At the start of the 2023-24 school year, Onu Okoli boarded a flight from her home in South Africa, her life packed into several suitcases, ready to begin her studies in Toronto. We get a firsthand view of Okoli’s journey in the 22-minute documentary International Students: First 48 Hours in Canada. Now in her second year of the Bachelor of Arts in Architectural Studies (BAAS) program at the Daniels Faculty, Okoli reflects on her experiences as an international student at the University of Toronto, offering valuable insights for others considering a similar path. 

From grappling with the decision to pursue architecture to settling into residence and immersing herself in the vibrant culture of Toronto, Okoli shares her perspective on life as a student in one of the world’s most diverse and exciting cities.

To go back to the beginning: What influenced your decision to study at the University of Toronto? Was architecture always the subject that you wanted to pursue?

I honestly was not certain about what I wanted to study, and struggled a lot to make the decision as I was finishing high school. It always seemed like a far away idea that I had played around with in thought, but then suddenly I was confronted with the need to make a decision when university applications started opening up. I think I always knew deep down inside I wanted to pursue architecture, I just kept ignoring and avoiding it because I didn't know much about architecture at all. I had never even met an architect in person and thought it was an unrealistic desire. Eventually, after many hours spent on aptitude tests, and long, hard conversations with those close to me, I dove head first into my pursuit of becoming an architect.

I grew up in South Africa but was always very interested in studying abroad and experiencing life in another country while completing my studies. Eventually, along my long and wide search through hundreds of universities, I came across University of Toronto's Architectural Studies program at Daniels and really liked the idea of studying in the center of a city as bustling as Toronto and a school as notable as the University of Toronto. I did not expect to get in whatsoever but still submitted my portfolio by compiling my best works and was lucky enough to be afforded this opportunity. 

In the documentary International Students: First 48 Hours in Canada, you shared your journey to Canada from South Africa (including the airline losing your luggage!) After filming stopped, how did you find settling into your new home on campus? 

Settling into residence was surprisingly one of the most exciting parts of my journey. Living in residence, surrounded by other first-year students who were often new to the city or even the country, gave me the chance to explore the city with others and slowly learn our way around. The first few weeks in residence were filled with excitement, and I had the opportunity to make new friends and try new things. 

Being so close to campus made life much more convenient, especially as an architecture student, traveling back and forth with huge rolls of paper and models. Residence life has definitely been a big part of my journey here—so much so that I’m now working as a Don, which is pretty funny considering where I started.

What are your top tips for future international students thinking of attending U of T or the Daniels Faculty in the fall? Was there one thing in particular that prepared you the most before you left home?

I think you just have to dive into the process head first. No matter how many “days in my life as a U of T” student videos I watched or how many notebooks and drawing materials I packed, nothing can really prepare you for an experience as new as university life. 

I think it takes some adjusting, especially coming from a different country, but it's important to remind yourself that you were admitted into the school for a reason. The University of Toronto receives over 150,000 applications each year, meaning that someone clearly thought you were capable of and highly deserving of the chance to be here. Trust in yourself and try your best! Everything will eventually end up just fine. 

Now that you’ve made it through your first year in the BAAS program here at Daniels (and first semester of second year), what has been your favourite course so far? 

ARC200 Drawing and Representation II was definitely one of my favourite courses so far. We had the opportunity to choose a study street anywhere in Toronto and complete a set of studies on it, culminating in us providing a proposal for the site. Me and my partner chose a portion of Danforth under the Greektown BIA. I've now visited that area a dozen times and could probably map it from memory but the experience of being there, talking to locals and even eating amazing Greek food on the street patio will stay with me forever.

This project gave me the opportunity to explore a new side of the city in extreme depth. Lectures were very enjoyable because it taught me a lot about Toronto as a city and how it developed along with its main streets. My instructor, Reza Nik, was extremely encouraging, making the course enjoyable every step of the way,  and I am proud of the work we produced in the end.

Project drawings by Okoli for ARC200 Drawing and Representation II.

What's the most surprising thing you’ve learned? 

I think the most surprising thing I’ve learned is just how diverse Toronto is. Coming from South Africa, I didn’t expect such a mix of cultures, and it’s been pretty cool to see how much I can learn from meeting people from all over.

What are you excited about as you look ahead to summer and your third year on campus? 

I look forward most to the weather warming up again! It's definitely still going to take a long while for me to get used to the cold and the snow. I'm really excited for the summer to recharge and explore more of Toronto. As for third year, I’m looking forward to having a more tailored academic experience with streams being introduced. It will be interesting to see how things develop. I’m also excited to continue meeting new people and simply gaining more life experiences.

It feels like every year brings something new and challenging, and I can’t wait to see what this next one holds!

For the multidisciplinary artist Cassils, who joined the Daniels Faculty’s Visual Studies department as an associate professor last summer, practicing art is a long game requiring passion, imagination and vision.  “You also have to have strategy, tenacity and a thick skin,” they say.

Among those qualities, skin is an especially apt reference point for the transgender artist, who makes their own body “the material and protagonist” of their work. Incorporating live performance, film, sound, sculpture and photography, it has been performed and exhibited in galleries and performance venues from Philadelphia to Perth, garnering prestigious grants and awards along the way.

On March 5, Cassils (pictured above) will present an overview of their multifaceted oeuvre, which they characterize as “a form of social sculpture,” as part of the Winter 2024 MVS Proseminar series. The talk, which is free of charge and open to all, will take place in the Main Hall of the Daniels Building at 6:30 p.m.

In anticipation of the event, Cassils took the time to ruminate on their experience at U of T so far, their desire to enhance somatic learning at Daniels and more.

