kara Verbeek, Andrea Rodriguez Fos, Nicholas Barrette
Rooms: Principal Hall (170), 215, 230, 240, 315, 330, 340

Friday, December 16 | Graduate & Undergraduate 

Thesis 1
ALA4021Y
9 a.m.–12 p.m. ET

Instructor: Mason White
Rooms: 242

Urban Design Studio Options: Density
URD2013YF
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET

Instructors: Angus Laurie, Lorne Cappe, Mariana Leguia
Rooms: 209

Drawing and Representation II
ARC200H1
9 a.m.–2 p.m. ET

Instructors: Roberto Damiani (Coordinator), Phat Le, Michael Piper, Rez Nik, Matthew DeSantis, Sam Dufaux, David Verbeek, Katy Chey, Simon Rabyniuk, Nova Tayona, Noheir Elgendy, Kara Verbeek
Rooms: Main Hall (170), 215, 230, 240, 315, 330, 340
 

Monday, December 19 | Undergraduate

Design Studio II
ARC201H1
9 a.m.–2 p.m. ET

Instructors: Miles Gertler (Coordinator), Brian Boigon, Jennifer Kudlats, Jamie Lipson, Jeffrey Garcia
Rooms: 170C, 209, 215, 240, 242

Senior Seminar in History and Theory (Research)
ARC456H1
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET

Instructor: Simon Rabyniuk
Room: 230

Senior Seminar in Design (Research)
ARC461H1
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET

Instructor: Laura Miller
Room: 330

Senior Seminar in Technology (Research)
ARC486H1
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET

Instructor: Nicholas Hoban
Rooms: Main Hall (170)

Tuesday, December 20 | Undergraduate

Senior Seminar in History and Theory (Research)
ARC456H1
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET

Instructor: Simon Rabyniuk
Rooms: 230

Senior Seminar in Design (Research)
ARC461H1
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET

Instructor: Laura Miller
Rooms: 330

Senior Seminar in Technology (Research)
ARC486H1
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET

Instructor: Nicholas Hoban
Rooms: Main Hall (170)
 

Banner photo courtesy of GALDSU

It is with much sadness that the Daniels Faculty has learned of the death of Blanche Lemco van Ginkel, architect, urbanist and the first woman to hold the title of dean at the Faculty.

Born in England in 1923, van Ginkel grew up in Montreal and was educated at McGill University (where she received a professional Bachelor of Architecture degree in 1945) and at Harvard University (where she acquired her Master of City Planning degree in 1950).

After moving to Toronto in the late 1970s, she was appointed Dean of U of T’s School of Architecture in 1977. Three years later, the School reassumed administration of the Department of Landscape Architecture to become the Faculty of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. Van Ginkel served as dean of the reconstituted Faculty for two more years. After completing her five-year term as dean, she continued to teach at the Faculty until 1993, leading a number of graduate and undergraduate design studios. 

“Professor van Ginkel was among the first women leaders of architecture institutions in Canada and the U.S. in an era and a discipline largely dominated by men,” says Dean Juan Du, who assumed her position in 2021, becoming the Faculty’s second woman dean and the only full-time female faculty member at the rank of full Professor in Architecture.

“While we still have a far way to go as a discipline and profession, Blanche paved the way for many of us to follow. She contributed to the design cultures of Montreal and Toronto, and established pioneering initiatives here at the Faculty, such as the Study Abroad programs in Paris and Rome, the first of their kind in Canada. It was this kind of expansive, outward-looking perspective that helped shape the world-class school that we are.” 

Reflective of her cosmopolitan, well-travelled nature, van Ginkel’s route to Toronto and to the Faculty, where an endowed scholarship — the Professor Blanche Lemco van Ginkel Admission Scholarship — currently exists, was a circuitous one. 

Between and after acquiring her degrees, van Ginkel gained professional experience in Regina (1946), with William Crabtree in London (1947), under Le Corbusier in Paris (1948) and for Mayerovitch and Bernstein in Montreal (1950-51). After living in Philadelphia from 1951 to 1957, she returned to Montreal, where she formed a partnership, van Ginkel Associates, with her husband, H.P.D. (Sandy) van Ginkel, whom she married in 1956. She had been registered as an architect in Quebec since 1952.

It was in Montreal and with Sandy van Ginkel that she achieved what are perhaps her greatest professional accomplishments outside of academia: saving two of the city’s urban jewels — Old Montreal and Mount Royal Park — from potentially ruinous development. In the case of the former, a proposed elevated expressway threatened to desecrate the now-beloved historic district, so van Ginkel reportedly went up in a helicopter with her camera to document it from above, bringing home to many through the resulting pictures just how extensive and precious Old Montreal is.

