The IDEAS Impact Award seeks to recognize Daniels Faculty students for their contributions towards advancing inclusion, decolonial work, equity, accessibility and sustainability at the Faculty or in external communities. 

Seeing the opportunity to recognize their peers for exemplary contributions in this space, the Faculty’s three student unions—the Architectural and Visual Studies Student Union (AVSSU), the Forestry Graduate Student Association (FGSA) and the Graduate Architecture Landscape and Design Student Union (GALDSU)—established the award during the 2022-2023 academic year with the support of the Office of the Assistant Dean, Equity Diversity and Inclusion.  

Nominations were reviewed by the Student Impact Award Committee, which was composed of representatives from AVSSU, FGSA, GALDSU and the Office of the Assistant Dean, Equity Diversity and Inclusion. The mandate of the selection committee is to help the Daniels Faculty advance values of equity and inclusion by ensuring that the candidates selected meet or exceed the award criteria. 

Each recipient of the IDEAS Impact Award is given the lifetime title of Impact Fellow and will join a growing network of students in support of their development as social impact advocates and change-makers.

Meet the inaugural cohort of Impact Fellows:

Oluwatamilore (Tami) Ayeye  

A fourth-year student in the Honours Bachelor of Arts in Architectural Studies program, Ayeye is recognized for his impact as a mentor for younger students, and his sincere efforts in facilitating these relationships to build community among Black students. Through his spirited work in Black Students in Design, Ayeye supports fellow students while making design and industry skills more accessible to budding Black designers. 

Megan Barrientos  

Barrientos, a Master of Architecture (MARC) student, is recognized for asking critical questions about race and design, her demonstration of her involvement in supporting BIPOC communities, her responsiveness and spirited advocacy in the face of rising racial discrimination, and her honouring and support of Asian communities during critical times. 

Gal Volosky Fridman 

A third-year MARC student, Fridman is recognized for her commitment toward finding ways to create spaces that facilitate appropriate and meaningful experiences for the elderly population, and her efforts toward navigating a sincere and personal connection and new insights on larger global demographic trends. 

Farwa Mumtaz 

Mumtaz, a recent graduate of the MARC program, is recognized for her efforts to facilitate meaningful connections and mentorship between students of all backgrounds while navigating the unforeseen challenges brought on by the pandemic, and for her sincere and fierce commitment to building meaningful relationships and honouring Muslim women and the Muslim community at large. 

Emilie Tamtik  

A third-year MARC student, Tamtik is recognized for facilitating a space for students to navigate unconventional and innovative modes of fashion design and production, her efforts to ask critical questions about the life of materials, and her work in planning and executing the Victoria College Environmental Fashion Show, demonstrating tangible impacts through sustainable design practices and honouring the creativity and activism of student designers. 

The presence of robotics in art, research, design and construction has undeniably changed the way these fields operate and will no doubt play an even bigger role in the future. For more than a decade, the Association for Robots in Architecture has been working to consolidate knowledge in this area, bringing universities together to form a transdisciplinary network of robot users worldwide.

This spring, the Daniels Faculty is pleased to host ROB|ARCH 2024, the Association’s highly regarded biennial workshop and conference, alongside the University of Toronto Robotics Institute, the Design + Technology Lab at The Creative School (Toronto Metropolitan University) and the Waterloo School of Architecture. 

Each gathering aims to bring together international teams of researchers and practitioners to share expertise, foster networks, increase knowledge and stimulate innovation. ROB|ARCH 2024 will consist of three days of hands-on workshops (May 21 to 23) and two days of conference presentations (May 24 to 25). 

The hosting team, which includes the Daniels Faculty’s Maria Yablonina, Zachary Mollica, Paul Howard Harrison, Nicholas Hoban and Brady Peters, has selected the theme Beyond Optimization. Intended as a provocation, the 2024 conference will reflect on the changes affecting the field of robotics in art, design and architecture—and how to respond by shifting priorities and examining the criteria by which we evaluate research. The hosts aim to move beyond technically focused discourse toward inclusive conversations that centre critical approaches in robotics. 

A detailed list of workshops and registration details will be announced in the fall of 2023, and discounted registration fees will be available for students. Conference events will be hosted in the Main Hall of the Daniels Building at 1 Spadina Crescent. 

Dates 

• Workshops: May 21 to 23, 2024 
• Conference: May 24 to 25, 2024 (call for papers deadline: October 16, 2023) 

Visit the ROB|ARCH website and follow @robotsinarchitecture for the latest information. 

