This Thesis Booklet showcases final thesis projects produced by Master of Architecture (MARC), Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA) and Master of Urban Design (MUD) students at the University of Toronto’s John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design. Thesis booklets are a Daniels Faculty tradition, printed and distributed to graduate thesis students, as well as thesis advisors, external reviewers and guests.

The booklet contains images and brief statements by students who are presenting thesis projects this winter semester, at the culmination of their studies. Feel free to flip through the booklet below, or download a PDF.

A project designed by a trio of Daniels Faculty students that aims to serve the unhoused and precariously housed populations of Toronto has won a National Urban Design Award, presented annually by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC).

Michelle Li, Yongmin (Laura) Ye and Edward Minar Widjaja — all of whom are second-year Master of Architecture students — submitted their project, Mobile Support as Shelter Support Infrastructure, as part of their work for the Integrated Urbanism Studio program.

“We are extremely grateful and honoured by this recognition,” says Ye, co-lead of the project. “Working on this project encouraged us to consider the politics and ethics of designing housing and public spaces, which we will carry into our future design practices.”

Ye and her co-leads received the RAIC award in the category of Student Projects. The award winners were formally announced on March 11.

The three Daniels Faculty students converged on the school from different parts of the world. Michelle Li (1) was born and raised in Toronto; Yongmin (Laura) Ye (2) was born in Tokyo and grew up in Macau; Edward Minar Widjaja (3) hails from Jakarta, Indonesia. (Photos provided by the students)

“Michelle, Laura and Edward took on a challenging and nuanced topic with a rigour that enabled them to question conventions,” says Drew Adams, their instructor, “and to imagine pragmatic and inspired possibilities about empowerment and placemaking in the built environment.”

Here, the students share their thoughts on their project, what they learned, and how they will carry it forward in their careers.

How did Mobile Support as Shelter Support Infrastructure come about?

We chose to focus on shelter support infrastructure as part of the Integrated Urbanism Studio.

Through our research, we discovered that the city has been designing stationary, “brick-and-mortar” solutions (e.g. warming stations, respite sites, shelters, etc.) for unhoused people who are typically mobile. This led us to consider a flexible and temporal system that adapts to a population who is transient.

Why did you focus your project on helping the unhoused and precariously housed of Toronto?

During our research, we realized that unhoused populations have been neglected in most city planning and urban master planning, especially with regards to housing in Toronto. There is a very negative, negligent perception towards people who are unhoused, which is compounded by city bylaws to the point where poverty is criminalized. Designing shelter support infrastructure changes the way services can be provided and how public spaces can be designed to benefit both unhoused people and the local community.

Remember, there is a thin line between having a roof over your head and sleeping on the streets.

Were there other projects that helped serve as templates or inspiration for your submission?

We looked at shelter support networks rather than built projects — organizations such as Encampment Support Network, Toronto Tiny Shelters and Meals on Wheels, which serve those who are precariously housed or unhoused. For precedents on designing transitional and supportive housing, we referred to The SIX by Brooks + Scarpa, which provides supportive housing units for veterans in Los Angeles. We also looked at Eva’s Phoenix by LGA, which provides youth transitional housing in Toronto.

What are your future plans?

Working on this project encouraged us to consider the politics and ethics of designing housing and public spaces, which we will carry into our future design practices — considerations such as how to design an apartment for someone who has experienced trauma, or building welcoming and accessible public spaces for people of all income levels. In studio, we typically do not consider urban policies or the social implications of our designs. However, we see a real possibility of having discussions with people from the community about compassionate design, and bringing in lecturers who are involved in social work or social housing.

Beyond this project, there is the potential of volunteering with a shelter support organization or speaking with social workers who directly engage with vulnerable groups on a frequent basis. In our thesis research, one of us is looking at modular construction, which has the possibility of being adapted for mobile support infrastructure as an extension of this project. We want to address the question: Could designers advocate for housing rights through architecture and urban design?

What kind of guidance did you get during your design process?

