Earlier this year, Bachelor of Arts, Architectural Studies student Jan Doroteo was awarded first prize for the Berkeley Essay Competition — an endowment established by the Department of Architecture at the University of California, Berkeley.

“Winning the Berkeley Prize has given me a sense of agency to investigate architecture that I find inclusive and considerate, and the confidence to determine what I value as 'good' architecture,” says Doroteo about winning the prize. “In my future career, I hope to practice architecture through words, writing, analysis, and exploration.”

The essay, titled “The Little Pinoy Sari-Sari Store: Of Otherness and Belonging in a Global Diaspora,” explores the importance of small convenience stores in the Philippines and more specifically in Filipino ethnoburbs in Toronto.

From Doroteo's essay abstract on the Berkeley Essay Competition website:

“[Sari-Sari Stores] are numerous, found in many cities worldwide, and aesthetically unexceptional. Yet I've come to declare these stores as a legitimate, if not symbolic and rhetorically impactful, architectural type with a program that isn’t just commerce. They are significant as safe-spaces of ‘otherness.’ They allow Filipinos to exercise their ethnic identity in the complicated and contradictory way that it functions as neo-colonial subjects.”

Since 1999, the Berkeley Essay Prize has asked questions critical to the discussion of the social art of architecture. This year, a total amount of $25,000 USD was spread out among one First Prize, one Second Prize, one Third Prize, and one Fourth Prize Winner, and two Honorable Mentions. Semifinalists for the Prize are invited to submit proposals for funding to travel to an architecturally-significant destination of their choosing to participate in a hands-on service-oriented situation.

Visit the Berkeley Prize Essay Competition website to read Doroteo's essay.

As Toronto grows, so too does the need to better plan for family-friendly density: 80% of the city’s new housing, constructed between 2006 and 2016, has been buildings of five storeys or more — with most units designed for single people or couples. But that hasn’t stopped families with kids from living in high-rise homes.

Sessional Lecturer Julie Bogdanowicz, an architect working as a Senior Urban Designer at the City of Toronto, recently co-managed a study on planning for children in new vertical communities. One of the outcomes of the study was draft guidelines, which tackle the issue at three scales: the neighbourhood, the building, and the unit. They were approved by City Council this month.

“During our research we found that there were already thousands of children living in vertical communities, and not just downtown, but in Toronto's other urban centres,” says Bogdanowicz. “Families are choosing to live in dense areas because they are prioritizing quality time with their family over long commutes. They love the convenience and amenities in their neighbourhoods, but they all told us that they need more parks and social spaces. They also need all the community services and facilities that are meant to come along with new development, like child cares and schools. So we need to get better at vertically integrating these uses into the base of residential buildings. The North Toronto Collegiate Institute is a strong example of this typology."

“It was really exciting to work closely with the team at Hariri Pontarini Architects,” said Bogdanowicz. “Through the architectural testing work we drilled down and analyzed how a functional family unit could work and what elements were required. Then we looked at how the shared spaces of the building could be re-imagined to support the social life of the building. So when you move through your lobby, towards the amenity space, there are opportunities to introduce social spaces or views into amenity spaces where you get to see what your neighbours are up to. We are trying to move away from the pristine white couch lobby space that people are too intimidated to use.”

Toronto has a legacy of housing families vertically, she says, adding that their research included case studies from the St-Lawrence neighbourhood and 150 Dan Leckie Way in City Place, a new social housing project by KPMB Architects, in which Shirley Blumberg (BArch 1976) innovated on Le Corbusier's skip-stop typology to produce large, livable two-storey units.

“One of the a-ha moments for the team was listening to faculty member and architect John Shnier's experience during our designer consultations,” Bogdanowicz says. “He demonstrated how his condo was flexible enough to transform from a refined bachelor pad to family home through flexible partitions. One big take-away for me was that we should move away from shear wall construction and start thinking about residential floor plates as blank slates that can transform over time. This would truly address sustainability objectives and future-proof our cities through a flexible housing stock.”

