Wednesday, April 8 to Wednesday, April 29
Daniels Building
1 Spadina Crescent

Whether you're a future student, an alum or a member of the public with an interest in architecture, forestry, landscape architecture or urban design, you're invited to join the Daniels Faculty for Winter 2026 Reviews. 

Throughout April, students from across our undergraduate and graduate programs will present final projects to their instructors and guest critics from academia and the professional community. 

All reviews will take place in the Daniels Building at 1 Spadina Crescent from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (unless otherwise stated). Follow @uoftdaniels on Instagram and join the conversation using the hashtags #danielsreviews and #danielsreviews26. 

Please note that times and dates are subject to change. 

Current students should reference the Final Examinations & Reviews schedule for more information.

Wednesday, April 8  

Design + Engineering I (ARC112) | Undergraduate
Instructors: Jay Pooley & Mahsa Malek
Room: 200

Exploring Design Practices (ARC302) | Undergraduate
Instructor: Richard Sommer
Room: Main Hall 

Thursday, April 9  

Design Studio I: How to Design Almost Anything (JAV101) | Undergraduate
Coordinator: Petros Babasikas
Instructors: Anthony Kalimungabo, Mo Soroor, Reza Nik, Erica Kim, Scott Sorli, Harry Wei, Kara Verbeek, Katy Chey, Jeannie Kim
Rooms: Main Hall (170A, 170B), 215, 230, 330 

Friday, April 10  

Drawing and Representation II (ARC200) | Undergraduate
Coordinator: Jeffrey Garcia
Instructors: Roberto Damiani, Nova Tayona
Room: 330

Design Studio II: How to Design Almost Nothing (ARC201) | Undergraduate
Coordinator: David Verbeek
Instructors: Francesco Valente-Gorjup, Daniel Briker, Anne-Marie Armstrong, Maria Denegri, Adrian Phiffer, Michael Piper, Anne Ma, Jay Pooley, Miles Gertler, Fiona Lim Tung
Rooms: Main Hall (170A, 170B, 170C), 230, 215, 240, 2/F hallway

Monday, April 13

Architecture Studio IV (ARC362) | Undergraduate
Coordinator: Shane Williamson
Instructors: Chloe Town, Laura Miller
Rooms: Main Hall (170A, 170B), 230

Technology Studio IV (ARC381) | Undergraduate  
Instructors: Paul Howard Harrison, Suzan Ibrahim
Room: 330

Tuesday, April 14

Design Studio 2 (LAN1012) | Graduate
Instructors: Behnaz Assadi, Liat Margolis
Rooms: Main Hall (170A, 170B, 170C)

Comprehensive Studio III (ARC369) | Undergraduate  
Coordinator: Daniel Briker
Instructors: Mauricio Quiros Pacheco, Fiona Lim Tung
Rooms: 209, 215, 230
Time: 10:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. 

Multidisciplinary Capstone Design Seminar (ARC491) | Undergraduate  
Instructor: Erica Kim
Room: 330

Wednesday, April 15

Architectural Design Studio 2 (ARC1012) | Graduate  
Instructors: Fiona Lim Tung (Coordinator), Shane Williamson, John Shnier, Behnaz Assadi, Mauricio Quiros Pacheco, Laura Miller
Indigenous advisor: PhD candidate James K. Bird
First Peoples Leadership Advisory Group: Amos Key Jr., Trina Moyan, Dorothy Peters
Rooms: Main Hall (170A, 170B), 215, 230, 240, 330

Landscape Architecture Studio IV (ARC364) | Undergraduate   
Instructor: Peter North 
Room: 315

Undergraduate Thesis
ARC462

Senior Seminar in Design
Instructor: Jeannie Kim  
Room: 209
Time: 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Thursday, April 16

Comprehensive Studio (ARC2014) | Graduate 
Coordinators: James Macgillivray, Aleris Rodgers
Instructors: Maria Denegri, Jon Cummings, Steven Fong, Pina Petricone, Christopher Cornecelli, Carol Phillips
Rooms: Main Hall (170A, 170B, 170C), 215, 230, 240

Design Studio 4 (LAN2014) | Graduate  
Instructors: Robert Wright, Francesco Martire, Todd Douglas
Room: 330

Friday, April 17

Comprehensive Studio (ARC2014) | Graduate 
Coordinators: James Macgillivray, Aleris Rodgers
Instructors: Maria Denegri, Jon Cummings, Steven Fong, Pina Petricone, Christopher Cornecelli, Carol Phillips
Rooms: Main Hall (170A, 170B, 170C), 215, 230, 240

