ABSTRACT by Andrea Murphy: There are over one thousand closed ‘small’ landfills in Ontario, each with differing circumstances and potential problems. This project proposes a method of addressing such dormant sites in situ, based upon a case study in Hamilton. Of the four closed landfills within Hamilton city limits, three of them lie in the low lands of the Red Hill Creek Valley. Perched at the source of the Red Hill Creek, the Upper Ottawa...
As a part of their course curriculum for Arch 226: Environmental Building Design, the 2A class of Fall 2012 competed in the “Evolve: Sustainable Design Competition” sponsored by RBC and B + H Architects for architecture and engineering students in Canada. Challenging architecture and engineering students to work together in multi-discliplinary teams, the competition brief called for the design of a net-zero energy and water-wise bank branch that aims to explore its design and function....
This past winter, an international ideas competition was launched to develop creative ways of reimagining the 5km-long hydro corridor that cuts across Toronto from Davenport Village to the Annex. Called The Green Line, the focus of the competition is to find a unified vision for further development of the site and to create a dialogue about the potential of hydro corridors in urban situations universally. Of the 77 entries in this open call, two teams...
Further Reading features relevant articles, readings, and videos that some of us wished we had come across earlier to help us with school. We welcome submissions at bridge@waterlooarchitecture.com Our third edition of Further Reading features our very own John Straube. This is not so much one reading or single piece of content as it is a resource. If you have been through 3A at Waterloo Architecture you may be familiar with the perfect wall (hopefully),...
Just a quick reminder that PULP Paper Art Party is happening tomorrow night! Those looking to make the drive down should be sure to buy a ticket online now as we are selling out fast! Here’s a sneak peak at the work in progress… Visit pulpartparty.ca for more information and to buy tickets!
Yesterday marked the beginning of the Gladstone Hotel’s inaugural year of Gladstone Grow Op: Exploring landscape and place. The four-day event (on now until Sunday) celebrates innovative ideas and conceptual responses to landscape and place across a broad range of creative practices. UWSA’s F_RMlab is participating this year with their project Field Guide, but the event also features another UWSA project: Play the Walk by Masters student Talayeh Hamidya in collaboration with creative partner Gelareh Saadatpajouh....
For many current students at UWSA, Jonathan Tyrrell and Brian Urbanik are known primarily as adjunct professors, working with the 3a and 1b classes respectively over the Winter 2013 term. What many do not know is that they are also the vocalist/guitarist and percussionist in the Ketch Harbour Wolves, a band that has been described as “at once near and distant, intimate and vast.” Their music “ranges from episodes of sprawling emotional energy to moments...
Sam Oswald discusses the design collaborative Boko with founder Adam Schwartzentruber, and learns about new ways to engage our environment. I am driving with Adam Schwartzentruber from Cambridge to his family’s farm near Wellesley, Ontario. He has been telling me about the items offered by his design collaborative, Boko. Boko is currently run by him and his fiancée, Stephanie Boutari. Their reclaimed-timber benches, cards, and whimsical notebooks are slowly gaining popularity both online and at the Arts Market...
If you’ve seen a couple of masters students laser cutting endless rolls of mylar and/or playing with arduinos, motors and a bunch of wiring in the past month, you may know F_RMlab has been busy preparing for an installation at GrowOp. GrowOp is an exhibition at the Gladstone Hotel that celebrates innovative ideas and conceptual responses to landscape and place across a broad range of creative practices. The event will run from April 25-28, with...
Three students from Waterloo Architecture recently attended the Smart Geometry conference in London. The conference began 10 years ago to celebrate and encourage the use of computational design tools in the field of architecture. This short video serves as a visual overview of these new tools being developed by the architectural community – as well as showcasing some of the London buildings who have benefited from such ‘smart geometries’. smartgeometry.org
