Whether you're kicking off an undergraduate or graduate degree, starting a new program at a new school can be both exciting and overwhelming. Looking for tips on how to make the most of your time as a design student? We surveyed some of our 2018 graduates for advice.

Student volunteers at the opening of the Daniels Building, Nov. 17, 2017

“Architecture may be your start goal, but it may not (and probably won't) be your end goal. What I mean is that architecture is a room with many doors (pun intended), and all those doors can take you in so many directions in the world of design. As my classmates and I graduate, I see more and more of them interested in pursuing other fields, such as video game design, set design, graphic design, furniture and lighting design, urban design, and the list goes on. My advice for prospective students would be to stay open minded, you might just fall in love with something else along the way.

“Stay involved, and take advantage of all the events / clubs / organizations that are available to you (most of them offer free food!). The most memorable moments don't happen in the classroom, they happen unexpectedly in the studio late-night, at Orientation Week or an AVSSU event, or games night with your arch/vis friends.” — Shalice Coutu, HBA, Architectural Studies and Psychology

Students Xiaoting Stephanie Yuan, Yueyi Li, Nicholas Callies, Luis Quezada, and Chenxuan Meng joined Associate Professor Aziza Chaouni in Australia this summer via the Designing Ecological Tourism research platform.

“Don't miss any chance to travel as much as possible before and during school. It is okay to miss a semester or a year before you finish your degree if you get to work and/or travel through Europe, Latin America, Africa, Australia or Asia.” — Herman Borrego, MArch

Lecturer Adrian Phiffer received the Incentive Award in the Riga Circus Competition. A team of third year Master of Architecture students — including Angela Cho, Matthew Leander, Mariano Martellacci, and Avi Odenheinmer — also contributed to the winning submission.

“University of Toronto is a big fruit; don’t be scared to take a bite! It is a great institution with many means and capacities to support good ideas and projects, do not be shy to apply to grants, awards, working positions, and ask for funding. While being a university student, you are in the best spot to initiate projects and gain meaningful experience that will propel you to where you want to be in the future.” — Sebastian Beauregard, MArch

 “One thing I wish I could change in my university experience is that I wish I started spending time in studio earlier. At Daniels we constantly exposed to such great and inspiring artists and designers that at the end of the day it really motivates you to become a better artist. My only advice to new students is to spend more time in studio and become a part of the studio culture, you will definitely benefit from it!” — Sky Ece Ulusoy, HBA, Visual Studies and Architectural Studies

The Daniels Faculty has a rigorous public lecture series that brings in leading professionals, academics and scholars from around the world. Last year, we hosted the Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate Lecture, with Balkrishna Doshi (pictured above).

“I would encourage new students to approach their studies with an eagerness to learn and an open mind to take advantage of every experience studying at Daniels will offer. There is something very inspiring about learning and exploring in an environment with peers and instructors with similar interests and goals. The opportunity to grow as a professional is limitless.” — Christina Poulos, MArch

Stacey's thesis project explored the vast areas of urban landscapes that are highly maintained, mowed, and managed, including vast tracks of hydro corridors. "I envision cities as epicentres of biodiversity, connectivity, and resilient natural systems," says Stacey. Read a Q&A with Stacey here.

"Make every project your own. There is always a way to bring your interests to the forefront.” — Stacey Zonneveld, MLA

"Take advantage of the network of professionals you are exposed to at Daniels. Whether as mentors, instructors, or future employers, they represent a wide range of interests within the field and serve as an amazing resource during your studies and as you begin your career.” — Matthew Mckenna, MArch

 “Consider all of your courses as one giant course. Although every student has different subjects that they study (or different classes within architecture), avoid artificially soloing them: each can bring something new and unique to another, and taken as a whole your education will be far more fulfilling than if they are kept in isolation. Always be thinking about how you can use what you've learned in one class to influence your work in another!” — Robert Raynor, HBA, Architectural Studies and Visual Studies

 “I would encourage students to make a mess. Design schools are places where people of similar interests come together to exchange ideas; they are spaces of testing and making, of using experience and gaining experience. To make the most of your degree, give yourself the freedom to experiment, to play around, to make a mess, to fail, to wander and to grow.” — Farah Michel, HBA, Architectural Studies and Italian

Read our Q&A with Catherine Howell and Hadi El-Shayeb, student lab managers & research assistants at the Green Roof Innovation Testing Laboratory (GRIT Lab) in the summer of 2017.

