In 2020, the Daniels Faculty hosted an exhibition on the innovative housing of Toronto-born architect Jerome Markson, called A Quite Individual Course: Jerome Markson, Architect. It was designed and curated by Associate Professor of Architecture Laura Miller, who also wrote a book examining Markson’s architectural and urban work in the context of Toronto’s postwar development. Toronto’s Inclusive Modernity | The Architecture of Jerome Markson (2020) was published by Figure 1.

On April 1, 2022, the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) awarded Markson, who graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Toronto in 1953, its 2022 Gold Medal, the highest honour that the Institute can bestow “in recognition of a significant and lasting contribution to Canadian architecture.”

“Markson’s work,” the RAIC jury said in its statement announcing the award, “reveals his lifelong commitment to humanism, inclusivity and generosity, teaching us valuable lessons about urban housing and its critical relationship to city building.”

Here, Prof. Miller offers an appreciation – excerpted from her contribution to the RAIC announcement – of Markson’s work, which involved a range of building typologies and project scales. Selected quotes from nominators and Gold Medal jury members are included, also drawn from the RAIC announcement.

Jerome Markson’s architectural and urban works span the gamut of building types and programs that are possible within architectural practice. He is well-known for his finely crafted and spatially inventive private houses, such as the Moses House in Hamilton, Ontario, but also for many other kinds of buildings, including his thoughtful, materially rich urban housing (see the David B. Archer Co-operative in downtown Toronto), his innovative housing for the aged (Toronto’s True Davidson Metro Home for the Aged), his groundbreaking medical buildings (the Group Health Centre in Sault Ste. Marie) and his numerous cultural and community buildings (such as the Frederick Horseman Varley Art Gallery of Markham).

The longevity of Markson’s practice is a testament not only to his extraordinary commitment, dedication and achievements in architecture over many years, but also speaks to the continued relevance of his work to quite diverse audiences during times of great change – and over time.

“Jerome has contributed at every stage of his long career to the architectural design community,” writes Bruce Kuwabara, founding partner of KPMB Architects. “He has mentored many architects who have contributed to the quality and character of the built environment. Through his thoughtful and determined work, he has made Toronto a better city, a more worldly, cosmopolitan place that expresses conviviality through architecture.”

Markson began studying architecture in 1948, as part of a new generation of Jewish-Canadian architects educated at the University of Toronto after World War II. He joined a class that lived and worked at U of T’s campus in Ajax, Ontario, in a former bomb-making facility that had been converted to classrooms to accommodate the rush of postwar students. His propensity to see architecture as an inherent part of the larger city was evident even in his student days, when he proposed a collaborative thesis project with four other classmates for the design of a new Civic Centre for Toronto.

Markson opened his practice, Jerome Markson Architect, in 1955, during a postwar era of profound social, economic and physical transformation in Canada. Urban planner Macklin Hancock succinctly described the ambition of that time: “Canada suddenly flowered, it wanted to be modern, it didn’t want to be ancient…”

Jerome Markson’s body of work includes a variety of building types and scales, from private residences such as the Moses House in Hamilton (1, 2) and condominium complexes like Toronto’s Market Square (3, 4) to large-scale community and cultural projects such as the Group Health Centre in Sault Ste. Marie (5) and Cedarvale Community Centre in Toronto (6). (Photos by Morely Markson [1, 2], Fiona Smith [3,4] and Roger Jowett [5]).

Markson’s architecture stands among the most important and distinguished records of this critical period in the country’s becoming. His buildings are harbingers of important shifts in sociopolitical attitudes, urban policies, and modes of architectural production as these evolved during second half of the 20th century, and into the 21st, in Canada and across North America.

Imbued with a masterful level of architectural craft and character, his architecture reflects his decades-long pursuit of a more open and inclusive expression of modernity.

“By recognizing Jerome Markson, the RAIC…dignif[ies] the architectural calling of city building and confirm[s] the award is for the totality of a lifelong practice,” writes architecture critic Trevor Boddy. “With his personal and public modesty, his commitment to serving diverse strata of society and to improving our cities thoughtfully, Jerome Markson exemplifies the best of Canadian values.”

Over the course of his career, Markson’s important contributions to the field of architecture, to architectural education and to the arts have been recognized with numerous awards, including the Toronto Society of Architects’ da Vinci Award, the University of Toronto Arbor Award, and the Ontario Association of Architects Lifetime Design Achievement Award.

A Fellow of the RAIC, he has also served on prestigious juries and awards committees, such as the jury for Mississauga City Hall, and has led professional organizations such as the Toronto Society of Architects.

“His work,” the RAIC jury noted, “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.”

An examination of the architect’s work in the context of Toronto’s postwar development, Professor Laura J. Miller’s book on progressive modernist Jerome Markson was published in 2020 by Figure 1.