Presented by the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design at the University of Toronto, the annual MVS Proseminar offers visual studies graduate students in curatorial studies and studio art the opportunity to connect and exchange with field-leading international and local artists, curators, writers, theorists, and other creative scholarly practitioners and researchers.

The 2023-2024 MVS Proseminar series is organized by Zach Blas, assistant professor, and Jean-Paul Kelly, assistant professor and director of the visual studies program at the Daniels Faculty.

All events take place in Main Hall at the Daniels Building at 1 Spadina Crescent (unless otherwise noted) and are free and open to the public. View or download the series poster.

Fall 2023

October 17, 6:30 p.m. ET
Amina Ross
Artist and educator

Amina Ross makes videos, sculptures, sounds, and situations that consider feeling, embodied knowledge, and intimacy as survival technologies for black, queer, trans, and feminine-spectrum people. Ross is the 2023-2024 Estelle Lebowitz Artist in Residence at Douglass College, Rutgers University. They also serve as faculty at Parsons School of Design, The New School, and an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Art at Vassar College.

November 14, 6:30 p.m. ET
Zach Blas
Artist and writer

Zach Blas works across installation, moving image, theory, and performance, engaging the materialities of computation while also drawing out the philosophies and imaginaries that undergird artificial intelligence, biometric recognition, predictive policing, airport security, and the internet. Blas is an Assistant Professor of Visual Studies in the Daniels Faculty at U of T.

November 21, 6:30 p.m. ET
Tina Rivers Ryan
Curator, art historian, and critic

Dr. Tina Rivers Ryan is a curator, art historian, and critic specializing in art since the 1960s and is widely known as an expert on digital art. Dr. Ryan is a curator at the Buffalo AKG Art Museum. This event is part of the Daniels Faculty's Fall 2023 Public Program in association with MVS Proseminar. Register in advance.

POSTPONED: November 28, 3-5 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. ET 
Weather Report: Where are we going with art and its institutions? 

Organized by the Art Museum at the University of Toronto and Fogo Island Arts (FIA), this tenth edition of The Fogo Island Dialogues is a series of panel discussions by renowned international museum directors and curators, moderated by significant contributors in the field.  

NOTE: Given the current context, Fogo Island Arts has decided to postpone the Fogo Island Dialogues originally scheduled for November 28, 2023, in Toronto. These remain important conversations that Fogo Island Arts look forward to in the future.

December 5, 6:30 p.m. ET 
Aisha Sasha John
Poet, dancer, and choreographer

Aisha Sasha John is interested in choreographing performances that occasion real love. She’s passionate about the creative potential of surrender and through her work builds structures that allow for experiences of entrancement. The expressive possibilities exclusive to Black being-together is one of her ongoing research interests. A celebrated poet, Aisha is author of the 2018 Griffin Poetry Prize nominated collection I have to live.

Winter 2024

January 16, 6:30 p.m. ET
Hearth 
Curatorial collective

Hearth seeks to provide a site to present projects by a diverse range of emerging collaborators within a context that values experimentation and community. Hearth works towards an anti-oppressive, queer-positive environment and welcomes marginalized and racialized folks through programming that celebrates the work of a diverse range of emerging collaborators.

February 13, 6:30 p.m. ET
Corina L. Apostol
Curator, art historian, and editor

Dr. Corina L. Apostol curates and researches at the intersection of art and politics, focusing on artists who create long-term, pedagogical, community-based projects to empower their audiences. Dr. Apostol is the co-founder of the seminal activist art and publishing collective ArtLeaks and editor-in-chief of the ArtLeaks Gazette. Dr. Apostol is an Assistant Professor in Social Practice in Contemporary Art and Culture in the Faculty of the Humanities at the University of Amsterdam.

February 27, 6:30 p.m. ET
P. Staff
Artist

P. Staff is a filmmaker, installation artist, and poet, whose interdisciplinary practice explores necropolitics, affect theory, the transpoetics of writers, modern dance, astrology, and end of life care to emphasise the processes by which bodies––especially those of people who are queer, trans, or disabled––are interpreted, regulated, and disciplined in a rigorously controlled society. This event is part of the Daniels Faculty's Winter 2024 Public Program in association with MVS Proseminar. Register in advance.