“I have learned more skills in this program than I ever thought possible. I was disillusioned with school after my undergrad; this program reinstated my love of learning and pushed me to create work that I am proud of and can actually see, as opposed to an essay or test. If you are both creative and technically‐minded I would wholeheartedly recommend this program to you, it will change the way you view the world and give you a clear, exciting career path.” — Catherine Howell, MLA

On June 4th, 2018, graduating students from ourgraduate and undergraduate programs attended convocation at the University of Toronto's Convocation Hall then proceeded to a reception held at One Spadina.  The celebration is a culmination of years of hard work—and a mark of success!

Photos from this memorable day are on the Daniels Faculty's Facebook Page

Cross-posted from U of T News

By Romi Levine

Toronto continues to grow, with sky-high condo developments, and pricey boutiques and restaurants sprouting up in neighbourhoods across the city. But amidst the revitalization and gentrification are groups of people – low income residents and new immigrants, for example – driven out of their neighbourhoods by rent hikes and expensive shops.

Though understanding and supporting the city’s most vulnerable residents is traditionally in the realm of disciplines like social work and anthropology, Shalice Coutu is bringing social justice to architecture.

Coutu, who is part Métis, graduates Thursday from architectural studies at University of Toronto’s John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design. She is hoping to improve the lives of Canadians through built environments.

“I’m not in it necessarily for the building and the art form of architecture, but more in it to make people's lives better,” says Coutu, who will be continuing her studies at U of T, pursuing a master’s in architecture.

Coutu grew up in Prince Albert, Sask., a city of about 35,000 people. There, she cultivated an understanding of what inequality looks like.

“Coming from a small town in Saskatchewan that definitely has its share of poverty – I'm not oblivious to poverty around me, and I make a point to help those people,” says Coutu, who spent many summers helping her brother run a volleyball camp in rural areas and First Nations reserves in Saskatchewan.

Though she was always interested in architecture, Coutu began her university career in Saskatoon where she studied psychology.

“Our opportunities in Saskatchewan are a little less available,” she says.

But once she found out about the Daniels architecture program, she put the wheels in motion to transfer to U of T.

To continue reading, and for the full article, visit U of T News.

In the summer of 2017, the Daniels Faculty welcomed Learning Strategist Benjamin Prottruff to its Office of the Registrar and Student Services. What exactly is a Learning Strategist, and how can Benjamin help students at Daniels meet their academic goals? Undergraduate student Tina Siassi spoke to Benjamin to learn more about this new role within the Faculty.

What is a learning strategist?
A learning strategist is like a coach. Both little league players new to an activity and high-performance athletes benefit from a coach to help them reach the next level in their development. The learning strategist essentially plays this role, but for the athletics of learning. My job is to help students who are struggling develop strategies to improve their work. I also help high performing students who are trying to advance their work or figure out what their next steps may be.

What is the difference between talking to a learning strategist as opposed to an academic advisor?
The Daniels Faculty has a really strong community of academic advisors in the registrar’s office, and really dedicated faculty members, who provide guidance on the process to obtain your degree, and who can refer you to resources across campus. Learning strategists focus more on helping students figure out how manage all the courses that they take. We help students improve their study skills and develop better time management and motivation strategies.

If students want to meet with you, what’s the best way to get in touch?
I have drop-in hours every Monday from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm in the Daniels Commons near the Café, where I sit at a table, ready to entertain any and all conversations about study skills and academic strategies. Students can also book an appointment with me at the front desk of the registrar’s office or by emailing me at benjamin.pottruff@daniels.utoronto.ca. One-on-one appointments typically last about 50 minutes. This allows extra time to discuss how a student’s courses are going, their ideas behind a particular assignment, or what’s interesting or concerning them about a particular course.