“Black. Black. Black.”

Clara James could barely contain her smile as she heard her mentor Jay Pitter utter those words inside a packed gallery space in downtown Toronto. James and Pitter were at Collision Gallery to celebrate the conclusion of the inaugural cohort of the Building Black Success Through Design (BBSD) mentorship program.

Held on March 26, the BBSD showcase event featured young Black talent in architecture and design. It also pointed to the systemic and institutional barriers, across generations, that spurred the creation of the mentorship program in the first place.

“I know that the people most impacted by poor design are people who don’t have access to design professions,” Pitter, the international urbanist and author, said in her remarks to the audience. “So, the work that is happening here tonight is radical and liberatory.”

Attended by BBSD participants, organizers, supporters from the Faculty, and community members, the showcase was a culmination of an initiative started over a year ago by James and her Black Students in Design (BSD) team members. It was a collective endeavour that required “a village,” as James put it, of advocates and advisors from within Daniels Faculty and beyond.

Daniels Faculty Dean Juan Du (left) with BBSD mentee Christine Pizzoferrato, whose final design submission was awarded the Impact Award. (Photo by Harry Choi)

“Having the BBSD showcase solidified everything that we’d been working towards at Daniels Faculty,” says James, a few days after the event. “It was really exciting and gratifying to see it come to fruition in the way that it did that night.”

Jalyne James (no relation to Clara James) was one of the high school students who participated in the 10-week mentorship program. It was the first program of its kind that he had ever participated in.

“I thought it would be good for my portfolio heading into university,” James said at the event. He had already been taking a couple of architecture classes in Cawthra Park Secondary School, one of the two regional art schools in the Peel District School Board.

James was initially unsure about how the program would unfold because of the pandemic but ended up finding the experience “extremely inspiring and rewarding” because of the connections he made, the design skills he acquired, and the new aspects of architecture that he learned. “As a Black LGBTQ youth, meeting all kinds of Black students and design professionals was incredibly enlightening and uplifting,” he said.

His mentor, Tamilore Ayeye, attested to the flexibility and enthusiasm that the mentees demonstrated over the course of a program that was conducted entirely online. “The past 10 weeks have been a really great learning experience for both the mentees and the mentors,” he said. “Seeing the mentees trying to find their way through the design and architecture world reminded me of when I first got into the field, and also taught me a lot about my own journey right now.”

An undergraduate student in the Architectural Studies program, Ayeye plans on continuing to support the BBSD program in the future and hopes to build something similar in his hometown of Lagos, Nigeria, if the opportunity arises. “Clara and the BSD executive team have laid a solid template for me to start a program like the BBSD for youth back home,” he said.

Architectural Studies student Tamilore Ayeye (left) met his mentee Jalyne James in person for the first at the showcase. James was awarded the Creative Award for his final submission. (Photo by Harry Choi)

The mentors met their mentees on a regular basis, helping the high school youth develop and refine their design projects. The mentees also attended workshops and lectures, some of which were delivered by Daniels Faculty members Erica Allen-Kim and Reza Nik.

“Bringing together high school and undergraduate students, practitioners and professionals under one roof is the type of mentorship we need more of in architecture,” says Nik, who helped arrange the Collision Gallery space for the showcase. “BBSD is an important step toward expanding the role and the responsibility of the University to the wider fields, of playing a more proactive role in taking anti-racist thoughts and critiques into practice.”

Jalyne James and the rest of his cohort (seven in total) were all awarded individual prizes by a jury panel featuring Pitter, Kathryn Lawrence and Daniels Faculty sessional lecturer Otto Ojo. From drafting to creativity and community, the awards recognized specific skills among the mentees and highlighted unique attributes within each of the final submissions.

“The quality of their work, as high school students, really stuck out to me,” said Lawrence, an interior designer at Perkins+Will and founder of the Ubuntu Creative Arts Project based in Kingston, Jamaica. “It’s amazing that they were able to learn programs like SketchUp, look at sites, ideate spaces, plan, and everything else in the span of 10 weeks.”

Kathryn Lawrence (centre) with her colleagues from the design firm Perkins+Will. Lawrence was one of the three members of the jury panel that reviewed the BBSD showcase final submissions. (Photo by Harry Choi)

Aidan Cowling, part of the Daniels Faculty Outreach team and a key supporter of both the BSD and BBSD initiatives, reflected on the sense of community that Clara James and her peers inculcated in the school. Cowling had been at the gallery since the morning, helping put together the showcase. “Supporting the BBSD program reminded me that the communal aspect of building something together makes it so much stronger and fun,” he says. “The process of building something like this mentorship program for Black youth – the values, the ideas, inclusion – is as important as the final product itself.”

