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.”

Assistant Professor Fadi Masoud is the director of the Daniels Faculty’s Centre for Landscape Research, a research centre originally conceived in the early 1980s to provide a support structure and a culture of research aimed at enhancing landscape architecture’s knowledge base at the University of Toronto.

Through the Centre, Masoud and his colleagues work on projects with experts and community members across a wide range of disciplines and issues. In 2019, the Centre was awarded the School of Cities Urban Challenge Grant, which led to the Towers in the Park: A Prospective for Equitable Resilience research project.

In a recent interview with the School of Cities, Masoud shared some of the preliminary findings of Towers in the Park, his experience working on the project, and future steps that need to be taken for the provision of green open space and green infrastructure that should be prioritized in equity-deserving neighbourhoods.

School of Cities: How does this initiative complement the City of Toronto’s resilience strategy? How involved is the City with this work?

Fadi Masoud: The City’s Resilience Strategy identified Tower Renewal as the foremost Priority Action [“Vertical Resilience”] to ensure Toronto’s resilience. This is because it clearly sits at the intersection of socio-economic and climate pressures.

How has collaboration through the School of Cities enabled you to advance this initiative?

Without the School of Cities this project would not have been possible. The Urban Challenge Grant provided the space and time for interdisciplinary teams and stakeholders to tackle a project of shared interest. It was hard work to find a common language, thread and set of objectives, but the ability to exchange and explore overlaps was an extremely enriching experience that is just beginning.

What kind of a role do you see for community members as this work advances?

Community members should be the drivers of what needs to change, but it is the landlords’ and the City/government’s responsibility to act and deliver. The power and financial balance for true climate action is in their hands. As academics we will continue to co-create projects and knowledge to help communities mobilize action, including arming them with additional tools and information, as well as design strategies and recommendations where needed.

Are there any comments from the community participants that really stood out for you?

There is a deep embedded knowledge in how communities see and understand their surroundings. Different people from different parts of the world, ages and walks of life think about climate action in different ways and in different time horizons. Finding a way to synchronize our understanding of the situation, needs and objectives of different stakeholders while mobilizing action is a difficult but crucial act.

As this is just the beginning of a new way of seeing these previously overlooked and neglected spaces (and their significant potential to support equitable resilience), how do you see this initiative rolling out over the long term?

In addition to the need for landlords and the City to act and deliver, the City’s Parks Forestry and Recreation and Toronto and Region Conservation Authority should work with Tower Renewal to understand the linkages between private/semi-private open space and public parks and ravines. This would establish stronger connections between all green open spaces, public right of ways and community spaces to work towards this idea of equitable resilience — by increasing access, protecting green space and ensuring the proper design and programming of these spaces to generate community and environmental co-benefit.

Do you have some favourite examples of how communities have started to use the green/open spaces adjacent to their homes?

I think this question can be best answered by some of [the] Thorncliffe Park [neighbourhood]’s residents, who organized various events that overlapped religious holidays with other gatherings, such as educational events or outdoor vaccination clinics. They also mentioned that the school drop-off and pick-up areas are vital community meeting spaces.

Learn more about Towers in the Park in the City Research Insights brief (PDF). See the maps from Towers in the Park here.

Banner image gallery: Through Towers in the Park, Masoud and his colleagues hope to measure, evaluate and quantify the social and environmental value of public and private open space assets, including parks and right-of-ways, as they relate to the city's overall resilience goals that relate to Tower Renewal. (Illustrations from Towers in the Park)

After a Covid-engendered false start in the summer of 2020, the inaugural Design Research Internship Project (DRIP) will finally be launched this summer by Associate Professor Pina Petricone in partnership with 15 local design firms.  

The unique initiative will provide senior BAAS students with the opportunity to apply their critical drawing, modelling and research skills to real projects under the direction of a local practitioner. The internship is designed to not only bridge academic research with professional practice, but also to expose students to models of design research that advance lessons from design studios and course work into multivalent and sometimes interdisciplinary design research problems.  

The deadline for submitting an application is end of day on Monday, April 4. Apply online here.

Two years ago, restrictions imposed by the pandemic postponed the launch of DRIP to this year, although a kind of Design Research Internship Pilot was offered by Prof. Petricone last summer through her firm Giannone Petricone Architects. Last year, 12 senior Architectural Studies students were selected to participate in the intensive internship and undertake group and individual work that collectively contributed to a document called the Atlas of Light Operations, a compendium that traces various custom light fixtures, built and under construction for a range of Giannone Petricone projects.  