The City’s research was recently covered by CityLab, the CBC, and Urban Toronto. The guidelines put forward that 10% of units in a building should have at least three bedrooms, and that 15% have two bedrooms. They also provide guidance around public spaces, access to the outdoors, wider corridors, amenity spaces, storage, and more.

“Our Chief Planner, Jennifer Keesmaat has been very proactive in advocating for families in vertical communities and it seems like the industry is ready for the challenge,” says Bogdanowicz. “New census data revealed that there is a baby boom underway downtown. The millennials are having kids and they want to stay in their neighbourhoods. Currently families are making do with their living conditions, but we know we can do better so that all families can thrive in vertical communities.”

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Photo, top from U of T's Bring Our Children To Work Day at the Daniels Faculty

A number of Daniels faculty and alumni were recently named part of “30 Canadian Architecture Firms Breaking New Ground” by Azure Magazine. The list was created to celebrate Canada Day and was the third in a series of “best and brightest” lists.

“Some of our choices are studios that are fresh out of school and have yet to complete an entire building; others have won international competitions that will see their work realized on the other side of the world,” writes Azure. “At every scale they share a drive (some might call it an obsession) for pushing architecture to the limits in terms of technology, innovation and beauty.”

Omar Gandhi Architecture founded by Omar Gandhi, a graduate of the University of Toronto’s Honours, Bachelor of Arts in Architectural Studies program (project pictured above)

“With a second office now in Toronto, the studio is bringing and adapting rural sensibilities within an urban context. Says Gandhi: “I want my aesthetic to change constantly.” Last week, the firm took home a People’s Choice AZ Award for Rabbit Snare Gore.”

Studio AC, founded by Sessional Lecturer Jennifer Kudlats and Andrew Hill

“Principals Jennifer Kudlats and Andrew Hill are alums of KPMB Architects, where they first met. Running their own studio since 2015, they are now finishing up three residential renovations that express their taste for clean lines, wide open rooms, natural wood finishes and large doses of natural light.”

Office OU, founded by Sessional Lecturer Nicolas Koff and Uros Novakovic

“Earlier this year Office OU won a major masterplan competition for Sejong City (shown). The 190,000-square-metre site has been mapped out to house administrative buildings and five national museums that sit among manicured and natural landscapes, including terraced rice fields. When completed in 2023, the project’s impact is expected to shift South Korea’s cultural focus from Seoul to Sejong.”

Hapa Collaborative, where Sarah Siegel (MArch 2006) is an Associate

“Along with Nick Milkovich Architects and Matthew Soules Architecture, Hapa is responsible for the new Vancouver Art Gallery Plaza (shown), a $9.6-million renovation of the popular 4,197-square-metre square. The project, which had a soft opening on June 22, is already adored by locals. Its most defining feature is a tricolour mosaic of asymmetric tiles. In Canadian cities public squares can be few and far between. This plaza’s dramatic upgrade gives a new face to the entire downtown core.”

Public Work, the Landscape Architects for One Spadina

“Public Work is one of the key players envisioning plans for a 400-hectare waterfront site in Toronto. Called the Port Lands, the massive project has just received a financial injection of $1.25-billion from three levels of government. It is the largest redevelopment project of its kind in the history of Toronto, and it is expected to transform the postindustrial area into new neighbourhoods and parks, while providing a necessary flood barrier.”

Polymétis, founded by Sessional Lecturer Michaela MacLeod and Nichola Croft

“When Polymétis won the Prix de Rome for Emerging Practitioners, a year-long scholarship, they used the funds to visit 20 international sites that take a design approach to reclaiming waste sites within cities. We’re excited to see how Polymétis finds ways to apply this knowledge for cultivating public spaces out of wastescapes.”

Office of Adrian Phiffer, founded by Lecturer Adrian Phiffer

“The firm makes little distinction between art and architecture. Their competition entries have ranged from imagining Guggenheim Helsinki as a giant purple barge to a winter warming hut that lends out orange blanks to keep ice skaters warm.”

