Congratulations to the Daniels Faculty undergraduate students Dimah Ghazal, Ous Abou Ras, and Adriana Sadun on winning the 2018 TEDxUofT design competition. The competition called for installations that addressed the theme of the conference: Deconstruct. 

As the team writes in their proposal:

"The design consists of two sculptural pieces made from solid and semi-transparent cubes. Each cube is arranged in a specific orientation that conveys a whole. However, this whole is formed of two intersecting ideas, an artistic visualization of form and a physical interpretation of the deconstruction of light. The idea of intersection comes from the letter X, a sign of two lines meeting one another at a singular point. At the intersection is where the two lines deconstruct and reconstruct to form a new meaning. It is where different disciplines meet to form new relationships."

This year's TEDxUofT Conference held a design competition, where they reached out to aspiring U of T designers to design an installation for the intermission space in the St. Lawrance Centre for the Performing Arts. "We want this design to engage with the guests in a way that is both intriguing and thought-provoking, captivating them outside the traditional speaker-audience setting", said the TEDxUofT organizers in the Design Contest Brief.

The winning team was chosen based on their creative efforts to communicate the theme of the conference and their ability to engage guests with their work.

For more information about TEDxUofT and their events, head over to their Website and YouTube Channel.

On February 27, students in the Daniels Faculty's Master of Landscape Architecture program met with professionals working in the field to learn more about life after graduation and gather tips on developing their future careers. This year's event, generously supported by the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects (OALA), was well attended, with 15 professionals, many of them Daniels Faculty alumni, joining students at One Spadina. Students rotated from table to table to meet with everyone who generously donated their time to provide insight and advice.
 
So what did they learn? We surveyed some of the students afterwards and collected 8 tips for Master of Landscape Architecture students about to start their career.

1. Not all firms are alike
Every firm is different. As a result, each has different criteria for the type of people they're looking to hire. Niloufar Eesfarjani learned about the importance of determining what makes each firm unique, so that you can "tailor your cover letter or resume to address what they are looking for."
 
2. Your dream job is out there! Find the firm that's right for you
"One of the professionals told me: don't be afraid to quit if you aren't having fun at work," said Carlos Portillo. "There will be something that is right for you," so don't waste your time at a place that isn't a good fit.

 
3. Career paths can vary
"There were so many differences in what people had done beforehand," noted Blake Creamer after meeting with the professionals. "Landscape architecture is so varied that you can find what you are really interested in and go for that, which is really nice."
 
4. Highlight what will make you stand out in the crowd
Many of the students who attended the event sought advice on how to create an eye-catching portfolio. But, as Cornell Campbell learned, firms receive so many, they can't look at them all. One piece of advice he received is to "create info sheets about your work and projects — a couple pages that they can easily browse through to get a sense of you and your work." You can show them your full portfolio when they invite you in.
 
Reesha Morar was interested to learn how similar many portfolios can be, given that recent graduates often include student work stemming from the same assignments. "Diversity is very good; they want to see different styles," she said. "Someone said they want to see sketch models, which a lot of us find are very messy or rough. A lot of elements that we don't realize are valuable, they see as valuable."

5. It's not just the skills you have but how you use them
Most of us know how to use photoshop and other programs, said Irene Wong, so listing these skills on your resume is not going to set you apart. It's how you put those skills to use that matters. Like Morar, she learned that showing your creative process can be helpful: "A lot of the professionals said that the wanted to see hand drawings and rough models."
 
6. Being a good salesperson leads to more creative work
Working in a firm often means having to please a client who may value the bottom line above all else. Alyssa Lagana learned that "you have to convince people of the value of your designs." Once you are able to do this, you can begin to make small changes to the project that match your creative vision.
 
7. Don’t be afraid to ask for what you want
"One thing I learned last year and this year is to be really forward. There are a ton of people here and you have to make yourself known in some way," said Emily McKenna, who landed a summer job last year thanks to a connection she made at this event. "Last year when I got my job, I just asked for it. I had a really lovely conversation with someone and felt really compelled by the work she was doing. So I just asked, and she happened to have a spot."

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Thanks to all the professionals who joined us for this event, including: Elyse Parker, City of Toronto; Claude Cormier, Claude Cormier + Associates; Bryce Miranda, DTAH; Doris Chee, Hydro One Networks Inc.; Caroline Cosco, Ontario Ministry of the Environment; Brett Hoornaert, The Planning Partnership; Scott A Torrance, Scott Torrance Landscape Architecture Inc; Shadi Gilani, Terraplan Landscape Architects; Lina Al-Dajani, The MBTW Group; Jane Welsh, City of Toronto Environmental Planning; Ken McGowan, Bioroof Systems; Darcie McIsaac, Terraplan Landscape Architects; Jana Joyce, The MBTW Group; Michael Cullen, Terraplan Landscape Architects; Kiran Chhiba, Dillon Consulting Limited.

