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)

They may be leaving the Daniels Faculty, but the Daniels Faculty isn’t likely to ever leave them. In addition to gaining foundations in their respective disciplines, the school’s most recent or near-future alums did so under some of the toughest circumstances of recent times, making their accomplishments all the more impressive. In the second instalment of a two-part series, three departing Daniels Faculty students paused on the eve of this month’s Convocation ceremonies to share their experiences of the last few years, what comes next for them, and how current students can both cope and thrive in their footsteps. 

Alexandra Farkas

Farkas, who currently works as a Forest Ecologist for the Town of Oakville in Ontario, completed the Master of Forest Conservation program last December, and will be picking up her diploma at this month’s Convocation ceremony. “Due to COVID-19, I was only able to spend my first semester and a few months of my second semester on campus. That was from September 2019 to February 2020,” she recalls. “But even though things were cut short and we quickly had to transfer to a virtual experience, I was still able to create friendships and connections within my program that will continue long after graduation.” 

What is your favourite memory of the Daniels Faculty? 

The MFC program came with a lot of hands-on experiences, and having to spend weeks at a time in places like Haliburton and Mattawa created an amazing environment to have meaningful experiences together. I still speak with many of my cohort on a daily basis, whether in a professional or personal capacity. I’m happy that, despite going virtual in early 2020, the foundation for making great friendships had already been set. 

Did you have a favourite project? 

A critical component of the MFC program is the capstone project that was the summation of my years’ work in 2020. Undertaken in partnership with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA), we explored utilizing computer software to model the ecosystem services green infrastructure provides on a watershed scale, including an assessment of the inequitable distribution of green infrastructure in urban areas. 

Any tips for current students? 

My only tip for anyone, in or out of school, is to always take time for yourself. Post-secondary education can be stressful, so taking the time to set school or work aside and engage in something I genuinely loved without interruption was what saved me throughout my graduate experience. 

Stefan Herda 

Although Herda just completed the Master of Landscape Architecture program, presenting an impressive wall-mounted thesis project — Seven Generations of Pickering Nuclear — that wrapped around most of an exhibition room, he won’t be leaving the Faculty quite yet. “I am looking forward to being at Daniels all summer and into the early fall,” he says, “working with [the Indigenous design program] Nikibii Dawadinna Giigwag.” He also aims, he adds, to spend more time with his baby daughter Audrey, and is “extremely excited to start my professional journey” with Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates (MVVA) later in the year. 

What is your favourite memory of the Daniels Faculty? 

My favourite memory was coming full circle with the first-year Field Studies course. It was exciting and overwhelming to learn so much within a short timeframe in Year 1 back in 2019. After the successful conclusion to my thesis, it was a treat to be able to relax a bit and get outside and experience unique landscapes with the first-year students as the Field Studies TA. 

Did you have a favourite project? 

My favourite was my thesis project, Seven Generations of Pickering Nuclear. It was by far the most challenging and allowed me to embrace everything I was most passionate about, which is the transformative power of trees and plants while finding new uses for outdated infrastructure. I am also grateful that I was able to present and produce a project experienced in person after two years of Zoom life. 

Any tips for current students? 

Given your course load, and the range of topics and projects you have a chance to work on, there isn’t enough time to sweat all the details. I am no stranger to having a perfectionist mindset, and although it can lead to success, it can come at a cost. Maintaining a hobby and cultivating interests outside of academics helped me find a healthier balance between work and life even if I still was putting in long hours. 

Maya Freeman

Freeman graduated last fall with an Honours B.A. in Architecture and a Specialist in the Design Stream at the Daniels Faculty. Most of her time as a Daniels student was spent remotely, which made one of her final pre-pandemic assignments at the school especially significant. 

Do you have a favourite project from your time at Daniels? 

One that comes to mind is A House for Two Inhabitants, done in Design Studio III with Petros Babasikas. Exhausted from spending hours on a screen for all my other courses, I decided in this case to do all the design work, both drawing and modelmaking, by hand. Ironically, this was during the fall 2019 semester, my last fully in-person semester before the pandemic. Little did I know how much time I would be spending in front of a screen in the near future. 

What did you gain from the experience? 

Designing by hand was an incredible learning experience for me. The process really makes you consider every single detail more carefully. Drawing a single line on a piece of paper with a pencil holds an entirely different weight than drawing one on a screen with your mouse. The position of every wall is a critical gesture that cannot just be deleted with one click, but must physically be erased. 