JA Architecture Studio, founded by Sessional Lecturer Nima Javidi, Behnaz Assadi (MLA 2008), and Hanieh Rezaei (MUD 2004)

“Now under construction is Duple Dip, a minimalist house in Toronto’s westend that from the exterior looks like a chapel. Inside, the sparse interior connects four outdoor spaces.”

Partisans, founded by Sessional Lecturer Pooya Baktash and Lecturer Alex Josephson

“The early success of Partisans hasn’t meant they have rested on past laurels. Among other large-scale projects the studio is working on is the rebirth of Union Station, Toronto’s central rail hub. The station is now undergoing a massive expansion that will see it double in size, mostly by digging underground. The project is expected to be completed in 2018.”

Woodford Sheppard Architecture, founded by Taryn Sheppard (MArch 2010) and Christ Woodford

“A number of WS projects signal a change for the region [St. John’s in Newfoundland]. In particular is the firm’s ambitious concept for The Bridge, a building that responds to the recent expansion of Newfoundland’s offshore oil industry and the need for both housing and office space. If built, the project would provide a campus that acts as a buffer zone between industrial and residential areas.”

Public City Architecture, a merger between Peter Sampson (BArch 1999) Architecture Studio and Plain Projects Landscape Architecture

“Making winter fun is one of the PCA’s main preoccupations. Their latest social engagement effort appeared on a public ice rink in Winnipeg last winter: a giant “crokicurl” game that mixes the rules of the tabletop board game crokinole with the physical scale of a curling rink.”

For the full article, visit Azure's website.

U of T’s expertise in cities runs deep with urban research taking place on all three campuses in disciplines including (but not limited to) public health, social work, engineering, urban planning, law, and of course, architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design.

To showcase the wealth of research, teaching, and engagement in this area, the University created Cities@UofT, a new website designed to increase the visibility of its urban initiatives. One of the features of the website, the Cities Blog publishes posts written by professors across campus about their work.

Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture and Urbanism, Fadi Masoud (MLA 2010) recently wrote about his research on coastal cities that “reclaim land” from oceans and lakes in an effort to meet housing, industry and recreational demands.

Caofedian in Bohai Bay: One of the world’s largest Land Reclamation Project. Image Credit: Developing the Littoral Gradient Atlas (Masoud / Ryan)

“Coastal plains comprise about 8% of the surface of the Earth, and are among the world’s most densely populated and most industrialized areas,” writes Masoud. “Today about half the world’s population lives within 100 km of the coast or an estuary, where eight out of the ten largest metropolitan regions are currently situated.”

But this expansion comes at a cost. According to Masoud, sand (an important component in the development of new coastal land) is “the second most consumed natural resource on the planet,” and new densely populated coastal communities face increased challenges due to climate change.

Qianhai reclaimed land near Shenzhen, China. Image Credit: Developing the Littoral Gradient Atlas (Masoud / Ryan)

Masoud has been working with MIT professor Brent Ryan and other collaborators at the MIT Leventhal Center for Advance Urbanism to develop an online atlas of coastal development projects (now in beta phase). And given that land reclamation continues (Masoud writes that in China “at least 11 coastal provinces and 39 coastal municipalities are carrying out decades-long land reclamation projects supported by the central government”), the team of researchers are exploring how to address the challenges such coastal developments face. Could they be designed to be more adaptive and resilient, less costly, and to allow for more affordable housing in the mix?

Toronto land reclamation by Sarah Ko — one of the 36+ International case studies of urban districts built on reclaimed land drawn and analyzed by Daniels Students.

Though not a seaside city, Toronto has a history of land reclamation of its own. The above map by Daniels Faculty student Sarah Ko shows waterfront development closer to home. Masoud taught a seminar this past semester in which students looked at global case studies of urban districts built on reclaimed land throughout the centuries.