We would like to express our deep gratitude to our instructor, Drew Adams, who continuously guided and supported us throughout our research and design process. We wish to thank him for his encouragement and offering his insight on designing shelters for the unhoused and precariously housed. We would also like to thank Steve Hilditch from Hilditch Architect for our conversation on transitional and supportive housing, and Robert Raynor who spoke with us about Toronto Tiny Shelters.

Developing Mobile Support as Shelter Support Infrastructure as part of their Integrated Urbanism Studio challenged the trio “to think about decarbonization, climate resilience, employment, equity and social justice, and to envision new forms of housing, open spaces, infrastructure and social services in the 21st-century city,” according to their instructor Drew Adams. (Illustrations provided by the students)

Assistant Professor Fadi Masoud is the director of the Daniels Faculty’s Centre for Landscape Research, a research centre originally conceived in the early 1980s to provide a support structure and a culture of research aimed at enhancing landscape architecture’s knowledge base at the University of Toronto.

Through the Centre, Masoud and his colleagues work on projects with experts and community members across a wide range of disciplines and issues. In 2019, the Centre was awarded the School of Cities Urban Challenge Grant, which led to the Towers in the Park: A Prospective for Equitable Resilience research project.

In a recent interview with the School of Cities, Masoud shared some of the preliminary findings of Towers in the Park, his experience working on the project, and future steps that need to be taken for the provision of green open space and green infrastructure that should be prioritized in equity-deserving neighbourhoods.

School of Cities: How does this initiative complement the City of Toronto’s resilience strategy? How involved is the City with this work?

Fadi Masoud: The City’s Resilience Strategy identified Tower Renewal as the foremost Priority Action [“Vertical Resilience”] to ensure Toronto’s resilience. This is because it clearly sits at the intersection of socio-economic and climate pressures.

How has collaboration through the School of Cities enabled you to advance this initiative?

Without the School of Cities this project would not have been possible. The Urban Challenge Grant provided the space and time for interdisciplinary teams and stakeholders to tackle a project of shared interest. It was hard work to find a common language, thread and set of objectives, but the ability to exchange and explore overlaps was an extremely enriching experience that is just beginning.

What kind of a role do you see for community members as this work advances?

Community members should be the drivers of what needs to change, but it is the landlords’ and the City/government’s responsibility to act and deliver. The power and financial balance for true climate action is in their hands. As academics we will continue to co-create projects and knowledge to help communities mobilize action, including arming them with additional tools and information, as well as design strategies and recommendations where needed.

Are there any comments from the community participants that really stood out for you?

There is a deep embedded knowledge in how communities see and understand their surroundings. Different people from different parts of the world, ages and walks of life think about climate action in different ways and in different time horizons. Finding a way to synchronize our understanding of the situation, needs and objectives of different stakeholders while mobilizing action is a difficult but crucial act.

As this is just the beginning of a new way of seeing these previously overlooked and neglected spaces (and their significant potential to support equitable resilience), how do you see this initiative rolling out over the long term?

In addition to the need for landlords and the City to act and deliver, the City’s Parks Forestry and Recreation and Toronto and Region Conservation Authority should work with Tower Renewal to understand the linkages between private/semi-private open space and public parks and ravines. This would establish stronger connections between all green open spaces, public right of ways and community spaces to work towards this idea of equitable resilience — by increasing access, protecting green space and ensuring the proper design and programming of these spaces to generate community and environmental co-benefit.

Do you have some favourite examples of how communities have started to use the green/open spaces adjacent to their homes?

I think this question can be best answered by some of [the] Thorncliffe Park [neighbourhood]’s residents, who organized various events that overlapped religious holidays with other gatherings, such as educational events or outdoor vaccination clinics. They also mentioned that the school drop-off and pick-up areas are vital community meeting spaces.

Learn more about Towers in the Park in the City Research Insights brief (PDF). See the maps from Towers in the Park here.