On Tuesday, February 27, students in the Daniels Faculty's Master of Landscape Architecture program will come together with alumni working at some of the top landscape architecture firms in Toronto for the MLA Student-Professionals Networking Event. The annual event gives students the opportunity to ask questions of professionals and gather advice on what to expect after graduation. Sandra Cook (MLA 2017) participated in last year's event as a student, and now works for FORREC, one of the firms that was in attendance.  We asked her about her experience at the Networking event and making the transition to her role as Junior Designer with the firm.
 
Tell me about your experience at last year's Networking event.
The networking session was useful as a means of exposure to all the different directions a career in Landscape Architecture can go. Getting to ask questions to such a diverse spectrum of professional landscape architects was valuable to help plan my career path.
 
Do you remember some of the useful advice you received?
I received this advice was from an early career professional: She said, don’t lose the sense of curiosity and freedom in design that you have developed at school. When you start working, you’ll be bogged down by what’s buildable and affordable, and that’s reality, but keep researching and exposing yourself to cutting edge design and keep working on your passion projects outside of work.
 
Now that you have spent a year in the profession, what advice do you have for students who will soon graduate?
Do your research on the type of work new graduates are doing at the firms you apply to. Since graduating, I’ve realized the work entrusted to new graduates varies widely from firm to firm. In my case, I wanted a job where I would be involved in a project from concept to construction. Gaining construction drawing and administration experience was my priority so I chose a firm that was building projects around southern Ontario.
 
What do you do now at FORREC?
I work as part of the Landscape Studio’s local project team. My first big project at FORREC was helping to project manage FORREC’s entry into the Pier 8 Park competition in Hamilton. During the competition, I got to participate in brainstorming and design pin-ups with senior designers from Landscape, Architecture, Creative and Graphics. We won the competition, and now I’m part of the team working on the construction drawings and administration. I’m really excited to see the park built, although I’ve gotten a sneak-peek using VR thanks to our Creative department— so, so cool!

Image, top, by Sandra Cook for her 2017 MLA Thesis project Wet Land

The Daniels Faculty would like to congratulate Master of Visual Studies student Sam Cotter & alumna Elisa Julia Gilmour (MVS 2016). Both have been longlisted for the inaugural New Generation Photography Award, presented by the Canadian Photography Institute of the National Gallery of Canada and Scotiabank.

Artists on the longlist for the photography award were selected by a panel of 15 nominators comprised of photography experts from arts universities and colleges across Canada.

Three winners will be selected from the longlist and announced in March 2018. Each will receive a cash prize of $10,000 and be featured in a group exhibition at the Canadian Photography Institute PhotoLab located at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa in April 2018 as well as an exhibition at OCAD's Onsite Gallery during the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival in May 2018.

Cotter and Gilmour are both Toronto-based artists. Cotter regularly employs photography, film, and installation to examine issues of visual representation and artifice, while Gilmour works with still and moving images that explore cultural, familial and gender identities.

For more information on the inaugural New Generation Photography Award longlist, visit the Scotiabank website.

Photos above from Elisa Julia Gilmour's Master of Visual Studies thesis Éperdument (Madly) - film stills and installation view from the thesis exhibition at U of T's Art Museum.

Launched last summer, StudentDwellTO is an 18-month-long joint-research project being conducted by the University of Toronto, Ryerson, OCAD, and York University to find solutions to one of the biggest issues facing post secondary students in the Greater Toronto Area: affordable housing.

As Romi Levine writes in U of T News, researchers — including Assistant Professors Mauricio Quirós Pacheco from the Daniels Faculty and Marcelo Vieta from OISE, U of T's faculty leads on the project — have developed a strong understanding of the challenges that students face and best practices from around the world.

"One of their early findings," writes Levine, "is that design greatly affects student experiences."

From the article:

The StudentDwellTO team is currently collecting census data with the help of faculty including David Hulchanski, professor at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, and will be conducting focus groups with students and stakeholders to get a clearer picture of the current landscape and future possibilities.

In addition, faculty members are incorporating the study of student housing into their curricula, says Vieta.
 

This fall, Daniels Faculty undergraduate students will use the data and case studies collected to explore ideas for the design of student housing.

Visit U of T News to read the full story.

Image, top by Scott Carncross (March 2017). Part of his Master of Architecture thesis A new Housing through Symbiotic Performance.

Master of Landscape Architecture student Vincent Javet published a Q & A with Pierre Bélanger (BLA 1996) and Lucy Lippard in the Winter 2017 issue of Ground, the magazine of the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects.

The discussion considered the roles that globalization, colonialism, and increasing urbanization play in the field of landscape architecture, and explored how landscape architects can work to challenge the exploitation and degradation of the land on which we depend.

"Our ongoing rapid urbanization and the commodification of the world at large has resulted in complex and multilayered socio-economic and environmental issues for the landscape architecture profession to address," writes Javet. "The profession must begin to question its role in the unmaking, formalization, privatization, and sterilization of land at scales ranging from the city to the territory."

Visit Ground magazine's website to read the full Q & A and other articles from the Winter 2017 issue.