In addition to the drop-in sessions and pre-bookable appointments, I am developing some general programs across campus, including a series of workshops, to provide general help. In the 2017 fall term, we had workshops on Critical Reading and Note-Taking Strategies, Time Management & Procrastination, and Motivation, Stress Management, & Study Focus. In the 2018 winter term these workshops will run again and a few new ones will be added – Deconstructing Your Syllabi & Planning For Success, Fresh Start: Academic Skills for a New Term, and Delivering Effective Presentations. The workshops will be offered on Fridays from 12-1pm as a “brown-bag lunch and learn”, essentially an opportunity for graduate and undergraduate students to learn in community while taking a break to enjoy their lunches. The workshop series is just getting underway this year, by next year a full suite of learning workshops will be integrated with the academic skills programming of the Eberhard Zeidler Library and The Writing Center. You can find out more information about the workshops in the events section of the Daniels website.

What is the most common concern that students bring to you?
The biggest concern that I chat with students about is time management. We often discuss how to incorporate long commutes, part-time jobs, and important relationships with school, to try to figure out the study-life balance. Another common concern is motivation. Motivation tends to be high at the start of a term, but as the work builds up, it often starts to diminish, so we talk about how to maintain motivation throughout your studies. After that, students come looking for specific skill-based approaches, such as how to prepare for exams, how to find a good essay-writing or planning strategy, or how to better focus on readings.

What have you learned in your interaction with students?
The reason I love being a learning strategist is because there’s something I can learn from every student I interact with, and that makes the job very rewarding. Everyone I sit down with tells me a little bit about what they’re learning, how they’re applying it to their life, and where they’d like to go with that knowledge, and that just makes my job really exciting.

What are your top 3 tips for Daniels Faculty students?
1.    Go to class: Students are frequently struggling because they’re balancing multiple concerns or challenges, so sometimes they make a decision not to attend class because there’s something else that they’re putting their energy towards. But the simple truth of it is, there’s often no way to make up for a skipped class. The instructors at Daniels have strong teaching techniques; they’re brewing your knowledge by reviewing what happened in the previous class and outlining what’s going to happen the next class, so they’re supporting your learning across several weeks of study. If you miss that, you will be missing a big piece of the puzzle that you’ll need when you’re trying to put all of that information together at the end of the term. Also, the classroom is full of people who are struggling with the same concepts as you and can help you figure it out through discussions. So, going to class is essential not just to listen to your  instructor or TA, but also to create a dialogue with your peers.  

2.    Take care of yourself: If we want to be successful learners, we need to be well-rested, have a good diet, and get some regular exercise. These are critical for our learning process. Our mind and body are very closely related.

3.    Learn from Failure: Failure can often be really scary and something that we react poorly to, but it’s helpful to think about it as  an opportunity: every time we fail, we have an opportunity to learn how we can do something better for the next time. This is particularly important for design school students, who receive regular critiques in review sessions. Some students interpret criticism to mean that their project is unsuccessful. But if they can hear that criticism and see it as something that will make their ideas stronger, then it’s creates a different and more productive mindset. Learning from failure is an emotional and an intellectual process. The idea is to find a way to manage the emotional reaction, so we can move forward and ask: “how can I use this feedback to make my project more successful?”

This summer, a group of students worked together to tackle issues of sustainable and affordable housing through straw bale design. Master of Architecture student Sarah Hasan writes about the first project undertaken by the new University of Toronto student group: Future-Living Lab.
 
Future-Living Lab consists of architecture students at the Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design; U of T’s Department of Civil Engineering; and Ryerson University’s Department of Architectural Science.
 
Earlier this year, the students set off to design a 1000 square feet home in Callander, Ontario. The design brief provided by their client called for affordability, ease of construction, and sustainability within the home’s environmental context. The students researched and consulted with multiple design and engineering firms before settling on a Structurally Insulated Panel (SIP) system that uses straw bale as the main insulation material.
 