Design Studio 4 (LAN2014) | Graduate  
Instructors: Robert Wright, Francesco Martire, Todd Douglas
Room: 330

Monday, April 20

Urban Design Studio 2 (URD1012) | Graduate
Instructor: Nusrat Jahan Mim
Room: Main Hall (170A)

Selected Topics in Advanced Computer Applications (ARC3202) | Graduate
Instructor: Alstan Jakubiec
Room: Main Hall (170B)
Time: 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Selected Topics in Architecture (ARC365) | Undergraduate
Instructor: Adrian Phiffer
Room: Main Hall (170B, 170C)
Time: 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Graduate Thesis
LAN3017

Design Studio Thesis
Coordinator: Elise Shelley
Instructors: Behnaz Assadi, Liat Margolis, Francesco Martire, Fadi Masoud, Peter North, Robert Wright
Rooms: 209, 215, 230, 240, 242, 315, 330, 340

Tuesday, April 21

Advanced Topics in Architecture (ARC465) | Undergraduate
Instructor: Zachary Mollica
Room: Main Hall (170C)
Time: 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Graduate Thesis
LAN3017, URD2015

Design Studio Thesis
Coordinator: Elise Shelley
Instructors: Behnaz Assadi, Liat Margolis, Francesco Martire, Fadi Masoud, Peter North, Robert Wright
Rooms: 209, 215, 230, 240, 242, 315, 330, 340

Urban Design Studio Thesis
Coordinator: Mason White
Instructors: Michael Piper, Roberto Damiani, Nusrat Jahan Mim, Mariana Leguia Alegria, Angus Laurie, Simon Rabyniuk
Rooms: Main Hall (170A, 170B)

Wednesday, April 22

Graduate Thesis
ARC3021

Almost Ordinary
Instructor: Michael Piper
Rooms: 209, 230, 240

Rehearsing the Parade: Ephemeral Architectures and Persuasion on the Move
Instructor: Miles Gertler
Room: Main Hall (170B), 330 

Public, Building, Forms
Instructor: Adrian Phiffer
Room: Main Hall (170A) 

Thursday, April 23

Graduate Thesis
ARC3021

Trading Places
Instructor: Jeannie Kim
Rooms: 330, 340

When the Impossible Happens
Instructor: Brian Boigon
Room: 230
Time: 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

The Archipelago Studio
Instructor: Petros Babasikas
Rooms: Main Hall (170B, 170C)

Public, Building, Forms
Instructor: Adrian Phiffer
Room: Main Hall (170A) 

Friday, April 24

Thesis II (ALA4022) | Post-Professional
Coordinator: Mason White
Instructors: Brady Peters, Robert Wright, Fiona Lim Tung, Nusrat Jahan Mim, Alstan Jakubiec, Brady Peters
Rooms: 209, 242, 2/F hallway

Graduate Thesis
ARC3021

Trading Places
Instructor: Jeannie Kim
Rooms: 230, 340

Architecture and the Right to Housing
Instructor: Karen Kubey
Rooms: Main Hall (170C), 215, 240

Design Technologies
Instructor: Humbi Song
Rooms: Main Hall (170A, 170B)

Bioregional Futures
Instructor: Sam Dufaux
Rooms: 330, Outdoor Courtyard

Monday, April 27

Undergraduate Thesis
ARC457, ARC462, ARC487

Senior Seminar in History and Theory
Instructor: Simon Rabyniuk
Room: Main Hall (170A, 170C)

Senior Seminar in Design
Instructor: Jeannie Kim  
Room: Main Hall (170B), 240 (a.m.), 242 (p.m.)

Senior Seminar in Technology
Instructor: Nicholas Hoban
Rooms: 230, 242 (a.m.)
Time: 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Tuesday, April 28

Undergraduate Thesis
ARC457, ARC462, ARC487

Senior Seminar in History and Theory
Instructor: Simon Rabyniuk
Room: Main Hall (170A, 170C)

Senior Seminar in Design
Instructor: Jeannie Kim  
Rooms: Main Hall (170B), 209, 242 (p.m.), 330

Senior Seminar in Technology
Instructor: Nicholas Hoban
Room: 230, 242 (a.m.), 1/F Hallway
Time: 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Wednesday, April 29

Selected Topics in Architecture (ARC3703) | Graduate
Instructor: Laura Miller
Room: 330

Modeling and Fabrication in Design (ARC280) | Undergraduate
Instructor: Brady Peters
Room: 215, 230, 240, 2/F Hallway
Time: 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m

Design & Community-Engagement  Capstone Project (ARC492) | Undergraduate
Instructors: Michael Piper & Joshua Kirk
Room: Main Hall (170B, 170C)
Time: 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m

Designed for high school students, our summer program provides a comprehensive introduction to architecture and explores different ways of seeing, thinking and making.