Bélanger was the Daniels Faculty's 2016-2017 Michael Hough/OALA Visiting Critic. In January 2016, he presented a public lecture with Jessica F. Green. Titled "What is the Geography of Energy?" the talk explored how landscapes of energy govern the planet, and influence how we conceptualize relationships between human intervention and the natural environment. The full lecture is available on the Daniels Faculty's YouTube channel.

Photo, top: Diavik Diamond Mine, which opened in 2003 in the Northwest Territories excabates deep into the sub-Arctic tundra landscape, via Ground magazine.

On November 17, the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design celebrated the official opening of its new home — the Daniels Building — at historic One Spadina Crescent.

During the day, University of Toronto President, Professor Meric Gertler; Dean of the Daniels Faculty, Professor Richard Sommer; and Chair of the Governing Council at the University of Toronto, Claire Kennedy welcomed donors, alumni, faculty, students, and other esteemed guests to commemorate the Daniels Faculty’s new home.

In the evening, all students and alumni were invited to a party to celebrate. Photographer Harry Choi captured the event, which included dancing, eating, and tours of the new building. Thanks to all who joined us to mark this milestone in our Faculty's history.

More photos are available on the Daniels Faculty's Flickr page.

On December 18, 2017, undergraduate students in the Daniels Faculty’s Visual Studies program showcased their work as part of the annual Eyeball exhibition and party. The event was held in the North and South Borden Buildings, across the street from One Spadina. View the photos above to see the range of work from our students.

The Daniels Faculty’s Visual Studies program focuses on studio practice in combination with critical discourse. All aspects of contemporary visual culture are explored, and students are encouraged to explore other scholarly interests within the University of Toronto. These interdisciplinary studies ultimately inform and strengthen their work, allowing ideas and modes of thought that might be rooted in more conventional forms of making art to be openly refined and challenged.

With a prominent address along Spadina Crescent, the North and South Borden buildings house the Daniels Faculty’s Visual Studies programs, which include Master of Visual Studies degrees in studio or curatorial studies.

For more on the Daniels Faculty's programs, visit the Programs page of our website. 

To view more photos from Eyeball, visit the Daniels Faculty’s Flickr page.

By Noreen Ahmed-Ullah, U of T News

A group of architecture students at the University of Toronto tapped into their creativity, planning and design skills to reimagine new ways southern Florida can tackle climate change-related flooding, rising water levels and salt water entering canals and corroding existing infrastructure.

Their ideas include plans for communities under threat of flooding to relocate behind a giant arc-like sea wall that could double as a civic monument, a network of complex canals built in public rights-of-way with specialized plants to treat water pollutants in agricultural areas, and a series of fresh water catchment basins in a neighbourhood where salt water is intruding into the groundwater aquifers.

On a recent Thursday, the master's students who are specializing in architecture, landscape architecture and urban design at the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design presented nine proposals to a team of local planning and architecture experts and officials from Florida's Broward County. The southeast Florida region, just north of Miami, has been struggling with rising water levels – a recent report showed sea levels rising six times faster than average – as well as an onslaught of hurricanes and ongoing development in flood-prone areas.

Click here to read the full article on U of T News.

First year Master of Architecture student Pedram Karimi was among the contributors to the exhibition Black Spaces Matter, now on at the Boston Architectural College's McCormick Gallery. Running until January 29, 2018,  the exhibit explores the "form and function of interracial neighbourhoods"  through an in-depth study of the abolitionist community new New Bedford Whaling national Historical Park in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

"In recent years we have seen a growing body of literature on race and architecture; however, this scholarship has focused mostly on the negative side of such built environments," explains the event listing. "This exhibit celebrates the aesthetics and architectonics of a neighborhood where many former slaves lived side-by-side with the rest of the population and engaged multiple aspects of the city's interracial architecture."

Karimi's contribution — which included help making a large-scale digitally fabricated urban model and diagram of the so-called Abolitionist Row of New Bedford  — stemmed from year-long research in New Bedford. Karimi also created several architectural drawings and panels, as well as visualizations of several architectural and landscape projects.

The exhibition was a collaborative project that involved filmmakes, VR specialists, architectural historians and community stakeholders.  Local New Bedford experts partnered with students and faculty from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and Boston Architectural College to highlight "a lesser-known progressive interracial neighbourhood in the United States."

From the event listing:

Massachusetts abolished slavery in 1783, more than 80 years before the Thirteenth Amendment; however, federal law supporting slave owners superseded this law and there were cases of slaves being "reclaimed" from Massachusetts in the years that followed. A strong network of abolitionists, both black and white, gave New Bedford its claim to fame that no slave was ever forcibly "reclaimed" from it.

New Bedford's architecture reflects a period of relative racial equality and tolerance in "the city that lit the world" during its whaling boom. This neighborhood includes a mixture of Gothic Revival, Federal, Greek Revival, and early Italianate homes, as well as modest cottages. Important historical figures, such as Fredrick Douglass and Lewis Temple, resided in these homes.
 

For more information, visit the UMass Dartmnouth website.