Archinect - News

3XN and Arcadis IBI release design for new University of Toronto Rotman Commerce Building

2024-07-12T19:09:00-04:00

3XN, in collaboration with Arcadis IBI, has revealed the design for a new, unified Rotman Commerce Building at the University of Toronto. The building aims to prepare students for professional life after university by fueling both learning and networking through open and interconnected spaces.

The current Rotman Commerce program is dispersed across four separate sites across the school’s St. George campus. The new 92,000-square-foot building will comprise five levels above ground and two levels below. It will host a variety of learning spaces, staff offices, and a 200-seat event space.

Image courtesy 3XN

The building’s design is guided by the principle that optimum learning is supported by flexibility, transparency, and interaction. As one moves through the building, the social levels shift, from the lower levels to the more private and quiet areas towards the top.

Image courtesy 3XN

The Rotman Commerce Building is designed in line with the University of Toronto’s Climate Positive ...

Canadian housing pioneer and RAIC Gold Medalist Jerome Markson passes away at 94

2023-11-21T12:28:00-05:00

Jerome Markson, the 2022 RAIC Gold Medalist and modern social housing pioneer whose influence was felt widely across Canada, died in Toronto on Saturday, November 18, The Globe and Mail reported. He was 94 years old.

Markson will be remembered as a progressive architect who affected the post-1970s immigration boom in Greater Toronto through humane and uplifting designs for The Smith Residence (1955), Market Square Condominiums (1980), Group Health Centre in Sault Ste. Marie (1962), and Alexandra Park Public Housing (1965), among others.

“His work epitomizes a deep caring towards those who will use and enjoy his projects as well as the communities in which they exist. Many architects will offer praise by referring to colleagues as an ‘architect’s architect’. Jerome Markson is certainly deserving of the title ‘planner’s architect’ — quite possibly a more difficult and exceptional achievement within the profession,” the jury citation for last year’s RAIC Gold Medal states concisely. ...

Get Lectured: University of Toronto, Fall '23

2023-09-11T11:20:00-04:00

The University of Toronto Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design announces its Fall ‘23 events schedule as part of our Get Lectured preview of the public programming taking place at architecture schools this semester.

The school shares: “Through these events, we aim to engage our local and international communities on the important social, political and environmental challenges confronting our disciplines and the world today.  Topics addressed include design and social justice, urbanization and housing, art and media, and ecology and landscape resilience.”

Events begin September 21 with a discussion from Nzinga B. Mboup of WOROFILA. Author David Gissen will speak about his influential new title, The Architecture of Disability, on September 28, followed by a remembrance of the late French academic Jean-Louis Cohen on October 12. KPBM’s Founding Principal, Bruce Kuwabara will deliver the George Baird Lecture on October 19, and the month concludes with the October 25 op...

University of Toronto researchers develop a fluid-based light filtering technology to help with heating, cooling and lighting in buildings

2023-03-17T18:20:00-04:00

A new prototype multilayered fluid window system devised by researchers at the University of Toronto may have the potential to be an effective tool in the push toward greater sustainability in the building industry, according to their research published in the national academy of sciences journal PNAS.

The technology is based on principles derived from animal biology and was developed by recent mechanical engineering master’s graduate Raphael Kay with the help of Associate Professor Ben Hatton and his team over a period of years, including Ph.D. candidate Charlie Katrycz and Alstan Jakubiec, an assistant professor in the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design

The prototypes work by controlling the type and distribution of solar energy that enters a building through its envelope, discerning between the wavelengths to filter out infrared heat while retaining the beneficial illumination needed to keep a building’s carbon footprint relatively low by avoiding arti...

Montgomery Sisam design net-zero timber research center for University of Toronto

2023-02-02T12:05:00-05:00

Toronto-based Montgomery Sisam Architects has unveiled their design for the overhaul of the University of Toronto’s Koffler Scientific Reserve. Situated in a rural site in King Township north of the city, the new campus is intended to accommodate research students and faculty for extended periods of time as they study ecology and environmental biology.

Image credit: Montgomery Sisam Architects

The existing site, stitched together over the course of a hundred years, features an estate house, small farms, and a blend of woodlands, watercourses, and fish lakes. In response to the current lack of housing, teaching, and dining spaces at the KSR, the new scheme includes a purpose-built Dining and Operations Center, as well as twenty accommodation cabins.

