The University of Toronto announced this week that it will now be requiring students, faculty members, staff, and visitors to complete COVID-19 self-assessments each time they plan to be physically present on a U of T campus, or in a U of T-owned building.

This means that if you're planning to come to the Daniels Building (or any other part of campus) you must complete a self-assessment before you show up, every time.

There are two ways to complete a self-assessment.

The preferred method: Use UCheck, the University of Toronto's online self-assessment tool. UCheck consists of a simple online survey that takes less than five minutes to fill out. After you fill out the survey questions, UCheck generates a personalized risk status ("red," meaning high risk, or "green," meaning low risk). UCheck is not a contact-tracing application, meaning your personal responses to the survey questions are kept private and are not shared with the University or any third parties. If you receive a "red" status through UCheck, you should not come to campus. Stay home, and follow the steps outlined in the University of Toronto's self-assessment FAQ.

The other method: If you're unable to use UCheck, you can also complete a health self-assessment using paper forms created by U of T for this purpose. The forms are available on the UTogether2020 website.

Regardless of which self-assessment method you choose, remember: if you're sick, or if you have reason to believe that you could have been exposed to COVID-19, stay home. Your actions can help keep the entire Daniels Faculty community safe and healthy.

Take me to UCheck now

The Daniels Faculty's Eberhard Zeidler Library is an essential resource for students, faculty, and staff. For the past 19 years, the person responsible for managing the library and building its collection of architecture, landscape, and design research materials has been librarian Irene Puchalski.

In fall, when Daniels students begin their slow return to the Daniels Building, the library's books and periodicals will still be there, but something will be missing: Puchalski herself. She retired on June 30.

Retiring during a pandemic was not her intention. "When I made my decision, it was pre-pandemic," she says. "I was in Botswana, Zimbabwe, and South Africa in March when all of this was happening." Once COVID-19 is under control, she hopes to resume her travels.

Puchalski was known among her employees at the Eberhard Zeidler Library for her collaborative leadership style and her deft hand at assembling the library's subject-specific collection. "She worked really hard on building that collection," says Lisa Doherty, a library technician who joined the Faculty around the same time as Puchalski and reported to her for 19 years. "She was very particular about what she chose. I think that benefitted students greatly. She wouldn't stick to just one distributor. We would go everywhere and anywhere for what we needed."

Faculty members appreciated Puchalski for her devotion to helping enrich the learning experience at Daniels. Among her student-focused initiatives was a pilot project in which first-year undergraduates received information-literacy training. "She was extremely supportive of my courses," says lecturer Hans Ibelings. "She took the initiative to organize library tours so that students would see how the library was organized and what they could find there. I thought it was really marvellous that she was helping me get my students better prepared for doing their research. She was always extremely generous in that sense."

Faculty members also benefitted from her subject expertise. "Working with Irene has been one of the great joys of my time at the Faculty," says associate professor Jane Wolff. "I've really appreciated her guidance when I've needed to find things for my own research. She has a deep knowledge of resources and how to find them, and a deep knowledge of our field, which has made her a fantastic guide and colleague."

For Puchalski, joining the Daniels Faculty in 2001 was the culmination of decades of previous work and research in the fields of art, architecture, and librarianship. Her first undergraduate degree was a DEC in architectural technology from Vanier College, in Montreal. Soon afterward, she earned a BA in art history and a Master of Library Science from McGill.

Her first professional library job was related to architecture: the same year she received her MLS degree, she began working as a bibliographic searcher and coordinator for Montreal's Canadian Centre for Architecture. "That really sealed the deal," she says. "I wanted to pursue architecture and art history, if I could, as a librarian." She deepened her subject expertise by earning a second master's degree, in art and architectural history, from Concordia University.

After more than a decade working at Concordia University, where she was a reference librarian specializing in fine arts, Puchalski moved to Toronto. She worked briefly in reference positions at the CBC, the University of Toronto Mississauga, and the Ontario College of Art and Design before taking what would turn out to be her last job, at the Daniels Faculty.

Puchalski served under three different deans (Larry Wayne Richards, George Baird, and Richard Sommer) and saw the Faculty through many changes, including the shift to all-graduate academic programs in the early 2000s and the Faculty's rapid expansion in 2012, when it repatriated the Bachelor of Arts in Architectural Studies program from the Faculty of Arts and Science.

Puchalski was also instrumental in one of the most significant events in the Daniels Faculty's history: the move from the Faculty's former building, on College Street, to its current building, at One Spadina Crescent. As librarian, she was in charge planning the process of moving the library's thousands of research materials from one building to the other. "Never in my career did I ever plan to be moving a library," Puchalski says. "That was just something that happened, and I had to rise to the occasion. We all survived intact."