The work began with a review and analysis of the collection of custom-designed light fixtures through drawings, shop drawings and construction photos, alongside an accelerated design project for the graphic representation of the final Atlas. Students were guided by presentations of models for design research and its systems of representation as well as individual and group feedback.  

The internship culminated in a comprehensive visual document in the form of a collection — an atlas that traces critical parts and contexts for the series. Although each fixture is unique, tailored to its host space, the design research ultimately expressed each custom-designed piece as inseparable from its cultural context, material and otherwise.  

“As a local practitioner myself, I can appreciate first-hand the value that research internships can bring to the general rigour of experimentation for real-world design projects,” says Prof. Petricone. “This work is often considered a luxury within the timeline of a project; however, this research internship can afford local offices additional resources in order to linger productively on questions of design, context, morphology, history and impact for any given design project.” 

A range of accomplished local practitioners will be participating in this summer’s inaugural internship project. Visit this page for a list of them, along with a brief description of their internship offerings.

Proposed research internships range from historical, theoretical, contextual, cultural, morphological and formal analysis/documentation designed to support the practitioner-defined design project.  

The design project can range from a document or object to an installation, exhibition, building or neighbourhood. 

Below are images from the Atlas of Light Operations created at Giannone Petricone Architects during the Design Research Internship Pilot:

Atlas of Light Operations – Excerpt, for Giannone Petricone Architects. Left: Drum by Jiachen Du. Right: Mushroom by Lhanzi Gyaltsan

Atlas of Light Operations – Composite, Giannone Petricone Architects. Left: Monza fabrication. Right: Monza in situ, Los Angeles.

Atlas of Light Operations – Excerpt, for Giannone Petricone Architects. Left: Cascade by Kathryna Cuizon. Right: Imola by Janet Ma.

Atlas of Light Operations – Composite, Giannone Petricone Architects. Left: Mushroom under construction. Right: Imola fabrication.

Atlas of Light Operations – Excerpt, for Giannone Petricone Architects. Left: Globe by Maya Freeman. Right: Loom by Sally Chiu

Banner Image: Atlas of Light Operations – Contents, for Giannone Petricone Architects. Participating Interns: Sally Chiu, Kathryna Cuizon, Jiachen Du, Maya Freeman, Lhanzi Gyaltsan, Sarah Janelle, Christopher Law, Christina Lin, Janet Ma, Negar Mashoof, Danah Owaida, Megan So. 

Two Daniels Faculty members are among the recipients of this year’s Landscape Architecture Canada Foundation (LACF) grants, given out every year in support of landscape-related research, communication and scholarship.

MLA Professor Alissa North has been awarded the Northern Research Bursary and a grant of $10,000, while Sessional Lecturer Kaari Kitawi receives the Gunter Schoch Bursary and a grant of $8,650.

North was recognized in relation to the upcoming book Innate Terrain: Canadian Landscape Architecture, of which she is editor.

Featuring essays by Canadian scholars and practitioners as well as some 150 colour illustrations, the work centres on the argument that Canadian landscape architecture is distinct because of the unique qualities of Canada’s terrain and the particular relationship between Canadians and their natural surroundings.

Innate Terrain is slated be published by University of Toronto Press in hardcover, paperback and e-book form in August.

Kitawi, meanwhile, was recognized for her digital outreach project using videos of Black professionals to expose BIPOC high schoolers to the fields of design and planning.

Over the past two years, Kitawi has been giving career talks to that end at schools in her neighbourhood and abroad. To reach a wider audience, however, she recently started producing videos featuring interviews with Black professionals from around the world about their career journeys. They’re disseminated through a YouTube channel that Kitawi created, called Careers Unboxed with Kaari.

The intention, she says, is to have young BIPOC viewers see themselves reflected in these professionals and to encourage them to explore such careers for themselves.

“It is important for us to tell our stories in order to change the narrative,” Kitawi says, adding that the LACF grant “will further this work by developing a special series focused on Black professionals in architecture, landscape architecture and planning in Canada.”

For more information on the LACF grant program and other 2022 recipients, click here.

The Daniels Faculty and the University of Toronto are deeply saddened to learn of the death of Anuradha (Anu) Mathur. The esteemed landscape architect and professor passed away on February 26 in Philadelphia. She was 62 years old.