March 5, 6:30 p.m.
Cassils
Artist

Cassils, Associate Professor of Visual Studies in the Daniels Faculty at U of T, is a transgender artist who makes their own body the material and protagonist of their performances. Their art contemplates the history(s) of LGBTQI+ violence, representation, struggle and survival. Drawing from the idea that bodies are formed in relation to forces of power and social expectations, Cassils’s work investigates historical contexts to examine the present moment.

March 19, 6:30 p.m. ET
Elisa Giardina Papa
Artist

Elisa Giardina Papa is a research-based artist whose practice, employing discarded AI training datasets, censored cinema repositories, factitious colonial travel accounts, or fabricated heretical accusations, seeks forms of knowledge and desire that have been lost or forgotten, disqualified, and rendered nonsensical by hegemonic demands for order and legibility. Papa is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Modern Culture and Media at Brown University.

All images courtesy of the artists. Image captions: 1) Cassils - Tiresias, Performance Still No. 3 (ANTI Festival, Kupio, Finland), 2012. Photo: Cassils with Pekka Mekinen. 2) Amina Ross - sample animation. 3) Zach Blas Profundior (Lacryphagic Transmutation Deus-Motus-Data Network) Mixed-media installation. (12th Berlin Biennale, Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart), 2022. Photo by Mathias Völzke.

The Daniels Faculty will honour the experiences of residential school survivors with a University-wide event to mark Orange Shirt Day and the National Day for Truth & Reconciliation. Daniels students, faculty and staff are invited to an in-person commemoration and live-stream on Friday, September 29, beginning at 9:30 a.m. in Main Hall. Register in advance here. 

Date: Friday, September 29, 2023 

Location: Daniels Building, 1 Spadina Crescent, Main Hall (DA170) 

Agenda

• 9:30 a.m.: Arrival, light breakfast, coffee and tea 
• 10:00 a.m.: Remarks of welcome from the Daniels Faculty Indigenous Advisors and Acting Dean 
• 10:30 a.m.: Livestream of the University-wide Commemoration Event 
• 12:00 p.m.: Closing remarks, Q&A, lunch 

We encourage all members of the Daniels community to wear an orange shirt on September 29 and 30 to honour the thousands of survivors of residential schools, those who did not return home and their families and communities.  

Image Credit: Artwork by MJ Singleton 

The Daniels Faculty is playing host this month to Architecture of Health: The Annual Zeidler-Evans Lecture. The yearly public address, administered by McMaster University and delivered by a researcher with expertise and interest in the connections between architecture, physical space and health, will take place on Monday, October 23. 

This year’s lecture, entitled A City That Can Save Us, will be given by Dr. Robin Mazumder (pictured below). A post-doctoral research fellow at the Technical University of Berlin, Mazumder acquired his PhD in cognitive neuroscience at the University of Waterloo and is an outspoken advocate for healthy urban design.

His talk, which will be moderated by journalist Nahlah Ayed of CBC Radio’s IDEAS, will focus on innovative approaches to health education, research and care through the design, use and analysis of physical space.

The lecture will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Main Hall of the Daniels Building at 1 Spadina Crescent. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. and a reception will follow.

Attendees are requested to RSVP via email by October 18 at FHSevents5@mcmaster.ca or by phone at 905-525-9140 (Ext. 20250).

Established in 2022, when the inaugural talk was given by author and academic Annmarie Adams, the Zeidler-Evans Lecture is sponsored by the family of John Evans, the first dean of McMaster University’s School of Medicine, to honour renowned architect Eberhard Zeidler, who passed away last year at age 95.

Between 1967 and 1972, Zeidler and Evans collaborated closely on the creation of McMaster’s Health Sciences Centre, the design for which combined a tertiary hospital and a university facility to teach healthcare professionals, thereby transforming how hospitals are created, built and used.

The German-born architect, who also designed such iconic buildings as the Eaton Centre in Toronto, had a long and sustained relationship with the Daniels Faculty, serving as an adjunct professor at the school from 1983 to 1995 and establishing the Eberhard Zeidler Scholarship with his wife Jane in 1999.

He is also the namesake of the Eberhard Zeidler Library, a 37,000-volume facility in the revitalized Daniels Building, to which he and Jane generously contributed.

Banner image: John Evans (left) and Eberhard Zeidler, after whom the annual Zeidler-Evans Lecture is named, collaborated closely on the creation and building of the McMaster University Health Sciences Centre.