Clara James echoed this sentiment as she reflected on the showcase and her future plans. The days leading up to the event and the showcase itself had been a whirlwind of emotions for the Daniels Faculty alumna, who currently works as a studio assistant on campus. Seeing the mentees and their supporters experience the showcase more than made up for the exhaustion and nervousness she felt.

“Having everybody come up to me and say ‘thank you for this opportunity and for this experience’ really made my heart explode,” she says. “That’s the reason I do what I do.”

James hopes to continue building on this momentum. She would like the mentorship program to run year-round, in more post-secondary spaces across Canada. Eventually, her dream is to make BBSD a national program, one that she could actually work in, full-time.

These aspirations that James holds are guided by what Jay Pitter referred to as “servant leadership” in her remarks at the start of the event. James had personally invited her mentor to attend the showcase. This is the latter half of the speech that Pitter delivered:

What I want to underscore is that those of us who work in these professions are not afforded the luxury of simply building our careers. The work that we do is ancestral work. We are descended from people who’ve been displaced and devalued for five hundred years. So the work that we do as Black land-use professionals – it is not just about designing sleek spaces, it is not just about beauty – it is about redressing centuries of spatialized anti-Blackness. We are not afforded the privilege to simply earn an education or build our portfolios. We have to bring our communities, our families with us. Clara is a servant leader. She is our ancestors’ wildest dreams. And I couldn’t be more proud to introduce her to you this evening.

The BSD executive team, formed in 2020, started work on the BBSD mentorship program a year ago. Clara James (third from left, wearing a green top) is the founder and president of the group. (Photo by Harry Choi)

The BBSD showcase at Collision Gallery concluded on April 1. It will be placed as an installation at the Daniels Faculty Building at 1 Spadina Crescent at some point later this year.

The design awards and the recipients are as follows:

Writing Award: Chioma Obi
Drafting Award: Nityanand Baldeo
Creative Award: Jalyne James
Above and Beyond Award: Tee Alabi
Site Award: Kyle Clahar
Community Award: Audrina Stewart
Impact Award: Christine Pizzoferrato

Click here to learn more about Black Students in Design.

The March 26 showcase featured final submissions that the seven BBSD mentees developed in the span of 10 weeks. Project descriptions, photos and scale models were put on display in Collision Gallery by Clara James and a team of organizers. (Photos by Harry Choi)

Banner image: Members of the BSD executive team and BBSD participants pose for a group shot before the formal start of the showcase event. Clockwise from top-left: Vienna Holdip (BSD), Tee Alabi (mentee), Nityanand Baldeo (mentee), Kyle Clahar (mentee), Christine Pizzoferrato (mentee), Tamilore Ayeye (mentor), Jalyne James (mentee), Audrina Stewart (mentee), Tomi Bamigbade (BSD), Clara James (BSD), Renée Powell-Hines (BSD) and Rayah Flash (BSD). (Photo by Harry Choi)

John Andrews, the Australian-born architect who chaired the University of Toronto’s Department of Architecture in the late 1960s and was responsible for some of Canada’s and U of T’s most iconic structures, has passed away at the age of 88. He died in Sydney, his city of birth, on March 24. 

It was a stroke of luck — and brilliance — that first brought Andrews to Canada. While he and American classmate Macy DuBois were still students in the post-professional program at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, the young pair beat out hundreds of contenders to become one of the eight final teams vying to design Toronto’s New City Hall.  

Their proposal — a low-slung, waffle-textured building with a circular pool in the front and an undulating roof on top — ultimately lost out to Viljo Revell’s, but “it was considered an impressive performance,” recalls Professor Emeritus George Baird, former Dean of the Daniels Faculty (and one of Andrews’s later hires in the Architecture Department).  

The 1958 submission by then-students John H. Andrews and Macy DuBois for Toronto’s New City Hall featured an undulating roof and circular reflecting pool. (Photo by Panda Associates/City of Toronto Archives, Series 843, File 135)

On the strength of their performance, both Andrews and DuBois decided to stay on in Toronto, with the former eventually working on New City Hall as a staffer at John B. Parkin Associates, the local architects for the project. In the early 1960s, Andrews also joined U of T’s School of Architecture as a faculty member, teaching there for much of the rest of the decade.  

In 1967, when the School became a full-fledged Faculty comprising three departments (Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Urban and Regional Planning), Andrews became the Department of Architecture’s first chairman under the new structure. As his own practice grew, however, his ability to provide “full-time political and design leadership to the school,” as Baird recalls, became limited, so he eventually stepped down in 1969. 

The architect had established his practice, John Andrews Associates, around the same time that he had joined U of T. The firm came to specialize in academic buildings, realizing well-regarded structures for the University of Guelph, Brock University and the University of Western Ontario. It also took on the task of developing the master plan for U of T’s new campus in Scarborough (with planner Michael Hugo-Brunt and landscape architect Michael Hough) and of designing its very first building.