As Professor Emeritus in the Landscape Architecture Department at the University of Pennsylvania, Mathur’s work focused on the scarcity and excess of water in landscapes, especially how those conditions are affected through its visualization and engagement across design, policy and research.

“Anu’s work has had a profound impact on our discipline,” says Prof. Jane Wolff of the Daniels Faculty. “Her understanding of water — at once poetic and practical — changed the way we thought about land.”

Along with Dilip da Cunha, her work and life partner, Mathur undertook projects across a wide span of cultural milieus, in places such as Mumbai, Jerusalem, the Western Ghats of India, Sundarbans, coastal Virginia and, most recently, the U.S.–Mexico border.

Together, Mathur and da Cunha co-authored a number of highly influential books, including Mississippi Floods: Designing a Shifting Landscape (2001), Deccan Traverses: The Making of Bangalore’s Terrain (2006) and Soak: Mumbai in an Estuary (2009). They also co-edited Design in the Terrain of Water (2014).

“Anu had such a brilliant and talented mind,” says Prof. Alissa North. “I continue to point out her and Dilip’s work to students, and am always amazed at how relevant the early work remains. I feel very fortunate that I was able to learn from her incredible thinking when I took a class she taught as a guest professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. She will be greatly missed in the academic community.”

As pioneers in their fields, Mathur and da Cunha received numerous awards and were frequently invited to speak in academic and professional forums around the world. Among the venues at which they’ve presented their work are the IFLA Conference in Bangkok and GIDEST Seminar at the New School in New York. They have also created forums for others to present work, including the 2011–2012 international symposium titled In the Terrain of Water, held at Penn Design.

In 2017, they were awarded a Pew Fellowship Grant.

“Anu was a generous colleague and educator, a fierce critic, and an intellectual force that changed the landscape and design disciplines,” says Prof. Fadi Masoud. “She taught us new ways of seeing, understanding and communicating the dynamism and complexity of the world around us. Her teachings will stay with us for a long time to come.” 

Mathur and da Cunha were scheduled to deliver the 2022 Hough Critic lecture at the Daniels Faculty on March 22. This event has been cancelled.

“On behalf of the Daniels Faculty MLA Program, I would like to express my deep sadness for Anu Mathur’s tragic passing and for her family’s loss,” says Liat Margolis, MLA Program Director. “She will be terribly missed, but her grace, generosity and intellectual influence will live on. Mathur and da Cunha will still be named as our 2022 Hough Critic honorees, and we hope to pay tribute to their work in the coming year.”

Observed every year on March 8, International Women’s Day has been marked for well over a century now, ever since the first IWD gathering was held in 1911. Intended to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women, the day has also become a call to action for accelerating female equality. This year’s theme, Break the Bias, invokes a gender-equal world “free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination,” where “difference is valued and celebrated.” 

“International Women’s Day acts as a reminder,” says Dean Juan Du, “on how far we have progressed, and how much more we still need to achieve, toward the basic human right of equality in all genders. Misogyny and discrimination against women still exist in creative, scientific and professional fields, but today and every day is an opportunity to #BreakTheBias, both within our communities and around the world. With Daniels Faculty’s diverse community, we continue to contribute by educating future scientists, artists, architects, designers, city builders and world changers, while celebrating the individual uniqueness of various genders and identifications.” 

In honour of the occasion, four groundbreaking faculty members from the Daniels Faculty’s diverse divisions took the time to share what IWD means to them — and what more can be done to further women’s progress. 

Fiona Lim Tung 

Designer and educator Fiona Lim Tung received her Master of Architecture degree at Daniels Faculty, where she is now in her fourth year as Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream. Earlier this year, Lim Tung served as project supervisor for the Faculty’s winning contribution to Winter Stations 2022: a bright red student-designed pavilion conceived as a meditation on pandemic-era insularity. Her own research practice deals with issues of representation and feminism, while her design work focuses on the potentials that exist in the overlap between high- and low-tech fabrication methods in contemporary craft. Lim Tung’s projects have been widely featured in magazines, books and galleries. 

What have been some of your professional highlights this year? 

Winter Stations was a highlight. Working closely with the students to see them bring their design from sketch to built form, then seeing the public laughing and enjoying the pavilion, was a great and fulfilling experience. The entire team was amazing, but I would like to give a special acknowledgment on IWD to the female team members who overcame stereotypes that women don’t take part in construction. 

