The Daniels Faculty's 1987 graduating class in architecture (who attended what was then known as the Faculty of Architecture and Landscape Architecture) had one of the strangest undergraduate experiences in the history of the University of Toronto. In 1986, just as they were settling into the fourth year of their BArch program, a number of long-simmering ideological disputes between architecture faculty members were boiling over.

In frustration, most third- and fourth-year architecture students boycotted that year's option studios, hoping to prod the university administration into making positive change in the architecture program. Instead, on January 23, 1986, U of T president George Connell announced that he and provost Joan Foley would be recommending that the Faculty of Architecture and Landscape Architecture be eliminated altogether, effective in 1990. (Their decision, although undoubtedly related to the turmoil at the faculty, was triggered by a need to conserve resources in an era of scarce government funding for higher education.)

After a year of protest — following a memorable march to Queen's Park, students designed and sold "save the school" buttons and published their own activist broadsheets — U of T abandoned the shutdown plan. The Faculty of Architecture was restructured and saved. The successful fight bonded the class of 1987 so strongly that they still, more than three decades later, gather for an annual holiday meal. Many of them remain close friends.

This year, the class of 1987 proved that they can still act together when it matters. Members of the class collectively raised over $120,000 to put the finishing touches on the graduate student lounge at the Daniels Faculty's new home, the Daniels Building at One Spadina Crescent. As a result of the extraordinary generosity of this special group of alumni, the lounge will now be known as the Architecture Class of 1987 Student Lounge.

On October 4, a group of alumni, as well as a few invited friends, gathered at One Spadina to celebrate the successful fundraising appeal, and the remarkable transformation of their alma mater. Here are a few photos from the night.

Alan Vihant (BArch 1987), with Associate Professor Pina Petricone and the next generation of the Giannone-Petricone family:

Dean Richard Sommer and Dino Dutra (BArch 1987):

Ralph Giannone (BArch 1987), Steph Ginsberg (BArch 1987), Lisa Bate (BArch 1987), and Birgit Siber (BArch 1987):

Marc Van Ginkel (BArch 1988), Alan Vihant (BArch 1987), and Tye Farrow (BArch 1987), who currently serves as president of the University of Toronto Alumni Association:

Sandor Rott (BArch 1987), Sam Saif (BArch 1987), and classmate Peter Tillman:

Dee Dee Taylor Eustace (BArch 1987):

Ralph Giannone (BArch 1987), Marc Van Ginkel (BArch 1988), and Heather Taylor (BArch 1987):

Photographs by John Hryniuk, www.johnhryniuk.com.

Carpenters and Allied Workers Local 27 and Drywall, Acoustic Lathing and Insulation Local 675, along with the Carpenters District Council of Ontario, are generous supporters of the Daniels Faculty Capital Campaign for the renovation and expansion of the Daniels Building, at One Spadina Crescent. In recognition of that generosity, the Daniels Faculty named a classroom — room 215, in the heritage section of One Spadina — the Carpenters Union Classroom.

On September 19, a group of fourth-year students from the College of Carpenters and Allied Trades joined Tony Currie, the college's program director, and Mike Yorke, president of Carpenters Local 27, on a visit to the classroom, where they were welcomed by Bomani Khemet, assistant professor of building science, Daniels Faculty. (Pictured above, to the far right, next to Yorke.)

The group continued their visit by joining 165 third-year architecture undergrads at a presentation by Yorke on the history of wood construction, building materials technology, and mass timber — part of the Structures, Building Systems, and Environments class taught by assistant professor Khemet.

The gathering was a unique opportunity for carpentry students and architecture students, who may eventually be colleagues, to exchange ideas and share experiences in an academic setting.

Superstudio model by Emilie Elspeth Holland, Roman Romanov, Nikolas McGlashan, Clara Bitter

1.  To see what Toronto could look like in the future.
Our student exhibition Toronto Future Tense in room 230, showcases graduate student projects that explore how the GTA could be transformed through new architecture, new urban priorities, and new development strategies.