A 1966 image of Scarborough College, described by Professor Emeritus Larry Wayne Richards as “one of Canada’s most important modern buildings.” (Photo courtesy University of Toronto Archives)

That building — UTSC’s sprawling Humanities and Science Wings, aka the Andrews or Scarborough College Building — was recognized as special almost immediately. When it was first opened to students in 1966, it wasn’t hailed by all, but it was championed by many critics and featured on magazine covers. It is now regarded as an exemplar of brutalist construction. 

The design, wrote Professor Emeritus Larry Wayne Richards, former Dean of the Daniels Faculty, in his 2019 Campus Guide to the University of Toronto: An Architectural Walking Tour, is “an astonishing essay in form, space and light.” Its importance, he added, is indisputable. 

“The fact remains that Scarborough College is one of Canada’s most important modern buildings, and it propelled Andrews into national and international spotlights,” wrote Richards. “Indeed, it can be argued that Scarborough College, along with Moshe Safdie’s Habitat structure for Expo 67 in Montreal, is one of the two iconic works of 20th-century Canadian architecture that continues to resonate internationally.” 

A few years after Scarborough College was completed, Andrews was enlisted to design what would become another Canadian landmark: the 553.3-metre-tall CN Tower, which remained the world’s tallest freestanding structure until 2007 and continues to dominate the Toronto skyline.  

Another career highlight saw Andrews return to his alma mater, the GSU at Harvard, to create much-acclaimed Gund Hall, completed in 1970. 

In his native land, to which Andrews eventually returned, he was remembered this week as “a giant of the Australian architectural fraternity and one of our first internationally recognized architects,” in the words of Tony Giannone, national president of the Australian Institute of Architects.  

That recognition, as Baird notes, first came in Toronto and especially at U of T, then translated into projects throughout North America. 

“It was a substantial career,” Prof. Baird says. “And his legacy at U of T is still being felt.” 

Banner image: Architect John Andrews, flanked by planner Michael Hugo-Brunt (on left) and landscape architect Michael Hough (at right), survey a model of their master plan for the University of Toronto’s then-new Scarborough campus. Andrews’s design of the campus’ first building — the sprawling Humanities and Science Wings — would come to be regarded as a brutalist masterpiece. (Photo by Jack Marshall Photography/University of Toronto Archives)  

Master of Forest Conservation alumnus Thomas McCay has been named one of 2021’s “Top 10 Under 40” by Canadian Forest Industries, distinguishing him as an emerging leader in his field.

The annual list, now in its 10th year, identifies those who “exemplify the best of our sector, from outstanding log haulers to sawmillers, foresters and others,” according to CFI, the forest and wood-processing sector’s leading magazine. Candidates, it adds, come from across the country.

McCay, who completed his MFC studies at Daniels Faculty in 2014, says he was surprised when he was first informed of the selection last year. “I often struggle with imposter syndrome, so it is nice,” he says, “to have some outsiders think that what we are doing here is remarkable.”

McCay currently works at Haliburton Forest and Wild Life Reserve Ltd., where he also completed his MFC internship. As its chief forester, he is entrusted with sustainably managing the privately owned, 100,000-acre Ontario reserve, which includes three operating sawmills, 100 lakes, millions of trees and a large amount of wildlife.

“I think that the broad-based and multiple-perspective approach to forestry education at Daniels set me up well for Haliburton, whose unofficial motto is ‘We don't have it all figured out,’” says McCay, who lives in the Township of Algonquin Highlands with his wife and two children. “A true pursuit of adaptive management and continuous improvement is what I think sets us apart at both Haliburton and the Daniels Faculty.”

Some of McCay’s notable achievements since graduation include creating a private land consulting practice called Stewardship Services, forming the Haliburton Forest Research Institute, and launching the hardwood sawmill Almaguin Forest.

A love of the outdoors was the genesis behind McCay’s early interest and subsequent career in forestry. “I like the practical challenges, and the diversity of work and skills of the job,” he told the publication County Life last year. “I’m also a true believer in forest products as the best renewable resource we have available to us.”

Banner image: Thomas McCay, 32, credits the broad and multiple-perspective approach to forestry education he received at Daniels Faculty for enabling him to grow and thrive in his career. (Image from CFI)

On January 22, members of the Daniels group Black Students in Design (BSD) launched a new initiative to support young Black students interested in the architecture and design fields. The mentorship program, called Building Black Success through Design (BBSD), is the first of its kind at the Daniels Faculty.

“We are incredibly excited to kick off Building Black Success through Design,” says Clara James, founder and president of BSD. “Through a lot of work and collaboration between BSD members and the Daniels Outreach Office, we were able to develop a mentorship program dedicated to building interpersonal relationships between Black university and high school students.”