We offer two 2-week courses in both July and August 2026 for ages 14 to 18.

New this year is a a 2-week portfolio design course for ages 16-18 (graduating high school in 2026 or 2027), ideal for students interested in applying to university programs in architecture and visual studies.

Learn more and register

May 23 & 24, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. 

Ever wondered what's inside 1 Spadina Crescent? Curious about the history of the revitalized neo-Gothic building at its centre? 

Whether you have always wanted to wander the halls or simply haven’t visited the Daniels Building in a while, there is something for everyone to discover during Doors Open Toronto 2026! 

Family-friendly

The Daniels Building welcomes visitors for public tours, May 23 & 24 between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. 

The Toronto Society of Architects (TSA) will host a children's activity in our Commons (main floor atrium) on both days. Participants will be encouraged to think about buildings, landscapes and urban infrastructures through Building a Paper City.

Sunday lecture: What is Toronto's architectural identity?

TSA will also host a special discussion on the topic of Toronto's architectural identity, Sunday, May 24 from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. in the Daniels Building Main Hall. All welcome!

Student work showcase

While you're here, our End of Year Show 2025/26 will feature a wide range of projects produced in our architecture, landscape architecture, forestry, urban design and visual studies programs. The drawings, graphics, models and videos displayed throughout the Daniels Building demonstrate an exuberance for innovative digital and physical approaches to the objects and environments we imagine, create and nurture.

History 

Originally built as a prospect to the lake, the historic structure at 1 Spadina Crescent was the first site of Knox College in 1875, a military hospital during the First World War and the place where Connaught Laboratories manufactured insulin in the 1940s. Today, it’s home to the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design at the University of Toronto.

A striking contemporary addition, designed by NADAAA and completed in 2018, combines the Knox College structure with cutting-edge facilities, from versatile new studios to a digital fabrication lab.

Admission to the Daniels Building and to all Doors Open venues is free. A dedicated brochure with map of the Daniels Building will be available for visitors.

Visit the Doors Open Toronto website for a full list of participating sites.

by Nina Haikara

The Paul Stevens Boundless Promise Award will support Indigenous or and Black architectural studies or visual studies undergraduates at the University of Toronto

Canadian visionary architect and University of Toronto alumnus Paul Stevens (1963-2025) will be remembered through a newly created bursary supporting students at the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design.

First announced at his celebration of life at U of T’s Hart House on November 21, 2025, the Paul Stevens Boundless Promise Award will be awarded on the basis of financial need with priority and preference given to Indigenous or Black students enrolled in the architectural studies or visual studies program at the Daniels Faculty.  

Made possible by the generosity of his spouse, Tanya Phillipps-Stevens, the annual award funds will be matched 1:1 in perpetuity through the Defy Gravity Campaign’s Boundless Promise Program. The program, a legacy of the Boundless Campaign, doubles the impact of donations made towards needs-based awards. 

Phillipps-Stevens says the bursary honours her husband’s impact on architecture—his life’s passion—and carries forward his wish to provide equitable opportunities for future designers to create a better, more beautiful world.  

“My husband's greatest attributes are his generosity of spirit and his authentic connection with people. Paul always gave his time, his boundless talents, and his treasure across many areas of his life,” says Phillipps-Stevens. “This award is a continuation of his longstanding commitment to inclusion and interconnectedness, mentoring and supporting the next generation.”

Inspired by his artistic mother and his father who worked as an engineer, Stevens knew by age eight he wanted to become an architect. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in architecture in 1987 and became a co-founder and co-owner of Toronto-based ZAS Architects + Interiors in 1994, where he served as senior principal. 