2.  To get a sneak peak of how the City of Toronto plans to adapt, survive, and thrive in the face of the climate crisis.
On June 4, Toronto will be releasing its first Resilience Strategy, a plan for addressing future challenges — particularly climate change and growing inequities. We’ve partnered with the City on an exhibition that highlights the strategy’s three focus areas: resilient people and neighbourhoods, resilient design and infrastructure, and leading a resilient city.

Image from www.megalodemocrat.com

3.  To be inspired by the social impact of public art.
The documentary Meglalodemocrat: The public art of Rafael Lozano-Hemmer was the winner of Best Canadian Film at the International Festival of Films on Art in 2018. We’ll be screening it here for free both Saturday and Sunday at 2:00pm. Director Benjamin Duffield will be on site Saturday to introduce the film and participate in a brief Q&A.

Watch the trailer here.

4.   To build a city and fly a drone with your kids!
Students aged 7-11 years old and their parents are invited to attend a kid-focused workshop led by our students in room 330. The workshops are first-come, first served and will be held at 10am and 2pm daily. Get a taste of the fun that will be had at our summer camps for kids starting this July.

Click here to learn more about our new summer camps for kids.

5.  To purchase the new Campus Guidebook for the University of Toronto
U of T’s three campuses are full of architectural gems. Learn about them all (including One Spadina) in the new edition of The Campus Guide by Professor Emeritus Larry Wayne Richards and take yourself on a tour.

Image from the Toronto Public Library Archives

6.  To learn about the incredible history of One Spadina Crescent
Did you know that One Spadina was once a military hospital where Amelia Earhart was said to have volunteered, or that insulin (discovered by two U of T scientists, Frederick Banting and Charles Best) was once manufactured here, or that the building was once home to an eye bank? Learn more about the Daniels Building’s unique history in room 300.

Photo by Pooya Aledavood

7.   To view not one, but two Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival exhibitions
Back/Fill by Susan Dobson pays homage to Toronto’s Leslie Street Spit and the cyclical nature of our built environment with its phases of demolition, construction, preservation, and renovation. Working Spaces | Civic Settings: Jože Plečnik in Ljubljana by Toronto’s first Photo Laureate, Geoffrey James explores the extraordinary architectural works that transformed the city of Ljubljana over nearly three decades.

Read more about our CONTACT exhibitions here.

8.   To learn about our undergraduate and graduate programs in architecture, landscape architecture, art, and urban design.
Not only will student work be on display throughout the building, but students and staff will be on hand to answer any questions you might have about what it’s like to study at the Daniels Faculty and how to apply.

Find out more about our programs here.

Photo by Nic Lehoux

9.   To get the perfect Instagram photo.
Designed by NADAAA, with Adamson & Associates, ERA Archiects, and landscape architects public work, the Daniels Building has received numerous awards and accolades. You’ll want to capture the incredible origami-like ceiling in the Graduate design studio, the colourful fins in our Main Hall, and the historic hallway, staircase and windows. And don’t miss the unique views down the centre of Spadina Avenue. On a clear day, you can see all the way to the lake.

Tag us using the hashtags #OneSpadina #UofTDaniels #UofTDoorsOpen and #DOT19. We’ll share our favourites on our own account @UofTDaniels

The John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design is pleased to partner with the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival to bring two unique exhibitions to the Daniels Building at 1 Spadina Crescent.

Although distinct in context and scale, both exhibitions, which run May 1 to July 12, explore the materials, craft, culture, history, and infrastructure of our urban landscapes in ways that surprise, delight, and cast a new light on their subject matter.

In addition, the Spotlight Lecture featuring Carrie Mae Weems — presented by the University of Toronto’s Art Museum and CONTACT in collaboration with the Daniels Faculty — will take place May 4 at 4:00pm in the Daniels Faculty’s Main Hall. Click here to purchase your ticket to the lecture.