“If  Blanche Lemco van Ginkel had never lived in Montreal,” McGill News wrote last year, when she was awarded the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada’s Gold Medal, “the city would look very different than it does today — and not in a good way.”

Over the years, van Ginkel was widely recognized for both her academic achievements and her professional firsts, which included, in addition to serving as the Faculty’s first female dean, being one of the first women to teach at the University of Pennsylvania, the first woman to become a Fellow of the RAIC, and the first woman (and first Canadian) to sit as president of the 110-year-old Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture.

In 2000, she was made a member of the Order of Canada, and in 2018 van Ginkel was one of the four subjects of filmmaker Joseph Hillel’s  City Dreamers, a documentary about the trailblazing female architects who had outsized roles in shaping North America’s urbanscapes over the past 70 years (the film’s three other subjects are Phyllis Lambert, Cornelia Hahn Oberlander and Denise Scott Brown). 

“Blanche was a first in so many ways, as a practitioner and in education,” says Laura Miller, Associate Professor of Architecture at the Daniels Faculty and one of the organizers of a 2020 event celebrating van Ginkel’s RAIC Gold Medal.

“In working on the event, I learned that, for women architecture students during the time she was Dean, she was the first female teacher and architect they had ever encountered. Blanche was therefore a visible and relatable role model that they could emulate, a source of real inspiration. That she did this with grace and elegance only added to her aura among not only her women students, but many others who were part of that time period at the Faculty.”

The event that Professor Miller helped organize in 2020 was called For Her Record, a reference to the 1986 exhibition For the Record, which “Blanche was instrumental” in creating.

“The exhibition identified women graduates of the Faculty from the very first one in 1920 through the 1960s, showing the trajectory of their careers, and documenting their contributions to the built environment through their practices,” Professor Miller recalls. “Such an accounting had not happened before, and it painted a picture of the experiences of women architects in Canada — as much a kind of social history as a design documentation.”

Van Ginkel, who died in Toronto on October 20, is survived by her two children with Sandy van Ginkel, Brenda and Marc. (Sandy van Ginkel died in 2009.) At her request, no funeral or public service will be held, but donations to the Professor Blanche Lemco van Ginkel Admission Scholarship are welcomed. (To make a donation, click here. For more information, contact Stacey Charles at 416-978-4340 or stacey.charles@daniels.utoronto.ca.)

A celebration of Blanche van Ginkel’s life will be held at the Daniels Faculty at a future date. 

Banner image: Former dean Blanche van Ginkel in a still from City Dreamers, Joseph Hillel’s 2018 film about pioneering female architects who had outsized impact on North American urban centres throughout much of the 20th Century. In 1960, van Ginkel took to the sky over Montreal in a helicopter (second image) to document why Old Montreal should be kept intact.

After a months-long process of consultation and collaboration, the Daniels Faculty is excited to announce the members of its First Peoples Leadership Advisory Group, created in partnership with Indigenous stakeholders both within and outside the University to diversify the range of Indigenous knowledge at the Faculty and to increase the availability of the Advisors to students, faculty and staff. 
 
The new Advisors — Elder and Traditional Teacher Dorothy Peters, educator and advocate Amos Key Jr., and artist and community planner Trina Moyan — were brought together after an open call for members this past summer and a series of consultations with Indigenous members of the Faculty and University. 

The Advisors will provide regular and ongoing guidance to members of the Faculty, including its academic and administrative leadership teams, to facilitate a range of important goals, including greater incorporation of Indigenous knowledge into coursework and research activities, connecting students and faculty with Indigenous peoples and communities in productive and meaningful ways, and supporting the next generation of students through focused outreach and planning.   

Elder Peters, Key and Moyan will maintain regular office hours in Room 220 of the Daniels Building at 1 Spadina Crescent, providing both in-person and online advisory time for Indigenous students at U of T as well as all members of the Daniels Faculty.   

In addition to the on-site Advisory Group, acclaimed architect Douglas Cardinal, who served as the Faculty’s Frank O. Gehry Chair in 2020-2021, will join the Faculty as Decanal Advisor on Indigenous Knowledge. In this role, Dr. Cardinal will work closely with Dean Juan Du and the Faculty’s leadership team on the strategic development of Indigenous knowledge and research, its integration with the school’s curriculum, its dissemination through courses and public programs, and the ongoing recruitment of Indigenous faculty, students and staff. 

Dr. Cardinal’s appointment, along with those of the Advisory Group members, significantly enhances Indigenous presence and capacity at the Faculty, as well as increases its ability to answer the Calls to Action articulated by the University’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Steering Committee.  

