When Rachel McKenna-Marshall ran the Toronto Waterfront 10K, she got to see a display of the fruits of her labour from the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design.

 

Marshall, who came to U of T to study architecture two years ago, will be graduating this fall with a double major in architectural studies and visual studies.

 

This summer, McKenna-Marshall took an intensive course where the class designed and built a meditation pavilion for athletic apparel firm Lululemon, with groups working on different aspects of the final product.

 

She and a few classmates “were the most excited about it, so we got a lot done” – including building meditation chairs by hand. 

 

The pavilion was displayed at the Toronto Waterfront 10k. “It was really incredible,” she says, of seeing the pavilion in use, post-race.

 

McKenna-Marshall also did an independent study this summer involving her artwork. She took underwater photos of friends in a pool, which served as the source images for her paintings.

 

Her project was conducted under the supervision of Associate Professor Sue Lloyd, who praises McKenna-Marshall’s productive and self-led efforts and says the course allows students to do work at the master's level.

 

Looking back, McKenna-Marshall is grateful for the opportunities she’s had, especially working closely with faculty members. “They care about the individual students.

 

“I think that it’s really good to have a lot of creative people in the same space," she says. "I think it helps your work, I think it helps what you produce."