Feature image at top: Development on Bohai Bay near Tianjin. Image Credit: Matthew Niederhauser and John Fitzgerald: Future of Suburbia Exhibition – MIT Norman B. Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism

Visit the Cities@UofT Cities blog to read Masoud’s article “Developing the littoral Gradient — Urbanism on reclaimed land.”

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Daniels Faculty undergraduate student Victoria Cardoso was part of the winning team in the “Towers on the Ravine, 1967-2067: Transitioning to Net-Positive Biophilic Urbanism” competition, which took place in May. Her team members included York University graduate students Alex Gatien, Assaya Moustaqim-Barrette, Kiana Javaheri, Nick Brownlee, and Steven Glass.

The competition, launched at the 2017 Ontario Climate Symposium May 11 & 12, asked students to envision the transformation of the tower neighbourhood north of Finch on Kipling Avenue into a resilient and environmentally and socially sustainable community.

The winning proposal included a focus on honouring indigenous history; strategies for addressing the projected population increase; the formation of a local community land trust to develop, fund, and manage public spaces; recognition of emerging technologies such as autonomous vehicles; and the reintegration of a ‘lost’ stream  with the neighbourhood’s commercial and public spaces.

A number of other Daniels Faculty students participated in the competition. They included: Master of Landscape Architecture students Catherine Howell and Stacey Zonneveld; Master of Architecture students Zoal Razaq, Shou Li, and Xiaolong Li; and undergraduate students Adaeze Chukwuma, Feng Le, Tian Wei Li, and Yujie Wang. Images from Howell, Li, Razaq, and Zonneveld’s proposal (Alisa Nguyen was also part of this team) are pictured above.

Post Doctoral Fellow Roberto Damiani has received a 2017 grant from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts for a proposed book on the work of Professor Emeritus George Baird, former Dean of the Daniels Faculty (2004-2009). Titled The Architect and the Public: The Contribution of George Baird to Architecture, the book will include contributions by Daniels Faculty members Lecturer Hans Ibelings, Director of Master of Architecture Program Robert Levit, Assistant Professor Michael Piper, Professor Brigitte Shim, and Dean Richard Sommer. Other contributors include Pier Vittorio Aureli, Joseph Bedford, Louis Martin, Joan Ockman, Jorge Silvetti, Hans Teerds, and Roemer van Toorn.

From the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts' website:

The Architect and the Public is a collection of essays and interviews on the work of George Baird, and serves as evidence of the architect's public engagement with contemporary society. With the rise of mass media, traditional modes of producing and communicating architecture have been transformed, as many practitioners choose to express the cultural and societal relevance of buildings, and to ground architectural design beyond personal agendas. George Baird's work and research reflects this practice, and Baird—along with Colin Rowe, Kenneth Frampton, and Peter Eisenman—has served as a model for North American architectural debate. From his early theoretical writings as a doctoral student, to his involvement with Toronto city planning, to his commitment to teaching at the University of Toronto and Harvard, Baird played a key role in shaping the relationship between architecture and its multiple publics, many of which emerged in the second half of the twentieth century.

In 2017, the Graham Foundation awarded $568,500 to 72 projects by individuals. The Architect and the Public is one of 34 publications included in the 2017 Grantees list. It is scheduled to be published in 2018.

Damiani is the organizer and curator of Italy under Construction, a program of exhibitions and lectures on contemporary Italian architecture, in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute in Toronto. Earlier this year, he curated an exhibition titled Palimpsests and Interfaces that presented four civic buildings by the Venice based architect Renato Rizzi, and seven buildings — four residential and three office buildings — by Cino Zucchi Architetti based in Milan. Information about the exhibition can be found on the Italian Cultural Institute website.

Photo, top: George Baird (front), Ted Teshima (behind). Courtesy of Canadian Architectural Archives, University of Calgary. Toronto, May 1959.