Now, reflecting on her career at Daniels, she says one of the things she enjoyed most about her job was serving a tight-knit academic community. "It was very dynamic," she says. "It was inspirational. Students are idealists. I absorbed all their wonderful energy. It was a very positive environment, and it was an environment where I grew and continued to learn."

Last week we received a letter urging us to take immediate action to address systemic anti-Black racism within the Daniels Faculty. We are sharing our response more broadly now to give everyone the opportunity to be included in the process. Our letter follows. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact incoming Interim Dean Rob Wright: dean.wright@daniels.utoronto.ca.

Dear Students and Alumni,

Thank you for your thoughtful letter on dismantling systemic anti-Black racism and for caring so deeply about our school and its communities.

We are co-authoring this letter on behalf of our colleagues to ensure continuity between the school’s current and forthcoming leadership. Our faculty and the school’s administration share your concerns, and apologize for what are inevitably our failures on these fronts. We recognize the institutional inertia within our and other schools of architecture, landscape, and design, and the role this plays in the barriers that have excluded Black and other racialized people from our professions.

The question now is: how can we bring about greater understanding, healing and change that will increase access and eliminate barriers for Black, Indigenous and racialized people in our school and, more broadly, in our professions? As a school, we need to work harder to earn a reputation for diversity and thoughtful inclusion, especially by creating more opportunities for those who have been for too long excluded and ignored. While we have been working to increase equity and diversity within the school for some time, over the past three weeks we have been discussing how we can take action in more acute and immediate ways.

As with our work in design and planning, we must begin by understanding the scope, context, challenges and opportunities of the problems at stake. We will need to listen carefully, and to find a way to learn in an atmosphere of both thoughtful and perhaps sometimes heated exchange to address the structures of a complex institution.

Towards this end, we will be holding a series of moderated Fora inviting all students, faculty, staff and alumni to participate in an open discussion on these issues. Our aim is to listen, hear your lived experiences as part of the DFALD community, and to better understand how we can address the concerns and recommendations. We will update you very soon with the details.

In the meantime, we are taking the following actions and making the following changes:

• To provide more clarity and support, we are in the midst of creating a new portal on our website dedicated to sharing anti-racism resources for the DFALD and UofT community. This will include regular updates on our process and progress as we implement new anti-racism measures.

 

• The Daniels Diversity and Equity Committee was established in 2015 and made a formal committee of the Daniels Faculty Council in 2017. This committee’s membership includes faculty, student, and staff representatives. It now seems clear that this committee has not adequately communicated about its mission and work, and we promise to do better at this going forward. In the meantime, the committee’s reports to Faculty Council on its activities since its inception in 2017 are all available on the faculty website. If you are interested in becoming involved with this group, we invite all members of the Daniels community to attend the public portion of their meetings. The next meeting is scheduled for July 9th, 2020 at 4 p.m. Details for this are also forthcoming.

 

• We will establish a more explicit Diversity and Equity administrative support structure, including staff to help us advance and be accountable in these areas, and to further monitor and publicly report on our progress. This will include redoubling our efforts on increasing the diversity of faculty, students and staff.

 

• To create an atmosphere of respect and eliminate bias, we have submitted a formal request to provide anti-racism training for all staff and faculty members who have not already undertaken this training from the University’s Anti-Racism and Cultural Diversity Office. We are also making it mandatory for all current and future staff and faculty members to engage in ongoing training related to Anti-Racism and Cultural Diversity.

 

• To recruit and retain Black students, we are beginning a dialogue with the National Organization of Minority Architects to explore the ways we can partner together, with a particular focus on developing pathways through our summer programs for youth.

 

• To enable change, we are reviewing how our current resources and expertise can address how our curricula and other programming can become more focused on the contemporary and historical intersections between race, social class, colonialist practices, and our design and planning disciplines.

Bringing about change will require discipline, commitment, and collaborative work on all our parts. We need to continue to speak openly, frankly and debate in a civil manner with the discomfort this will sometimes create. We will make mistakes, and we will try to learn from them. But most importantly we have to do better.

Sincerely,

Dean Richard Sommer
incoming Interim Dean Robert Wright
-on behalf of the University’s Leadership Team

The north facade of the Daniels Building is seen by thousands of people — drivers, TTC riders, and pedestrians — every single day. What if it were decorated with a billboard-sized awareness-raising message, or call to action?