Image credit: Montgomery Sisam Architects

Montgomery Sisam’s design approach revolved around their interpretation of KSR’s work, where minor changes in specific plants can yield broader narratives about global issues such as climate change....

The University of Toronto announces new Centre for the Sustainable Built Environment backed by key industry leaders

2023-01-18T19:17:00-05:00

The University of Toronto’s School of Engineering has announced a new research center that will, together with its industry partners, work to find a viable solution to the growing need for public infrastructure that is in tune with the push for sustainability and concerns over climate change.

The school’s Centre for the Sustainable Built Environment is supported by KPMB Architects, ZGF, Arup, and eight other AEC firms whose future successes lie critically on the findings of a team of researchers that will be led by the Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Infrastructure, Shoshanna Saxe.

According to the University: “The Centre for the Sustainable Built Environment brings together seven researchers from across U of T, as well as a dozen companies in construction and related industries. The goal is to identify strategies that will lower the environmental footprint of new infrastructure across the board by reimagining how they are designed, where they are built and even what materials ...

Juan Du appointed as new dean of University of Toronto's John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design

2021-01-25T13:36:00-05:00

The Daniels Faculty at the University of Toronto recently announced its new incoming dean: Juan Du, a professor at the University of Hong Kong, will be commencing her five-year deanship on July 1st, 2021. Du is taking over the school's leadership from interim dean Robert Wright.

"I'm glad to know that we have been able to hire a dean of Du's caliber and welcome her to the Faculty," Wright said in a statement. "Du's socially conscious outlook, and her demonstrated skill at research and administration, make her the ideal person to lead our school into the future."

Besides her professorship at HKU, Du is also the founder of the university's Urban Ecologies Design Lab, the founding director of IDU_architecture, and was instrumental behind the inaugural Shenzhen Hong Kong Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism.

Du graduated with an undergraduate degree from the University of Florida, earned her Master of Architecture at Princeton University, and completed her PhD at ETH Zurich. As a Ful...

Indigenous Canadian architect Douglas Cardinal announced as University of Toronto Daniels 2020-2021 Gehry Chair

2021-01-05T14:59:00-05:00

The Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design announced that the 2020-21 Frank Gehry International Visiting Chair in Architectural Design is renowned Canadian architect Douglas Cardinal, OC, FRAIC. Cardinal is known both for his striking designs and for his advocacy for the rights and dignity of Indigenous peoples.

"The vicissitudes of Douglas Cardinal’s life are one of those larger-than-life tales — from the nurture of home, to the trauma of residential schools, and then perseverance and a precocious commitment to architecture and the evolution of a unique idiom of design," says associate professor Robert Levit in a statement. "We are thrilled to have him joining us this year at the Daniels Faculty to share his thoughts on architecture, and to host conversations with our students."

Detail of the National Museum of the American Indian. Image courtesy of Douglas Cardinal Architect. Originally published in the article Happy Indigenous Peoples' Day! Here's a look at some o...

Architects reconnect with Indigenous traditions in Toronto

2020-09-22T18:30:00-04:00

Smoke detectors and birch trees. These are two things that an architect would not typically mention while talking up an ambitious new building. But for the Indigenous House at the University of Toronto Scarborough, these matters are critical. Here, connections with Indigenous traditions and ways of thinking will be everywhere, from the guts of the building to the landscape that accompanies it.

Alex Bozikovic, The Globe and Mail’s architecture critic, reviews the planned Indigenous House at the University of Toronto Scarborough, designed by Formline Architecture in collaboration with LGA Architectural Partners and landscape architecture firm Public Work.

Landscape architect Robert Wright selected as interim dean of Toronto's Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design

2020-05-26T20:14:00-04:00

Robert Wright, a landscape architect and former Dean of the University of Toronto's Faculty of Forestry, has been selected as the interim dean for the school's John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design. Wright is set to take over for Richard M. Sommer, the current dean who has held the position since 2009.

Wright is tasked with leading the department through the coming school year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the university reports. In taking up the interim dean position, Wright will also facilitate the department's efforts restart the selection process for a replacement for Sommer. The search for Sommer's replacement had to be paused, the school reports, due to the COVID-19 situation.

Previously published on Archinect: "A 'soft utopia' takes shape in University of Toronto's experimental gallery." A new installation space at the University of Toronto explores sleepy environments. Photo by Scott Norsworthy.

Wright has been a member of the Daniels Faculty since 198...