Welcome to the start of the 2023-2024 academic year! Whether you’re a returning student or it’s your first year on campus, I hope that your time with us is a happy and productive one. The Daniels Faculty is a special place, and we want you to reap as much out of your experience here as possible. 

This year as in previous ones, your coursework will be complemented by an exciting roster of extracurricular offerings. Our Fall 2023 Public Program series, launching this month, includes lectures and presentations by some of the leading designers and thinkers in their fields, such as architect Bruce Kuwabara (October 19), curator Tina Rivers Ryan (November 21) and wildfire expert Jonah Susskind (November 30); the series kicks off on September 21 with a lecture by Senegalese architect Nzinga Mboup on the subject of Architecture Rooted in Place.

Look out, too, for the staging of two new exhibitions at One Spadina—a unique display of scale models of Le Corbusier works (opening October 4 in the Larry Wayne Richards Gallery) and the Indigenous-led exhibition ᐊᖏᕐᕋᒧᑦ / Ruovttu Guvlui / Towards Home (in the Architecture and Design Gallery starting October 25)—as well as a range of year-round activities planned around the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Black History Month, and other noteworthy dates.

To be sure, your schoolwork will keep you busy, but I urge you all to attend and to take in as many of these inspiring and illuminating events as you can.

During Orientation and in the coming weeks, I’ll look forward to connecting with as many of you as possible. Dean Juan Du recently embarked on a short-term leave, and will be back in the Dean’s Office later this fall. I will be serving as Acting Dean until her return.

Now and throughout the year, please feel free to reach out to the Dean’s Office (daniels-dean@daniels.utoronto.ca) and to the Office of the Registrar and Student Services (registrar@daniels.utoronto.ca) if you have any questions or concerns.

On behalf of the Faculty, I want to wish you all a great start of term and a happy and productive semester.

Robert Levit (he/him) 
Acting Dean
John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design

Photos by Harry Choi

Building Place!—the Engage-Design-Build show designed to highlight the cultural identities and stories of the many ethnic groups that call Toronto’s Little Jamaica home—will end this Sunday (July 30) with an exhibition wrap party.

Located in a storefront gallery at 1476 Eglinton Avenue West, Building Place! opened on July 16. The exhibition features community-based artwork and urban furniture by students from York Memorial Collegiate Institute and the Daniels Faculty.

It was coordinated by faculty and students in the Master of Urban Design (MUD) program through Engage-Design-Build, a partnership between the Daniels Faculty and the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) aimed at connecting city high schoolers with the community around them through hands-on design and building projects.

One of the main goals of the experiential-learning initiative, which is funded by U of T’s Access Program University Fund (APUF), is to open pathways for youth who are underrepresented in the design professions because of economic or racial barriers to careers in architecture, design and planning.

Engage-Design-Build, say its organizers, a group led by Assistant Professor Michael Piper and Sessional Lecturer Otto Ojo, “connects with multiple course streams, with the aim of creating collaborative cross-curricular projects at multiple scales.”

They do this, they add, by engaging with “multiple stakeholders to broker a dialogue between the school and the community, fostered through multiple field trips and youth participation in community events. This interchange informs and shapes the student projects.”

On Sunday, the wrap party will be held between 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m., but the exhibition itself can be seen from noon to 6:00 p.m. Visitors can also take in Building Place! on Thursday (July 27) from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

For more information on Engage-Design-Build and its projects to date, click here.

All first-year undergraduate students are invited to participate in Critical Perspectives (Ways of Looking), a co-curricular opportunity that aims to strengthen the Daniels Faculty student community and foster critical thinking.

Through shared materials, media and workshops, incoming students will address a range of pressing issues, such as the climate crisis, racial and spatial justice, Indigenous allyship, land stewardship and the rise of artificial intelligence (AI).

“Critical Perspectives is an open resource and a greeting to our new students,” says assistant professor Petros Babasikas, director of the Honours Bachelor of Arts, Architectural Studies (BAAS) program. “It creates a common starting point to their liberal arts education while uncovering different ways of looking at the world and fostering shared understanding.”

In addition to a reading list, video interviews with faculty and staff and a future film series, the program includes an upcoming Writing Workshop from August 14 to 25. The two-week workshop offers incoming students practical tools and exercises to become better writers, and to explore the joy of writing. Students should indicate their interest in the in-person or online workshop by completing the participation form before July 15, 2023.

Visit the Critical Perspectives page to learn more and register for the Writing Workshop.