Back/Fill, featuring work by Guelph-based artist Susan Dobson, explores the detritus of Toronto through images of construction debris dumped at the Leslie Street Spit — the five kilometre-long artificial peninsula and wilderness reserve known as Tommy Thompson Park. Featuring a massive panoramic mural adhered to the north elevation of the new Daniels Building in between two sloped earth walls, Dobson’s images reveal layers of rubble, creating the illusion that the area has been backfilled with material culled from 1 Spadina’s recent construction and renovation. With large-scale photographs also mounted inside the building, the project raises questions about the cyclical nature of the built environment’s material character, with its phases of demolition, construction, preservation, and renovation.    

Featuring work by Geoffrey James, Toronto’s first Photo Laureate, Working Spaces | Civic Settings: Jože Plečnik in Ljubljana traces the work of the brilliant, but little-known architect Jože Plečnik (1875-1957), whose transformation of sites in the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana, created a series of remarkable civic settings, infrastructural projects, and buildings. Made with a hand-held camera, James’ images avoid the rigid conventions of architectural photography, capturing Plečnik’s idiosyncratic architectural expression, from intimate details to the urban-scale. Presented in the Daniels Faculty’s new Larry Wayne Richards Gallery, still photographs and photographs on multiple digital screens show the everyday use of Plečnik’s highly successful social spaces.

The opening reception for both Back/Fill and Working Spaces | Civic Settings: Jože Plečnik in Ljubljana will take place Thursday, May 9 from 6:00pm to 8:00pm. Registration will be required for this event. Reserve your ticket on the registration page.

Back/Fill
May 1 – July 12
Curated by Bonnie Rubenstein and Laura Miller
Daniels Commons, 1 Spadina Crescent
Opening reception: Thursday, May 9, 6:00pm
Exhibition hours: Monday – Friday, 10am – 5pm

Working Spaces | Civic Settings: Jože Plečnik in Ljubljana
May 1 – July 12
Curated by Laura Miller
Larry Wayne Richards Gallery
Opening reception: Thursday, May 9, 6:00pm
Exhibition hours: Monday – Friday, 10am – 5pm

Spotlight Lecture: Carrie Mae Weems
Saturday, May 4, 4:00 – 6:00pm
Daniels Building, Main Hall, 1 Spadina Crescent
$15 and $8 for students/under-waged
Presented by the Art Museum at the University of Toronto and CONTACT

On Thursday, April 18, the Daniels Faculty was pleased to welcome the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, the Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell, to One Spadina to meet with students and faculty, and attend some thesis reviews.

Dean Richard Sommer, together with Master of Architecture student James Bird, brought Her Honour to the Graduate Design Studio, to meet Associate Professor Mason White see some student work.

White shared details on his experiences teaching and conducting design research in the arctic — the subject of the exhibition he curated with his design practice Lateral Office for Canadian Pavillion at the Venice Biennale in 2014. Titled Arctic Adaptations: Nunavut at 15, the exhibition was honoured with a “Special Mention” by the Biennale jury.

Her Honour also met first year MArch student Stephen Caddy, and second year MArch students Raymond Garrioch and Nassim Sani, who showed her some of their recent work.

Afterwards, she sat in on Nicholas Ager's Master of Architecture final thesis review presentation. Titled The Common School, Ager's project proposed a design for a new primary public school that encourages cross-generational discourse and intersectional programming in a underserved Chicago neighbourhood.

Associate Professor Liat Margolis also met with the Lieutenant Governor to share some of the initiatives she has undertaken to engage Indigenous youth in architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design. Margolis spoke of the success of the youth employment and mentorship program launched last summer in collaboration with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority and the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto. Now called Nikibii Dawadinna Giiway (which means Flooded Valley Healing in Anishinaabemowin, Manitoulin dialect), the program returns again this summer and is currently recruiting applicants.

