I'm an Environmental design student at OCAD in toronto. This program is a strange mix between architecture and interior design. In other words it's the fun without the hassle (read technical/structural side of architecture). I wanted to be part of the schoolblog, because I thought for a long time to document my thesis working process and the blog just sound like a really good medium to do so and share my doubts.
The environmental design thesis at OCAD consists of a preparation, which I did in 3rd year (basically doing case studies, finding a thesis and a site) and the project itself. In the 4th year the actual design part starts. I chose to work on adaptable architecture, the idea coming from a theoritecal dwelling project I made earlier on and that I wanted to develop in a more thorough work. I'm currently working on a paper about the thesis topic, which I'll post when it will be ready for publication (to be published by december as an OCAD-manifesto thesis book in december: http://ocadstudentpress.ca/)

I had my first thesis class today and we have to work on a conceptual/visual piece meant to express the essence of the project and start looking around the city for a project (each student has his own site). I'll be working in downtown toronto, not too far from both UofT St George campus and the business district.

A bit about myself: I studied architecture in France (école nationale supérieure d'architecture de Grenoble) for three years. Then I decided it was time to move on and Canada was my land of election. My plan has always been ending up with a professional degree in architecture and OCAD seemed to be a good stepping stone to do so. I've been in Toronto for slightly over a year and I really like this city, it is really amazing.