The program’s inaugural cohort includes six high school students from across the Greater Toronto Area and one from Calgary. Centred around a design competition, the program guides mentees through each step of the design process as they work toward creating individual submission packages. They will be mentored over the next two months by six BSD members, including James.

Among the exercises that the high schoolers will take part in are design and technical workshops with other student groups (such as Applied Architecture & Landscape Design), lectures by Daniels faculty members, and sessions with Black design professionals. Participants will present their final projects at a showcase with prizes the week following March Break.

Dean Juan Du has warmly welcomed the launch of the program, noting its significance both within the Faculty and beyond. “This program is an important demonstration of our commitment at the school to acknowledging the existence of anti-Black racism and to building a more supportive and inclusive Daniels Faculty,” she says. “I congratulate and thank the tireless members of Black Students in Design for leading this initiative. I wish the participants all the best and look forward to seeing the showcase later this year.”

The mentorship program is just one of the many initiatives organized by BSD, which was founded in 2021 to “create a community for Black students to de-stress, to talk about racial issues in the design industry, and to connect with Black design professionals and with each other,” as James describes it. “It’s created by Black students for Black students.”

In addition to BBSD, the group will be hosting In Conversation with Black Students in Design: Building Black Spaces, an upcoming panel featuring Toronto writer and scholar Rinaldo Walcott, U.S. academic Rashad Shabazz, and Dr. Elizabeth (Dori) Tunstall, the Dean of Design at OCAD University. The event is part of the Daniels Faculty’s 2022 winter programming and is scheduled to take place on February 3.

“It can feel a bit overwhelming sometimes keeping up with BSD work, our studies and just life in general,” says James. She feels, however, that the group is only getting started. “I am beyond excited to see how the program and our group will evolve in the coming years.”

Over the past several years, Daniels Faculty graduate student James Bird has worked tirelessly toward reconciling Canada-First Nations relations, liaising with top government officials and disseminating Indigenous teachings. And he has done it all while working toward his Master of Architecture degree, which he achieved earlier this month.

In December and January, the residential-school survivor and knowledge keeper from the Nehiyawak and Dene Nations was recognized not once but twice for his ongoing efforts, receiving both a prestigious Challenge Coin from the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario and a 2022 Clarkson Laureateship from Massey College, where Bird is a junior fellow.

Named after Adrienne Clarkson, Canada’s 26th Governor General, “the Clarkson Laureateships in Public Service are the highest honour that the College awards annually,” Bird explains. “This award dates back to 2004, during the final year of Madame Clarkson’s term. The Laureateships honour her many years of service to Canada by recognizing members of the Massey College community who also contribute to the public good.”

At Massey, Bird is one of three tobacco keepers of the college’s Chapel Royal, which was given that status by the Queen in 2017 and is known in Anishinaabek as Gi-Chi Twaa Gimaa Kwe Mississauga Anishinaabek AName Amik (The Queen’s Anishinaabek Sacred Place). A tobacco garden sits outside the Chapel Royal, the crop being a “sacred” resource long central to Crown-Indigenous relations. 

In June, Bird had co-hosted a luncheon and tour of the garden for the Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Ontario’s Lieutenant Governor.  About a month before Bird accepted his Clarkson Laureateship during a virtual ceremony on January 14, he was at Queen’s Park, receiving his Challenge Coin from Dowdeswell in her office on December 10.

The Challenge Coin, a medallion bestowed annually to a select few, is a more personal honour, given by the Lieutenant Governor as a token of appreciation for supporting her office over the years of her term. 

In addition to hosting Dowdeswell at Massey College, Bird had also joined her for a July 1 Sunrise Ceremony, where he delivered the opening prayer. Such ceremonies are “a time to welcome goodness into the world and to move our collective intentions to kindness,” Bird said at the time. “As we move into these difficult times, let us all remember our collective humanity and move gently on Mother Earth.”

True to form, Bird will not be resting on his steadily growing laurels. Academically, a Doctorate of Philosophy in Architecture, Landscape, and Design will be next on his radar, while his work as a member of the University of Toronto’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission steering committee continues.  

“Although I am grateful for these [honours],” he says, “there is still so much more to be done, and I will continue to work on these issues that plague so many First Nations peoples in Canada.” 

Image Credits: First image: James Bird holds the Challenge Coin given to him by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario as a token of appreciation for supporting her office during her term. Second image: Bird receives the Challenge Coin from the Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell at Queen’s Park on December 10. (Photos courtesy of the Office of the Lieutenant Governor)

The John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design at the University of Toronto is excited to present its Winter 2022 public program. Through a series of book talks, panel discussions, lectures and symposia, our aim is to foster a meaningful dialogue on the important social, political and environmental challenges that confront our world today. How might we create new knowledge and leverage it as a tool for critical reflection and, ultimately, collective change? 