Any tips for current students? 

Stop designing a week before your final review. Focus on representation, test printing and your presentation. It makes all the difference. Design can continue forever, and you must know when to stop. Working on your presentation and convincing reviewers of all your hard work is critically important. It's as simple as that. 

They may be leaving the Daniels Faculty, but the Daniels Faculty isn’t likely to ever leave them. In addition to gaining foundations in their respective disciplines, the school’s most recent or near-future alums did so under some of the toughest circumstances of recent times, making their accomplishments all the more impressive. In the first instalment of a two-part series, three departing Daniels Faculty students paused on the eve of this month’s Convocation ceremonies to share their experiences of the last few years, what comes next for them, and how current students can both cope and thrive in their footsteps. 

Robert Raynor 

One of soon-to-be MARC grad Raynor’s just-presented theses (he actually completed two) reimagines a sprawling suburban community currently being built on former farmland east of Toronto as a potential model of carbon-neutral living. A big part of his focus is construction practices, which he developed a personal affinity for — much to his surprise — in the woodworking shop at 1 Spadina. Raynor is currently doing life-cycle carbon analysis for a design-build firm.

What is your favourite memory of the Daniels Faculty?  

My strongest memory of Daniels is undoubtedly the time I spent with my lovely colleagues in the woodworking shop. I first set foot inside it having only held a screwdriver a handful of times, let alone a hammer or any power tools. I never would have learned how to comfortably work with my hands had I not had the chances to try.  

What community-based or international experience did you acquire? 

Outside of school I’ve worked with Toronto Tiny Shelters, a group of volunteer carpenters who build small, insulated shelters for unhoused people living in Toronto parks in the winter. I became educated in the downsides of the homeless shelter system in Toronto, met dozens of wonderful people living in encampments, and have a deeper drive as a designer and maker to contribute to a world where everyone has a safe place to call home.  

What are some of your future plans?  

This summer I’ll be doing life-cycle carbon analysis at the firm I'm interning with, and I’ll also be collaborating on the Canadian pavilion for the 2023 Venice Biennale. I don’t have a single job goal in mind; I’d like to pursue my architectural passions — sustainable design and suitable housing — however is most impactful.  

Any tips for current students? 

Just try to grow as a human. Learn what ideas move you, be aware of what little moments actually motivate you, and compare yourself to nobody but your past self. Also, stay hydrated. 

Samantha Arpas 

Arpas graduated in November with an Honours BAAS (Comprehensive Stream) and a certificate in the sustainability of the built environment. In her third year, she took the opportunity to study at the University of Amsterdam for one semester, calling the experience one of the most “important” of her personal and educational development. Indeed, Arpas composed the answers to this q&a in the Netherlands, where she is “touring schools for next year. I hope to attend grad school somewhere in Europe for Landscape Architecture or Sustainable Innovation.” 

What is your favourite memory of the Daniels Faculty? 

There are too many good memories to just pick one, but my favourites at the Daniels Faculty are a draw between hanging out between classes with friends at Cafe O59 and stepping into another world through the [2019] New Circadia exhibit in the then-new Architecture and Design Gallery at 1 Spadina. 

Did you have a favourite project? 

My favourite was one I did for ARC386 Landscape Ecology with Professor Fadi Massoud. We were told to pick one of the cities on a list and then analyze a specific narrative of the land in its past and present to be able to envision what it would look like in the future. I had picked Ushuaia in Argentina and focused on the topic of Terrain. I truly have to say that this project changed my perspective on what I wanted to do in my life. I became very interested in geology, changes in topography over time and hydrology as a result. 

Any tips for current students? 

My biggest tip is to step outside of your comfort zone and to say yes to any opportunities that may come to you, whether they be academic or extracurricular, and even if they don’t seem to relate directly to architecture, landscape or design. From my experience, opportunities that I thought would have no relation to my studies all ended up being extremely related to architecture and design. Furthermore, experiences like these diversify your portfolio and give you an eclectic edge, especially when applying to internships, jobs and grad school. 