Over his distinguished career, Stevens shaped designed some of Canada’s most celebrated civic and institutional spaces including the Billy Bishop Airport Tunnel, Canoe Landing Community Campus + Schools, River City Condominiums, Vaughan Civic Centre Library and York University’s Bergeron Centre for Engineering Excellence and a symbolic final project—the Sam Ibrahim Building at U of T’s Scarborough campus—which hosted its grand opening in April 2025. Beyond his work in Canada, his practice encompassed projects from Dubai to Shanghai.

Paul Stevens at the April 2025 opening of the Sam Ibrahim Building, University of Toronto Scarborough campus. Design by ZAS Architects and CEBRA Architecture with construction by Ellis Don (supplied photo).

A dedicated mentor to emerging talent, Stevens and his practice participated in the Daniels Faculty’s undergraduate Design Research Internship Program (DRIP).

“He was deeply inspired by the young creatives at Daniels and would always invite students and intern architects to work alongside him at his office, serving as a partnering practitioner with DRIP,” says Phillipps-Stevens.

She adds her husband’s transformational leadership style is rooted in a vision of human-centred and sustainable design excellence, exemplary collaborations and industry-leading community engagement. 

“By creating this award for Indigenous and Black students, we honour Paul’s legacy and core values of excellence, innovation, sustainability and equity,” she says. “My hope is to expand the industry by providing greater access for underrepresented aspiring creators to learn how to be the change they wish to see. This fund unlocks boundless opportunities for diverse recipients to become changemakers, like Paul, who harness their talents to make an inclusive blueprint for solving current and future societal challenges.” 

Stevens’s passing sadly follows that of his 1987 classmate, Dino Dutra. Classmates, colleagues and friends can honour both Stevens and Dutra by making a pledge to either or both bursaries established in their names.

"His sympathy for people and his passion for the material of building made Paul a remarkable architect," says Robert Levit, acting dean of the Daniels Faculty. "While I had known Paul in many professional contexts, it was shortly before his untimely passing that I met with him to discuss his interest in philanthropic support for Daniels students. He explained to me how his childhood in northern Ontario had shaped in him a strong sense of community with the diverse population of his childhood world, and also for the materials—wood, abundant in northern Ontario—that would inspire him to become an architect."

"His family's gift to the Faculty to support Indigenous and Black students reflects his commitment to enlarging the scope of who shapes our built world and, by doing so, broadens how we can imagine the architecture that makes our communities. Paul’s gift will have a lasting impact on who will make up future generations of architects."

To learn more about this giving opportunity, please contact Alumni & Development Officer, Stacey Charles, stacey.charles@daniels.utoronto.ca or call 416-978-4340.

The Indigenous Task Force of the Royal Architecture Institute of Canada (RAIC) states there are only 20 registered Indigenous architects in Canada. This number represents one-fifth of the 1 per cent of prasticing architects in the country.

“Within the Daniels student body, we have only ten Indigenous students out of more than 1,500,” says Trina Moyan, who is Nehiyaw (Plains Cree) from Frog Lake First Nation. “Because of the policies in the Indian Act, our Peoples have been made vulnerable and marginalized for generations. These ten students have lived through the impacts of that history. They have pushed through and fought hard to get here. BIRD – Building Indigenous Representation at Daniels – is about increasing future student enrolment.”

Launched in January as a six-month pilot, BIRD is supported by the University of Toronto’s Access Strategy and Partnerships Office and its Access Programs University Fund (APUF), dedicated to supporting U of T initiatives that reduce barriers to education.

“Creating a sense of familiarity and comfort within the Daniels environment and the university broadly will hopefully inspire Indigenous students to apply to these programs,” says Jewel Amoah, assistant dean of equity, diversity and inclusion at the Daniels faculty.

BIRD has been informed by consultations with internal U of T partners engaged in supporting access and outreach for Indigenous students, including the Office of Indigenous Initiatives, First Nations House and the Indigenous Recruitment Officer, as well as Indigenous students at Daniels, Greater Toronto Area school boards and local architecture firms engaged in projects with Indigenous communities.

"This broad collaboration in the design and implementation of BIRD reflects our intention to engage Indigenous voices with and in the Daniels community," says Robert Levit, acting dean of the faculty. "Our response to the Calls to Action begins with establishing access for Indigenous youth to Daniels and helping these young people to build relationships with the people and programs across our community."

Through grassroots outreach—including to the Indigenous knowledge‑centred Kapapamahchakwew (Wandering Spirit School) in Toronto, the Urban Indigenous Education Centre and the Eshkiniigjik Naandwechigegamig (ENAGB) Indigenous Youth Agency—twenty urban youth are participating in this year’s pilot.

