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Settler-Colonial Modern

Writing about modernism in colonial contexts, architectural historian Gwendolyn Wright proposes that “the physical environment became a strategy for enforcing common values while maintaining difference within a conjoint modern world.” In Canada, little else exemplifies this statement so strongly as the century-long experiment known as residential schools.

A virtual round table brought together Indigenous and settler architects and urbanists to share their perspectives on how property could be rethought, in order to reimagine the form and structure of Canadian cities, ultimately leading to the launch of issue 12/13 of the journal ���پ��ٱ������c\a\n\a\d\a: Delineating nation state capitalism edited by David Fortin and Adrian Blackwell.

A ��ݮ��Ƶ School of Architecture professor’s amphibious house research in Vietnam is highlighted as a Global Best Practice project at  opening today in the United Arab Emirates.

What brought you to U��ݮ��Ƶ? 

Three things: the University, the School of Architecture, and the expertise of my postdoctoral supervisor. ��ݮ��Ƶ engineering is one of the top faculties of engineering in Canada. The university is also strategically located in the ��ݮ��Ƶ Region, close to hustle and bustle of Toronto yet offering a quiet and peaceful environment to work, research and raise a family. The university also has amazing facilities and diverse body of students, staff, and faculty. The overall atmosphere is very encouraging to excel.

Congratulations to Tristan Van Leur and Samantha Eby, who won 1st Prize in The Toronto Affordable Housing Challenge for their project, Cooperative Corners.

According to the jury, ”This project cleverly identifies a unique opportunity to capitalize on an underutilized feature of the Toronto residential landscape – the corner lot – and proposes a new typology that creates gentle density, design flexibility, and the possibility of implementation in various types of residential settings. 

��ݮ��Ƶ Architecture student Adam Cohen has some very big ideas that he says could enliven the space for humans while also enhancing landscape conditions for local ecology to thrive on Toronto Island.

"Tasked with reimagining the park's central plaza for a new generation of residents and visitors, I began by examining possibilities for reviving programatic vibrancy while enhancing landscape conditions for local ecology," reads Cohen's proposal.

Researchers from the University of ��ݮ��Ƶ School of Architecture (Adrian Blackwell, Associate Professor and John McMinn, Professor) and School of Planning (Martine August, Assistant Professor) are currently undertaking a research project, Assessing the viability of tiny homes to address housing insecurity in the Region of ��ݮ��Ƶ, as a first phase in their Tiny Home research project. The first phase of this research is funded by the MITACS Accelerate Program in partnership with local firms Isherwood Geostructural Engineers and Z-Modular.

Local architect Roger Farwell (BAS 1977), known as a philanthropist, community builder and champion of the arts, died August 4 in Wellesley Township in a single-vehicle crash.