Later, Margolis introduced Her Honour to Master of Landscape Architecture student Devin Tepleski before the presentation of his final thesis: New Ground, Healing Wounds: The Mnemonics of Landscape Scars at Giant Mine, Yellowknife, NT.

"Inclusion, creativity, & design are all central to the work @UofTDaniels," wrote Her Honour on twitter following the visit, "amazing to see how future architects are tackling issues as diverse as public schools in Chicago & mine reclamation in the NWT, all while drawing inspiration from the process of Indigenous reconciliation."

Photos by Harry Choi

The renovation and expansion of One Spadina Crescent for the University of Toronto's John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design (DFALD) embodies a holistic approach to sustainable design... Design strategies were multifaceted to address environmental, economic, and social values. One example of this is the new, dynamic ceiling on the third floor of the new addition. Using the cantilevered structural logic of the Firth of Forth Bridge, the ceiling of the studio is shaped to integrate daylighting, hydrological control, and structural optimization, creating a desirable space that engages the senses while simultaneously saving energy and water and serving as a pedagogical tool. For years, many initiatives have attempted to preserve, reuse, and repurpose One Spadina Crescent. This project has revived the site and offers a north face for the first time in its history. The preservation of the north addition will have value in how it establishes a dialogue with the urban and campus context and serves as a critical piece of infrastructure for the city of Toronto.

 

The team behind the recent restoration and expansion of the Daniels Building at One Spadina Crescent recently received the Lieutenant Governor’s Ontario Heritage Award for Excellence in Conservation. The project’s heritage consultants, ERA Architects; design architects, NADAAA; and the University of Toronto were the joint recipients for this prestigious provincial honour, which was announced this past January by Ontario Heritage Trust.

Presented annually at Queen’s Park, these awards were established “recognize exceptional contributions to heritage conservation, environmental sustainability and biodiversity, and cultural and natural heritage.” Ontario Heritage was established by a provincial act in 1990 to preserve Ontario’s significant cultural heritage and educate the public on its history.

ERA Architects highlighted some of the aspects of the project they felt made this project so impactful within Toronto’s urban landscape:

The recent renewal of the south-facing 19th-century Gothic revival building and contemporary addition – home to the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design – is a showcase for the city and an international focal point for education and research on architecture, art and the future of cities. The rehabilitation and new addition at One Spadina Crescent provides a significant expansion to the heritage building for use by the faculty and its students as design studios, fabrication shops, a multi-functional principal hall, library programs, social spaces and offices. The addition was conceived to fill in the “U”-shaped space vacated by demolition of previous additions to the original 1874 Knox College on its north side, thereby preserving the original heritage structure and integrating existing and new program space for optimal use of the finite site.

Read More about One Spadina Crescent, and view the full list of awards the Daniels Building has received to date.

On January 11, the Daniels Faculty was pleased to host friends and family of Dr. Eberhard Zeidler (Hon. DArch 1989) and Mrs. Jane Zeidler (MA 1989) to recognize the couple’s remarkable philanthropy and investment in the University of Toronto.

Thanks to a generous gift from Eberhard and Jane, the Daniels Faculty has been able to make a significant investment in the revitalization of One Spadina Crescent and its new library and reading room, which have been named the Eberhard Zeidler Library and Zeidler Family Reading Room in their honour.

“I can say with confidence that this is now the most extensive and nicest library within a school of architecture in Canada,” said Dean Richard Sommer at the celebratory event.

The new Eberhad Zeidler Library in the Daniels Building is part of the University of Toronto Library system, which is the largest in Canada and third-largest in North America, after Harvard and Yale. With resources in both analog and digital, it features more than 37,000 volumes — including periodicals and journals, as well as maps, drawings, and manuscripts — that focus on contemporary architecture and design. There is also a dedicated space for the Faculty’s treasured special collections.