You joined the Daniels Faculty as an associate professor in July. What has your experience been like so far?

The students at Daniels are so big hearted, open minded and gracious. I have felt lucky to work with them.

What will your talk on March 5 cover?

It will be an overview of my art practice as it intersects with performance, protest, community building and the fostering and importance of compassion and love in dark times.

For the uninitiated, how would you characterize your practice? What themes or issues are addressed by it?

I am a transgender artist who makes my own body the material and protagonist of my performances. My art contemplates the history(s) of LGBTQI+ violence, representation, struggle, survival, empowerment and systems of care. I see performance as a form of social sculpture: Drawing from the idea that bodies are formed in relation to forces of power and social expectations, my work excavates historical contexts to examine the present moment. 

What will some your priorities be as an instructor at Daniels?

I am interested in utilizing my many years as an embodied practitioner to support somatic and experimental ways of learning that heighten the creative process. I hope to be a force of solidarity and for marginalized students and to bring with me a pedagogy informed by real living artist practices that operate outside traditional cis, white, colonized, heterosexual norms. 

The Visual Studies department at Daniels is unique within the Faculty and among university programs generally. How do you see your role within it? And what would you say to any budding artists or curators who are thinking of studying with us?

My role it to model what it takes to be a real living artist operating in the world as well as to foster the unique vision and talents of each student. Art is a long game and you have to have passion, imagination and vision. You also have to have strategy, tenacity and a thick skin.

Being a Visual Studies student allows you access to a cohort of peers. The best way to get things done as an artist is to shuck the ego-based emphasis of certain aspects of the art world and build your own community, your own networks of mutual aid. Working together in and outside class gives us a unique opportunity to foster these connections. We are stronger together.

Portrait by Robin Black

If you’ve walked through the Larry Wayne Richards Gallery in the past month, you’ve likely noticed the collection of unusual bits of wood, smelled the faint aroma of pine needles or even caught Zac Mollica at work in a full-scale replica of his workshop.  

Together, these elements make up the exhibition USING TREES AS THEY ARE, an eclectic compilation of Mollica’s research working hands-on with trees over the past 10 years.

We caught up with him to talk trees ahead of his public lecture on February 26. 

The exhibition is part of the research and teaching that you have undertaken as an Emerging Architect Fellow. Can you elaborate on how the exhibition is a reflection of this work? 

The Emerging Architect Fellowship has provided me an exceptional opportunity to both continue to develop new work and, critically, to reflect on and learn from an absurdly productive period of ambitious building projects that I had the privilege to be involved in, and eventually to lead, while teaching at the Architectural Association.

Before coming back to Toronto in 2021, I spent seven years living in Hooke Park, a 350-acre working forest operated by the AA as an unusual second home. There I was immersed in an alternative world of wood building, simultaneously increasing my skills in using traditional tools and processes while also becoming an expert at applying new computational tools in parallel. In 2015, we finished the Tree Fork Truss, a central work in my career. In collaboration with a hugely diverse team of experts, in the following years we would deliver full-scale buildings annually, with each demonstrating research into how we might better build with wood. Despite this productivity, time was constantly short to step back from the work and reflect.  

At Daniels, I have had the privilege to digest the incredible amount learned in those seven years lost in the woods, and to explore what it means to continue to develop this research in an urban context. Initially defined by my relationship to trees standing around me, my thinking in the last year has adapted to seeing material all around me—harvesting furniture, tree limbs and anything else we can find to use carefully in designs. 

The exhibition currently on view presents all of this together. It starts with a series of short observations from the last 10 years working hands-on with trees. In the second section, I have selected 350 photographs that prefer process to finished product—quick snaps that capture an important building moment, wondrous trees and many other things.

Further on, I have recreated at full scale the home workshop that I have progressively built in a back bedroom in our home in Toronto. In the final area, I have presented 16 very particular pieces of wood for visitors’ consideration and touch. We have come too often to see wood as a rectangular-ish thing that comes from the shop. Central to this entire work is to remind and reflect on the fact that wood comes from trees, and that it can be worked with in many forms! 

You're working on-site in the gallery during the exhibition's run. Tell us a bit more about your intentions to turn the space into a functional workshop. 

This bit of the exhibition has been such fun. As I schemed up a plan for the exhibition I would install to mark my fellowship role at Daniels, it became essential to depict processes and messiness over cleaned up finished results. When I realized the middle bay of the LWR gallery was the exact same size as my home workshop, my mind was made up.

My desire in working in the space has been to demonstrate rather than describe the way that I work, and to be able throughout January and February to have conversations with visitors about the show. As well, I wanted the show to evolve throughout the two months, and believe that it will only be complete as we head into the lecture I will give on February 26. 

USING TREES has been a multifaceted endeavor for you while at the Daniels Faculty. Can you speak to how all of these elements have informed each other? And what do you hope to be the outcome of your research? 

@UsingTrees has become a big umbrella to cover and somehow bring together a wide range of efforts and small projects under one central idea. At the core is a desire to use raw materials in ways that are close to their natural forms and best properties. Surrounding this is an alternative approach showing how we can design starting from material and an array of what I have come to refer to as tools for close observation—processes and implements that enable incredibly close working.  

The MARC studio, summer design-build program and seminar courses have each provided an opportunity to share and test out new methods—critically, assigning work to students that I don’t know quite what to expect from. 