The Daniels Art Directive, a student-run art collective, is trying to do just that. The group has issued an open call for north-facade mural designs that respond to architectural or social issues of relevance to the Daniels Faculty. The Daniels community will vote on the design, and then, subject to approval by the dean, it will be installed on the north facade in late summer or early fall.

Students, staff, faculty, and alumni — individually or in teams — are invited to make design submissions by Monday, July 13, using this web form. Each individual or team can make as many as two submissions.

Each design proposal must include the following elements:

• A 50-word statement
• A 17''x17'' line drawing

The final mural will be made up of "pixels" — individual pieces of artwork that, when arranged in a precise way, will form a larger image. (Sort of like when people in a sports arena hold up coloured sheets of paper to spell out a giant word.) Design proposals must also include estimates of the quantity of pixels required, and suggestions for pixel sizes and themes.

Anyone interested in making a design proposal is welcome to join the Daniels Art Directive on Saturday, July 11 for a design workshop, where participants will be able to receive feedback on their designs or form design teams. The workshop will take place on Zoom. For login details, or for Rhino and Illustrator templates or other information, send an email to danielsartdirective@utoronto.ca.

The Architecture and Visual Studies Student Union (AVSSU) has released a statement expressing condemnation of police brutality against Black people and support for the Black Lives Matter movement. The full text of the statement is below:

Dear Daniels Community,

This statement is in response to the ongoing police brutality against Black people and the recent killing of George Floyd. This is a recurring act of systemic anti-Black racism. We would like to, first, extend our sincere condolences and support to the families of the deceased at this time.

Black folks should not live in fear, nor oppression. There is no denial that drastic changes are needed. AVSSU stands in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and our Black students. We are committed to raise awareness, to keep opening conversations, and to work on short, medium, and long-term goals to break the cycle of racism. Most importantly, we are committed to listening to you and supporting you.

Below is a list of free events, resources, and support services to help you during this time:

U of T’s Anti-Racism and Cultural Diversity Office will be holding a series of virtual events for Black and racialized people, as well as their allies. The details for the online meetings can be found below:

• Diversity is not Allyship: How U of T Scarborough can show up for Black Communities, June 10 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.
• Talking about Racism at Home, June 11 from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
• Virtual gathering for Black U of T Mississauga community members through the Black Table Talk Group, date TBD

More information can be found at https://antiracism.utoronto.ca/

St. George campus: Health and Wellness Centre (416-978-8030), located at Koffler Student Services

U of T My SSP for students: Call 1-844-451-9700 or download the app at the Apple App Store or Google Play. Immediate counselling support is available in 35 languages and ongoing support in 146 languages.

Good 2 Talk Student Helpline: 1-866-925-5454. Professional counselling, information, and referrals for mental health, addictions, and well-being.

The Centre for Women and Trans People: University of Toronto, 563 Spadina Avenue, Room 100, North Borden Building, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2J7. Tel: 416-978-8201. Fax: 416-978-1078.

Sexual Violence & Support Centres: 416-978-2266 (all locations) University of Toronto St. George campus, Gerstein Science Information Centre (Gerstein Library), Suite B139.

Other 24-hour support services include:

• Gerstein Crisis Centre: 416-929-5200
• Distress Centres of Greater Toronto: 416-408-HELP (4357)
• The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health at 250 College Street
• Anishnawbe Health Toronto Mental Health Crisis Line: 416-360-0486
• The Employee & Family Assistance Program (EFAP), offered through Homewood Health, online and by phone at 1-800-663-1142

Educational resources:

This is an all-rounded list of petitions you can sign, places where you can donate, ways/resources to educate yourself and more: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-0KC83vYfVQ-2freQveH43PWxuab2uWDEGolzrNoIks/mobilebasic#h.xl72bignk3vp

This document outlines a schedule of educational resources you can read, watch, listen to, and ways you can act for a full month, whether you have 10, 25, or 45 minutes a day: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1H-Vxs6jEUByXylMS2BjGH1kQ7mEuZnHpPSs1Bpaqmw0/mobilebasic#id.2bwn4teflt1v

SPACE/RACE READING LIST, aimed at those of us in the architectural/design field: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1p2GvScemyghCaQVkA3fDTsjqtprk7CPOryZv5-YUTkk/edit

The Criterion Channel has a collection of films highlighting Black lives, which you can watch for free: https://www.criterionchannel.com/browse

Additionally, UofT students have free access to all Criterion Channel films through: https://mediacommons.library.utoronto.ca/criterion-demand

List of Black-owned businesses and restaurants in the GTA, open during the pandemic: https://docs.google.com/document/d/10l7NItyZUoNroE4iLePGn5GAvSuQ7KW5IK4XmOcDSTI/mobilebasic

Please feel free to reach out at any time.