In August, the group acquired building permits and held a build workshop where interested students gathered and assembled the SIP’s. This process consisted of layering clay and straw bale in specific proportions within pre-fabricated wooden formwork. In the upcoming weeks, the panels will be lifted up into position to form the house walls.
 
The Future-Living Lab aims to continue fostering collaboration among students from different disciplines for a common goal. Going forward, the group also hopes to have an influence on the future of dwelling through ongoing research and design projects.
 
You can view their website at: Futurelivinglab.ca
 

Welcome all new Daniels students! Orientation for new Honours, Bachelor of Arts students started this week, running from Labour Day to Wednesday, September 6. Throughout their degree, Daniels undergraduate students are able to take advantage of the Faculty’s unique combination of Architectural Studies and Visual Studies programs. Our undergraduate student union, AVSSU (Architecture Visual Studies Student Union) has organized a slew of activities, including games and events throughout Toronto, to give new students the opportunity to get to know their fellow classmates and become more familiar with the University of Toronto and the surrounding city. The full schedule for Orientation Week is available on AVSSU’s website.

The Daniels Faculty focuses on interdisciplinary training and research in architecture, art, and their allied practices, with a mission to educate students, prepare professionals, and cultivate scholars who will play a leading role in creating more culturally engaged, ecologically sustainable, socially just, and artfully conceived environments.

We are so excited to start the school year at One Spadina Crescent. The Daniels Faculty’s new home has been designed to incorporate some of the most innovative urban design and sustainable building techniques, and is an unrivalled site for educating designers of the built environment, conducting pioneering research, and staging civic outreach. The new Daniels Building is enabling us to expand our curricular programs, pursue innovative research, and establish a space in which to model the many ways that the built environment will be made and remade in the future.

By Josie Northern Harrison, Co-Editor-in-Chief, Shift Magazine

On August 19, the Shift Magazine launched its sixth edition titled SHIFT06. The theme for the issue explored social issues around art and architecture produced within and about Toronto (otherwise nicknamed "The 6"). The issue was conceived as an assessment of Toronto, documenting some of its good sides and bad sides. To start, Phat Le and I each wrote short letters to Toronto in lieu of the traditional Letter from the Editors.

“I’m here to let you know, how thankful I am for you [Toronto],” writes Phat Le. “You opened your doors for both my parents during the Vietnam War, and allowed them to create a safe space for my sister and I to live.”

The issue is organized into two sections (the good and the bad). For “the good” section, the articles considered topics like the city’s monuments, Drake’s album cover, quirky city flâneurs, and the haunting bells of the TTC subway. Monique Lizardo took Drake from his original Views cover album (depicting him sitting on the CN Tower) and resized his figure to scale (shown below). Emily Suchy wrote an article arguing that monuments can be subjective and unintentional, which was supported by an illustrated map of the Shift team’s personal monuments in Toronto.

A Visual Analysis of Drake, Human Scales, and the Question of the “Views” Album Cover, 2016,  by Monique Lizardo.

Toronto is an amazing city, but it does have flaws, so we felt it was necessary to vent our frustration about Toronto’s shortcomings in the second half of SHIFT06. Eddy O’ Toole compiled a collection of messages to illustrate the longing and struggle someone might experience when studying in a new city. Irina Rouby Apelbaum created a series of sketches about 665-669 Spadina Ave — the former undergraduate studio space — to capture the stressful and quirky home that we’ve left. Najia Fatima sketched a series of vignettes illustrating the dilemmas she encountered when touring her Muslim mother around Toronto.

Similar to SHIFT04, this issue was printed using the risograph method, which reduces the cost of printing by only printing with one colour at a time instead of the CMYK and similar processes which combine colours to achieve a specific hue. However, we differed this print by using gold ink on 80lb vellum paper with a saddle-stitched bind (instead of red and blue on a lightweight paper). By using a thicker paper, we maintained the publication’s lo-fi aesthetic, but created an object that feels more substantial.