Asked several years ago, I would have told you that I hoped the outcome of my work would be to inspire and produce a range of wooden structures made from forked and otherwise weird bits of tree. With enough time to think, it has become clear that the ambition for me is far wider and a lot more diffuse. Though a rapidly changing climate has become a common part of our discourse in design schools, we don’t often acknowledge just how bad even the best of our green buildings continue to be for the planet. And so, while I don’t have an easy answer for how we lessen the harm of the act of building at the scale we need to, I believe that a fundamental contribution I can make is to train and demonstrate better ways of seeing, and to help students to develop closer relationships to materials and landscapes. 

At the end of the day, this work is me sharing in public my utter beguilement and love for trees and their products. Here are the oldest living beings on Earth who helped to create the atmosphere that allows us to breathe. There is far more that we can do to make the best use of the products they offer us. 

USING TREES AS THEY ARE is on view until February 26. Register for the corresponding public lecture here.

Between analog and digital, home workshops and design-build studios, Zachary Mollica has been using trees in all aspects of his teaching and research since joining the Daniels Faculty last year as an Emerging Architect Fellow. 

An architect, maker and educator, Mollica had previously been Warden of the Architectural Association’s woodland campus in England and founding director of the AA Wood Lab before returning home to Canada in 2022.

The two-year Emerging Architect Fellowship Award, a non-tenure appointment at the rank of Assistant Professor, was established by the Daniels Faculty to offer early-career architects an opportunity to teach in a supportive environment as well as the resources to develop focused research. 

Now entering the second year of his Fellowship, Mollica reflected recently on his first 12 months at U of T and shared what’s coming up. 

What area of research did you explore during the first year of your Emerging Architect Fellowship? 

My work this past year has been primarily concerned with trees (of all sorts), wood and building. These three have admittedly been my key focus areas for years now, but in returning home to Toronto for the inaugural Emerging Architect Fellowship at Daniels, I have taken the opportunity to study and begin to work with wood and tree pieces specifically found around the city. This has included both receiving big bits of trees from arborists and finding lots of interesting wooden furniture in need of repair or deconstruction near our school.  

I’ve also been working on a few large-scale maps and diagrams of the relations between Toronto’s trees, streets and history of landscape change. Throughout these kinds of works, I apply 3D scanning and other tools of close observation to work in reaction to specific rather than generic materials with minimal energy. 

The fellowships also involve teaching both undergraduate and graduate students. What courses did you teach and what has the experience been like? 

I had two courses in the first year. Last July, I had the opportunity to lead a two-week design-build studio in Wellington, Ontario. Joined by a crew of 12 motivated undergraduate students and a teaching assistant, Zakir Hamza, we had two weeks to sketch out, detail and construct a new gatehouse for a community-run beach. The result was a fantastic bright little yellow hut (pictured below) that unfolds to provide protection from sun and wind.  

Through the fall and winter, I then headed up the Using Trees in the City Master of Architecture research studio (@usingtrees), a third-year course that supports the development of students’ individual thesis projects over two terms.

In term one, students were led through a fast-paced series of hands-on projects during which their thesis topics emerged. Through term two, the students and I worked collaboratively on their main project, seeking out expert guidance from individuals within our diverse faculty and beyond. I was blown away by the results students achieved in our first year (shown in the slideshow below) and am looking forward to round two with a new group next year. 

Here’s what we did in short: 

• [Student] Chunying deconstructed and remade IKEA furniture to understand/expose its processes. 
• Jiashu engaged the characteristics of birch bark and traditions to propose a new cladding. 
• Jin exposed the qualities of old wood through a series of artifacts made from salvage. 
• Lulu exploited wood’s elastic properties to make temporary shelters with minimal material. 
• Pablo prototyped a tree-climbing machine to take photogrammetry scans in tree crowns. 
• Sam designed uses for the parts of conifer trees neglected by the industry. 
• Tingxu crafted staircases designed to take advantage of non-linear wood grain. 
• Xiaoyu imagined new programs for deteriorating wood barns across Ontario. 
• Xuansong studied the circular materials to be found in common Toronto house types. 
• Yi observed and engaged broadly with processes of soil erosion in the Don Valley. 
• Yinuo worked to develop long-life applications for the lowest-quality paper and wood fibre. 

Your fellowship project will ultimately be exhibited and disseminated within and beyond Daniels. Any hints on what it might look like or involve? 

My way of working is both very analog and very digital. In drawing (illustrated below), I use up a tonne of graph paper as well as straining my eyes interrogating high-resolution 3D scans of forests on a screen. In making, I use hand tools from my grandfather as well as digital fabrication equipment.

My intention for the exhibition and publication that will come out of this fellowship is to demonstrate all these methods together—and the value I see in their combination—through a series of Toronto-centric studies of landscape, trees and wood building. During the fellowship, I have set up a rather lovely home workshop tailored exactly to my range of methods (and pictured in the banner image at the top of this page) that I also have schemes to try to share an experience of with visitors to the exhibition.  

What have been some of the highlights of your time at the Faculty to date? 

There has been plenty of good this year, but a few come to mind. 

• Wrapping up last summer's design-build project at 9:00 p.m. on a Friday night on the beach with headlights pointed at the build was the right kind of way to jump into this new role. 
• In joining Daniels, I now work with colleagues who are old friends made in Halifax, Vancouver, Germany and London. And that’s a treat. 
• Our first project for the Using Trees studio, Stoop, was a special one. It saw each student tasked to find disused wood furniture on the streets, to bring these back to school and then have some fun interrogating them. 
• Participating in conversations and evening events organized by our students in groups like the FLL and AVSSU. I have been beyond impressed to find our students leading the push for critical discussions on the future of building. 

What’s on the horizon for your second year? 

Year two is exciting. For teaching, I have a design-build this summer where we are going to bring some big bits of tree to examine and create with together in the Daniels workshops. Then in the fall, I have the fun of teaching both first-year undergraduates and a second run through the research studio sequence with a new group of third-year MARC students taking on their theses. 