Presented by the Art Museum at the University of Toronto, and curated by Yan Wu (MVS-Curatorial 2016), MAKING MODELS is an exciting new project that brings together architecture and art, staged to advance innovative and critical ideas in experimental architecture in Toronto.
 
Nine Toronto architecture studios and artist groups — which include a number of Daniels Faculty members and alumni — have been invited to propose ideas and prototypes in model form that foster analytical, conceptual, physical and tectonic frameworks for inhabiting and constructing urban space and the public sphere. Produced in various scales that involve speculative, functional, representational and/or relational approaches, these architectural models, in response to the theme “meet me there”, take as their point of departure an exemplary public space – the Sir Daniel Wilson quad, an outdoor courtyard and urban oasis located on the downtown campus of the University of Toronto.
 
The nine proposal models will be on display as a group exhibition MAKING MODELS at the Art Museum from September 6 - October 7, 2017. A select jury composed of art and architectural professionals and university students will choose one model to be realized in 1:1 size on site at the Sir Daniel Wilson quad, in dialogue with the quad’s complex network of movement, vegetation, infrastructure, furniture, and architecture. The installation will be on display from September 21 - November 25, 2017.  The winning model will be announced in August 2017.
 
The nine Toronto architecture studios and artist groups participating in MAKING MODELS include CN Tower Liquidation, LAMAS (the firm of Assistant Professor Vivian Lee and Lecturer James Macgillivray, Lateral Office (the firm of Associate Professor Mason White), Nestor Kruger and Yam Lau, Assistant Professor's Mitchell Akiyama and Brady Peters, Public Studio, studio junction (the firm of alumni Peter Tan and Christine Ho Ping Kong, both BArch 1996) , Terrarea (an art collective that includes Emily Hogg, MLA 2003; Janis Demkiw, and Olia Mishchenko), and UUfie.
 
The five noted professional jurors are Alex Bozikovic (Architecture critic, The Globe and Mail), Tom Dean (artist), Bruce Kuwabara (Founding Partner, KPMB Architects), November Paynter (Director of Programs, Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada), and Irene Sunwoo (Curator, Arthur Ross Architecture Gallery; Director of Exhibitions, Columbia University GSAPP).
 
While the city continues to experience unprecedented urban growth, especially in the area of generic condominium towers, there is also a chronic absence of major exhibitions and public forums for serious, in-depth considerations of the role that architecture plays in the shaping of the urban environment. MAKING MODELS provides a rare and coveted opportunity for established and emerging architects and artists to develop experimental and speculative approaches toward the built environment for broader public consideration.

Model Proposals
September 6 – October 6, 2017
University of Toronto Art Centre
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1:1 Model Installation
September 21 – November 25, 2017
Sir Daniel Wilson Quad, St George Campus (map)

The Daniels Faculty is opening the doors to its new home at One Spadina Crescent during Doors Open Toronto, May 27 & 28. This will be the first public preview of the new Daniels Building, which is now nearing completion. All alumni, prospective students, and members of the general public are invited. Doors will be open from 10:00 - 4:00pm May 27 & 28. Please use the main east entrance, via the Russell Street crosswalk.

Visitors will take self-guided tours through the renewed heritage building and its contemporary addition, whose expansive, column-free studio space provides an unparalleled view up Spadina Avenue. Students, faculty and staff will be on hand to provide information on the history, design, and plans for the building. An exhibition of work by our graduate students in architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design will be on display throughout the building. When it officially opens in the fall, the new home of the University of Toronto's John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design will be a focal point for students, scholars, artists, and urbanists worldwide.

https://www.daniels.utoronto.ca/about/one-spadina/university-toronto-transform-iconic-toronto-landmark-new-home-john-h-danielsPhoto by Nic Lehoux

Globe and Mail architecture critic Alex Bozikovic recently reviewed the nearly complete Daniels Building, calling it "one of the best Canadian buildings of the past decade." The building is "spectacular," he says, "rich with arguments about how contemporary architecture, landscape, and urbanism can work with history and build the city of the future."