The program is coordinated by members of the Indigenous Students' Coalition at Daniels, Angel Levac (Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory) and Shadrak Gobert (Frog Lake First Nation).

"Through my outreach for the program, I found that Indigenous youth are genuinely excited about what Daniels has to offer,” says Gobert. “What stood out most is that our young people are motivated, capable, and ready to lead and make change; they just need access to opportunity and a strong support system to help them thrive. Many simply weren't aware of the range of opportunities and programs that are available to them. BIRD aims to be a meaningful part of that journey to support their paths."

In addition to hands-on activities and visits to exhibitions, the students will visit community spaces on campus, such as Ziibiing and First Nations House. They will also learn about the different study options and careers, with an emphasis on programs offered at the Daniels faculty, including architecture, forestry, landscape architecture, urban design and visual studies.

Feedback from participants in the BIRD program will help to inform future access and outreach initiatives geared towards Indigenous youth, as well as intensify ongoing work to include Indigenous knowledge and history across the faculty's undergraduate and graduate programs.

“You can come here. You can learn, and through your Indigenous worldview you can shift and bend and change the way these professions are taught and practiced,” says Moyan, who, together with Elder Dorothy Peters and Amos Key Jr., form the First Peoples Leadership Advisory Group at the Daniels faculty.

Elder Dorthy is a Traditional Teacher, Community Nookmis, and a member of Jiima’aaganing (Seine River) First Nation. Key Jr. is a member of the Mohawk Nation and Traditional Faith Keeper of the Longhouse at Six Nations of the Grand River Territory.

Grounded in community knowledge and relationships, the advisory group’s efforts and ongoing support of BIRD connect to the viewpoints shared by one of the world’s most prominent Indigenous architects, Douglas Cardinal. Born in Calgary to a father of Blackfoot heritage and a German/Métis mother, Cardinal serves as the decanal advisor on Indigenous knowledge at Daniels. Cardinal, who received an Honorary Doctor of Laws from U of T in 2022, identifies contemporary Indigenous architecture as an embodiment of six core Indigenous values and principles. Among these is the teaching that “when one plans for the future, one must plan for all life-givers for seven generations.” BIRD is now part of this generational planning, helping shape a future rooted in Indigenous knowledge.

“We're all here trying to do beautiful work that benefits all of life. This is a foundational teaching amongst First Peoples and is central within our code of ethics,” says Moyan. “We all need to be guided by those beautiful grandfather teachings of love, respect, truth, honesty, humility, bravery, and wisdom. These teachings should be the principles of design taught at Daniels. Having more Indigenous students studying at Daniels will help to make that happen.” 

BIRD also expands the Daniels faculty’s ongoing commitment to access and outreach.

Nikibii Dawadinna Giigwag (NDG), meaning “flooded valley healing” in Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe), connects Indigenous youth with elders, mentors, and landscape architects through summer employment. Founded in 2018 by Elder Whabagoon, who is Ojibwe, sits with the Loon Clan, and formerly served as the faculty’s first Indigenous advisor, and by Liat Margolis, an associate professor of landscape architecture, the program blends land-based learning with design and community building. 

Now in its fifth year, Building Black Success Through Design (BBSD), led by Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream Joshua Kirk, is a free 12‑week mentoring program supporting Black high school students interested in architecture, art and design. Participants develop portfolio‑ready work while exploring creativity, cultural heritage while exploring theme of design for belonging through site-specific Toronto projects.

“Access and outreach programs help address the underrepresentation of Indigenous and Black students at the university,” says Amoah. “By naming these groups as priority communities, we’re able to put real resources and support behind increasing their representation as well as make sure our curriculum better reflects their experiences as well.”

Levac, who is enrolled in the critical practices stream of the visual studies specialist program, agrees, adding BIRD is the kind of program she wishes she'd had.

“As a first-generation student, navigating university programs, services, co-curriculars and choosing the right courses, felt daunting,” says Levac. “BIRD is a great launchpad for participants. We welcome all questions and curiosities about the Daniels faculty and U of T, with the goal of making students feel confident in their application and having a friendly face should they start school here one day.”

To help inspire that future, Levac shares an encouraging message:

"For Indigenous students reading this: You are smart and powerful and we need people like you to join our table of Indigenous teachers, students, leaders and changemakers. Dream big, then bigger.” 