Maha Abbas 

Visual Studies grad Abbas earned her specialist degree last fall, but still recalls the numerous late hours she logged in its pursuit. “In first year, during our first ever studio pinup, I remember running to Daniels at, like, 3 a.m. to print something,” she remembers. “It was the first of many nights that I spent in that building.” In spite of frequent all-nighters, however, she plans on returning for graduate studies, with an eye on pursuing work in heritage and preservation. 

Do you have a favourite project from your time at Daniels? 

My favourite project was honestly something I worked on recently for my Visual Studies thesis class. I basically made a video game — more specifically a chess game — which used the idea of play to visualize the socio‐political narratives in South Asia. The video game was a way to address war and conquest strategies by breaking them down to a series of planned and articulated moves. 

Were you involved with any clubs or organizations at Daniels? 

I wasn’t involved in any clubs or organizations at Daniels, but, looking back now, I wish that I had joined some and that I was a little more active within the Daniels community. I guess that’s what my advice would be for future or current students: Join the clubs! Be more present at Daniels! It’ll make your struggles at school a lot easier! 

Any other tips for students? 

Do not stay up past 3 a.m.! If you haven’t figured it out by then, you aren’t going to figure it out after that, so call it a night and address the issue in the morning. Also, one bad studio pinup isn’t the end of it all: Design is very subjective and there is always room for improvement, but cut yourself some slack and be proud of your work. 

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.

More than ever today, landscape architecture and design have become key aspects of planning and building, which can no longer afford to ignore the natural world. This wasn’t always the case. For Earth Day, three University of Toronto graduates with diverse experience in the field convened to take stock of how far the discipline has come – and how far it can go. Below, the unabashed ecology advocates Doris Chee, Eha Naylor and Shelley Long share their thoughts on the changing perceptions and approaches of their profession, how landscape architects can lead the way in addressing issues such as climate change, and a few of the game-changing projects they themselves have worked on.

Tell us a little bit about yourselves.

Doris Chee: I graduated from University of Toronto in 1984. I worked at various private and public offices for most of my career, until I landed at Hydro One, which is where I have been for the last 14 years.

Doris Chee was born in Hong Kong and immigrated to Canada when she was nine years old. (Photo provided by Chee)

I was always passionate about landscape architecture. I volunteered with the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects (OALA) newsletter when I became a member, helped mentor junior landscape architects, and represented the association at various meetings and committees. I’m still doing that. I worked my way up, so to speak, to the position of OALA president from 2016 to 2018. I also became involved with the Governing Council of the University of Toronto.

Eha Naylor: I studied at U of T, at what was then known as the Faculty of Architecture and Landscape. I graduated in 1980, and was lucky enough to have some rather good female mentors along the way.

Eha Naylor grew up in Toronto. Her parents immigrated to Canada from Estonia in 1940. (Photo provided by Naylor)

I chose landscape architecture because it was a field where I could combine art and science – I had an interest and natural affinity for both, particularly natural science. It was really exciting when I found a program and a profession where I thought I could be happy working for the rest of my life. And I’ve been working there for 40 years now.

I’m now a partner emeritus, which means I’m retiring soon. So that’s a good thing, but I don’t think I’ll ever give up being part of the landscape architecture profession and advocating for it. I think it’s just the next logical step. I met Doris when she was OALA president, and I was chair of the practice legislation committee at the association. And I’m also currently the president of the Landscape Architecture Canada Foundation, which is the foundation that provides scholarships and grants for research and scholarships to students.

Shelley Long: In my high school years, I was quite the environmental activist: started a green club at my high school (secured lots of funding for it) and participated in eco art contests. When I went to university, I was looking again for a profession where I could blend art and science. I think that’s really common for a lot of people who are in landscape architecture.

Shelley Long was born and raised in Calgary. Her father initially immigrated to Canada from south China to do his PhD, and ended up bringing his wife with him as well. (Photo provided by Long)

In terms of how I ended up where I am today, I graduated from U of T in 2015, then worked for five years in Vancouver in both private practice and as adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia, which I found a very rewarding experience. I love teaching, and I love being involved in both aspects of practice and academia.

Four years ago, I moved to Rotterdam in the Netherlands, to join the team at West 8 Urban Design and Landscape Architecture. I had read [founder] Adriaan Geuze’s book when I was a student in Vancouver and actually attended his lecture when I was studying at the Daniels Faculty. I really wanted to work with him, so I guess I made that dream come true.