Banner image gallery: Through Towers in the Park, Masoud and his colleagues hope to measure, evaluate and quantify the social and environmental value of public and private open space assets, including parks and right-of-ways, as they relate to the city's overall resilience goals that relate to Tower Renewal. (Illustrations from Towers in the Park)

After a Covid-engendered false start in the summer of 2020, the inaugural Design Research Internship Project (DRIP) will finally be launched this summer by Associate Professor Pina Petricone in partnership with 15 local design firms.  

The unique initiative will provide senior BAAS students with the opportunity to apply their critical drawing, modelling and research skills to real projects under the direction of a local practitioner. The internship is designed to not only bridge academic research with professional practice, but also to expose students to models of design research that advance lessons from design studios and course work into multivalent and sometimes interdisciplinary design research problems.  

The deadline for submitting an application is end of day on Monday, April 4. Apply online here.

Two years ago, restrictions imposed by the pandemic postponed the launch of DRIP to this year, although a kind of Design Research Internship Pilot was offered by Prof. Petricone last summer through her firm Giannone Petricone Architects. Last year, 12 senior Architectural Studies students were selected to participate in the intensive internship and undertake group and individual work that collectively contributed to a document called the Atlas of Light Operations, a compendium that traces various custom light fixtures, built and under construction for a range of Giannone Petricone projects.  

The work began with a review and analysis of the collection of custom-designed light fixtures through drawings, shop drawings and construction photos, alongside an accelerated design project for the graphic representation of the final Atlas. Students were guided by presentations of models for design research and its systems of representation as well as individual and group feedback.  

The internship culminated in a comprehensive visual document in the form of a collection — an atlas that traces critical parts and contexts for the series. Although each fixture is unique, tailored to its host space, the design research ultimately expressed each custom-designed piece as inseparable from its cultural context, material and otherwise.  

“As a local practitioner myself, I can appreciate first-hand the value that research internships can bring to the general rigour of experimentation for real-world design projects,” says Prof. Petricone. “This work is often considered a luxury within the timeline of a project; however, this research internship can afford local offices additional resources in order to linger productively on questions of design, context, morphology, history and impact for any given design project.” 

A range of accomplished local practitioners will be participating in this summer’s inaugural internship project. Visit this page for a list of them, along with a brief description of their internship offerings.

Proposed research internships range from historical, theoretical, contextual, cultural, morphological and formal analysis/documentation designed to support the practitioner-defined design project.  

The design project can range from a document or object to an installation, exhibition, building or neighbourhood. 

Below are images from the Atlas of Light Operations created at Giannone Petricone Architects during the Design Research Internship Pilot:

Atlas of Light Operations – Excerpt, for Giannone Petricone Architects. Left: Drum by Jiachen Du. Right: Mushroom by Lhanzi Gyaltsan

Atlas of Light Operations – Composite, Giannone Petricone Architects. Left: Monza fabrication. Right: Monza in situ, Los Angeles.

Atlas of Light Operations – Excerpt, for Giannone Petricone Architects. Left: Cascade by Kathryna Cuizon. Right: Imola by Janet Ma.

Atlas of Light Operations – Composite, Giannone Petricone Architects. Left: Mushroom under construction. Right: Imola fabrication.

Atlas of Light Operations – Excerpt, for Giannone Petricone Architects. Left: Globe by Maya Freeman. Right: Loom by Sally Chiu

Banner Image: Atlas of Light Operations – Contents, for Giannone Petricone Architects. Participating Interns: Sally Chiu, Kathryna Cuizon, Jiachen Du, Maya Freeman, Lhanzi Gyaltsan, Sarah Janelle, Christopher Law, Christina Lin, Janet Ma, Negar Mashoof, Danah Owaida, Megan So. 

How can data science, artificial intelligence (AI), design and architecture work together to help mitigate the effects of climate change on residential buildings in disadvantaged communities? This is the key question driving an interdisciplinary research project that was awarded the Data Sciences Institute’s (DSI’s) Catalyst Grant in February.