For research, I want to make a particular push on finishing up and making available a set of teaching resources for unusual wood design projects I have been working on. A sort of reflection on the last 10 years’ worth of unusual wood projects I have participated in, and an attempt to make these valuable to others. 

As the 2022/2023 academic year closes, we asked 10 recent graduates to reflect on their time at the Daniels Faculty. From courses that changed the way they think about their field to the advice they’d share with new students and what the future holds, their responses were incisive and insightful. Take a look at what they had to say.

Angela Yue Gou (she/her)
Program: Master of Architecture   
Hometown: Lanzhou, China  
 
Were you involved with any clubs or organizations at Daniels?  

I have been involved with GALDSU for the past three years and am lucky to have had the chance to serve as president in my final year of studies. Being involved with the school community has been one of the most memorable and enriching experiences of my life.    

Did you have a favourite project and/or course?  

From designing the Mohawk Cultural Centre for ARC1012 (Design Studio II) led by Professor Adrian Phiffer to the House for Piranesi: Drawing as Thesis led by Professor John Shiner, these courses, profs and classmates that I have met have inspired and encouraged me to push my boundaries of how to think about design.   

What community-based or international experience did you acquire?  
 
I have been able to be part of the Little Jamaica Outreach program—an Engage Design Build Project in collaboration with Daniels and high school students from the Toronto District School Board—led by Professor Michael Piper and Otto Ojo.  

We worked with students through various design and construction workshops, tours and events with stakeholders in their local community to help foster design interest and help them create an end of year showcase. It was very inspiring to see the future generation engage with design and explore its career possibilities.   
 
Any tips for current or future students?
 
Be proactive and be open to new ideas, perspectives and information. Join clubs that you are interested in and be involved with the school community, as you will meet and learn from so many people through these activities. Don’t be afraid to reach out for support and support those around you as the journey is much more enjoyable taken with others. Most importantly, enjoy and have fun with your time at Daniels!   

Callum Gauthier (he/him) 
Program: Bachelor of Arts in Architectural Studies
History and Theory Specialist stream 
Hometown: Merrickville, Ontario  

What is your favourite memory of the Daniels Faculty?  

I loved working in the studio with friends and peers at crunch times throughout my degree. Though I was more often writing than working on models and drawings, it was great to be in a space that was so social and supportive—and where I could bug my friends in the Design stream for Photoshop help when I was making something visual. Our Faculty studies the importance of spaces and places, so it was great to experience a school culture so meaningfully tied to its spaces.  

Did you have a favourite project and/or course?  

Architecture and Media (ARC353), taught by Mary Lou Lobsinger, was an incredible course that offered challenging and enriching ways of thinking about architecture. I found the short writing assignments, in response to course readings, were very helpful in developing my writing: a skill that everyone in the disciplines of architecture and design—not just historians and critics—should constantly be working on.  

What are some of your future plans?  

I’ll be starting a master's degree in Critical, Curatorial and Conceptual Practices at Columbia University’s GSAPP in September. I’m very excited to continue my development as an architectural researcher, and maybe work in exhibition or publication during and after that degree. I think soon after that I may do a Ph.D. in Architectural History, but I’ll have to see where my research takes me.  

Any tips for current or future students?  

Don’t be afraid to explore different types of courses and broaden your horizons, especially in the early years of undergrad. Bachelor’s degrees are a great time to develop your critical thinking, communication and values; ideally, this should be as much, if not more, of a focus than developing specific skills for the professional world. Having a broad knowledge base and keen cultural awareness will make you a better designer, artist or architect in the long run, and better candidates for graduate programs. 

Nazanin Naserian (she/her)
Program: Bachelor of Arts in Visual Studies  
Hometown: Tehran, Iran; Toronto, Ontario 
 
Did you have a favourite project and/or course?  

My favourite classes were those that challenged me while also allowing me to experiment with new mediums and reimagine new ways of interpreting the world around me. Contemporary Printing (VIS209) in particular gave me a renewed appreciation for printmaking and how, in collaboration with textiles, it can be a way to link past and present experiences in a process-oriented and tactile way.  
 
What are some of your future plans?  

My future plans include finding a place in a community where I can work with others to realize a collective artistic vision. I can’t imagine a future where I’m not a creative and don’t get to witness others’ artistic processes. Daniels has taught me that, despite my introverted nature, I find great joy and fulfillment in working together with others to create something bigger than one individual could. 

Any tips for current or future students?  

Even though it’s easier said than done, try to enjoy the process as much as the final product/vision. Your process does not always have to consist of working on your individual project without breaks; it can also include connecting with others in their processes and any difficulties they may be experiencing. In other words, your friends and classmates are a part of your journey and growth as much as you are! 

Samantha Miotto (she/her)
Program: Master of Landscape Architecture 
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario 

Were you involved with any clubs or organizations at Daniels?  

I was part of the mentorship program during my first year and I highly recommend it. The program was a great way to get to know each other, upper-year classmates, and learn from their experiences.  

Did you have a favourite project and/or course?  

Design Studio II was a favourite for so many reasons. The theme focused on Indigenous culture and knowledge, and taught us to navigate the ever-present relationship between culture and landscape. The process involved a lot of unlearning and relearning to see the world through a non-Western lens, understanding reciprocal relationships between people and plants, and curating meaningful, purposeful material and plant palettes. I feel like this studio truly taught me to see the world through a different lens and its teachings resonate with me still to this day. 

What community-based or international experience did you acquire?  

