ARC3707H S
Instructor: Michael Piper
Meeting Section: L0101
Friday, 10:00AM - 1:00PM

A “yellowbelt” of single-family type neighborhoods makes up a majority of the Greater Toronto Area’s (GTA) land supply, yet is off-limits for new housing. With three million new residents projected for 2046, and a housing affordability crisis already in full swing, the region faces a pivotal decision point: can the GTA’s municipalities open up their neighbourhoods in a way that is equitable and sustainable but also politically and economically viable? Urban designers have advocated for infill development in the form of a “missing middle” of multiplexes and additional accessory unit construction, but municipalities have been slow to adopt and implement these ideas. **

In this research workshop we will examine this issue of producing missing middle type housing through the lens of architectural typology, and bring this research into a multidisciplinary exchange with the School of Cities course JPG2150H: Implementing the Missing Middle, coordinated by the director Karen Chapple. Together, we will think through issues of physical and financial feasibility, infrastructure gaps, regulatory barriers, socio-economic and displacement impacts, political and messaging strategies, and cultural considerations, linking theory to practice. Guest speakers across disciplines at U of T will help us build a framework for analysis, while practitioner experts from urban designers to developers to politicians will weigh in on the challenges. In our analysis, we will pay particular attention to how the region can grow in a just way that counters patterns of segregation, exclusion, racism, and inequality. Our laboratory will be the GTA; we will work with the City of Toronto and four or five surrounding municipalities in order to develop an understanding of implementation challenges in a variety of contexts. **

Each class will have two parts: 1) creating a typology of single-family type homes coordinated through the Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, and 2) participating in weekly guest speaker presentation and discussion with the School of Cities as described above. We will contribute architectural and urban design knowledge about the physical conditions of the “yellowbelt” to a broader discussion of implementation.

We will build an architectural typology that cross reference physical spatial characteristics of existing home lots with different construction methods. Research about physical characteristics such as building materials, age, form, setbacks, and lot coverage will describe the spatial capacities of selected sites. Research about different building methods such demolition/new build, renovation of existing, or addition of accessory units will provide a series of housing production scenarios. These two variables will be cross referenced to explore what kinds of development are feasible on which types of site. This work will be coordinated with research from the School of Cities course to explore the relationship between physical conditions, construction scenarios and broader social, political, and economic contexts.

** The first two paragraphs of this course description have been adopted from School of Cities course description for JPG2150H: Implementing the Missing Middle.