The project, titled Using Geometric Data to Construct More Equitable Living Spaces, is a collaborative undertaking between two University of Toronto faculties. Alec Jacobson, assistant professor of computer science, leads the project as principal investigator; assistant professors Maria Yablonina and Brady Peters from the architecture program at Daniels Faculty serve as co-principal investigators. Together, they represent one of the 17 proposals that received a DSI Catalyst Grant in 2022.

“Ever since Maria and Brady gave invited lectures to my computer graphics research group, my students and I have been eager to think of ways we can collaborate,” says Jacobson. “The DSI Catalyst grant was a perfect opportunity given its mandate for interdisciplinarity, and its social and equity themes which resonated with all of us.”

Their project, to be conducted over two years, was awarded the maximum grant amount of $100,000 for its first year. It will be based on two main, parallel research tracks:

1. Researching techniques to simulate and visualize the thermal properties, manufacturing costs and maintenance requirements of the elements which compose residential buildings and structures.
2. Building a comprehensive dataset from these studies to train the next generation of AI-driven design tools.

Funded PhD students from computer science and architecture will be recruited to work collaboratively on both research tracks. The students will appear as co-authors on publications and be able to present findings with the principal investigators at major academic and research venues.

The research project will include a week-long collaborative retreat in the summer of its first year. The retreat will feature a hackathon event, and training workshops on core topics and software tools.

“While thermal simulations in architecture have been considered in the past, our [team of principal investigators] brings a fresh combined perspective with expertise in geometry processing, computer graphics, architecture and robotics,” the research proposal states. “A key to our success will be translating the domain-specific problems in architecture into optimization, simulation and machine learning problems for which tools in geometry processing and computer graphics can be readily and effectively applied.”

The group plans to curate and present their findings in a format that is accessible to the wider AI and machine learning communities.

The Data Sciences Institute Catalyst Grants are supported by the University of Toronto Institutional Strategic Initiatives and external funding partners, with two of the 2022 Catalyst Grants co-funded by Medicine by Design directed to finding solutions to challenges in regenerative medicine.

Banner image: Using Geometric Data to Construct More Equitable Living Spaces is a collaborative research project between the Faculty of Arts & Science’s computer science PhD program and the Daniels Faculty’s architecture PhD program. (Image provided by Qingnan Zhou and Alec Jacobson)

Their work co-designing a groundbreaking Indigenous wellness centre in the Northwest Territories has garnered Daniels Faculty architecture professor Mason White and lecturer and alumnus Kearon Roy Taylor a prestigious 2022 Architectural Education Award, which they share with Lola Sheppard of the University of Waterloo. 

White, who directs the Master of Architecture Post-Professional program at Daniels Faculty, is a co-founder with Sheppard of the Toronto design practice Lateral Office, where Roy Taylor is an associate partner.  

The collaborators have won a Faculty Design Award, one of the various Architectural Education Awards handed out annually by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) in partnership with the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS). It is for their work on the Arctic Indigenous Wellness Centre — a soon-to-be-constructed wellness and cultural facility for Indigenous people in Canada’s North — that they’re being recognized. 

Earmarked for a prominent perch of Canadian Shield adjacent to Frame Lake in Yellowknife, the project as envisioned now began as a research studio at Daniels Faculty, where White first led efforts to define its program, siting and form. At the time, he met and talked extensively with Elders leading the initiative, visited possible locations for the centre, and developed an understanding of the key cultural priorities behind it.

The resulting design is a “de-institutionalized,” camp-like facility organized into three distinct yet unified glulam-spruce volumes “closely tuned to the environment, climate and ground conditions” of the setting. In accordance with the wishes of the Elders, no rock will be blasted or excavated to construct the complex, which will also include an outdoor fire circle, site-wide medicine gardens, and multiple connection points to surrounding trails and landmarks. 

Gallery: Construction of the award-winning Arctic Indigenous Wellness Centre, comprising three site-sensitive glulam-spruce volumes in a lakeside network of trails, gardens and amenities, is scheduled to begin in Yellowknife this year.