In my third year at Daniels, I had the opportunity to travel to Vietnam through my Option Studio. It was a great way to learn about landscape practices around the world, especially regarding global issues such as coastal flooding and stormwater management. The studio was driven by community-based solutions and engagement with local residents while in Vietnam. I feel like the studio fostered community-led growth, which is crucial if we want to design landscapes that last for generations. 

Any tips for current or future students?  

Enjoy the experience and soak it all in! Three years will fly by—you will grow so much during this short but memorable chapter. Find people you enjoy collaborating with, and really lean into the sense of community that the studio culture fosters. Work together and build each other up and you will develop friendships that will last a lifetime. 

Anusha Prakash (she/her)  
Program: Master of Urban Design 
Hometown: Bengaluru, India 

What is your favourite memory of the Daniels Faculty?   

The MUD Program offered many exciting experiences as we had the opportunity to explore various locations, ranging from Toronto to as far as Yukon. Along the way, I formed strong connections with my cohort, and what started as mere teammates evolved into deep friendships. The collaborative nature of the program allowed us to learn from each other, and I truly appreciate the invaluable guidance provided by the Daniels faculty.  

What community-based or international experience did you acquire?  

I had the opportunity to engage in a community-based experience through volunteering at the Climate Solution Research Workshop at ChocoSol. This experience allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of Canadian climates and how garden roofs can contribute to sustainable solutions.  

What are some of your future plans?   

Urban Design has equipped me with a comprehensive knowledge base, enabling me to approach projects with a holistic perspective. I am keen on exploring an intricate relationship between architecture, urban development and the social fabric of communities. I aim to contribute to the creation of sustainable and inclusive urban environments that promote well-being and enhance the quality of life for residents.  

Whether it's through working in a design firm, collaborating with urban planning organizations, or pursuing research opportunities, I am eager to apply my skills and contribute to the field of urban design in a meaningful way. 

Any tips for current or future students?  

I would recommend prioritizing a good work-life balance by taking frequent breaks between assignments. Additionally, I recommend managing your time effectively by completing the majority of your design work a week before the deadline. Furthermore, don’t hesitate to explore various elective courses that align with your interests and broaden your skill set. Lastly, networking is crucial. Take advantage of opportunities to connect with professionals in your field and build meaningful relationships that can benefit your future career. 

Aileen Duncan (she/her) 
Program: Master of Forest Conservation
Specialization in Environmental Studies 
Hometown: Ottawa, Ontario 

What is your favourite memory of the Daniels Faculty?   

I really enjoyed the campus tree walks led by alumni and some of our teaching assistants. It was a fantastic way to learn about biodiversity without going very far. The St. George campus has a great variety of trees that represent several forest types in Canada.  

Did you have a favourite project and/or course?  

So hard to choose! I really enjoyed the field courses. The Masters of Forest Conservation program is very hands-on, and I think this is one of its great strengths. For our in-class activities, I really enjoyed learning how to use Geographic Information Systems (ArcGIS). Spatial data is incredibly valuable for forestry, and learning this software inspired me to do my Capstone research project on mapping access to green space in Ottawa. 

What are some of your future plans?   

I am currently working as a policy analyst with the Canadian Forest Service, which is part of Natural Resources Canada. In February, I was granted a provisional license to practice forestry as a Registered Professional Forester in Training. I am particularly interested in urban forestry and sustainable forest management, and I have also discovered how much I enjoy learning how best to look after the health of individual trees. To this end, I am gaining work experience and studying to take the ISA-Arborist certification exam.  

Any tips for current or future students?  

Even if you are busy, spend the time to look for and apply to scholarships. It can really help finance your studies, and it may open you up to new networks or experiences. Also, don’t be afraid to take a break from school, but also know that it is there for you when you are ready to come back. I worked for eight years after my Bachelor’s, and that time was essential for me to understand what I wanted to be doing and what education I needed to do that. I was nervous about going back to school in my early 30s, but trusting my decisions and doing a graduate degree was absolutely worth it. 

Julie Seeger (she/her) 
Program: Bachelor of Arts in Architectural Studies
Design Specialist stream 
Minor in Buddhism Mental Health and Psychology 
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario 

What is your favourite memory of the Daniels Faculty?   

I completed my undergraduate design thesis in April, titled “This is How We Heal.” It investigated how an attitude of care through design can transform the Koffler Centre into a space where students can embody a sense of belonging. I wrestled with what the final design should look like for months, had countless iterations, and had honest conversations about mental health. My final presentation was the cumulation of my interests and experiences I had undergone throughout my degree, and it was very special to share it. 

What community-based or international experience did you acquire?  

Mental health has been an increasingly important topic, both on an individual level and on a wider institutional level. In my second year I joined AVSSU, as well as Health and Wellness’ student advocacy team. I took these experiences with me to VUSAC, where I led the Mental Wellness Commission for two years. Through viewing mental health from different perspectives including policy-making, healthcare and institutional culture, it has become clear that this wicked problem requires a collective effort from multiple fronts. My experiences have driven me to continue pursuing how design can begin to solve this problem. 

What are some of your future plans?   

I am returning to Daniels in the fall to pursue my Master’s of Architecture and I’m really excited to continue exploring the ways design can be used to solve problems surrounding human health.  

Any tips for current or future students?  

Design becomes much more exciting when it is used to solve problems. I tend to bring my personal experiences into my work, and it has made it much more meaningful for me. As you move through the world, pay attention to the experiences or events that elicit strong reactions from you, and learn how you can use your education to begin to solve them. 

Audrey Ammann (she/her) 
Program: Bachelor of Arts in Visual Studies 
Hometown: Barrington, New Hampshire, USA 

What is your favourite memory of the Daniels Faculty?   