“I am very pleased by this appointment,” said Dr. Cardinal upon accepting the role of Decanal Advisor on Indigenous Knowledge. “Although I do not speak on behalf of all Indigenous people, I do look forward to contributing my perspective and to working with the Dean and the Faculty on enhancing the dissemination of Indigenous teachings.”  

Adds Dean Du: “We have made great strides in terms of promoting and integrating Indigenous knowledge over the past few years, but there is much more work to be done. Elder Peters, Amos, Trina and Douglas each brings a wealth of educational, professional and lived experience to our school, and I look forward to continued learnings from them. Under their guidance, our commitment as a Faculty to pursuing Truth and Reconciliation and to addressing the Calls to Action will only be strengthened in the years and decades to come.” 

Elder Dorothy Peters 

A Traditional Teacher and Community Nookmis, Elder Peters is a member of Jiima’aaganing (Seine River) First Nation. Throughout her career, she has worked in various consultative capacities with multiple Indigenous organizations in Toronto, including Aboriginal Legal Services and Anduhyaun Inc., and she has previously supported Indigenous students at the University of Toronto through First Nations House, where she served until recently as an Elder-in-Residence. A residential school survivor, Elder Peters is regularly called upon to share her stories, teachings and cultural expertise at events throughout the city.

Amos Key Jr. 

A member of the Mohawk Nation, Key is an educator, advocate and Traditional Faith Keeper of the Longhouse at Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. The long-time Director of First Nations Language at Woodland Cultural Centre, where he co-founded the Gaweni:yo Cayuga/Mohawk Immersion School System, Key is a leading figure in the ongoing language revitalization movement among First Nations people in Canada. He has also taught as an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto’s Centre for Indigenous Studies, and was the inaugural Vice-Provost, Indigenous at Brock University in St. Catharines.

Trina Moyan 

Artist and activist Moyan is nehiyaw iskwew (Plains Cree) from the Frog Lake First Nation in Alberta. She began her career as a writer and producer for the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) and co-produced and directed the National Aboriginal Achievement Awards (now Indspire) for CBC Television. Moyan is a co-founder of Toronto-based Bell & Bernard, a First Nations consulting firm dedicated to including the histories and current realities of Indigenous peoples within urban planning projects, and has spoken widely on Indigenous inclusion and empowerment. Moyan is also a muralist, a traditional dancer and a University of Toronto alumna.

Douglas Cardinal 

One of the world’s most prominent Indigenous architects, Dr. Cardinal is known for his lifelong commitment to sustainable design and for such landmark buildings as the Canadian Museum of History. Born in Calgary to a father of Blackfoot heritage and a German/Métis mother, he served as the Daniels Faculty’s Frank O. Gehry Chair in 2020-2021 and was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree by the University of Toronto in June 2022. In 2018, Dr. Cardinal 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. His role as Decanal Advisor on Indigenous Knowledge at the Daniels Faculty continues his longtime advocacy for the dignity and advancement of Indigenous Peoples.

The Daniels Faculty’s Centre for Landscape Research, led by Assistant Professor Fadi Masoud, will host the first post-pandemic gathering of the Great Lakes Higher Education Consortium this week during a three-day invite-only conference dedicated to the health and resilience of the vast Great Lakes Basin.

From Thursday to Saturday (September 29 to October 1), more than 30 designers, policy experts, planners, engineers and ecologists from around the Great Lakes region will meet in Toronto for a workshop on the critical role that blue-green infrastructure will play in the future adaptation of the basin to climate change. The majority of discussions and panels will take place in the Daniels Building on Friday and Saturday. This workshop will be preceded by a tour on Thursday of important aquatic sites in the Greater Toronto Area, including the Lower Don Lands on downtown Toronto’s waterfront and the Jim Tovey Lakeview Conservation Area and Bayview Village Site in Mississauga.

“This workshop,” say conference co-organizers Masoud and James Wasley of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, “aims to chart a clear path for the practice of integrative blue-green infrastructure design in service of a more climate-ready and resilient Great Lakes Basin.”

Launched in 2020, the Great Lakes Higher Education Consortium was co-founded by the Council of the Great Lakes Region (CGLR), the University of Toronto and the University of Illinois System to address the most pressing socio-economic and environmental challenges facing the region by promoting regular and impactful collaborations among academics, industry and governments. In 2021, four other major universities joined the Consortium. It is currently being administered by the CGLR.

This week’s conference, entitled Reimagining Water and sponsored by the CGLR, will look at blue-green infrastructure design through the lenses of just about every relevant field, including architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, civil and environmental engineering and the related sciences and public policy arenas.