I’m a registered landscape architect in Ontario and B.C. and I do most of my work in Toronto, but also in the U.K. I don’t teach anymore because I don’t have time for that with this job.

Eha, you were recently appointed to the U of T’s governing council. Congratulations!

Naylor: Yes, thank you. It was announced in February. The council is essentially the University’s board of directors, and I’m one of the alumni governors. My role is, I believe, to champion the interests of the alumni, and to be part of the decision making for the University and its implications for alumni.

It doesn’t start until July, so I’m in training mode at the moment. There’s a learning curve for it. I have to give thanks to Doris, because she gave me a little push; she was very gentle about it, but she said you should do this. I’m looking forward to it. It is part of that transition from active practice to personal [endeavours].

How would you define that spectrum between active practice and personal pursuits?

Naylor: It’s the ability to have time to give back. I think I’ve been lucky in my professional life. I started in private practice and remained in private practice, and was part of a smaller, very progressive firm, led by Michael Hough and Jim Stansbury, in the 1980s. I ultimately became president of that firm. In 2009, we joined Dillon Consulting, a larger, multidisciplinary engineering firm.

These days, climate change, sustainability and protecting natural systems are paramount aspects of designing landscapes. How do they intersect with your work? And why are they important to you?

Long: As landscape architects, our role is to help connect people with natural systems. For my master’s studies, I had to choose between architecture or landscape architecture. I chose landscape architecture because it dealt with open systems and not closed ones. Landscapes only become better with time, whereas buildings start to fall apart the moment they’re complete. I thought, instead of making a fixed-point contribution, why not make something that gets better and more beautiful with time.

Naylor: I agree with Shelley. I think that is fundamentally not only why we choose to be landscape architects, but also why we continue to be landscape architects. About five years into my training, when I was first hired, I was quite frustrated. Not because of the work, but just because of the state of the business in those days. There wasn’t yet this kind of acceptance or understanding of how important it was to have a big picture of the environment. Landscape was relegated to tinkering around the edges.

To stay in this profession, you have to be able to embrace and articulate the larger vision of what it does. There have been environmental catastrophes, including climate change, that have made taking care of the physical environment and natural systems more understandable and urgent, whether they’re urban systems that provide natural environments or larger ecosystems.

Chee: These issues, as Eha said, have come to the fore because of events that are happening now. But that’s how we’ve always projected our work: adapting to climate change, being more sustainable, being more diverse in our work. And whatever we do, small or big, there’s a ripple effect, a downstream effect that becomes exponential.

Looking back on your careers now, is there a paradigm shift that you see within the profession when it comes to addressing these issues?

Naylor: Absolutely. In the 1980s, the concept of large-scale ecological restoration just wasn’t accepted. For example, I think it was probably in the early eighties that Michael Hough developed the strategy for the Lower Don Lands, and it involved recreating wetlands. He worked with a geomorphologist. And the work was certainly accepted, but it wasn’t widely accepted by other professionals.

Stormwater management was still viewed as putting in a pipe; water was a nuisance to get rid of as quickly as possible. If you look at the work that’s happening now in the Port Lands, it is a huge change in thinking. The Don River [which is being renaturalized at its mouth] is becoming an enormous resource and the catalyst for a very important and high-quality renewal of the port.

That idea, I think, was initially outlandish for many and now it is mainstream thinking. But it’s probably taken 25 or 30 years for it to be accepted. I really admire the work that has been going on forever in the Netherlands. They’ve had to address these questions [of flooding and resiliency] for a long time, and have been able to explore those ideas physically.

A map from the Port Lands Flood Protection Project, showing the Don River flowing into Lake Ontario. (Illustration from slide presentation PDF)

Chee: What they’re doing in the Port Lands is ecology-based. And I go back to thinking about how it has shifted. Well, let’s look at trees, for instance. In the early days, we were choosing trees to plant for their aesthetics, not so much their ecological effects. Now, we’re planting for sustainability, for carbon capture.

Shelley, as someone who’s part of the younger generation of landscape architects, have you noticed any changes in how these issues have evolved within the profession?

Long: By the time I came into the profession, a lot of the things that Eha is characterizing as paradigm shifts were already in place, which is a good thing, I guess, in how this way of thinking has become ingrained in the profession. But I could speculate that it might also be a bad thing. We sometimes put a lot of pressure on ourselves as young professionals to say that landscape architecture is going to save the world. I don’t think it is. And I need to be realistic about that, with my peers and also with students. We need to work together across disciplines and backgrounds to solve climate change, and also convey to our clients, for instance, that landscape architects can’t and shouldn’t go at this alone.