As a goodbye to the former undergraduate studio space, SHIFT06 was officially launched on August 19 with a very successful send-off event at 665-669 Spadina Avenue that featured local bands Luna Li, The Ferns, Tange, Lover's Touch, and Westelaken. If you couldn’t make it out to the event, you will still have opportunities to pick up a copy at Clubs Fair on Wednesday, September 6, or you can send a message to uoftshiftmag@gmail.com or Shift’s Facebook page and arrange a time to meet. If you’re interested in joining the 2017-2018 Shift Team, send an email introducing yourself and your interests to uoftshiftmag@gmail.com.

Contributors to SHIFT06:
Monique Lizardo
Emily Suchy
Eugenia Wong
Chester Coxwell
Eddy O'Toole
Irina Rouby Apelbaum
Josie Northern
Najia Fatima
Phat Le
Benjamin de Boer

Shift Editorial Team:
Phat Le, Co-Editor-In-Chief 
Josie Northern, Co-Editor-In-Chief
Emily Suchy, Senior Publication Editor 
Chaya Bhardwaj, Publication Editor 
Najia Fatima, Publication Editor 
Ceylin Oz, Publication Editor 
Sonia Sobrino Ralston, Blog Writer 
Alexandra Spalding, Blog Writer
Regina Arcia-Martinez, Illustrator 
Jess Camarda, Illustrator
Eddy O’Toole, Layout Designer 
Eugenia Wong, Layout Designer 
Monique Perez Lizardo, Social Media 
Gianina Ann Ramos, Social Media 
Jasper Choi, Digital Manager 
Lillie Wang, Web Designer

One of the best things about the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design is the sense of community that it fosters among students, faculty, and staff. Looking for ways to become more involved in the life of the school? Recent graduate Josie Harrison (HBA, Architectural Studies 2017) offers 7 ways you can enrich your experience while at Daniels.

1. Attend an exhibition opening

U of T is home to a number of galleries (on top of those that will soon open at One Spadina). The Art Museum on St. George Campus is one the largest gallery spaces for visual art exhibitions and programming in Toronto. Run by Daniels Faculty Associate Professor Barbara Fischer, the Art Museum offers a year-round program of local and international exhibitions — including work from our Visual Studies students in studio or curatorial studies.

2. Contribute to Shift Magazine and The Annual

Shift Magazine and The Annual are two official student-run publications operating out of the Daniels Faculty, and they are always looking for content. Shift Magazine is the undergraduate Architecture and Visual Studies Publication, and just recently launched SHIFT06, which focuses on social issues around art and architecture in Toronto. The Annual is a yearly curated compilation of graduate student work encompassing all years and graduate programs at the Daniels Faculty, and will be officially launching this year’s issue soon. For more information, follow Shift's Facebook and Instagram and The Annual's Instagram.

3. Participate in the Mentorship Program

One of the official programs offered by the Daniels Faculty is the Mentorship Program, geared towards undergraduate Architecture and Visual Studies students. Students can sign up as a mentor or mentee, and will be matched with a partner to participate in scheduled activities such as art gallery visits or ice-skating. For more information, visit www.daniels.utoronto.ca/mentorship-leadership-opportunities

4. Explore opportunities for students across U of T, like the Entrepreneurship Hatchery Program

The University offers many opportunities for students to build their skills and experiences. “I would highly recommend the Entrepreneurship Hatchery Program to anyone who has a chance to do it,” says undergraduate student Isaac Seah. “The Hatchery experience helped me to adopt a more systematic way of thinking, defined my public speaking skills, and exposed me to the business mindset that explores the value of a product. It’s especially effective for architecture students because we are essentially in a service industry: we have to respect our client’s wishes while convincing them to choose the wisest option without too much pressure.”