Get Lectured: University of Toronto 2019-20

2019-12-03T00:01:00-05:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Fall 2019

With a new school year already here, it's time for Archinect's latest edition of Get Lectured, an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back regularly to keep track of any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your school's lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

Featuring a specially designed eye-catching lenticular poster (video below), the 2019-20 lecture series of the University of Toronto's John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design is well underway. Through next spring, upcoming speakers and events at the school include: Jonas Staal on “Propaganda Art in the 21st Century”, The BIG BIM Theory, Edouard François, Thomas Woltz, Billie Faircloth of KieranTimberlake, the "Cloister/Campus/University/City” and “PROFIT and LOSS” symposia, the “Architecture and ...

A "soft utopia" takes shape in University of Toronto's experimental gallery

2019-11-08T16:00:00-05:00

The University of Toronto's Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design has debuted a new 7,500-square-foot "experimental gallery" that seeks to have visitors lose themselves in "states of repose and reverie."

The new gallery, according to a news post issued by the school, includes an installation designed by New York-based designers Pillow Culture that is centered on having participants disconnect from their technological devices. The exhibition, titled New Circadia (adventures in mental spelunking), asks visitors to leave their belongings in a separate area before becoming immersed in a "dream-like space specifically designed for relaxation, reflection, and repose."

View of gallery users unplugging from the world. Photo by Scott Norsworthy.

“Architecture today is inextricably bound up in the urbanization of the planet, and it needs to pay as much attention to the marking of time, as it traditionally has to the shaping of space,” writes co-curator, Richard Sommer, Dean an...

First images of Diller Scofidio + Renfro's new University of Toronto building

2019-03-01T15:55:00-05:00

A proposed new University of Toronto building at 90 Queen’s Park Crescent will bring together academic and public spaces to create a hub for urban and cultural engagement. The proposal will come forward for consideration by university governance.

Site plan of the new building with Falconer Hall as its immediate neighbor. Image: Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the newly unveiled 90 Queen’s Park proposal for a nine-story building is expected to become the permanent home of University of Toronto's School of Cities in addition to a number of academic units from the Faculty of Arts & Science, the Institute of Islamic Studies, a branch of the Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies, and the Archaeology Centre as well as spaces for the Faculty of Law, the Faculty of Music, and the Royal Ontario Museum.

Music recital hall with a view. Rendering: bloomimages, image courtesy of Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

"Among the building’s showpieces is a music recital hall, with a large window serving as an exceptional backdrop to the stage and providing the audience with south-facing views of the Toronto skyline," reads the announcement. "Above the hall will be a 400-seat event space with similar skyline views. Ther...

Get Lectured: University of Toronto, 2018-19

2018-11-07T20:06:00-05:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Fall 2018

With a new school year upon us, it's time for Archinect's latest Get Lectured, an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back regularly to keep track of any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your school's lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

The University of Toronto's John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design recently kicked off their 2018-19 lecture series, “Home and Away”. Taking place at the Daniels Faculty's new Main Hall, this year's lecture series brings together an international lineup of speakers for discussions and debates on global design issues.

Depicted on a colorful lecture series poster, “each set of Home and Away speakers are represented by different ‘game flags,’ highlighting the Faculty’s role as an arena for debate and the exchange ...

Balkrishna Doshi's 2018 Pritzker Prize Laureate Lecture to be streamed live on May 16th

2018-05-02T18:14:00-04:00

Balkrishna Doshi, the 2018 Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, will present his public lecture “Paths Uncharted” on May 16th at 6:30pm EST. Professor Doshi’s lecture will be recorded and streamed live on Facebook and Instagram via @UofTDaniels. Following the event, the recording will be made available on the Daniels Faculty’s YouTube channel.

The University of Toronto's John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design will host this event in their new Daniels Building designed by NADAAA in collaboration with ERA Architects and Adamson & Associates. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Pritzker Prize, and the first time that the international award will be presented in Canada.

The public is invited to participate in this educational initiative, which aims to heighten discussion and debate around architecture, stimulate awareness of work in the field, and inspire greater creativity within the architectural profession.

...

Shane Williamson appointed director of University of Toronto Daniels Master of Architecture program

2017-07-20T12:21:00-04:00

Shane Williamson, currently an Associate Professor, has been appointed Director of the University of Toronto Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design Master of Architecture Program, effective starting July 1, 2017.

Williamson is known for his built, projected, and speculative work, much of which involves using advanced digital tools as the means to “critically engage/transform traditional modes of construction and tectonic expression,” states the press release. “His work seeks to situate digital fabrication and wood construction in a broader cultural context and link theories of design and technology to sustainable building strategies.”