What are you working on personally? 

In my own work, I am presenting at a number of conferences about drawing as an act of resistance. It has been great to spend my days looking at images and thinking about how the way we draw can help to build a more equitable future. 

What does International Women’s Day mean to you? 

International Women’s Day is so important, especially in a profession that has been historically male-dominated. The women who taught me, particularly those who were also BIPOC, were inspirational, opening the doors of what I thought possible. I hope to encourage the next generation in the same way. 

Jane Wolff 

Associate Professor Jane Wolff was educated as a documentary filmmaker and landscape architect at Harvard University. Her activist scholarship uses writing and drawing to decipher the web of relationships, processes and stories that shape today’s landscapes. Last year she had not one but two books published: Bay Lexicon (a field guide to the San Francisco Bay Area’s shoreline) and Landscape Citizenships (a 14-chapter survey, co-edited with Tim Waterman and Ed Wall, of “the growing body of thought and research in landscape democracy and landscape justice”). Currently on research leave, Wolf teaches in both the BAAS and MLA programs at Daniels Faculty. 

You published two books last year. What’s next on your research agenda? 

I was awarded an SSHRC Connection grant to fund the installation Toronto Landscape Observatory, co-curated by Susan Schwartzenberg, at the 2022 Toronto Biennial. I am now working toward the project’s opening on May 1. 

What do you like most about teaching? 

My favourite thing about teaching is that it’s a chance to keep learning. 

What does International Women’s Day mean to you?  

In my calendar, every day is Women’s Day! 

Sally Krigstin 

Assistant Professor Sally Krigstin teaches in the Faculty’s various Forestry programs, and is the Coordinator of the Master in Forest Conservation program. Over the past several years, the wood and biomass materials expert has been instrumental in resurrecting one of U of T’s most unique academic troves: its so-called Empire Collection, an extensive collection of woods from across the former British Empire. “When the Faculty of Forestry moved from its longtime home at 45 St. George Street to the new Earth Sciences Building back in the 1990s,” she says, “the 3,000-plus-piece wood-sample collection was packed up in boxes and remained dormant for more than 25 years. With the help of a number of students, the collection has been organized and catalogued, and is now being actively used to teach students about the diversity and qualities of wood from around the world.” 

What does International Women’s Day mean to you? 

To me, International Women’s Day supports women’s endeavours to be recognized as unique individuals whose contributions, large or small, are valued on their unique merits.   

Have you had to overcome stereotypes as a woman in your field? What are some of the best ways to combat them? 

Before joining the University, I worked in the pulp and paper industry, which has been and remains a male-dominated industry. During a performance review by a supervisor at my first job, he said to me, “Don’t ever let the industry or others change who you are.” In other words, don’t be tempted to take on the characteristics of your male counterparts; continue instead to think differently and behave differently. It was the best piece of career advice I received. 

What do you like most about teaching? 

Witnessing your students’ positive impacts on the world is your reward for being a teacher. 

Sukaina Kubba 

Sukaina Kubba is a new Sessional Lecturer in Visual Studies at Daniels Faculty, currently teaching undergraduate painting and printmaking. From 2013 to 2018, she was a lecturer and curator at the Glasgow School of Art, and is presently working on at least three art and research projects, including a multimedia study of Iranian rugs called an An Ancillary Travelogue. “I am interested in feminist theory and practice that comes from the experience and motivations of women in indigenous, colonial and queer contexts, as opposed to feminism imposed or applied from without,” she says. “Women’s liberation cannot be extricated from injustices of colonialism, capitalism and occupation.” 

What does International Women’s Day mean to you?  

This year, it is important to state solidarity with trans women and trans men who are facing new legal and academic challenges from powerful reactionary groups, especially in the U.K. and the U.S. 

Have you had to overcome stereotypes as a woman in your field? What are some of the best ways to combat them? 

I don’t believe there are many stereotypes per se for women to overcome in terms of practicing, studying or teaching in visual arts, but there are definitely class issues. As an educator, I wish to advocate for secondary and higher education in the arts to become much more accessible to students (of all genders) from less privileged backgrounds in terms of class and ethnicity.   

What do you like most about teaching? 

I value conversations with students about their motivations and ideas. Studio practice also allows a space for student collaboration and for forming a creative community.   