Naylor: Climate change is a really messy problem requiring a complex methodology for resolution, and the skills of many different disciplines. Landscape architecture is one of those disciplines and frankly a very valuable one, because we understand that idea of systems-based thinking for our physical environments. I’d say very regularly, as part of the lead of the practice legislation committee, that landscape architects must have a voice at the table when these kinds of issues are being addressed. We have to weave in our expertise with those of engineering, architecture and science to be able to come up with solutions that not only make sense and are sustainable, but also benefit communities. So, I agree, it’s not something that landscape architects alone can solve.

Can you cite some of the projects that have addressed these issues through landscape architecture?

Chee: One project we just finished is the Clarington TS Project. Eha’s company, Dillon, has helped us with it. Hydro One is in the business of transmitting electricity throughout Ontario and this was one of the major transmission projects that we designed and developed over 10 years. It’s a major centre that transmits 500-kilovolt power to the eastern borders of Northern Ontario. It is very unusual for Hydro One to own a large piece of property, where we can build a major station and still have leftover land. It just so happened that this piece of land sits on moraine, has two streams running through, a little woodlot, and most of it was cultivated for agriculture.

Schematic of Oak Ridges Moraine. (Illustration from Hydro One)

Due to the number of towers that had to go into this project, as well as the station itself, we couldn’t allow the farmers to come back and use that land. We looked at the various ecosystems, and the different methods to enhance the natural system. We worked with the local conservation authority, which helped us greatly in finding the right methodologies to incorporate into this piece of property. And the last thing that we did was create a small wetland to help ease up on some of the runoffs that was happening downstream.

Long: In the Netherlands, there’s a project called the Noordward polder, where the Dutch government decided that the river needed more room to allow it to flood because of the extreme events that are happening more frequently. To address this, they broke the project into small, different regional projects, which were awarded to engineering companies. One of them was to take this old historic polder that was farmed for hundreds of years, and open it to become basically a place that the river could flood into during storms. All of the farmers there were to be moved away, in order to transform it into an ecological park.

West 8 was the sub-consultant on this project and had this idea of, let’s look at the nuances of the different flood levels when they’re happening, where they’re happening, and propose to the ministry: how about we raise the inundation dikes, raise all the lands that the farmers are on? They go away for a few years, we rebuild their houses on higher ground, and they then live within the changing landscape. We built a new series of slices and dikes, which is all very much in the language of the Dutch water system. And now what you see is that the farmers are able to stay in their homes, and you have a new type of place created, [a paragon of] what we call flood tourism. People actually go there and can see when everything is flooded except for the little rows, the little farmhouses, and the little pump stations.

People, I think, are craving that. They want to understand how the landscape works, in relation to extreme events and climate change. I think that’s a wonderful example of the systems-based thinking of landscape-led infrastructure and place-making.

If people would like to read on this further, and see some of the images, topos magazine has a great issue on it called infrastuctures. I was involved in the curation, peer review, editing and writing of a number of pieces for this issue.

Naylor: One of the projects that I spent a lot of time working on was the Windsor-Essex Parkway [now called the Rt. Hon. Herb Gray Parkway] which is the extension of the 401 Highway right through the city of Windsor, Ontario. We took the results of multiple environmental assessments conducted over the years and developed a design strategy, which essentially put the highway into a trench. We created 11 land bridges across the trench. There was, I believe, almost 100 hectares of ecological restoration of tallgrass prairie and oak savanna. It was an incredible project, because it took what would normally be and what the community thought would be a blight and turned it into an incredible ecological resource. We also had the privilege of working the local Indigenous community, the Walpole Island First Nation, and we were able to express both their culture and the project through art and signage.

Renderings of the Rt. Hon. Herb Gray Parkway project from Dillon Consulting.

The other project I’m currently working on is the long-term vision plan for Parliament Hill. The physical setting for Parliament Hill is complicated. It’s also politically complicated. The Parliament Building is perched on a hill which is the remnants of a valley that over a decade have been degraded. There’s a huge opportunity to restore the natural environment to contribute to both the cultural environment as well as the political environment. It’s a significant challenge, but if it’s solved through the right lens, it can encourage Indigenous reconciliation, and it can make the public realm on the Hill a better place. It can be a place of incredible pride for Canadians.