5. Join student unions, attend their meetings, and go to their events

The Graduate Architecture, Landscape, and Design Students’ Union (GALDSU) and Architecture and Visual Studies Students’ Union (AVSSU) are always looking for ways to connect and engage with the student body. They do this by hosting open meetings and a variety of events over the school year. The best way to find out about how to get involved is to follow their social media accounts (GALDSU's Facebook and Instagram and AVSSU's Facebook and Instagram) — and look out for posters around One Spadina.

6. Come to our public lectures

The Daniels Faculty’s public programming has a tradition of bringing together scholars, professionals, and leaders in the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, art, and urbanism. Attending the lectures is a great way to learn more about these fields and how they intersect with each other and other academic interests. For our full schedule of public events, visit daniels.utoronto.ca/events.

7. Get involved with AALD

Applied Architecture, Landscape, and Design (AALD) is an undergraduate organization providing architecture and design related tutorials and events, free of charge, to undergraduate students. They hold workshops throughout the school year and are always looking for skilled individuals to run workshops. Follow AALD on Facebook to stay up-to-date about events.

The Daniels Faculty offers many resources for students, one of them being the Mentorship Program, which pairs first and second year students with those in their third or fourth year who assist them in their transition to university. With the first day of school around the corner, we talked to Sky Ece Ulusoy, one of two Mentorship Program Coordinators, about the value of becoming involved as a mentor or mentee.

1. It can make a big difference to a student’s experience of life at university.

University of Toronto is a big place, and there are many resources to discover. It can help to have someone guiding you through the experience.

“When I first came to U of T, I didn’t know where to go, what to do, where my classes were,” says Sky Ece Ulusoy. “The setting is so different from high school that it’s hard to even know how to take notes in class. I was lucky enough that I had a friend that helped me through, as a pseudo-mentor, but not everyone has that. Having someone with you, who has been through the process, is very useful. Vice-versa, being a mentor last year taught me new things as well. Having knowledge of a university, being able to pass it on, and see it help change a mentee is a very valuable experience.”

2. There are so many fun events, academic and otherwise, to participate in.

The Mentorship Program offers both academic and fun, social events. This year, they are planning a “coffee with the profs,” where participants will have an informal meeting with some of the professors in the faculty; an art gallery “hop,” similar to a bar hop but with galleries in Toronto; and an ice-skating event in the winter that all the mentors and mentees can attend. The program coordinators work to make the events valuable to both the mentors and mentees.

3. Mentees are matched with mentors based on their academic and extracurricular interests.

The Program aims to match mentees with mentors who are doing similar degrees. It also looks at extracurricular activities that the mentors are involved in, if they’re an international student, a commuting student, and so on. A good match allows the mentor and mentee to better relate to each other.

4. Mentors and mentees receive training.

An information session is organized for mentees to help them better understand how to approach their mentor-mentee relationship, while mentors receive Equity Training and Mentorship Foundations Training. In addition, all students receive continuous support via the Office of the Registrar and Student Services Office and their advising staff. This training is very important because mentors need to learn how to approach students and what language to use, especially if someone is struggling or upset.

5. The program will show up on a student’s Co-Curricular Record (CCR).

CCR records your extracurricular activities so you have official documentation of your involvement in the student life of the university. Students can show these university-recognized activities on their CCR to potential employers when they’re applying for jobs.

For more information, visit www.daniels.utoronto.ca/mentorship-leadership-opportunities

All incoming undergraduate students are invited to begin their experience at the Daniels Faculty by participating in Orientation week.

During Daniels Orientation, you will meet new friends and senior student Orientation Leaders, get acquainted with campus and create unforgettable memories! Orientation Week is open to all incoming undergraduate students in the Daniels Faculty and is specifically designed to get you comfortable and excited about your choice to join the Daniels community. For more information about the events we have planned, check out our Orientation 2017 website!

Should you require financial assistance for Orientation Week please email registrar@daniels.utoronto.ca  to discuss your options.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at: orientation@daniels.utoronto.ca  

Registration NOW OPEN click here! You must have your JOINid/UTORid to register.

We look forward to meeting you during Daniels Orientation!