What Makes a Space a Place? Waterloo School of Architecture July 4 – 26, 2017 Led by Jonathan Friedman of PARTISANS Architects, a team of Waterloo Architecture students will create a site-specific built installation on the outdoor plaza at the Gardiner Museum of Ceramics. Coinciding with Waterloo Architecture’s 50th anniversary, visitors will be invited to […]

The Reflexive Urban Fabric The Re-Imagining of Toronto’s Urban Rail Corridor Andrew Cole The thesis The Reflexive Urban Fabric: The Re-imagining of Toronto’s Rail Corridor is concerned with architecture’s role in shaping infrastructural systems into designed composite networks that respond to local, social, and ecological conditions. Infrastructural systems present a dichotomy between the technical and cultural influences that are inseparable from urban planning. […]

In his thesis, Pawel Bednarek uses Toronto as a subject to develop an anarchist spatial practice that challenges architecture’s complicity in the face of society’s authoritarian and hierarchical structures. He will defend his thesis titled ‘Arguments in the Streets Became More Frequent’ on Wednesday September 14th at 11:30am at the BRIDGE Centre for Architecture+Design.

In her thesis, Sonia Yuan proposes an ideal ‘post-post-Fordist’ society, a city envisioned as a dense, heterogeneous construct, whose post-post-Fordist urban intervention is presented as a bicycle factory in the city of Toronto. The proposal endeavours to lift us out of the industrial exploitation of the last century, while providing a relief from contemporary society’s over-saturation of digital technology, to return the machine to its rightful place as an intuitive extension of our bodies. Sonia will defend her thesis on Thursday May 12, 2016 at 4:30 pm in the Loft Gallery.

Tegan’s thesis explores alternatives to the existing and growing condominium typology in Toronto and asks the question: How can we prevent the large scale takeover of Toronto’s evolved vernacular fabric, while still providing a means of growth and intensification of urban land use and building density without sacrificing the distinctive street culture of that area? Her defence will take place on Wednesday December 16th 2015 at 10am in ARC 2026.

As part of a series of selected projects from this past summer’s 2B studio (ARC 293), Brenda Reid proposes [UN]ZOO - a strategy to repair the Don’s ecosystems in conjunction with human presence. The site for this studio was the the Don Valley, a ravine in Toronto that forms part of the Don River watershed. From site strategy to façade details Brenda designs the buildings to be a structure respectful to human and animal needs.

Christina Chan’s thesis identifies Toronto’s PATH system as a non-place, a collection of private spaces in the city. She explores the possibility of unifying its fragments with minimal architectural incisions that would surgically mend the system with the objective of achieving effective utilization of the PATH by a full spectrum of people. Her defence is this Friday, May 8, 2015 at 10 :00 AM in ARC 2026.

Michelle Sprackman, a first-year student at UWSA , shares her experience founding OKO - a Toronto-based handmade jewelry brand available at select boutiques across Ontario.

The current 3A Design Studio course ARCH 392: Large Urban Building is hosting the Creative City Toronto: A Symposium Exploring Next-Generation City Making on Monday March 2nd at 10:00am. The event is open to to all students, faculty and the general public, free of charge.

Stephen Wenzel will defend his thesis entitled Cycle City: Generating a Cycling Culture in Toronto on Monday February 9th at 12pm in room 2026. His thesis investigates how the design of cycling infrastructure can act as a catalyst for a the growth of a cycling culture.