What advice do you have, finally, for people who are either new to landscape architecture or already in the profession on how they can prioritize and centre ecological perspectives and values in their practice?

Chee: I think of the profession of landscape architecture as a gift. And if I could be a little bit spiritual here for a moment, if we go back to the book of Genesis, the Garden of Eden was given to Adam and Eve to live in, and they were also given the task to look after it. Our profession has similarly been given the gift to be the stewards of the land. I really cherish that value, that image even, if you will. It is a gift that the result is the betterment of people, of animals, of our natural environment.

Naylor: For students in the landscape architecture program, and those who are graduating, I would encourage them to really stay focused on continuing to learn, to continue to build their skills and keep their eyes open to how the world is changing. I think we have a lot to contribute, but I also think it requires practitioners to stay in touch and be the best they can be in order to contribute meaningfully to people and to the planet.

Long: My piece of advice, on the occasion of Earth Day, is that when we talk about sustainability, we should focus on longevity as a concept. I think it’s important that we, as people in the ecological field, are able to differentiate between what’s green and what’s greenwashing. And also to explore the ideas of circularity and life cycles, what our First Nations colleagues would call the seven generation principle. I think that if you start thinking in your profession at an early stage about these concepts, it totally changes how you go about and relate to the world.

This Thesis Booklet showcases final thesis projects produced by Master of Architecture (MARC), Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA) and Master of Urban Design (MUD) students at the University of Toronto’s John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design. Thesis booklets are a Daniels Faculty tradition, printed and distributed to graduate thesis students, as well as thesis advisors, external reviewers and guests.

The booklet contains images and brief statements by students who are presenting thesis projects this winter semester, at the culmination of their studies. Feel free to flip through the booklet below, or download a PDF.

Monday, April 11 to Friday, April 27
Daniels Faculty Building,
1 Spadina Crescent, Toronto, Ontario

Throughout April, students in architecture, landscape architecture, urban design 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.

Please note: As we continue to maintain a safe and healthy environment in compliance with public health guidelines and University of Toronto policies, winter reviews will only be open to members of the University of Toronto community and not to the general public at this time.

U of T requires all those coming to campus to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and provide proof of vaccination via UCheck.

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

Monday, April 11 | Undergraduate

Design Studio I
JAV101H1S
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET
Instructors: Jay Pooley (coordinator), Kearon Roy Taylor, Danielle Whitley, Nova Tayona, Sonia Ramundi, Katy Chey, Batoul Faour, Chloe Town, Jeffrey Garcia, Jennifer Kudlats, Gregory Beck Rubin, Luke Duross, Scott Sorli, Jordan Prosser, Reza Nik and Anamarija Korolj
Rooms: Principal Hall (170), 215, 230, 240, 330

Tuesday, April 12 | Undergraduate

Design Studio II
ARC201H1S
9 a.m.–1 p.m. ET
Instructors: Fiona Lim Tung (coordinator), Daniel Briker, Anne Ma, Maria Denegri, Shane Williamson, Jamie Lipson, Kara Verbeek, Nicolas Barrette, Nova Tayona and Sonja Vangieli
Rooms: 209, 215, 230, 240, 242, 330, 1st floor hallway, 2nd floor hallway

Technology Studio IV
ARC381Y1S
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET
Instructors: Andrew Bako (coordinator) and Kfir Gluzberg
Room: Principal Hall (170)

Wednesday, April 13 | Undergraduate

Architecture Studio IV
ARC362Y1S
10 a.m.–4 p.m. ET
Instructors: Jon Cummings (coordinator), Lukas Pauer and David Verbeek
Rooms: Principal Hall (170), 230

Landscape Architecture Studio IV
ARC364Y1S
12 p.m.–5 p.m. ET
Instructor: Pete North
Room: 330

Thursday, April 14 | Graduate & Undergraduate

Drawing & Representation II
ARC200H1S
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET
Instructors: Michael Piper (Coordinator), Jon Cummings, Francesco Valente-Gorjup, Phat Le, Scott Norsworthy, Kiana Mozayyan and David Verbeek
Rooms: Principal Hall (170), 209, 230, 240, 2nd floor hallway