Our programs, and the difficult questions that motivate them, address a range of topics that are central to what we do: design and social justice, building technology and climate change, urban development and real estate, community resiliency, among others.  
 
All events are free and open to the public. Register in advance and check the calendar for up-to-date details: daniels.utoronto.ca/events.  

Winter 2022 

January 18, 12 p.m. ET 
Forest For the Trees: The Tree Planters 
Rita Leistner (Author and Photographer) 
Moderated by Sandy Smith (University of Toronto, Daniels Faculty) 

January 27, 6:30 p.m. ET 
Black Bodies, White Gold: Art, Cotton, and Commerce in the Atlantic World 
Anna Arabindan-Kesson (Author; Princeton University, Department of Art and Archaeology) 
Moderated by Jason Nguyen (University of Toronto, Daniels Faculty) 

February 3, 6:30 p.m. ET 
In Conversation with Black Students in Design: Building Black Spaces  
Rashad Shabazz (Arizona State University, School of Social Transformation) 
Elizabeth (Dori) Tunstall (OCAD University, Faculty of Design) 
Rinaldo Walcott (University of Toronto, Department of Sociology and Equity Studies) 
Moderated by Black Students in Design (University of Toronto, Daniels Faculty) 

February 4, 10 a.m. ET 
Sea Machines 
Keller Easterling (Yale University, School of Architecture) 
Larrie Ferreiro (George Mason University, Department of History and Art History) 
Carola Hein (Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment) 
Niklas Maak (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) 
Meredith Martin (New York University, Department of Art History) 
Prita Meier (New York University, Department of Art History) 
Sara Rich (Coastal Carolina University, HTC Honors College) 
Margaret Schotte (York University, Department of History) 
Elliott Sturtevant (Columbia University, Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation)
Gillian Weiss (Case Western Reserve University, Department of History) 
Co-moderated by Jason Nguyen and Christy Anderson (University of Toronto, Daniels Faculty) 

February 10, 12 p.m. ET 
Thinking Like a Mountain 
Stephanie Carlisle (University of Washington, Carbon Leadership Forum) 
Rosetta Elkin (McGill University, Peter Guo-hua Fu School of Architecture) 
Joseph Grima (Space Caviar) 
Scott McAulay (Anthropocene Architecture School)  
Co-moderated by Kelly Doran, Sam Dufaux and Douglas Robb (University of Toronto, Daniels Faculty) 

February 15, 12 p.m. ET 
Wigs and Women: Korean and Black Migrations and the American Street 
Min Kyung Lee (Bryn Mawr College, Department of Growth and Structure of Cities) 
Moderated by Jason Nguyen and Erica Allen-Kim (University of Toronto, Daniels Faculty) 

February 17, 6:30 p.m. ET 
Tower Renewal and Overcoming Canada’s Retrofit Crisis: Research / Advocacy / Practice 
Graeme Stewart (ERA Architects), presenting research undertaken with Ya’el Santopinto (ERA Architects) 
The George Baird Lecture 
Introductions by Dean Juan Du and Professor George Baird (University of Toronto, Daniels Faculty) 

March 3, 6:30 p.m. ET 
A Place for Life – An Archeology of the Future 
Lina Ghotmeh (2021-2022 Frank O. Gehry International Visiting Chair in Architectural Design) 
Moderated by Juan Du (Dean and Professor, University of Toronto, Daniels Faculty)  

March 29, 12 p.m. ET 
After Concrete 
Lucia Allais (Columbia University, Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation) 
Forrest Meggers (Princeton University, School of Architecture) 
Moderated by Mary Lou Lobsinger (University of Toronto, Daniels Faculty)  

March 31, 6:30 p.m. ET 
Urban Urgencies 
Marion Weiss (Partner, Weiss/Manfredi Architecture/Landscape/Urbanism; Professor of Practice, University of Pennsylvania, Stuart Weitzman School of Design)
Michael Manfredi (Partner, Weiss/Manfredi Architecture/Landscape/Urbanism; Senior Urban Design Critic, Harvard University Graduate School Of Design)
Moderated by Juan Du (Dean and Professor, University of Toronto, Daniels Faculty) 

April 5, 6:30 p.m. ET 
Little Jamaica 
Elizabeth Antczak (Open Architecture Collaborative Canada) 
Romain Baker (Black Urbanism TO) 
Cheryll Case (CP Planning) 
Tura Cousins Wilson (Studio of Contemporary Architecture)
Co-moderated by Otto Ojo and Michael Piper with Black Students in Design (University of Toronto, Daniels Faculty) 