One of my favourite memories was the Artists' Multiples exchange we did in VIS321. Everyone in the class made 20-something small art pieces for the final assignment that got distributed so that each person went home with one of each. It was so special to carry home a goody bag full of little heartfelt artworks from such a talented bunch. Some were even customized with names and initials, which totally made me cry. 

Were you involved with any clubs or organizations at Daniels?  

Yes! I was elected as one of the curators of the Daniels Art Directive in my third year, and I was an honorary member of the Applied Architecture and Landscape Design club for my contributions as a lecturer for the Daniels Minecraft Camp.  

Did you have a favourite project and/or course?  

I can say my favourite project was my site-specific sound-art performance at El Mocambo for VIS340: Advanced Sound Studio. I got to play a field recording that I made of myself dancing along to the Rolling Stone’s Honky Tonk Women from their Live at the El Mocambo album on the house sound system, and then host my critique on stage at the historic venue. 

Any tips for current or future students?  

Asking for help serves two purposes: It shows you are committed to doing well, and it shows that you are interested in what your professor (or any faculty member) has to offer. Either way, you are squeezing the most out of your university experience and opening doors to new insights and opportunities. 

Liane Werdina (she/her) 
Program: Master of Architecture 
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario 

What is your favourite memory of the Daniels Faculty?   

Definitely all the amazing connections I made at Daniels. Specifically, the final thesis year was filled with memories with my classmates, peers and professors. The studio culture and camaraderie at Daniels was truly memorable in that last year, as was finishing thesis year by not only presenting my own thesis but attending my colleagues’ thesis presentations. This felt like a great culmination and celebration of years of hard work and was such a rewarding learning experience.  

What community-based or international experience did you acquire?  

My thesis research was rooted in collecting experiences of diaspora in the Kurdish regions of modern-day Turkey. Being allowed to do research on such an important and sensitive topic allowed me to reach out to and connect with many Kurdish people, architects and designers who were also interested in the research of my thesis and helped to contribute to its development. Being able to use the Daniels Faculty and resources to reach out to communities and work abroad helped ground my work in reality.

What are some of your future plans?   

I hope to continue the research I conducted during my time at Daniels, by addressing how design and architecture can be used to expose and represent power relationships in space. My goal is not only to be a good designer and contribute to architecture but to continue to develop methods in which design tools can positively impact and change the way we shape social, cultural and political dynamics.  

Currently, I am working with Lukas Pauer in the Vertical Geopolitics Lab, a research-based practice. We are working on a future exhibition that aims to decode and expose relationships between space and power.  

Any tips for current or future students?  

The program goes by a lot quicker than expected, so take advantage of all the great opportunities available to you at the Daniels Faculty. The studios, specifically thesis, are great opportunities to explore your interests before making your way into the profession of architecture. Some of the best advice I received was to use these as the jumping-off point for discovering where you want to take your career, and to see them as beginnings rather than ends. 

Chloë Quinn Lauder (she/her) 
Program: Master of Landscape Architecture 
Hometown: Unionville, Ontario 

What is your favourite memory of the Daniels Faculty?   

Thesis reviews were one of my favourite memories at the Daniels Faculty. It was incredible to see the deeply personal, innovative and beautiful work that my peers presented. It made me feel so proud to be a part of this talented body of students.  

Did you have a favourite project and/or course?  

My favourite project, titled “Unearthed,” took place in the Integrated Urbanism Studio. I had so much fun working with an amazing team to produce drawings at the urban fabric scale, and investigating the impact that inequitable policy and planning has on landscapes in Toronto.  

What community-based or international experience did you acquire?  

I visited Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam during my Option Studio. This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience where I worked with international faculty and students from the University of Architecture Ho Chi Minh City (UAH) to better understand the challenges of climate change, and how culture shapes common spaces.   

Any tips for current or future students?  

Time flies, so make the most of your experience and remember to put your mental health first. Be bold, try new things, and have fun! 

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

Alexandra Farkas

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

What is your favourite memory of the Daniels Faculty? 

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

Did you have a favourite project? 

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

Any tips for current students? 

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

Stefan Herda 

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

What is your favourite memory of the Daniels Faculty? 

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

Did you have a favourite project? 

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

Any tips for current students? 

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

Maya Freeman

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

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

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

What did you gain from the experience? 

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

Any tips for current students? 

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

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

Robert Raynor 

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

What is your favourite memory of the Daniels Faculty?  

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

What community-based or international experience did you acquire? 

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

What are some of your future plans?  

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

Any tips for current students? 

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

Samantha Arpas 

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

What is your favourite memory of the Daniels Faculty? 

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

Did you have a favourite project? 

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

Any tips for current students? 

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

Maha Abbas 

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

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

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

Were you involved with any clubs or organizations at Daniels? 

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

Any other tips for students? 

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

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

Tell us a little bit about yourselves.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

On January 1, Cathryn Copper joined the Daniels Faculty as head of the Eberhard Zeidler Library. The appointment marks a homecoming of sorts for the U of T alumna. It was here that Copper completed her graduate studies in library science, propelling her on to stints in California, Virginia and, now, her alma mater, where she’ll oversee the library’s 37,000-volume collection. In the interview below, Copper discusses her new role, her digital aspirations for the library, what she loves about Toronto and her latest book recommendations.

Welcome, Cathryn, to the Daniels Faculty!
Thank you!

Where were you prior to joining the Faculty?
Before this role I was the head of the Art and Architecture Library at Virginia Tech. I went to grad school here at the University of Toronto, where I completed my Master of Library and Information Science. While I was studying here, I did some internships with design think tanks in Toronto. I actually worked at the [now closed] Shore + Moffatt Library as a student employee.