Among the specific topics to be covered during the workshop, which Dean Juan Du will kick off with welcoming remarks on Friday morning, include conservation governance, emerging obstacles to design and governance innovation, keeping up with the changing science, and projective future models and partners.

“Synthesizing these diverse fields of knowledge,” say Masoud and Wasley, “is the daily work of design professionals in this field. Our goal is to better connect academic research to the cutting edge of the profession.”

For more information on the workshop and its mandate, contact Assistant Professor Masoud.

The Daniels Faculty’s buildings have been full of much activity of late. For many of you returning to our classrooms, labs and offices this month, it’ll be the first time in a long while that we are all fully back in person for the start of a new school year. For others, this month will mark your first-ever time at the Faculty or even at the University of Toronto. Whichever the case, I want to welcome everyone to the 2022-2023 academic year. I am thrilled that we are all together again. The coming year promises to be an exceptional one in many ways.
 
Over the past two years, we have all had to rethink how we learn and come together as a community. As a result, the Faculty has garnered many valuable lessons that we hope will serve us all better as we embark on this new term. For our students, our aim is to restore as great a degree of normalcy and access as possible, so that you can enjoy the full benefits of your experience here in safe and vibrant learning spaces.  
 
These benefits include not only a world-class education at one of the most interdisciplinary design schools on the continent, but also a full roster of inspiring extracurricular offerings. This fall’s public programming series includes lectures, panel discussions and performances by some of the leading designers, artists and thinkers in their fields; it’ll be kicked off on September 15 with the annual Gehry Chair Lecture, to be delivered by Dhaka-based architect Marina Tabassum, the 2022-2023 Frank Gehry International Visiting Chair in Architectural Design. Look out, too, for two major exhibitions in the Architecture and Design Gallery at 1 Spadina Crescent this year, as well as a multitude of activities planned around the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Black Heritage Month, and other noteworthy dates.
 
One of the most exciting and important developments at the Faculty this semester is the presence of our newly assembled First Peoples Leadership Advisory Group, created after an open public call this summer. Part of our ongoing commitment to enhancing Indigenous knowledge and capacity at our school, the multi-person Group will be working closely with the Faculty leadership team and with all members of our community. More information on the Advisory Group, as well as collaborative Faculty learning and awareness facilitated by the Office of Indigenous Initiatives, will be shared very soon.

As these initiatives suggest, equity, diversity and inclusion are among our greatest priorities at the Faculty, which is why I’m also happy to welcome, among the impressive new additions to our academic and administrative team, our inaugural Assistant Dean, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. Dr. Jewel Amoah, who joined us in July, has been tasked with working with all of us to facilitate the kind of institutional changes required to foster equal access and representation across the Faculty. She brings a wealth of international advocacy and academic experience to the role, and I look forward to working closely with her as we strive toward this important goal.
 
As our Advisory Group and our Assistant Dean EDI conduct their work, they will seek to build as many relationships with faculty, students and other stakeholders as they can, meaning that their doors will always be open. Mine, too. Part of the joy of working at the Daniels Faculty is how uniquely connected we all are in our distinct yet intertwined pursuits. I very much look forward to strengthening those connections even more this term, and to a great year ahead!
 
Juan Du (she/her)
Dean and Professor
John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design

Photos by Emma Hwang

The Daniels Faculty’s Jane Wolff, Professor in Landscape Architecture, has been awarded this year’s Margolese National Design for Living Prize.

Awarded annually by the University of British Columbia’s School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, the honour recognizes a Canadian designer whose work and advocacy in the built environment addresses the pressing human and environmental challenges of our time, improving lives and communities in the process.

In its citation, the 2022 jury noted how Wolff’s “work on landscape literacy has had a significant impact on our collective understanding of critical environmental issues. Her human-centric tools of writing, hand drawing and public engagement reach a wide audience without compromising the complexity of the subject matter.”

“I am thrilled and honoured to be recognized by an organization focused on design as a means of addressing urgent, complicated questions about the places we live and the way we live in them,” says Wolff.

“The prize makes it possible to begin working right now in even more public, more collaborative ways — and that’s a chance to bring more people into the conversation.”

For Wolff, the past 12 months have been a banner year professionally. In addition to the Margolese Prize win, her recent book BAY LEXICON was awarded a 2022 John Brinckerhoff Jackson Book Prize, established by the Foundation for Landscape Studies and now administered by the University of Virginia’s Center for Cultural Landscapes.