April 7, 6:30 p.m. ET 
Reimagining ChinaTOwn: Speculative Fiction Stories from Toronto's Chinatown(s) in 2050 
Linda Zhang (Organizer and Facilitator; X University, School of Interior Design) 
Biko Mandela Gray (Facilitator; Syracuse University, African American Religion) 
Michael Chong (Author) 
Amelia Gan (Author) 
Eveline Lam (Author) 
Amy Yan (Author and Illustrator) 
Moderated and facilitated by Erica Allen-Kim (University of Toronto, Daniels Faculty) 

April 8, 10 a.m. ET
Design for Resilient Communities International Symposium 
In association with UIA Word Congress 2023: Sustainable Futures - Leave No One Behind
Convenors: 
Juan Du (Dean and Professor, University of Toronto, Daniels Faculty) 
Anna Rubbo (Senior Scholar, Columbia University, Center for Sustainable Urban Development, The Earth Institute) 

Learn more about News and Events and Exhibitions, follow along with the Faculty on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and sign-up for This Week @ Daniels to receive current information on upcoming events. 

Miles Gertler (Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream) and his design practice Common Accounts recently presented Parade of All the Feels at Greater Toronto Art 2021, the Museum of Contemporary Art’s (MOCA) inaugural triennial exhibition.

Common Accounts created a scale architectural model of a parade float installed on the ground floor of MOCA, shown next to pieces by Ghazaleh Avarzamani, Tom Chung, Walter Scott and Julia Dault. The triennial spans all three of the museum’s floors.

“Parade of All the Feels is an architectural expression of the concern for the contemporary phenomenon of feelings-as-facts and ‘emotional geo-spoofing’,” Gertler explains. “It considers the niche ecosystems that form a society of radically independent pluralities and positions ceremonies like parades as pragmatic tools for city-building.”

Photo by Tori Hadkenscheid.

Encased in an acrylic dome equipped with miniature video screens and lights, Parade of All the Feels is drawn from of a more extensive series of floats recently developed by Common Accounts, including a Parade of Healthy Oceans, a Parade of Social Anxiety, a Parade of Cancelled Personalities, and a Parade of Uncomfortable Memes, which will be released in the forthcoming issue of Perspecta (The Yale Architectural Journal).

“This piece builds on our ambition to offer a glimpse both five seconds into the future and into the rear-view mirror of the immediate past,” Gertler says. “It is a meditation on the current moment – on the prioritization, valuation, and organization of emotional information as a political tool and as cultural medium.”

The piece is interactive, with two digital filters that project animated events around the installation, developed in collaboration with Mingus New.

An animated, digital version of some of the parts of the Parade, along with other digital artworks produced by other participants in the show, can be found in MOCA’s GTA360: a virtual environment developed by Daniels Sessional Lecturer, Andy Bako and Master of Architecture graduate student Niko Dellic. Visitors there can interact with each other in real-time, engage in conversations around the hosted works, and the role of digital tools within contemporary art and design practices.

Learn more about Common Accounts.

Photos by Common Accounts.

“Eb Zeidler was a humanist, seeing design in terms of service to the community. His work was innovative and in many cases iconic, but ultimately he wanted to create places for people, not monuments.”

So notes urban designer Ken Greenberg of celebrated architect Eberhard Zeidler, who passed away on January 7 at the age of 95.

In addition to creating some of Canada’s most recognizable structures, from Ontario Place and the Eaton Centre in Toronto to Canada Place for Expo 86 in Vancouver, the German-born architect had a sustained relationship with the Daniels Faculty, culminating in the establishment of the Eberhard Zeidler Library in the revitalized Daniels Building, to which he and his wife Jane (MA Art History, 1989, U of T) generously contributed.

“Eberhard Zeidler leaves important architectural and civic legacies to the city and to the Daniels Faculty at the University of Toronto,” said Dean Juan Du upon learning of his death. “We at the school are deeply saddened by the loss.”

“The name Eberhard Zeidler,” former dean Richard Sommer noted during the 2019 dedication of the Eberhard Zeidler Library and Zeidler Family Reading Room, “is firmly ensconced in the school’s history as one that continues to inspire and shape the architecture education of many faculty, alumni and current students.”

The 37,000-volume library, which also contains a trove of maps, drawings and manuscripts as well as copious digital resources, is only the most prominent of Eberhard and Jane’s contributions to the University. Having established his own practice, now known as Zeidler, in the 1960s, Eberhard was a visiting lecturer and critic at the Faculty before serving as an adjunct professor from 1983 to 1995.

He and Jane were also pleased to invest in and recognize the next generation of architectural talent by establishing the Eberhard Zeidler Scholarship in 1999. Last bestowed this fall, it’s awarded on the basis of academic achievement to a student concluding his or her first year of the Master of Architecture program.

“He was very passionate about the teaching of architecture,” Dr. Zeidler’s son Robert tweeted this weekend. Both Eb and Jane passed on their civic-mindedness to their four children: Margie, Robert, Kate and Christina.