After finishing my graduate degree, I went to work at the Woodbury School of Architecture in San Diego. I was there for about eight years. And then in 2018, I moved to Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. And now I’m here. I've always been an architecture librarian throughout.

Why architecture?
It was while I was studying at U of T that I realized I wanted to work in architecture libraries. I just like working with the faculties and the students and seeing their projects.

What are some of the differences between the two universities you worked at previously and here?
The biggest thing that sticks out for me is that I feel like U of T deeply values its libraries. It has a big research culture and ecosystem. In all the previous places I've been at, the art or architecture library is the lone branch library. Here, there’s something like 42. And each of the libraries has its own autonomy and identity.

I've honestly never seen a system like this other than maybe Harvard or Yale. To have that big and intricate of a library system is pretty amazing.

Was there anything about Toronto itself that drew you back to the city?
Yes, definitely. What I learned about living in a rural area like Blacksburg is that you can have a big house and a beautiful yard, but you give up access to so many things, such as museums, culture, diversity … and good food!

It's just great to be back in a city again, to be inspired and immersed with all kinds of people doing exciting things. I think it brings a different energy to the work that you do.

Did you drive from Virginia to Toronto?
We did. It's usually about a 10-hour drive, but it took us three days because of the snow. Overall, it wasn’t that bad. We had to stay at some roadside hotels. It became a fun experience.

Were you driving a big U-Haul truck?
Yes! And it was filled mostly with my plants. I had to get them certified and inspected to bring them across the border. Some of them are a little cold-damaged, but they made it. I can’t wait to fill my office with plants.

The new head of the Eberhard Zeidler Library credits her studies and internship experience at U of T for instilling a love of architecture and libraries. (Photo by Gelek Badheytsang)

What do you think makes the Eberhard Zeidler Library special?
Architecture libraries are usually the most well-designed libraries on campus and that is especially true about the Eberhard Zeidler Library. It is a gorgeous space. You can tell it’s well integrated into the Daniels Faculty and appreciated by the community here. It’s a sanctuary for faculty and students to research, study and rejuvenate.

The physical collection here features more than 37,000 volumes — including periodicals and journals, maps, drawings and manuscripts — with a focus on contemporary architecture and design. There are also unique features like a special collections room that contains the collection of former dean George Baird and numerous other materials.

I’m still finding my way around the library, so there is a lot here that I look forward to exploring myself.

As we transition back into in-person learning, what are some of the health and safety measures that will be in place in the library?
We have reduced seating so that you can spread out in the library. We have semi-private spaces for people to use. We’re also making sure that everybody has a green UCheck screen before they enter. Beyond that, we’re trying to facilitate access as much as possible so that people can still get hold of the materials they would have at any other time.

What are you most excited about in the coming weeks and months?
Generally speaking, I feel like this is a really opportune moment to be starting a new position in libraries. There’s a renewed momentum around diversity, inclusion, equity and social justice in academia and everywhere else. I’m really excited about looking at the collections and resources we have here and figuring out how I can help develop them further through those lenses, in collaboration with the Daniels Faculty and Dean Juan Du, who seems equally passionate about these initiatives.

The pandemic also forced a lot of people to use electronic resources. That’s another thing that I’m excited to dive into. Creating a bigger digital presence for the library, highlighting e-resources and thinking about how to blend all of that are all very interesting and important challenges.

I’m also really looking forward to meeting everybody in person, getting to know the building, the students and learning about their projects and research interests. I think I'll spend a lot of time just doing that.

Any book recommendations?
I have two. First, New Chinese Architecture, which features our own Dean Du, among a select group of 20 female architects in China.

And the second, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, by Timothy Snyder.

Thank you for the chat. And all the best!
Thank you! See you in the library.

Banner image: Copper looks ahead to a busy year reviewing the library’s collections, enhancing its digital presence and getting to know the Daniels Faculty community. (Photo by Gelek Badheytsang)

Three recent Daniels Faculty graduates from the Class of 2021 sat down with us to remember their time at university and share advice for new and current students. From memorable courses and favourite spots on campus, to critical first-year skills and advice for maintaining balance – read on for their responses.

Sheetza McGarry – Bachelor of Arts, Architectural Studies

What is your favourite memory at U of T and the Daniels Faculty?   

I don't think I can pick just one. However, I would say the community in general. The friendships made at this faculty become your teammates, support network, and family away from home. The relationships formed with faculty members are so supportive and really opened my eyes to the possibilities of architecture and design beyond this academic stage.  

What do you know now that you wish you’d known when starting your program?   

Self-care and socializing are just as important as school. You need to find a balance. It's 10x harder to do your best work alone and when you're not taking care of yourself.  

What skills do you think first-year students should focus on developing?   

Getting used to synthesizing large readings will definitely help with the first-year reading requirements. It also never hurts to get a leg up on the Adobe Suite (specifically Illustrator and Photoshop), Rhino, and AutoCAD. However, most importantly I'd just say keep creating, find what gets you excited and explore it.  

What was your favourite course that you took at Daniels?  

Any of the design studios of course. I also loved Artist's Writings. It was a great way to read pieces from creatives that we learn about in theory classes. From reading their works and having critical discussions about them in class, I discovered a lot about my own practice and places I grappled with my identity within the art and architecture field. The projects that came out of this class are some that I hold closest to my heart, and have gone on to inform the way I approach my artistic practice whether that be visual arts, writing, or architecture and design.  

How do you maintain a good work/life balance?   