Third-year Master of Landscape Architecture student Stefan Herda is among the 17 scholars chosen by the Landscape Architecture Canada Foundation to receive one of its 2021/22 scholarships.

Every year the Ottawa-based LACF bestows the awards to two national and 15 regional winners across Canada. The scholarships are awarded to landscape architecture students who display “superior academic performance, promote leadership, and encourage original and creative design work and research,” according to the Foundation.

“I am humbled to have been selected by the LACF for the award,” says Toronto-based Herda, whose regional win was officially marked during an online celebration on February 11. “There is so much to learn in landscape architecture, and I appreciate being recognized early on in the journey.”

Herda’s “enthusiasm for traditional ecological knowledge, land stewardship and cultivating landscape literacy” were cited among the reasons for his selection.

Stefan Herda has undertaken research projects that analyze the environmental impacts of sites such as the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station in Ontario.

“Every recipient had a chance to introduce themselves, discuss their research and interests, and [elaborate on] what inspired them to study landscape architecture,” says Herda, who found the virtual ceremony convenient since he and his fiancée have a newborn. “What was most compelling was the profound influence that local geography had on everyone’s work, the breadth of research, and how they focused on equity, climate justice, and truth and reconciliation.”

In addition to his fiancée, Herda credits his fellow classmates, his mentors at the Daniels Faculty, and Elder Whabagoon and the Nikibii Dawadinna Giigwag family for helping him achieve this milestone. “I would not be where I am without my classmates,” he says. “The Landscape Architecture faculty across the board at Daniels have been incredibly supportive of my interests over the last three years.”

One of the research projects that Herda has undertaken at the Daniels Faculty is Under the Humber, in which he and his Integrated Urbanism Studio classmates studied sites in Toronto (such as the point where the Humber River meets Lake Ontario) that they designated as needing some form of design intervention due to environmental, economic and social pressures.

To view more of Herda's work, click here.

Banner image: Master of Landscape Architecture student Stefan Herda was awarded a 2021/22 scholarship by the Landscape Architecture Canada Foundation. (Photo provided by Herda)

Ja Architecture Studio, the Toronto-based practice co-founded by Daniels Faculty assistant professor Behnaz Assadi with architect and alumnus Nima Javidi, has been singled out as one of 2022’s top Emerging Voices by The Architectural League of New York. Every year a jury assembled by the League chooses eight emerging practices as winners of its by-invitation Emerging Voices competition. Landscape architect Assadi co-founded Ja with Javidi, a former professor at Daniels Faculty, a decade ago. Their work was cited by the League for representing “the best of its kind,” addressing “larger issues in architecture, landscape and the built environment.” 

“We are extremely honoured to have been named one of the eight 2022 Emerging Voices by The Architectural League of New York,” says Assadi. “No other recognition could have given more meaning to the past decade of our practice or make us look forward to the next.” 

The Emerging Voices award spotlights North American firms and individuals “with distinct design voices and the potential to influence the disciplines of architecture, landscape design and urbanism.” The jury reviews significant bodies of realized work and considers accomplishments within the design and academic communities as well as the public realm. Among the illustrious practitioners recognized by the League as Emerging Voices in the past are Steven Holl (in 1982), Toshiko Mori (1992), Jeanne Gang (2006) and Tatiana Bilbao (2010). 

This year the selection process involved a two-stage review of work from approximately 50 entrants invited to submit their portfolios. Paul Lewis, a jury member and the president of The Architectural League, was struck by the breadth of the submissions. 

“Rather than indicating a fracturing of our discipline,” Lewis noted, “this year’s winners were united in how they each clarified new types of agency and new notions of value motivated by an optimism about what an architect could and should do.”  

Assadi and Javidi’s work, which explores “how iconographic, geometric, formal and tectonic pursuits relate to broader contexts such as politics, construction, landscape, and urbanism,” ranges from creatively executed residential and commercial projects on tight city plots to ambitious international competitions that draw on the collective repertoire of their multidisciplinary firm. 

Ja Architecture Studio's 2015 design for the Bauhaus Museum in Germany came in fourth out of hundreds of submissions.

Over the past several years, Assadi has been teaching and coordinating two of the foundational core studios in the Daniels Faculty’s MLA program, as well as a number of graduate and undergraduate courses in both the architecture and landscape architecture departments. Former Daniels Faculty member Javidi is currently the Gwathmey Professor of Design at Cooper Union in New York City.