As National Indigenous History Month 2023 comes to a close, the Daniels Faculty is proud to announce an initiative that also looks to the future: the establishment of the Nelda Rodger Indigenous Student Award in Architecture and Design, an endowed award intended to support the recruitment of First Nations, Métis and Inuit students interested in those fields.  

Historically, Indigenous groups have been underrepresented in architectural education and consequently in the profession and practice of architecture. Of the more than 7,000 registered architects in Canada last year, only about 20 were First Nations or Métis, according to a 2022 report in The Globe and Mail.  

“The Faculty is thrilled to introduce this award as part of its ongoing efforts to enhance Indigenous representation both at the Daniels Faculty and in the design professions,” says Dean Juan Du. “As co-founder of Azure Media and editor-in-chief of Azure magazine, Nelda Rodger was a long-time advocate for contemporary architecture and design and for inclusivity and community in the design professions. We are grateful to her husband and partner, Azure Media CEO Sergio Sgaramella, for endowing this award in her honour.” 

Based in Toronto, Rodger (pictured below) served as editor-in-chief of Azure, the internationally respected architecture and design publication, for nearly three decades, from 1985 (the year that she and Sgaramella co-founded it) to 2013. In addition to spearheading the magazine, she was instrumental in launching the annual AZ Awards, which recognize worldwide excellence in the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, product design and other related disciplines. Rodger passed away after a long illness in January of this year. 

“Nelda and I both wanted to establish a way of helping young Indigenous students access higher education, something to which we understood many face barriers,” Sgaramella says. “In collaboration with the Daniels Faculty, we have established this bursary to recognize and assist qualifying Indigenous students pursuing degrees in architecture—the first initiative of this kind at U of T.” 

Preference for the new award will be given to full-time undergraduate students in the Faculty’s Architectural Studies program, although graduate students in the Master of Architecture program will also be considered. 

The award is a renewable one, meaning that recipients continue to receive it in subsequent years of enrolment, providing that they continue to demonstrate financial need. 

Amos Key Jr., one of the three members of the Daniels Faculty’s First Peoples Leadership Advisory Group, welcomed the award, noting the importance of now spreading the word about it among Indigenous high schoolers in Ontario and the rest of Canada. 

“I don’t think [a career in architecture] is necessarily on their radar,” elaborates Key, a member of the Mohawk Nation and a leading figure in the ongoing language revitalization movement among First Nations people in Canada. “This is a good start.” 

Contributions to the Nelda Rodger Indigenous Student Award in Architecture and Design, to be granted for the first time in 2024, may be made by clicking here. For more details, contact Stacey Charles at 416-978-4340 or stacey.charles@daniels.utoronto.ca.  

As the 2022/2023 academic year closes, we asked 10 recent graduates to reflect on their time at the Daniels Faculty. From courses that changed the way they think about their field to the advice they’d share with new students and what the future holds, their responses were incisive and insightful. Take a look at what they had to say.

Angela Yue Gou (she/her)
Program: Master of Architecture   
Hometown: Lanzhou, China  
 
Were you involved with any clubs or organizations at Daniels?  

I have been involved with GALDSU for the past three years and am lucky to have had the chance to serve as president in my final year of studies. Being involved with the school community has been one of the most memorable and enriching experiences of my life.    

Did you have a favourite project and/or course?  

From designing the Mohawk Cultural Centre for ARC1012 (Design Studio II) led by Professor Adrian Phiffer to the House for Piranesi: Drawing as Thesis led by Professor John Shiner, these courses, profs and classmates that I have met have inspired and encouraged me to push my boundaries of how to think about design.   

What community-based or international experience did you acquire?  
 
I have been able to be part of the Little Jamaica Outreach program—an Engage Design Build Project in collaboration with Daniels and high school students from the Toronto District School Board—led by Professor Michael Piper and Otto Ojo.  

We worked with students through various design and construction workshops, tours and events with stakeholders in their local community to help foster design interest and help them create an end of year showcase. It was very inspiring to see the future generation engage with design and explore its career possibilities.   
 
Any tips for current or future students?
 
Be proactive and be open to new ideas, perspectives and information. Join clubs that you are interested in and be involved with the school community, as you will meet and learn from so many people through these activities. Don’t be afraid to reach out for support and support those around you as the journey is much more enjoyable taken with others. Most importantly, enjoy and have fun with your time at Daniels!   