“As Canada’s oldest and leading school of architecture in Canada, it was very important to create an inspiring physical space for our collections embedded within our new school,” said Dean Sommer. “Though the study and practice of architecture has changed significantly, books and the spaces that contain them still matter — maybe even more than before. Architecture requires the study of precedents and traditions to inform, challenge, and advance the discipline and, alongside buildings and landscapes, books embody and preserve certain histories”

Photos 1 & 4 by John Horner; Photos 2 & 3 by Nic Lehoux

The Zeidler Family Reading Room provides a quiet place for reflection and study in what was once the refectory of the Knox College Theological Seminary, built in 1875. Thanks to Eberhard and Jane’s generosity, the Daniels Faculty has been able to extend the public hours into the evening and remain open 24/7 for its students. Members of the surrounding community and design professionals are regulars here, inspiring the Faculty to explore ways to build on these learning and enrichment opportunities with the new Daniels Building.

“Well before the dedication of these spaces, the name and influence of Eberhard Zeidler was firmly ensconced in the school’s history, as it is in this city and country,” said Dean Sommer. An internationally recognized architect, Dr. Zeidler is well known in Toronto and beyond for designing the Toronto Eaton’s Centre and Ontario Place, among other prominent sites. “Together, Eb and Jane have been a consistent highly-engaged and supportive presence at the school over many years, attending design reviews, critiques, public lectures, and symposia.”

The couple’s previous gifts include the establishment of the Eberhard Zeidler Scholarship which provides essential support to our students. As philanthropists to the University of Toronto, their benevolence includes investments in the visual arts and early childhood development.

Eberhard received an honorary Doctor of Architecture from the University of Toronto in 1989, following many years of professional practice and teaching in the University of Toronto’s architecture program, first as a visiting lecturer and critic, and then as an Adjunct Professor from 1983 to 1995. Jane attained a Master of Arts degree in Art History from U of T in 1989.

Architecture, design, and the art of cities is a family affair. Daughter, Margie, is a respected alumna of the Daniels Faculty, receiving her Bachelor of Architecture degree from U of T in 1987. Their other children, Robert, Kate, and Christina have made their own contributions to the built environment and civic life.

To mark the occasion, guests at the January 11 celebratory event were invited to sign a copy of Dr. Zeidler’s recent book Buildings, Cities, Life. A copy of this book with its dedications will be proudly displayed in the Eberhard Zeidler Library’s collections.

The Daniels Building at One Spadina was recently honoured as a finalist for Building of the Year as part of the 2018 AN Best Design Awards.  These awards, now in their sixth year, are a unique project-based awards program that showcases great buildings, building elements, interiors, and installations. Additionally, The Architects Newspaper (AN) panel awarded the Daniels Faculty the top honours in the education category, alongside notable buildings from UCSB and Carnegie Mellon University.

In their announcement of the winners, AN’s William Menking and Matt Shawn said that the final decision was a close one:
 

For our Building of the Year award, our esteemed jury was fiercely divided between two exemplary but very different projects. The final debate came down to SCHAUM/SHIEH’s Transart Foundation—a private gallery across from the Menil campus in Houston—and NADAAA’s Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design at the University of Toronto. SCHAUM/SHIEH’s relatively small but mighty building employs punched-through balconies and a blurred program to utilize the space to maximum effect. Meanwhile, NADAAA’s extension and renovation of a 19th-century neo-Gothic building includes dramatic, complex lunettes that let in Aalto-esque light. In the end, the jury chose the scrappy Houston project, but the decision really could have gone either way.
 

The John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design celebrated the official opening of One Spadina on November 17, 2017. Designed by Nader Tehrani and Katherine Faulkner, principals of the internationally acclaimed firm NADAAA — in collaboration with Architect-of-record Adamson & Associates, landscape architects Public Work, and heritage architects ERA — the revitalized One Spadina is an urban design exemplar and catalyst for the transformation of U of T’s western edge on the Spadina corridor. The Daniels Building at One Spadina is a showcase for the city and the University, and a world-leading venue for studying, conducting research, and advocating for architecture, landscape, and sustainable urbanization.

Learn more about the One Spadina project