It's a constant process of reminding myself to take breaks and step back. Without it, it can get a bit too easy to lose perspective on your work and academics in general. Don't forget to be excited about things outside of school: a meal you're really interested in trying to cook, a park you want to read in, or a new cycling route. Also, surrounding yourself with people you mesh well with will make work/life balance seamless as you'll support one another and remind each other to have fun!  

What is your favourite spot on campus?  

​The Bamboo Garden in the Terrence Donnelly Centre! Brightens any rainy or snowy day.  

What tips for success do you have for first-year students at Daniels? 

Find people you work well with and have fun with and hold on to them. With so much change going on at this stage in life, you'll grow more than you can ever expect. Having a community to do that with is the best feeling as you enter adulthood! Your community will become your collaborators, critics, and of course friends. Finally, remember to take care of yourself and have fun - it'll go by quick so make the most of it!  

Juliette Cook – Master of Architecture

What is your favourite memory at U of T and the Daniels Faculty?   

There are a few, but one of my favourite memory at Daniels comes from first year, when two of the people in my studio and I agreed we would never stay past 10pm. Fast forward to the weekend before the first deadline, we were in studio figuring out how to unroll surfaces and glue our models together, and stayed until about 2am. While we were tired and disappointed we didn’t abide by our ‘rule’, we sort of chuckled about it, and since we all lived in the East end, Ubered home together when we were done. Those two people have remained two of my closest friends throughout the program. You definitely bond during those late nights in studio! 

What do you know now that you wish you’d known when starting your program?   

It is never worth skipping a meal – always take that time away from your computer to nourish yourself and give your brain a break. 

  What skills do you think first-year students should focus on developing?   

I think it is important to ask for support in developing skills to design with climate change in mind; in other words, thinking about embodied and operational carbon. This may take the form of learning software skills (daylighting, energy intensity, carbon accounting, etc.) to learning about societal and environmental strategies for environmental management. One course that I think should be incorporated into first-year learning is Doug Anderson’s ‘Indigenous Perspectives on Landscapes.’

I also think it would be beneficial to have some small group exercises in studio, for example for doing precedent analysis, or even site analysis. Group work is an integral part of being in the field and practicing those skills in school will translate well to any workplace where you would work alongside a team (i.e. most workplaces!) Finally, students should be open-minded to experimenting with different techniques to find what helps to make their work legible and accessible to others. 

  What was your favourite course that you took at Daniels?  

Barring studio courses, my favourite is a toss up between Peter Sealy’s Berlin in Film summer course, and Tei Carpenter’s By Other Means seminar. From the content to the format of the class, I felt very inspired and motivated by these two. 

  How do you maintain a good work/life balance?   

I worked throughout my degree, outside of school as well as a TA in 2nd and 3rd year. While shuffling around the city commuting and also having to work made my schedule quite tight, both of these activities were a welcome break from thinking about schoolwork. It allowed me to take some space from studio and come back refreshed. I also would not compromise on working out / stretching, and even kept a lacrosse ball in my desk drawer to roll out my tired feet. Reserving time for a partner, friends, and family was key – though I wasn’t physically seeing many of these people over the course of the 3-year degree, regular calls during studio breaks or commutes home were good reminders that life goes on after school. 

 What is your favourite spot on campus?  

The PIT! Great spot to have lunch / take a break with a group of friends. I am not sure if everyone calls it the pit, but it is the auditorium space leading up to the grad studio. With COVID, Daniels Gathertown Edition was also a great place to be!   

  What tips for success do you have for first-year students at Daniels?   

My main tip would be figuring out a workflow that allows you to be efficient, while staying excited about what you are working on. If I felt like working on a perspective collage in Photoshop, even without having more technical drawings completed yet, I rolled with that feeling so that I had a rendered vision of my project that would keep me inspired. Starting tests on representation techniques early helped to confirm whether or not what I imagined in my brain would work out on paper! 

Rida Khan – Master of Urban Design

What is your favourite memory at U of T and the Daniels Faculty?   

It has to be during my online thesis presentation when so many of my past and current teachers all took time out to see my final work. I couldn’t stop smiling. I owe my growth as a designer to their guidance and patience and I am grateful to have created those relationships at Daniels. 

What do you know now that you wish you’d known when starting your program?   

Speak up and ask for help, you are not supposed to know everything.  

What skills do you think first-year students should focus on developing?  

Build your communication skills, understand your strengths, and acknowledge weaknesses you can build on. There are students and faculty who can help you inside and outside the classroom to build you up if you learn how to communicate well. 

What was your favourite course that you took at Daniels?  

Superstudio (the joint course between graduate students in Urban Design, Architecture, and Landscape Architecture). It was memorable. Good memories, bad memories. I felt hopeful and powerless at the same time – it was something!  

How do you maintain a good work/life balance?   

During my time at Daniels I had to constantly remind myself that I am in school to learn and not to prove something at the cost of my physical and mental health- we are intending to become designers not participate in Fear Factor. I made a rule for myself to not do all-nighters (I ended up doing a couple) and focus on the quality not quantity of the ideas I brought forward.  

What is your favourite spot on campus?  

The Daniels building is majestic, and I love to point out to friends that I am associated with it. The Graduate Studio where all the Urban Design, Architecture and Landscape Architecture students worked together is a space of student solidarity and potential. I also love that the Multifaith Centre is just steps away for those moments when you just needed to get away, reflect, or pray.  

What tips for success do you have for first-year students at Daniels?   

Soak in where you are: a top design school in one of North America’s fastest-growing cities surrounded by the best teachers. I encourage students to learn from their instructors and proactively engage in opportunities to uplift your colleagues and communities outside of coursework.