Callum Gauthier (he/him) 
Program: Bachelor of Arts in Architectural Studies
History and Theory Specialist stream 
Hometown: Merrickville, Ontario  

What is your favourite memory of the Daniels Faculty?  

I loved working in the studio with friends and peers at crunch times throughout my degree. Though I was more often writing than working on models and drawings, it was great to be in a space that was so social and supportive—and where I could bug my friends in the Design stream for Photoshop help when I was making something visual. Our Faculty studies the importance of spaces and places, so it was great to experience a school culture so meaningfully tied to its spaces.  

Did you have a favourite project and/or course?  

Architecture and Media (ARC353), taught by Mary Lou Lobsinger, was an incredible course that offered challenging and enriching ways of thinking about architecture. I found the short writing assignments, in response to course readings, were very helpful in developing my writing: a skill that everyone in the disciplines of architecture and design—not just historians and critics—should constantly be working on.  

What are some of your future plans?  

I’ll be starting a master's degree in Critical, Curatorial and Conceptual Practices at Columbia University’s GSAPP in September. I’m very excited to continue my development as an architectural researcher, and maybe work in exhibition or publication during and after that degree. I think soon after that I may do a Ph.D. in Architectural History, but I’ll have to see where my research takes me.  

Any tips for current or future students?  

Don’t be afraid to explore different types of courses and broaden your horizons, especially in the early years of undergrad. Bachelor’s degrees are a great time to develop your critical thinking, communication and values; ideally, this should be as much, if not more, of a focus than developing specific skills for the professional world. Having a broad knowledge base and keen cultural awareness will make you a better designer, artist or architect in the long run, and better candidates for graduate programs. 

Nazanin Naserian (she/her)
Program: Bachelor of Arts in Visual Studies  
Hometown: Tehran, Iran; Toronto, Ontario 
 
Did you have a favourite project and/or course?  

My favourite classes were those that challenged me while also allowing me to experiment with new mediums and reimagine new ways of interpreting the world around me. Contemporary Printing (VIS209) in particular gave me a renewed appreciation for printmaking and how, in collaboration with textiles, it can be a way to link past and present experiences in a process-oriented and tactile way.  
 
What are some of your future plans?  

My future plans include finding a place in a community where I can work with others to realize a collective artistic vision. I can’t imagine a future where I’m not a creative and don’t get to witness others’ artistic processes. Daniels has taught me that, despite my introverted nature, I find great joy and fulfillment in working together with others to create something bigger than one individual could. 

Any tips for current or future students?  

Even though it’s easier said than done, try to enjoy the process as much as the final product/vision. Your process does not always have to consist of working on your individual project without breaks; it can also include connecting with others in their processes and any difficulties they may be experiencing. In other words, your friends and classmates are a part of your journey and growth as much as you are! 

Samantha Miotto (she/her)
Program: Master of Landscape Architecture 
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario 

Were you involved with any clubs or organizations at Daniels?  

I was part of the mentorship program during my first year and I highly recommend it. The program was a great way to get to know each other, upper-year classmates, and learn from their experiences.  

Did you have a favourite project and/or course?  

Design Studio II was a favourite for so many reasons. The theme focused on Indigenous culture and knowledge, and taught us to navigate the ever-present relationship between culture and landscape. The process involved a lot of unlearning and relearning to see the world through a non-Western lens, understanding reciprocal relationships between people and plants, and curating meaningful, purposeful material and plant palettes. I feel like this studio truly taught me to see the world through a different lens and its teachings resonate with me still to this day. 

What community-based or international experience did you acquire?  

In my third year at Daniels, I had the opportunity to travel to Vietnam through my Option Studio. It was a great way to learn about landscape practices around the world, especially regarding global issues such as coastal flooding and stormwater management. The studio was driven by community-based solutions and engagement with local residents while in Vietnam. I feel like the studio fostered community-led growth, which is crucial if we want to design landscapes that last for generations. 

Any tips for current or future students?  

Enjoy the experience and soak it all in! Three years will fly by—you will grow so much during this short but memorable chapter. Find people you enjoy collaborating with, and really lean into the sense of community that the studio culture fosters. Work together and build each other up and you will develop friendships that will last a lifetime. 

Anusha Prakash (she/her)  
Program: Master of Urban Design 
Hometown: Bengaluru, India 

What is your favourite memory of the Daniels Faculty?   