Williamson is also the Principal of Williamson Williamson Inc., a Toronto -based studio that does work across a variety of scales, from furniture design to master planning.

“Williamson brings with him his interest in our Master of Architecture program’s relationship to the City of Toronto and the broader profession, and his focus on th...

Get Lectured: University of Toronto, 2015-16

2016-01-04T13:15:00-05:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Winter/Spring 2016

Archinect's Get Lectured is back in session. Get Lectured is an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back frequently to keep track of any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your school's lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

The next featured poster comes from the University of Toronto’s John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design. Collaborating with Netherlands-based catalogtree once more, Daniels Faculty wanted to change things up a bit for their 2015-2016 lecture series poster. Instead of the Miura-Ori fold, this year's poster is, yes, wearable.

Daniels Faculty students sporting the lecture poster in style.

Below are upcoming lectures.

Jan 12
"Contexts"
Wolfgang Lorch / Wandel Lorch Architekten, Frankfurt

Jan 14
"All green roofs are equal - but some ...

Building a collaborative jig-saw pavilion at the Media and Architecture Biennale in Aarhus

2014-12-09T20:51:00-05:00

"Programming Natural Affect" was one of the collaborative workshops during the Media and Architecture Bienniale 2014 last month in Aarhus, Denmark. Organized by Anna Ulak and Philipp Rahlenbeck of openconstructs, the workshop focused on fusing the organic properties of nature and the built urban environment through new media and architecture.

Participants learned about combining analog and digital production methods as they worked with each other and the organizers in building a small prefabricated pavilion. At the end of the workshop, the pavilion was displayed in the Main Exhibition during the Bienniale.

Ulak shared further project details below:

"Rather than trying to fully control/manage the relationship between the natural and built environment with computation (and its metaphors), this proposal sets out to augment the natural world. Thus creating artificial environments that evokes the organic. An architecture that artificially amplifies the experiences of nature that is diminish...

Get Lectured: University of Toronto, 2014-15

2014-10-23T20:53:00-04:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Fall 2014

Say hello to another edition of Archinect's Get Lectured! As a refresher, we'll be featuring a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. If you're not doing so already, be sure to keep track of any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss.

Today's poster comes from the University of Toronto’s John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design.

Designed by catalogtree and handfolded in The Netherlands, the Daniels' poster uses the Miura-Ori fold, a technique created by Japanese astrophysicist Koryo Miura to simulate large solar panel arrays for space satellites.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your school's lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

Below are upcoming lectures only. All evening lectures begin at 6:30 p.m. in Room 103 at 230 College Street, unless otherwise noted.

2014

Nov. 4
Peter Rose / Peter Rose + Partners, Boston

Nov. 25
Michael Wilford...

Get Lectured: University of Toronto '13-'14

2013-11-07T17:42:00-05:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Fall 2013

Here on Archinect we recently launched "Get Lectured", where we'll feature a school's lecture series--along with their snazzy posters--for the current season. (UPDATE: We've begun adding international schools!) Check back regularly to stay up-to-date and mark your calendars for any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss.

Today's poster comes with nifty extras from the University of Toronto, Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design.

Designed and handfolded in The Netherlands by catalogtree, the Daniels' poster uses the Miura-Ori fold -- a technique created by Japanese astrophysicist Koryo Miura to simulate large solar panel arrays for space satellites. The school's poster from last year also includes the Miura-Ori fold and was featured on Fold Factory (video below).

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your school's lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

Listed b...

Architecture school confidential

2012-02-06T13:34:00-05:00

A heartbreaking tale of sleepless nights, severed fingers, and a shitload of hard work

Tar Creek Supergrid

2011-09-28T14:22:42-04:00

For his thesis project at the University of Toronto, Clint Langevin, in collaboration with Amy Norris, proposed "repurposing abandoned mines as renewable energy infrastructure in the U.S."

Check out more of Clint's work on his profile.

From the School Blogs: Summer Job Search / China 2010 / MArch Yr 3 / China 2011

2011-08-01T15:34:00-04:00

My last entry was in December of 2009. I suppose I never was particularly good about updating this thing, but it seems a bit ridiculous that I couldn't be bothered to post once about the many, many things that have gone on since then. My apologies. I guess I could start by saying that the world looks like a very different place than it did back in second year.