Photo: January 17 launch event

26 February to 11 April 2026
Susan Hobbs Gallery, 137 Tecumseth Street, Toronto (Map)

Exhibition opening: Thursday, February 26, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

The research paths veer between multiple characters, some of whom directly exist within the exhibition, while others are absent, replaced by their words. Each of these characters subsists within their own penumbra, exposing a belief system that is otherwise unobvious. First, there is King Camp Gillette, the ultimate Man Corporate and failed utopian socialist. Then there is Kafka, who writes a short, cryptic parable that concedes tradition is not fixed, but rather becomes fortified through changing patterns. Finally, there are images reproduced from a French medical journal, positioning satire as a mechanism for social reform. The works graze one another, as each of the proposed subjects becomes muddled by the next. Elements of one appear in another – a ghosting mimicked through the varying ways we learn, repeat, differentiate, and change in response to the affecting qualities of our surrounding environment.

Read more about the exhibition at the Susan Hobbs Gallery website. 

About the artist

Gareth Long’s work offers space for a constantly movable host of subjects: copying, seriality, amateurism, translation, and collaboration. Within the artist’s diverse practice, these topics are engaged both as thematic concerns and as methods of production. Interested in questioning and dismantling notions of authorship, Long’s work functions to extend and compact, reframe and refabricate grand narrative through processes of reading, re-reading, and misreading.

Long is an assistant professor and the director of the Visual Studies program at the Daniels faculty.  

For Yan Wu, a PhD student in the University of Toronto’s John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, contemporary art inspires possibility. 

"It completely changed me,” says Wu of Shanghai’s Biennale in the year 2000. “It's the experience you have that stays with you and lingers. That's what I think contemporary public art should be.”

Born and raised in Shanghai, Wu says her formative years coincided with the emergence of the Internet and China’s then underground music scene. 

“I consider that [time] the tail-end of the avant-garde movement in China. I saw artists, happenings and performance. It opened the door.”

Wu, whose PhD research focuses on public art as play space, snaps a selfie inside the bathroom at the Site of Reversible Destiny – Yoro Park by Arakawa + Gins in Gifu, Japan. The 2025 summer research trip was funded by U of T's Asian Institute and undertaken with MArch graduates Lily Lu and Michelle Choi. They studied radical play spaces — and play spaces for seniors and legacy of Metabolism. Their work is documented at the website radicalplay.cargo.site.
 

But Wu says she reached a tipping point. She chose to study abroad and completed her bachelor’s in computer science at the University of Guelph, which she says has helped her interpret ‘60s and ‘70s conceptual art.

"I think computer science, especially software engineering, is about studying process,” says Wu. “You translate something into machine language and execute it to see how the process works. That’s basically what conceptual art is to me; sometimes using process as commentary, sometimes appropriating the process itself. I see those connections.”

Wu spent five years working in the field while continuing to contribute to the arts as writer and translator for Canadian and Chinese art and architecture publications, including Artforum.cn and ArtReview Asia, among others. In 2012, she curated the first exhibition of Mitchell Akiyama at Gendai Gallery, a non-profit public art gallery that was then dedicated to showing works by artists with East Asian background. Akiyama is now an assistant professor of visual studies at Daniels. 

"I chose to study at Daniels because of this history; I know the faculty members. I worked with them and I can keep experimenting with them,” she says of her decision to leave the technology sector and pursue a master of visual studies in curatorial studies at Daniels. 

During her MVS, she co-curated the Canadian Pavilion at the Shenzhen Bi-city Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture with chief curator Janine Marchessault. After graduating in 2015, she spent a year in Shanghai working as assistant curator on the inaugural edition of the Shanghai Urban Space Art Season before holding a curatorial residency at U of T’s Art Museum, where she curated Making Models, an exhibit of experimental architecture projects. Today, Wu is the public art curator for the City of Markham, a role she values in its relationship to curatorial practice, as it goes well beyond the ‘white box’ of the gallery space.

“Public art gives me opportunity to work against spectacle,” she says. “I don't believe in vertical monuments. I believe in horizontal monuments – how this monumentality can be integrated into everyday life.”  

The monumentality of every day mattered most to Wu when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2023.

“The only way I could cope with my time in hospital, was to imagine what kind of projects I could bring to these spaces. That gave me a lot of joy,” says Wu. 