As part of the Emerging Voices program, winners are invited to present their work through a series of lectures. Assadi and Javidi are to join fellow winner Tsz Yan Ng of Michigan to discuss their projects in a moderated Zoom discussion on March 17.  

Revitalizing streetscapes is a Ja specialty. The cafe/bakery at left is housed in a former mechanic shop on Toronto's Queen Street West.

Among the other practices recognized by the League this year are Estudio MMX of Mexico City, Borderless Studio in Chicago and Felecia Davis Studio in State College, Pennsylvania. 

For details on the Emerging Voices award and lectures, visit archleague.org. To learn more about Ja’s work and principals, visit jastudioinc.com. 

Banner image: For a residence on a quiet Toronto sidestreet, Ja proposed a sinuous yet sensitive brick addition. The work of co-founders Javidi and Assadi (pictured) combines "the rootedness of a local architecture firm with the broad interests of an international design studio."

A team of Daniels Faculty architecture students has begun construction on an installation titled Introspection, selected as one of six projects to be featured in the upcoming Winter Stations 2022 exhibition. The winners were announced on January 17.

“We are very proud to be representing the Daniels Faculty at this year’s Winter Stations,” says Christopher Hardy, a second-year student in the Master of Architecture program and team lead for Introspection. “This project is an opportunity for us to not only showcase our design talents and creativity but also to reconnect with our fellow peers after almost two years of remote learning.”

Illustrations of Introspection’s floor plan and interior rendering.

Launched in 2014, Winter Stations is a yearly exhibition of outdoor installations that invite the public to reenvision and interact with spaces and objects usually avoided in winter. Erected along the shoreline of Toronto’s east-end beaches, the projects are selected through a single-stage international design competition and stay up for six weeks. To date, the Winter Stations competition has received entries from more than 90 countries.

Conceived by a team of 10 Daniels students, Introspection joins a number of previous Faculty projects that have been presented at the exhibition: Midwinter Fire in 2017, I See You Ashiyu in 2017 and Calvacade in 2019.

In response to the pandemic and how people have adapted to it, the exhibition’s theme this year is “resilience.” With that in mind, the Introspection team members designed a red pavilion – plywood sheets covered with wooden slats – surrounding a lifeguard tower. The pavilion’s inner walls will be lined with mirrors. “We chose to base our design on the emotions felt throughout the past two years’ worth of quarantine and isolation,” the project description reads. It goes on to explain:
 

“Playing with the idea of reflection, we utilize mirrored walls to cast the visitors as the subjects of our bright red pavilion. While the trellis roof allows the sun to illuminate the interior and its visitors, the red lifeguard tower stands unyielding in the centre of the pavilion, reminding us of the inherent stability within us.”
 

Dean Juan Du looks forward to visiting Introspection and the rest of the installations when Winter Stations opens in late February. “This pavilion is a timely and creative expression of a theme we’ve all had to navigate intimately,” she says. “Our faculty, students and staff have come together and risen to incredible challenges these last couple of years. Both Introspection and the larger exhibition invite people to reflect on our vulnerabilities and strengths, on what it means to be resilient both individually and collectively.”

On a separate but related note, the Dean will also be hosting a symposium on April 2 titled Design for Resilient Communities. Details of the event will be available closer to the date.

Hardy and his team hope to start installing Introspection at Woodbine Beach during the week of February 7. The exhibition runs from February 21 to March 3.

“We invite Daniels community members to check out our pavilion,” he says. “It’s a space that hopefully will inspire people to not only think about what we’ve been through, but also what we’re capable of.”

The Introspection team is comprised of the following members:

Christopher Hardy - Master of Architecture
Tomasz Weinberger - Bachelor of Arts, Architectural Studies
Clement Sung - Master of Architecture
Jason Wu - Master of Architecture
Jacob Henriquez - Master of Architecture
Christopher Law - Bachelor of Arts, Architectural Studies
Anthony Mattacchione - Master of Architecture
George Wang - Master of Architecture
Maggie MacPhie - Master of Architecture
Zoey Chao - Master of Architecture

Fiona Lim Tung, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, serves as project sponsor and supervisor.

For more information about Winter Stations 2022, please click here.

Introspection project members assemble the pavilion at the Daniels Faculty on January 22, 2022. (Photos by Christopher Law)