Dr. Eberhard Zeidler and Mrs. Jane Zeidler with their children, from top left, Christina, Kate, Margie and Robert. (Photo by John Hryniuk)

Filmmaker and artist Christina has become a well-known preservationist, transforming neglected historic gems such as the Gladstone Hotel, while alumna Margie (BArch, 1987, U of T) is 401 Richmond’s president and creator; these two projects are now thriving cultural hubs in Toronto. Robert, meanwhile, developed the Cotton Factory project in Hamilton, Ontario, while Kate is a leading interior designer, with more than 25 years in the business.

Such creative acumen owes a debt to Dr. Zeidler’s example. “Eb Zeidler began the transformation of a rather conservative Toronto in the late ’70s by reinterpreting classical architecture spaces in surprising new ways,” says Marianne McKenna, a founding partner at KPMB Architects.

“He cleverly jump-started today’s contemporary Toronto with modern materials and fresh architectural forms. His genius was in creating new public spaces that people actually love to be in. He was an architect who put our spatial experience first.”

Over the years, Dr. Zeidler had been acknowledged with gratitude by the country, city and institutions to which he devoted his talents. In 1989, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Architecture by the University of Toronto. He was also made an Officer of the Order of Canada and received a gold medal from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.

According to those who knew him best, however, his real rewards were in the creation and improvement of spaces we collectively use and enjoy.

“He was an exemplary Torontonian [who] involved himself throughout his career in the issues of the day, taking positions when others in the profession did not,” recalls Greenberg.

“At the time of the Central Area Plan [in the 1970s], Toronto’s reform Council wanted to bring people to live in the city’s core, which was rapidly becoming an office monoculture. Eb and a few others stepped up to challenge the development industry of the time by showing how mixed-use could be done.”

For Greenberg, Dr. Zeidler’s work with Michael Hough on Ontario Place is “one of the great demonstrations of a powerful fusion of architecture and landscape.” It is also reflective of his overall approach to architecture and life.

“He was,” says the urban designer, “a great collaborator.”

To learn more about Dr. Zeidler’s life and legacies, visit this website.

Banner image: Dr. and Mrs. Zeidler sign the guestbook at the Zeidler Family Reading Room in 2019. (Photo by John Hryniuk)

Dana Collins, a Daniels Faculty Master of Forestry Conservation alumna, has been named one of Canada's 100 Most Powerful Women. The 2021 list was released by Women's Executive Network in recognition of outstanding women across Canada who advocate for workforce diversity and inspire tomorrow’s leaders.

Collins was selected in the Manulife Science and Technology category for the varied roles she has played in challenging the status quo for knowledge and female empowerment within Canada’s forest sector.

“I’m honoured to be named amongst this illustrious group of powerful women who are all committed to inspiring change,” Collins says. “In a country that hosts nine percent of the world’s forests, I feel fortunate to work within Canada’s forest sector, building a career dedicated to the sustainable management of our natural resources. Inclusion begets innovation and I’m committed to making the forest sector more inclusive. Given women make up approximately 17 percent of the workforce, it’s imperative that we break down barriers, uplift underrepresented voices and encourage women to pursue rewarding careers in forestry.”

Collins is currently a forest professional in British Columbia, serving as the managing director of the Juniper Collective, a forward-looking inclusion and diversity consultancy that partners with organizations in the forest sector to develop practical solutions for respectful and inclusive workplaces. Collins has been widely recognized as a changemaker in the sector, pursuing every undertaking through a critical, intersectional lens. In her previous role as the executive director of the Canadian Institute of Forestry, she spearheaded a national initiative to support the recruitment, retention and advancement of women in Canada’s forest sector. She has also been a recipient of the Prince of Wales Award for Sustainable Forest Management.

“When we actively enable diversity and inclusion,” says Collins, “and foster a sense of belonging, workplaces, industries and whole sectors can only strengthen.”

Join us in celebrating Collins’s many accomplishments at the Awards Gala on Thursday, November 25 at 5:30 p.m.

About The Juniper Collective

The Juniper Collective is an inclusion and diversity consultancy that partners with organizations to develop practical solutions for respectful and inclusive workplaces. By using data specific to an organization’s unique needs, the Juniper Collective creates individualized strategies for inclusion and diversity with a measurable impact.

About Women’s Executive Network (WXN)

A member-based organization, Women’s Executive Network (WXN) is North America’s first and only organization that meaningfully propels and celebrates the advancement of women at all levels, in all sectors and of all ages. WXN delivers this advancement through training, events, mentoring, networking and award and recognition programs for members and partners. It operates in Canada and the U.S.

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SOURCE: The Juniper Collective

Top image: CNW Group/The Juniper Collective