Wu, Kara Hamilton and Patricia Ritacca, all cancer patients, formed the curatorial collective CMBT (Co-conspiracy Means [to] Breathe Together). Together, they brought Between Leaf & Light, an immersive 43-minute soundscape by artist Scott Rogers, to the Hudson Regional Cancer Centre at Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH) in Barrie last March. 

"Bringing Scott’s sound installation into the cancer centre felt like expanding what care could look like," says Wu. "We weren’t interested in decorative distraction. We were asking whether an artwork could engage more of the senses, introduce complexity into the hospital experience and offer patients a different kind of agency. That question continues to shape how I think about public art."

Wu’s curation of Lost and Found by artists Holly Ward and Kevin Schmidt, a graduate of U of T’s master of visual studies in studio art (all pictured above), unfolded as an outdoor component along the Markham Rouge Valley Trail over the summer and fall of 2023, followed by an exhibition and publication in winter 2024 at the Varley Art Gallery of Markham.

“Conventional understandings of curatorial studies often focus on history-making and spatial design; on how we interpret and present art in space. But it’s more than that,” says Wu. “With public art, I’m not just placing work in a site — I’m thinking about how a space can become a place that serves the project. For example, how do we bring contemporary art into ecologically sensitive trail environments in a way that respects the site?”
 

Volunteers and community groups, including a seniors' group who regularly used the trail for Tai Chi practice, were invited to wear t-shirts designed by Ward and Schmitt.

"[The artists] also constructed two mobile instrument cart and hired local amateur musicians to play the carts, or their own instrument, along the trail,” says Wu. "The idea of a rehearsal was really important. They would rehearse along the trail. People walking down the trail would hear something unexpected and discover someone playing music there." 

Toward the end of the outdoor season, the artists hosted an appreciation event at the Varley Art Gallery of Markham with the participating musicians, where they collected their experiences into Trail News. The t-shirts worn by volunteers were further transformed into sculptural pieces. 

“A lot of [public art] activities end up as video and audio documentation. What we often see is the body politic – it becomes less about the project itself. [With Lost and Found] you don't see any documentation of what happened on the trail, but you manage to experience what happened on the trail.”

Lost and Found was recognized by the Creative City Network of Canada with an Impact Award for sustainability. Their award citation said the project “celebrated everyday presence and civic participation over spectacle, offering a deeply reflective model of sustainable and inclusive public art.” 

“My PhD topic is public art as play space," says Wu, who previously taught a fourth-year undergraduate course on public art. "I see play space as a research lab." 

Collaborating with artist Gareth Long, an assistant professor and director of the Visual Studies program, Long used the Rouge Valley Trail in Markham as a research site for students (pictured above). Four students from the course — Satyam Mistry, Olive Wei, Auden Tura and Ella Spitzer-Stephan — went on to work as summer research interns with Markham Public Art, where they jointly developed an online resource. 

“It's become clear to me, contemporary cultural practice for art in public space is no longer about curating objects, it's about curating infrastructures and conditions," adds Wu.  

Wu has also been recognized by Ontario Galleries’ BIPOC Changemaker Award. The BIPOC Changemaker Award celebrates arts leaders who identify as Black, Indigenous, or People of Colour for their exceptional contributions to BIPOC communities and Ontario’s public art gallery sector, who amplify voices from diverse social and political backgrounds and foster unique relationships with the land.

"By definition, I'm a Chinese Canadian, but I don't feel I  quite fit within that blanket identity because I didn't grow up here,” says Wu. “The dominant narrative is often about the struggle of Chinese immigrants — the Head Tax and the history of Chinese Canadian living conditions here. I didn’t experience that. My ancestors didn’t experience that. I’m not a descendant of that particular history... But my dad told me this designation isn’t rooted in oppression — it’s rooted in respect. It reflects a long evolution of understanding. And if it gives me a platform, I can use that platform to raise my voice.”

Up next, Wu is curating a solo exhibition of Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream Morris Lum’s Interior Chinatown. Lum's Chinatown photography was recently featured by CNN and published in the book, Chinatowns: Tong Yan Gaai. The exhibition will open at the McMaster Museum of Art in September and will then travel to the Varley Art Gallery of Markham in summer 2027.
 

“We’re examining Morris’s existing photographic work, but more importantly, asking what the full scope of his practice is,” says Wu. “In the photographs, there’s this ghosted veil — often no people — but his process is deeply rooted in social networks and in building trust within these communities. The Chinese characters are also a significant part of the images, so we’re beginning to exchange how we read and understand those spaces. We’re also exploring places in Markham that he hasn’t photographed yet.”