Fittingly, the Lateral Office team won the Faculty Design Award (which acknowledges work that, among other things, “centres the human experience”) in the Excellence in Community/Research category. All of the 2022 Architectural Education Award winners will be celebrated, on March 18 and 19, at a ceremony in Los Angeles.

The ACSA award isn’t the first prize bestowed on the project. This past fall, the Arctic Indigenous Wellness Centre was also recognized with a 2020-2021 Holcim Award for Sustainable Construction, taking Silver for the North America region at a ceremony in Venice, Italy. 

At the same presentation, held during the International Architecture Biennale, a team led by associate professor Aziza Chaouni of the Daniels Faculty won a Global Holcim Award, taking Bronze for a proposed music school and ecotourism centre in Morocco.

Called Joudour Sahara, the project prioritizes environmental and social sustainability through the programmatic overlapping of the music school, an eco-lodge and an anti-desertification testing ground. Among the complex’s defining features are courtyards that promote passive cooling and user collaboration, outdoor reed canopies that enable active use of the site during North Africa’s hot summers, and multi-use spaces (such as shared administrative facilities and an outdoor auditorium) that reduce the built footprint and maximize resources. 

Gallery: Prioritizing social and environmental sustainability, Morocco's Joudour Sahara Cultural Centre by Aziza Chaouni Projects is a music school, eco-lodge and anti-desertification testing ground in one.

Chaouni was born in Morocco and is the founder of Aziza Chaouni Projects, her multidisciplinary design firm based in Toronto and Fez. At Daniels Faculty, Chaouni leads the collaborative research platform Designing Ecological Tourism (DET), which investigates the challenges faced by ecotourism in the developing world.

Her win in Venice marks the second Global Holcim Award for Chaouni, whose practice won Gold in 2009. The 2020-2021 Bronze comes with $50,000 (U.S.), as does Lateral Office’s regional Silver. 

Banner images: From left to right in the first image, Daniels Faculty architecture professor Mason White poses with Holcim Foundation board member Kate Ascher and Jean Erasmus of the Arctic Indigenous Wellness Foundation during the presentation of the 2020-2021 Holcim Awards for Sustainable Construction in Venice, Italy. Recipient of a Global Bronze, Daniels Faculty assistant professor Aziza Chaouni (left in the second image) talks with jury member Meisa Batayneh Maani after her win. 

Third-year Master of Landscape Architecture student Stefan Herda is among the 17 scholars chosen by the Landscape Architecture Canada Foundation to receive one of its 2021/22 scholarships.

Every year the Ottawa-based LACF bestows the awards to two national and 15 regional winners across Canada. The scholarships are awarded to landscape architecture students who display “superior academic performance, promote leadership, and encourage original and creative design work and research,” according to the Foundation.

“I am humbled to have been selected by the LACF for the award,” says Toronto-based Herda, whose regional win was officially marked during an online celebration on February 11. “There is so much to learn in landscape architecture, and I appreciate being recognized early on in the journey.”

Herda’s “enthusiasm for traditional ecological knowledge, land stewardship and cultivating landscape literacy” were cited among the reasons for his selection.

Stefan Herda has undertaken research projects that analyze the environmental impacts of sites such as the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station in Ontario.

“Every recipient had a chance to introduce themselves, discuss their research and interests, and [elaborate on] what inspired them to study landscape architecture,” says Herda, who found the virtual ceremony convenient since he and his fiancée have a newborn. “What was most compelling was the profound influence that local geography had on everyone’s work, the breadth of research, and how they focused on equity, climate justice, and truth and reconciliation.”

In addition to his fiancée, Herda credits his fellow classmates, his mentors at the Daniels Faculty, and Elder Whabagoon and the Nikibii Dawadinna Giigwag family for helping him achieve this milestone. “I would not be where I am without my classmates,” he says. “The Landscape Architecture faculty across the board at Daniels have been incredibly supportive of my interests over the last three years.”

