Above: Line drawing from Site Unseen: Laneway Architecture and Urbanism in Toronto, 2004 showing emerging system of laneways in Toronto’s urban core.

ARC3700H S
Instructor: Brigitte Shim
Meeting Section: L0101
Thursdays 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

This elective course will examine the potential of Toronto laneways as a vibrant, innovative and emerging public realm in our city. Laneways have the ability to fill a void in our housing needs and provide flexible, incremental solutions to our missing middle. A handful of architects have led the way building several significant laneway houses before it was legal. These projects have demonstrated the amazing potential of laneways as sites of inhabitation throughout our city. 

Students will have a unique opportunity to visit these ground-breaking laneway projects in Toronto, meeting the architects and understanding their design challenges and opportunities from the inside out. Students will meet and interview key players at the City of Toronto and in the building industry who have shaped this new area of growth in our city.