Design Studio 2
LAN1012YS
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET
Instructors: Liat Margolis (Coordinator) and Terence Radford
Room: 330

Urban Design Studio Options
URD1012YS
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET
Instructor: Simon Rabyniuk
Room: 215

Monday, April 18 | Graduate & Undergraduate

Design + Engineering I
ARC112H1S
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET
Instructors: Jay Pooley (coordinator) and Jennifer Davis
Room: 200

Design Studio 2
ARC1012YS
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET
Instructors: Adrian Phiffer (coordinator), Chloe Town, Anya Moryousef, Julia Di Castri, Matthew Hickey, Tom Ngo and Behnaz Assadi
Rooms: Principal Hall (170), 230, 330

Tuesday, April 19 | Graduate

Design Studio 4
ARC2014YS
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET
Instructors: Samuel Dufaux (coordinator), Brigitte Shim, Steven Fong, Chris Cornecelli, Aleris Rodgers, Maria Denegri, Carol Phillips, Eiri Ota and Greg Neudorf
Rooms: 215, 230, 240, 330

Wednesday, April 20 | Graduate

MArch Post-professional Thesis
ALA4022YS
10 a.m.–4 p.m. ET
Instructors: Roberto Damiani (coordinator), Alstan Jakubiec, Erica Allen Kim, Alex Lukachko, Michael Piper and Stephen Verderber
Room: 200

Design Studio 4
ARC2014YS
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET
Instructors: Samuel Dufaux (coordinator), Brigitte Shim, Steven Fong, Chris Cornecelli, Aleris Rodgers, Maria Denegri, Carol Phillips, Eiri Ota and Greg Neudorf
Rooms: 215, 230, 240

Design Studio 4
LAN2014YS
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET
Instructors: Alissa North (coordinator), Todd Douglas and Rui Felix
Room: 330

Thursday, April 21 | Graduate & Undergraduate

Senior Seminar in History & Theory (Thesis)
ARC457Y1S
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET
Instructor: Simon Rabyniuk
Rooms: Principal Hall (170), 209, 215, 230, 240

Senior Seminar in Design (Thesis)
ARC462Y1S
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET
Instructor: Laura Miller
Rooms: Principal Hall (170), 209, 215, 230, 240

Senior Seminar in Technology (Thesis)
ARC487Y1S
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET
Instructor: Nicholas Hoban
Rooms: Principal Hall (170), 209, 215, 230, 240

Design Studio Thesis
LAN3017YS
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET
Instructors: Liat Margolis (coordinator), Behnaz Assadi, Fadi Masoud, Pete North, Alissa North, Matthew Perotto and Aisling O’Carroll
Rooms: 242, 330

Friday, April 22 | Graduate & Undergraduate

Senior Seminar in History & Theory (Thesis)
ARC457Y1S
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET
Instructor: Simon Rabyniuk
Rooms: Principal Hall (170), 209, 215, 230, 240

Senior Seminar in Design (Thesis)
ARC462Y1S
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET
Instructor: Laura Miller
Rooms: Principal Hall (170), 209, 215, 230, 240

Senior Seminar in Technology (Thesis)
ARC487Y1S
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET
Instructor: Nicholas Hoban
Rooms: Principal Hall (170), 209, 215, 230, 240

Design Studio Thesis
LAN3017YS
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET
Instructors: Liat Margolis (coordinator), Behnaz Assadi, Fadi Masoud, Pete North, Alissa North, Matthew Perotto and Aisling O’Carroll
Rooms: 330

Urban Design Studio Thesis
URD2015YS
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET
Instructors: Otto Ojo and Michael Piper
Rooms: 242, 215

Monday, April 25 | Graduate

Architectural Design Studio: Research 2
ARC3021YS / ARC4018YS
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET
Instructors: Lina Ghotmeh, Shane Williamson, Stephen Verderber, Mason White, Miles Gertler, Lara Lesmes and Fredrik Hellberg
Rooms: 215, 230, 240, 242, 330, main east entrance, Library

Tuesday, April 26 | Graduate

Architectural Design Studio: Research 2
ARC3021YS / ARC4018YS
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET
Instructors: Petros Babaskias, Kelly Doran, George Baird and John Shnier
Rooms: Principal Hall (170), 209, 230, 240, 242, 330, main hall mezzanine, Gallery entrance, Library, bottom of main staircase

Wednesday, April 27 | Graduate

Architectural Design Studio: Research 2
ARC3021YS / ARC4018YS
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET
Instructors: Laura Miller, Brady Peters and Brian Boigon
Rooms: 230, 240, 330

Architectural Design Studio 7: Thesis
ARC4018YS
9 a.m.–6 p.m. ET
Instructors: Michael Piper, Reza Nik and Miles Gertler
Rooms: 209, 242

Banner photo by Harry Choi.