One of the research projects that Herda has undertaken at the Daniels Faculty is Under the Humber, in which he and his Integrated Urbanism Studio classmates studied sites in Toronto (such as the point where the Humber River meets Lake Ontario) that they designated as needing some form of design intervention due to environmental, economic and social pressures.

To view more of Herda's work, click here.

Banner image: Master of Landscape Architecture student Stefan Herda was awarded a 2021/22 scholarship by the Landscape Architecture Canada Foundation. (Photo provided by Herda)

The need for more green space in low-income urban settings. Why contemporary forestry needs to be interwoven with Indigenous knowledge. The history and future of China’s eucalyptus trees.

These were just a few of the wide range of subjects elucidated during the 2021 Capstone presentations by students in the Master of Forest Conservation (MFC) program. Held on December 14 and 15, the hybrid presentations took place in person at 1 Spadina Crescent for students and examiners, with external audience members joining in virtually.

A total of 22 MFC students individually presented their work, the projects organized under the themes of forest management, forest health, monitoring, policy, wildlife, mass timber and urban forestry.

“The hybrid format allowed a broader range of external examiners, from places like Oregon and Barcelona, who would not have been able to participate if we were 100 per cent in person,” says Professor Patrick James, the Capstone course coordinator. “The success of this first hybrid presentation event has potentially opened doors for broader participation in the future.”

The 2021 presentations showcased a diverse mix of issues and case studies. Aditi Chanda’s Capstone project, for instance, focused on the harvesting impacts of Indigenous traplines on marten habitats in northeastern Ontario. Through her presentation, she demonstrated why it is critical for Indigenous knowledge to be woven into forestry.

“It is important to focus on Indigenous perspectives not just because they had been silenced, but because they provide generational knowledge of concepts that are championed in forest management today, such as sustainability or adaptive management,” Chanda says. “Given the often-fraught relationship and history between First Nations and the Canadian forest industry, I firmly believe it is irresponsible for us to do otherwise.”

During his presentation, James Marcucci discussed how social housing can be spaces for urban forest stewardship. “There is a measurable inequality of urban tree-canopy cover in Toronto neighbourhoods that is directly related to median household incomes,” he says. “Non-profits such as Local Enhancement and Appreciation of Forests (LEAF) have identified this issue and are partnering with the City of Toronto to empower Toronto Community Housing tenants to plant and steward trees in their communal green spaces.”

Qinyu Chen, meanwhile, spoke on the history of eucalyptus trees in China, the importance of having species diversity there, and how this could be achieved through the planting of three alternative eucalyptus species. “Globally, China ranks first in plantation area, of which eucalyptus is the most widely planted tree species,” Chen says. “Making even small improvements in terms of diversity will have a significant impact on the whole timber industry and country.”

Chen had the unique experience of working at two different universities for his Capstone project: Nanjing Forestry University (NJFU) in China and the University of Toronto in Canada.

“It was great taking part in two different programs: earning lab experience at NJFU and theories knowledge through the course-based MFC program here at the Daniels Faculty,” he says.

“Having gone through the majority of the program in a COVID-required virtual format,” James concludes, “the class of 2021 deserves particular recognition for its perseverance and resilience.”

Dean Juan Du adds: “I was able to attend some of the presentations and was truly impressed by the range and depth of the students’ research. I am excited to see how this future group of forestry leaders will shape their fields in the coming years.”