The MUD Program offered many exciting experiences as we had the opportunity to explore various locations, ranging from Toronto to as far as Yukon. Along the way, I formed strong connections with my cohort, and what started as mere teammates evolved into deep friendships. The collaborative nature of the program allowed us to learn from each other, and I truly appreciate the invaluable guidance provided by the Daniels faculty.  

What community-based or international experience did you acquire?  

I had the opportunity to engage in a community-based experience through volunteering at the Climate Solution Research Workshop at ChocoSol. This experience allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of Canadian climates and how garden roofs can contribute to sustainable solutions.  

What are some of your future plans?   

Urban Design has equipped me with a comprehensive knowledge base, enabling me to approach projects with a holistic perspective. I am keen on exploring an intricate relationship between architecture, urban development and the social fabric of communities. I aim to contribute to the creation of sustainable and inclusive urban environments that promote well-being and enhance the quality of life for residents.  

Whether it's through working in a design firm, collaborating with urban planning organizations, or pursuing research opportunities, I am eager to apply my skills and contribute to the field of urban design in a meaningful way. 

Any tips for current or future students?  

I would recommend prioritizing a good work-life balance by taking frequent breaks between assignments. Additionally, I recommend managing your time effectively by completing the majority of your design work a week before the deadline. Furthermore, don’t hesitate to explore various elective courses that align with your interests and broaden your skill set. Lastly, networking is crucial. Take advantage of opportunities to connect with professionals in your field and build meaningful relationships that can benefit your future career. 

Aileen Duncan (she/her) 
Program: Master of Forest Conservation
Specialization in Environmental Studies 
Hometown: Ottawa, Ontario 

What is your favourite memory of the Daniels Faculty?   

I really enjoyed the campus tree walks led by alumni and some of our teaching assistants. It was a fantastic way to learn about biodiversity without going very far. The St. George campus has a great variety of trees that represent several forest types in Canada.  

Did you have a favourite project and/or course?  

So hard to choose! I really enjoyed the field courses. The Masters of Forest Conservation program is very hands-on, and I think this is one of its great strengths. For our in-class activities, I really enjoyed learning how to use Geographic Information Systems (ArcGIS). Spatial data is incredibly valuable for forestry, and learning this software inspired me to do my Capstone research project on mapping access to green space in Ottawa. 

What are some of your future plans?   

I am currently working as a policy analyst with the Canadian Forest Service, which is part of Natural Resources Canada. In February, I was granted a provisional license to practice forestry as a Registered Professional Forester in Training. I am particularly interested in urban forestry and sustainable forest management, and I have also discovered how much I enjoy learning how best to look after the health of individual trees. To this end, I am gaining work experience and studying to take the ISA-Arborist certification exam.  

Any tips for current or future students?  

Even if you are busy, spend the time to look for and apply to scholarships. It can really help finance your studies, and it may open you up to new networks or experiences. Also, don’t be afraid to take a break from school, but also know that it is there for you when you are ready to come back. I worked for eight years after my Bachelor’s, and that time was essential for me to understand what I wanted to be doing and what education I needed to do that. I was nervous about going back to school in my early 30s, but trusting my decisions and doing a graduate degree was absolutely worth it. 

Julie Seeger (she/her) 
Program: Bachelor of Arts in Architectural Studies
Design Specialist stream 
Minor in Buddhism Mental Health and Psychology 
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario 

What is your favourite memory of the Daniels Faculty?   

I completed my undergraduate design thesis in April, titled “This is How We Heal.” It investigated how an attitude of care through design can transform the Koffler Centre into a space where students can embody a sense of belonging. I wrestled with what the final design should look like for months, had countless iterations, and had honest conversations about mental health. My final presentation was the cumulation of my interests and experiences I had undergone throughout my degree, and it was very special to share it. 

What community-based or international experience did you acquire?  

Mental health has been an increasingly important topic, both on an individual level and on a wider institutional level. In my second year I joined AVSSU, as well as Health and Wellness’ student advocacy team. I took these experiences with me to VUSAC, where I led the Mental Wellness Commission for two years. Through viewing mental health from different perspectives including policy-making, healthcare and institutional culture, it has become clear that this wicked problem requires a collective effort from multiple fronts. My experiences have driven me to continue pursuing how design can begin to solve this problem. 

What are some of your future plans?   

I am returning to Daniels in the fall to pursue my Master’s of Architecture and I’m really excited to continue exploring the ways design can be used to solve problems surrounding human health.  