This past spring, moreover, her Toronto Landscape Observatory, an interactive installation co-curated with Susan Schwartzenberg, was a highlight of this year’s Toronto Biennial of Art.

On October 3, Wolff will officially accept her Margolese Prize at a presentation and panel discussion in Vancouver. The ceremony will be held at the Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre on the UBC campus.

The John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design at the University of Toronto is excited to present its Fall 2022 public program. Through a series of book talks, panel discussions, lectures and symposia, our aim is to foster meaningful dialogue on the important social, political and environmental challenges confronting our world today. Among the questions raised: How might we create new knowledge and leverage it as a tool for critical reflection and, ultimately, collective change?

Our programs — and the difficult questions that motivate them — address a range of topics that are central to what we do, including design and social justice, art and new media, urban development and housing, and ecology and landscape resilience.

All events are free and open to the public. Register in advance and check the calendar for up-to-date details at daniels.utoronto.ca/events. 

September 15, 6:30 p.m. ET
Gehry Chair Lecture: Marina Tabassum on Architecture of Transition
Featuring Marina Tabassum (2022-2023 Frank Gehry International Visiting Chair in Architectural Design, Daniels Faculty, University of Toronto)
Moderated by Juan Du (Daniels Faculty, University of Toronto)

September 27, 6:30 p.m. ET
Artist Talk
Featuring Montreal-based new-media artist and composer Erin Gee
Moderated by Mitchell Akiyama (Daniels Faculty, University of Toronto)

October 3, 12:30 p.m. ET
Afterall Vol. 53 Launch
Featuring Stan Douglas in conversation with Charles Stankievech (Daniels Faculty, University of Toronto)

October 5, 12:30 p.m. ET
Site Constructed: Alvar Aalto, Luis Barragan
Featuring Marc Treib (College of Environmental Design, University of California at Berkeley)
Moderated by Georges Farhat (Daniels Faculty, University of Toronto)

October 6, 6:30 p.m. ET
Serious Fun: The Landscapes of Claude Cormier
Featuring Claude Cormier (Claude Cormier + Associés, Montreal) with Susan Herrington (School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, University of British Columbia) and Marc Treib (College of Environmental Design, University of California at Berkeley)
Moderated by Elise Shelley (Daniels Faculty, University of Toronto)

October 20, 6:30 p.m. ET
Housing Multitudes: Reimagining the Landscapes of Suburbia
Exhibition Opening
Conceived and curated by Richard Sommer (Daniels Faculty, University of Toronto) and Michael Piper (Daniels Faculty, University of Toronto) in collaboration with Daniels Faculty colleagues, students and others

October 27, 6:30 p.m. ET
Hough Lecture: Dilip da Cunha on Ocean of Wetness: Where Design Begins
Featuring Dilip da Cunha (Michael Hough/OALA Visiting Critic in Landscape Architecture)
Moderated by Elise Shelley (Daniels Faculty, University of Toronto)
 
November 3, 6:30 p.m. ET
A Retrofitting Suburbia Agenda for Equity, Health and Resilience to Climate Change
Featuring June Williamson (Spitzer School of Architecture, The City College of New York) in association with the exhibition Housing Multitudes: Reimagining the Landscapes of Suburbia
 
November 8, 1:00 p.m. ET
Magnificent Modular  
Featuring Lina Lahiri (Sauerbruch Hutton, Berlin)
Moderated by Roberto Damiani (Daniels Faculty, University of Toronto)
 
November 10, 6:30 p.m. ET
Contemporary Indigenous Performance and Artist Discussion  
Featuring Sandra Laronde (Misko Kizhigoo Migizii Kwe) and Red Sky Performance
 
November 17, 6:30 p.m. ET
Feminist Architectural Histories of Migration
Featuring Anooradha Iyer Siddiqi (Architecture Department, Barnard College) and Rachel Lee (Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, TU Delft) with Juan Du (Daniels Faculty, University of Toronto), Alexandra Pereira-Edwards (Canadian Centre for Architecture), Armaghan Ziaee (California State University San Marcos), Meredith TenHoor (School of Architecture, Pratt Institute) and Pamela Karimi (Art Education, Art History and Media Studies, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth)

November 22, 12:30 p.m. ET
Resilient Urban Forests Require All Hands on Deck: Lessons from Ecology, Community Science and Working Across Disciplines
Featuring Carly Ziter (Biology Department, Concordia University)
Moderated by Sean Thomas (Daniels Faculty, University of Toronto)
 
November 29, 6:30 p.m. ET
The Art of Being of Service to Art
Featuring Cheryl Sim (Director and Curator, Phi Centre)
Moderated by Mitchell Akiyama (Daniels Faculty, University of Toronto)