Photos by Harry Choi

The complete list of the 2021 MFC Student Capstone presentations is below:

Monique Dosanjh
Forest restoration in Southern Ontario's conservation areas impacted by emerald ash borer: a case study with Credit Valley Conservation
Supervisors: Sandy Smith and Danijela Puric-Mladenovic
External Examiner: Alana Svilans
Presentation video

Guo Cheng
Improving the dissemination of pest management information for urban forest health: a case study with box tree moth (BTM)
Supervisor: Sandy Smith
External Examiner: Allison Craig

Rainer Dinkelmann
Preventing regeneration of American beech following harvest in response to beech bark disease – effects of glyphosate application to beech stumps one year after treatment
Supervisor: John Caspersen
External Examiner: Adam Gorgolewski
Presentation video

Adrienn Bokor
Are eastern grey squirrels a big problem for bigleaf maple?
Supervisor: Sean Thomas
External Examiner: Dave Shaw
Presentation video

Vanessa Nhan
The sustainability of Ontario’s wood supply for mass timber
Supervisor: Anne Koven
External Examiner: Glen Foley

Verna Valliere
Long-term impact of silvicultural treatments on the regeneration of American beech following beech bark disease outbreaks
Supervisor: Patrick James
External Examiner: Thomas McCay
Presentation video

Sylvia Jorge
The relationship between residential parcel size and permeable land on urban tree cover in Long Branch, Toronto
Supervisor: Danijela Puric-Mladenovic
External Examiner: Judy Whitmer Gibson

Zoe Bedford
Identifying forests with old growth potential in the Credit River Watershed
Supervisor: Jay Malcolm
External Examiner: Laura Timms
Presentation video

Aditi Chanda
Assessing harvesting impacts on marten habitat at the scale of Indigenous traplines – a study in support of future Indigenous consultation
Supervisors: Jay Malcolm and Ben Kuttner
External Examiner: David Flood
Presentation video

Sara Deslauriers
Effects of landscape configuration on flying squirrel occurrence and abundance in Rouge National Urban Park
Supervisor: Jay Malcolm
External Examiner: Leonardo Cabrera
Presentation video

Catherine Muir
Effect of tree landscape composition on insect communities in a temperate hardwood forest
Supervisor: Jay Malcolm
External Examiner: David McCorquodale

Qinyu Chen
Characterization of shrinkage of three alternative eucalyptus species for Chinese eucalyptus plantation
Supervisor: Sean Thomas
External Examiner: Tianyi Zhan
Presentation video

Lorraine Li
Identifying tree planting priorities for the Toronto District School Board (TDSB)
Supervisor: Danijela Puric-Mladenovic
External Examiner: Karen Dobrucki
Presentation video

James Marcucci
Urban forest stewardship potential for social housing in Toronto
Supervisors: Danijela Puric-Mladenovic and Tenley Conway
External Examiner: Brian Millward
Presentation video

Darya Shinwary
Investigating mechanical damage to trees at the Toronto District School Board (TDSB)
Supervisor: Danijela Puric-Mladenovic
External Examiner: Karen Dobrucki
Presentation video

Lauren Ohayon
Corporate stewardship of urban green space: a Sanofi Pasteur case study
Supervisor: Sandy Smith
External Examiners: Paul Scrivener and Murray Fulmer
Presentation video

Sanda Violoni
Sustainable private forest management and fair taxation in Ontario
Supervisors: Ben Kuttner and Sally Krigstin
External Examiners: Malcolm Cockwell and Mark Kuhlberg
Presentation video

Kunsang Ling
A look at access to green space in Toronto using the 3-30-300 rule for greener cities
Supervisor: Sean Thomas
External Examiner: Cecil Konijnendijk
Presentation video

Ben Gwilliam
A comparison of parametric and non-parametric modelling approaches for a temporally misaligned LiDAR dataset
Supervisor: Ben Kuttner
External Examiner: Murray Woods
Presentation video

Bridget Trerise
A regeneration monitoring protocol for the restoration of coniferous plantations to hardwood forests in Southern Ontario
Supervisor: Ben Kuttner
External Examiner: Aaron Day
Presentation video

Joshua Quattrociocchi
The ecological value of veteran trees in urban landscapes
Supervisor: Sandy Smith
External Examiner: Philip van Wassenaer
Presentation video

Shan Shukla
Analysis of the forestry co-operative pilot projects developed by the Ontario Woodlot Association
Supervisor: Sally Krigstin
External Examiner: John Pineau
Presentation video

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.