Any tips for current or future students?  

Design becomes much more exciting when it is used to solve problems. I tend to bring my personal experiences into my work, and it has made it much more meaningful for me. As you move through the world, pay attention to the experiences or events that elicit strong reactions from you, and learn how you can use your education to begin to solve them. 

Audrey Ammann (she/her) 
Program: Bachelor of Arts in Visual Studies 
Hometown: Barrington, New Hampshire, USA 

What is your favourite memory of the Daniels Faculty?   

One of my favourite memories was the Artists' Multiples exchange we did in VIS321. Everyone in the class made 20-something small art pieces for the final assignment that got distributed so that each person went home with one of each. It was so special to carry home a goody bag full of little heartfelt artworks from such a talented bunch. Some were even customized with names and initials, which totally made me cry. 

Were you involved with any clubs or organizations at Daniels?  

Yes! I was elected as one of the curators of the Daniels Art Directive in my third year, and I was an honorary member of the Applied Architecture and Landscape Design club for my contributions as a lecturer for the Daniels Minecraft Camp.  

Did you have a favourite project and/or course?  

I can say my favourite project was my site-specific sound-art performance at El Mocambo for VIS340: Advanced Sound Studio. I got to play a field recording that I made of myself dancing along to the Rolling Stone’s Honky Tonk Women from their Live at the El Mocambo album on the house sound system, and then host my critique on stage at the historic venue. 

Any tips for current or future students?  

Asking for help serves two purposes: It shows you are committed to doing well, and it shows that you are interested in what your professor (or any faculty member) has to offer. Either way, you are squeezing the most out of your university experience and opening doors to new insights and opportunities. 

Liane Werdina (she/her) 
Program: Master of Architecture 
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario 

What is your favourite memory of the Daniels Faculty?   

Definitely all the amazing connections I made at Daniels. Specifically, the final thesis year was filled with memories with my classmates, peers and professors. The studio culture and camaraderie at Daniels was truly memorable in that last year, as was finishing thesis year by not only presenting my own thesis but attending my colleagues’ thesis presentations. This felt like a great culmination and celebration of years of hard work and was such a rewarding learning experience.  

What community-based or international experience did you acquire?  

My thesis research was rooted in collecting experiences of diaspora in the Kurdish regions of modern-day Turkey. Being allowed to do research on such an important and sensitive topic allowed me to reach out to and connect with many Kurdish people, architects and designers who were also interested in the research of my thesis and helped to contribute to its development. Being able to use the Daniels Faculty and resources to reach out to communities and work abroad helped ground my work in reality.

What are some of your future plans?   

I hope to continue the research I conducted during my time at Daniels, by addressing how design and architecture can be used to expose and represent power relationships in space. My goal is not only to be a good designer and contribute to architecture but to continue to develop methods in which design tools can positively impact and change the way we shape social, cultural and political dynamics.  

Currently, I am working with Lukas Pauer in the Vertical Geopolitics Lab, a research-based practice. We are working on a future exhibition that aims to decode and expose relationships between space and power.  

Any tips for current or future students?  

The program goes by a lot quicker than expected, so take advantage of all the great opportunities available to you at the Daniels Faculty. The studios, specifically thesis, are great opportunities to explore your interests before making your way into the profession of architecture. Some of the best advice I received was to use these as the jumping-off point for discovering where you want to take your career, and to see them as beginnings rather than ends. 

Chloë Quinn Lauder (she/her) 
Program: Master of Landscape Architecture 
Hometown: Unionville, Ontario 

What is your favourite memory of the Daniels Faculty?   

Thesis reviews were one of my favourite memories at the Daniels Faculty. It was incredible to see the deeply personal, innovative and beautiful work that my peers presented. It made me feel so proud to be a part of this talented body of students.  

Did you have a favourite project and/or course?  

My favourite project, titled “Unearthed,” took place in the Integrated Urbanism Studio. I had so much fun working with an amazing team to produce drawings at the urban fabric scale, and investigating the impact that inequitable policy and planning has on landscapes in Toronto.  

What community-based or international experience did you acquire?  

I visited Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam during my Option Studio. This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience where I worked with international faculty and students from the University of Architecture Ho Chi Minh City (UAH) to better understand the challenges of climate change, and how culture shapes common spaces.   

Any tips for current or future students?  

Time flies, so make the most of your experience and remember to put your mental health first. Be bold, try new things, and have fun!