For Wu, it all comes back to process. 

"I make projects with artists; we're co-conspirators in a way. I observe their process. I need to understand how they work. Then I can figure out how best to present how they work."

Sat, Mar 28 2026, 11:00am - 4pm
Daniels Building, 1 Spadina Crescent
Main Hall, DA170

Register

Join the community of emerging student leaders, established practitioners and prospective future cohorts exploring their place within art and the built environment as they celebrate five years of BBSD!

This year, we celebrate the five-year anniversary of Building Black Success Through Design (BBSD) — a mentoring and access program for Black high school students interested in architecture and art, offered by the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design. 

Practitioners in landscape architecture (represented by OALA JEDI, the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion committee), planning (represented by Black Planners & Urbanists Association) and architecture (represented by BAIDA, the Black Architects and Interior Designers Association) will participate in a student-led dialogue that builds on themes explored throughout the program. The discussion will then be followed by a Q&A session, offering  the audience an opportunity to engage directly with panelists and peers.

We are pleased to have this year’s panel feature: 

• Ossie Airewele, senior associate, architect, BDP Quadrangle
• Anne-Marie Armstrong, assistant professor, teaching stream, at John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design and principal & co-founder of AAmp Studio
• Zara Brown, associate principal, landscape architect, Arcadis and Chair of OALA JEDI Committee
• Abigail Moriah, founder and planner, The Black Planning Project
• Renée Powell-Hines (MArch 2025), BAIDA executive director and festival coordinator, DesignTO

We invite professionals, educators, students and community members to join us for an afternoon of reciprocal learning, critical reflection and cross-generational exchange. This event celebrates the unique agency fostered from multiple fields of city-building being in the same room and contributes to a growing network of diverse perspectives set to shape the future of design.

CULTUS 2023: Mixed-media installation, Installation view, arebyte Digital Art Centre, London, UK (photo by Max Colson courtesy of the artist). 

Zach Blas, an assistant professor in the visual studies program at the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, is among 56 participating artists at the forthcoming Whitney Biennial 2026. 

The Whitney Museum of American Art, founded by sculptor Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875-1942), was the first museum in New York devoted exclusively to showcasing works by living American artists. The Whitney Biennial is the museum’s signature exhibition, surveying artist work in all media. Now entering its 82nd edition, it is the longest-running and most important survey of American art, "where artists test boundaries, spark conversation, and shape culture."

Born in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, Blas is an artist and writer whose practice contends with computational technologies, their industries, and the powers that constitute and animate them. Blas creates moving image installations, films and videos, lecture-performances, publications, and web-based media. At the forthcoming Whitney Biennial, he will showcase CULTUS (2023), a multimedia installation that addresses a burgeoning AI religiosity in the tech industry.

Blas has exhibited in major international exhibitions including the 12th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art (2022); British Art Show 9, Aberdeen (2021); and 12th Gwangju Biennale (2018), and at venues including Los Angeles County Museum of Art (2024); KANAL-Centre Pompidou, Brussels (2023); Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne (2022); de Young Museum, San Francisco (2020); Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (2019); Whitechapel Gallery, London (2016); ZKM Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe (2015); and transmediale, Berlin (2015). He has also presented solo exhibitions at Vienna Secession (2024); arebyte Digital Art Centre, London (2023); Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven (2020); Haus für Medienkunst Oldenburg (2019); Art in General, Brooklyn (2018); and Gasworks, London (2017).

His works are in the collections of Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.

The biennial opens at the Whitney Museum of American Art on March 8, 2026.

Photo by Alice Xue Photography

The University of Toronto ranked first in Canada – and among the top 30 universities worldwide – in all 11 major subject areas tracked in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings by Subject 2026.

U of T was one of just six institutions in the world – and the only Canadian university – to achieve a top 30 spot in all of Times Higher Education’s broad subject areas, which range from arts and humanities to engineering and life sciences. The others were the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Cambridge, Harvard University, Stanford University and the University of California, Los Angeles.

The rankings, which evaluate both teaching and research, placed U of T ninth in the world in medical and health – the same spot in the top 10 it has held for the past three years. 

“The University of Toronto’s consistently strong performance in these rankings reflects the outstanding contributions of our faculty, librarians, students and staff,” said U of T President Melanie Woodin.

“It is a testament to their dedication, creativity and excellence across an incredibly broad range of disciplines.

Read the full story at U of T News