Photo by Nic Lehoux

Designed by Nader Tehrani and Katherine Faulkner, principals of the internationally acclaimed firm NADAAA — in collaboration with Architect-of-record Adamson & Associates, landscape architects Public Work, and heritage architects ERA — the revitalized One Spadina is intended to be an urban design exemplar and catalyst for the transformation of U of T’s western edge on the Spadina corridor. Once completed, One Spadina will be a showcase for the city and the University, and a world-leading venue for studying, conducting research, and advocating for architecture, landscape, and sustainable urbanization.

Learn more about the One Spadina project:

•     read our fact sheet
•     visit the Daniels Faculty’s Boundless webpage
•     view photos documenting the construction process by Peter MacCallum

The Daniels Faculty — in collaboration with the Ontario Climate Consortium (which includes the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority and York University’s Faculty of Environmental Studies) as well as Parallel 52 and the Centre for Urban Growth + Renewal — is pleased to announce a student design competition to be launched at the 2017 Ontario Climate Symposium May 11 & 12. Participants will have the chance to contribute new ideas to the sustainable transformation of Toronto’s neighbourhoods — and win a $1,000 cash prize. The registration deadline is April 28.

Part of ongoing design-research, teaching and knowledge mobilization among Canadian and Dutch academic institutions, as well as private and public sectors, the design competition invites students from the Toronto region, the Vancouver region, and Dutch Universities to develop speculative, inventive and visionary pathways to the transformation of existing urban districts into net-positive biophilic communities, in both human and environmental terms.

The tower neighbourhood north of Finch on Kipling Avenue — one of Toronto’s largest apartment tower neighbourhoods — is the site of the competition. Students form any discipline and level of experience are challenged to envision the transformation of this site into to a resilient and environmentally and socially sustainable community.

Associate Professor Liat Margolis says the competition will build on past and ongoing design-research initiatives at the Daniels Faculty and strengthen relations with municipal and regional programs dedicated to issues of resiliency, climate change mitigation and adaptation, green infrastructure, and the sustainable retrofitting of social and affordable housing.

“The Competition is intended to expose students to these important issues and at the same time provide the professional experts with out-of-the-box, imaginative ideas for further exploration,” says Margolis. “The cooperation with the Dutch government and academic institutions is also very exciting as it provides opportunities to exchange experiences around municipal climate policies and transitioning to low-carbon urbanism.”

For detailed information on the competition, titled “Towers on the Ravine, 1967-2067: Transitioning to Net-Positive Biophilic Urbanism, visit the Ontario Climate Consortium website.

Questions? Contact Liat Margolis at liat.margolis@daniels.utoronto.ca

Alumni Zhengyan Jin (MUD 2015), Weiming Shi (MUD 2015), and current undergraduate Architectural Studies students Yujie Wang and Yang Yue recently won the Director’s Choice Award for the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) Underground Bath House Competition hosted by Arch Out Loud.

The competition asked participants to explore the possibility of creating an underground bathhouse within the Korean DMZ that responded to the surrounding geopolitical conditions. Titled “Unresolved Line,” the team created a proposal that could perpetually respond to the political tension between two nations.

“By having a series of chronological assigned vertical pipelines that connect to the underground mechanical system dotting along the demarcation line of DMZ zone, the project becomes an effort to both reconnect people to the geopolitical history and unify them in the realm of light, water, and fog,” writes the team in their project statement. “More importantly, the architecture has to grow along with such political tension, and therefore, remains as an unfinished project.”

All the winning entries to the competition can be viewed on the Arch Out Loud website.

Jin and Shi previously won honorable mention in the 2015 Urban Ideas Competition for their Brampton City Centre Revitalization proposal, which also included team member Zhiyu Liu (MLA 2016). Liu, Jin, and Shi envisioned transforming the commuter suburb by ennhancing accessibility, improving the main streets and traffic circulation, and encompassing stategies to expand restaurant and retail businesses in the area.