In solidarity we stand,
The AVSSU team

The Graduate Architecture, Landscape, and Design Student Union (GALDSU) has released a statement of support for the Black Lives Matter movement and other protesters seeking justice. The full text of the statement is below:

We, as a council, would like to unequivocally state our support of the Black Lives Matter movement and the protesters who are continually and visibly putting their lives on the line in the pursuit of justice. We acknowledge that our silence makes us complicit in the injustice that Black people face and would like to apologize for the harm this continued silence has already done. To the Black students within our community, we deeply regret our inaction, and we are committed to amplifying your voices. We are pledging to do better and be better as representatives within and for the Daniels Community.

As designers in fields dominated by people with an inordinate amount of privilege, it is imperative that we actively work to recognize and dismantle the systemic and institutional biases that perpetuate racism and all injustices. As the next diverse generation of designers, we will be entrusted with designing spaces that will be accessible to all, regardless of race, age, gender, or ability. Therefore, we must consider the ecological, economic, social, and emotional well being of the communities we impact. Together, we can work to build justice within the environments we create.

White supremacy is deeply rooted in all aspects of our institutions. Police brutality and racial injustice are not new to Black, Brown, Indigenous, and other visible minority groups. It can be hard to know where to start and what actions to take. One of the most important things we can do is to educate ourselves, if we don’t already know, about the histories of racialized oppression that have led to the current context. However, we must also take action. This can be as small as sharing information on social media or signing a petition, and as big as starting discussions in your communities, donating, and most importantly advocating for those around you with the privileges you do have.

The past few months have demonstrated the malleability of our day-to-day lives. Our “new normal” has transformed into one that includes social distancing, masks, and Zoom calls. We can and should examine how we can each actively contribute to dismantling systems and institutions built on white supremacy.

Please take a moment to check out the attached list of resources. We will continue to add to them as we learn about them. As always, our inboxes are open to comments and suggestions about what the GALDSU council can do to work towards a more equitable community.

“You have to act as if it were radically possible to transform the world. And you have to do it all the time.” – Angela Davis

Yours in Solidarity,

Noor Alkhalili, Equity and Diversity Officer 2019

Janice Miyagi, Equity and Diversity Officer 2020

 

And the GALDSU Executive Councils of 2019 & 2020

Adam Krajewski, President

Valerie Marshall, Vice-President

Roman Romanov, Treasurer

Ji Hee Kim, Health and Sustainability Officer

Noor Alkhalili, Equity and Diversity Officer

Jana Nitschke, Social Chair

 

Kurtis Chen, President

Jihee Kim, Vice-President

Ryan Bruer, Treasurer

Juliette Cook, Health and Sustainability Officer

Janice Miyagi, Equity and Diversity Officer

Yasmina Parto, Social Chair

Justin Hung, Secretary

The tragic death of George Floyd and others at the hands of the police has inspired widespread protest in the United States and around the world. These demonstrations speak to systemic racism and entrenched injustice in many societies, including ours. Here in Canada, we, too, must recognize that Black, racialized, and Indigenous people suffer discrimination, abuse and violence at levels and in ways that do not square with the promises and ambitions of our society. The coronavirus pandemic has starkly illuminated the many ways in which the benefits and burdens we purportedly share as a society are in reality, inequitably distributed. It must also amplify our awareness — and our sense of urgency. We cannot wait to work toward something better.

The Daniels community stands in solidarity with all those who are seeking a just society without discrimination. Today, we need to ask: how does our work connect to what is a long struggle for human rights, and how can we help break the cycle of discrimination? We have an obligation to listen, learn, and act.

We work with the built and natural environments, where politics, cultural values, and social privileges are inscribed and perpetuated in the form of our cities and landscapes. Upholding these values and privileges in an unexamined way often results in unfair or misdirected forms of social and environmental investment and stewardship. Our school — and our disciplines more generally — must develop a stronger voice around issues of social welfare, justice, and racial equality. We must create and promote more democratic forms of planning and design.

Among the concrete actions that we know create systemic change are pedagogical reform, recruiting students and faculty from communities and social classes that are not well represented in our disciplines, and making our spaces — both real and virtual — more accessible. We are committed to reviewing and improving our efforts on these fronts.

The University of Toronto, and the Daniels Faculty, already have structures in place to address these issues in meaningful ways. These include the Daniels Diversity and Equity Committee, and our student organizations. Through further dialogue other platforms and processes will emerge. We have work to do.