Associate Professor Robert M. Wright is the 2022 recipient of the Vivek Goel Faculty Citizenship Award, one of the University of Toronto’s annual Awards of Excellence recognizing outstanding faculty, staff and students.

While those who have known Prof. Wright personally won’t be surprised to learn that he has been singled out for his academic dedication and professional intrepidness, a list of just a few of his titles and accomplishments over his past 35 years at U of T should give even the uninitiated some idea of his hands-on m.o.

At Daniels Faculty alone, he has served as the inaugural associate dean for research (from 2010 to 2014), as the Dean’s representative when it came to Site Plan and Landscape Architectural Implementation during the epochal redesign of 1 Spadina (from 2016 to 2018) and as the interim dean of the Faculty itself (in 2020–21).

In previous years and elsewhere at the University, Prof. Wright drafted the Master of Urban Design proposal for Graduate Studies (in 1995–96), was among the founding members of an innovative pre-Internet learning hub called the Knowledge Media Design Institute (which he directed from 1998 to 2003) and played a role in “envisioning and advancing” what will be the tallest wood structure in North America (slated to go up, at 315 Bloor Street West, sometime this summer).

Most significantly, he often undertook these leadership and guidance roles under challenging circumstances from which many others would have shied away.

While he was serving as the founding director of the Centre for Landscape Research, for instance, Prof. Wright also began a two-year term as the last dean of the Faculty of Forestry, successfully overseeing its long-brewing 2017 transitioning into the John H. Daniels Faculty. When he stepped into the role of interim dean, the Covid pandemic was at its peak and addressing racial injustices became an urgent issue.

“Rob has provided strong, successful leadership for a remarkably long list of programs, schools and faculties at the University of Toronto,” Larry Wayne Richards, professor emeritus and former dean of the Daniels Faculty, said in the nomination package for the Vivek Goel Award. “[He’s] an exemplary citizen, to say the least.”

The University of Toronto Alumni Association, which supports and oversees the Awards of Excellence, agreed.

The Vivek Goel Faculty Citizenship Award, created to mark the 2008 departure of its namesake from his role as U of T’s vice-president and provost, recognizes a faculty member who has served the University “with distinction in multiple leadership capacities in diverse spheres.”

The winner is typically “a senior member of the faculty,” and “an exemplary university citizen” over many years. Indeed, recipients are very often individuals with a “sustained” history of service.

Highlighting that long track record, Professor Eric Miller, of the Department of Civil and Mineral Engineering, wrote in the nomination package: “[Prof. Wright] combines a very realistic, pragmatic view of the world and its many challenges — grounded in decades of professional and academic experience — with an amazingly positive and upbeat approach to problem-solving, policy-setting and decision-making, whether it be the design of a new academic program or sorting out thorny interdepartmental relations.”

“This is not an easy task,” Professor Mark Fox of Industrial Engineering and Computer Science added, citing the restructuring of Forestry when it joined the Daniels Faculty, “as the views and needs of faculty and the disappointment of alumni have to be balanced with the long-term goals of the University. To do this with a minimal amount of friction while displaying an unusual level of equanimity [as Prof. Wright did] never ceased to amaze me.”

In her testimonial, Professor Liat Margolis, Prof. Wright’s successor as associate dean of research at the Daniels Faculty, summed up: “He is generous with his time, critical reflections and insights, an excellent listener, and an engaging colleague. His energy and contribution as a citizen of the University and an active leader in the design community are important, but his support for students and their needs are even greater.”

According to Prof. Margolis, Prof. Wright has a mantra that encapsulates his engaged, proactive philosophy. It is: “...the most important thing you can do as a faculty member or as a student of the Daniels Faculty is to leave the building.”

And, she added, “he has done just that.”