Richard Sommer
Dean, Professor of Architecture and Urbanism
on behalf of the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design

On June 2, University of Toronto president Meric Gertler released a statement expressing solidarity with protests against anti-Black racism in Canada, the United States, and other countries around the world.

"The University of Toronto shares the profound concerns that have arisen in response to recent events in the United States and here in Toronto," Gertler's statement says. "On behalf of the U of T community, let me repeat in the strongest terms possible our condemnation of anti-Black racism and discrimination."

The full text of Gertler's statement is available on the University of Toronto website. It's also reproduced below:

Statement from President Meric Gertler in solidarity with U of T’s Black community members

The University of Toronto shares the profound concerns that have arisen in response to recent events in the United States and here in Toronto. On behalf of the U of T community, let me repeat in the strongest terms possible our condemnation of anti-Black racism and discrimination.

We stand in solidarity with our Black community members at this extremely difficult time. We recognize that the events of recent weeks have imposed an enormous burden of pain, fear, and anger, in addition to the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 that racialized communities are already experiencing. We also acknowledge that these events are unfolding in a context in which Black people in Canada and around the world continue to be subjected to systemic injustices. We join in demanding justice and working toward lasting change in our society.

I share the intense frustration felt by members of our Black community, along with so many others across the University and well beyond. It is especially important in such times that we reaffirm our institutional commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion; that we support each other and continue working together to confront and eradicate anti-Black racism and all forms of discrimination, both on our campuses and in the world around us.

I would like to thank the many U of T community members who are already engaged in addressing these most urgent and important issues. In particular, I would like to acknowledge the Black Students’ Association, the Black Faculty and Staff Working Group, and the Connections and Conversations Affinity Group for their outstanding courage in speaking up and calling on all of us to work for change. Let me also acknowledge the important work of our institutional equity offices in supporting these efforts.

The Office of the Vice-President, Human Resources and Equity, and the Anti-Racism and Cultural Diversity Office will soon be announcing important tri-campus initiatives in which all members of the University will be invited to take part.

In the meantime, to any members of our community who may be struggling in the wake of recent events, please do not hesitate to reach out. We are committed to supporting you, as we continue to build a caring community across our three campuses. I invite you to access the resources available to you through the University, listed below.

For all students, staff and faculty:

• Anti-Racism and Cultural Diversity Office (located on the St. George Campus)
• UTSC Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
• UTM Equity and Diversity Office

For students:

• Health and Wellness Centre (St. George Campus)
• Health and Wellness Centre (UTSC)
• Health and Counselling Centre (UTM)
• My SSP (support available 24/7/365)

For staff and faculty:

• Employee and Family Assistance Program (support available 24/7/365)

The Daniels Faculty's summer camps are taking place online this year, rather than in person. And our annual camp open house is moving online, as well: anyone interested in learning more about our fun summer programming for children and teens can join us on Facebook Live for live Q&As with camp instructors and staff.

All open houses will take place on Thursday, May 28. Links to the livestreams will be posted on our Facebook event page.

Open house schedule:

Daniels Bootcamp (for late high school students and undergraduates):

• Thursday May 28th, 7 a.m. - Open house with Daniels Faculty associate professor Jeannie Kim
• Thursday May 28th, 4 p.m. - Open house with camp instructor Taylor Gould

Digital Design Camp (for ages 12 to 14):

• Thursday May 28th, 5 p.m. - Open house with camp instructor Laura Fox

Daniels Minecraft Camp (for ages 8 to 14)

• Thursday May 28th, 3 p.m. - Open house with members of U of T eSports

Take me to the Facebook event page

During this summer of social distancing, the Daniels Faculty will be moving its summer camps and workshops online. Canadian Architect magazine has taken notice. They write:

The Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design at the University of Toronto has a variety of offerings. Exploring Careers in Design is a program for late high school and undergraduates interested in a future career architecture. The online program, which will be delivered using tools such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams, will include lectures by practicing architects and faculty, as well as virtual field trips to local buildings and professional offices. The month-long course will also feature one-on-one instruction and feedback, training in representation, model-building, and related skills.

[...]

The Daniels Faculty has two offerings for younger children. Its Digital Design camp, for 12-to-14-year-olds, is a week-long program that introduces participants to Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, and Sketch Up. A new Minecraft Camp, for ages 8 to 14, uses the popular game to explore the fundamentals of visual thinking, urban planning, and environmental planning. The program was developed with University of Toronto eSports.

Read the full article.