Daniels Faculty of Architecture

Using tree bark, U of T researcher develops new generation of sustainable products

Christopher.Sorensen — Thu, 29 Oct 2020 15:39:51 +0000

Using tree bark, U of T researcher develops new generation of sustainable products

Christopher.Sorensen Thu, 10/29/2020 - 11:39

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U of T's Ning Yan and her collaborators in the Low-Carbon Renewable Materials Centre are developing a new generation of products made from forestry biomass, including underutilized materials such as tree bark. (Photo: Tyler Irving)

Tyler Irving

Topic

Our Community

Daniels Faculty of Architecture

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Forestry

Sustainability

Canada’s forests are a key source of renewable materials, from paper to lumber. Yet many of the industry’s most common products, such as cardboard and newsprint, are on the low end of the value chain.

It’s a shortcoming the ��Ƶ’s Ning Yan aims to rectify.

“The analogy we use is to a petroleum refinery, where the crude oil feedstock is made into thousands of different products, from lower-value fuels to higher-value commodity chemicals,” says Yan, a professor in the department of chemical engineering and applied chemistry in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. “We can do the same with our renewable resources, such as forest biomass.”

Yan is the director of the newly formed Low Carbon Renewable Materials Centre (LCRMC) at U of T Engineering, which is supported by the dean’s strategic fund. LCRMC researchers work closely with forestry companies and industry associations to transform forest biomass – including materials that today are discarded as waste – into commercially valuable products.

In some cases, the new products would be the same as those that currently come from fossil fuels, enabling more oil to stay in the ground. In others, they could be combined with fossil-fuel derived products to enhance their performance.

Much of Yan’s research focuses on tree bark, which she believes is currently underutilized in pulp mills.

“Right now, bark is typically burned as a low-grade fuel in order to generate energy,” says Yan, who is cross-appointed to the department of forestry at the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design. “But from an engineering perspective, it contains all kinds of unextracted value.”

One example is epoxy resins, a group of chemicals that are widely used in industrial-strength adhesives and composites.

“Epoxies are used in everything from flooring to airplane composites,” says Yan. “One of the key chemical building blocks of epoxies is bisphenol A (BPA), which industry would like to phase out because of its potential health impacts.”

Yan and her team have shown that bark extracts can be used to make a BPA-free epoxy resin. Like the traditional product, bark-derived epoxy resin can be mixed with a hardener to create an industrial-strength adhesive.

Made from oil extracted from bark and mixed with CO2, this cyclic carbonate is a precursor for polyurethane, a common form of plastic with a wide range of everyday uses (photo by Heyu Chen)

Another recent line of research involves polyurethanes, a class of polymer chemicals that are used in an array of products, including couch cushions, synthetic clothing and even house insulation. As with epoxies, polyurethanes are made using ingredients with potentially negative health impacts.

“Most commercial polyurethane foams are made using isocyanate, which is a toxic chemical,” says Yan. “Even worse, isocyanate is made from phosgene, which is even more toxic – so much so that it was used as a chemical weapon using the First World War.”

Yan and her team showed that tree bark can be used to create an isocyanate-free version of polyurethane. The bark is liquefied into an oil, which is then mixed with CO2 to create a product known as cyclic carbonate, a precursor for polyurethane. The cyclic carbonate product contains 15 per cent CO2 by weight, providing a new path to sequestering the greenhouse gas.

Last month, the team published a new method for making different kind of polyurethane precursor. Shape-memory polyurethane (SMPU) is used in mattresses, shoes and many other products. Yan and her team created a new form of SMPU from abietic acid, a chemical extracted from tree bark.

These samples of shape-memory polyurethane (SMPU) are made from abietic acid, a chemical extracted from tree bark (photo by Pitchaimari Gnanasekar)

While the proof-of-concept studies are encouraging, Yan says that there is still some distance to go before the products can be commercialized.

“There are still some challenges with respect to performance, especially in terms of strength,” says Yan. “We also have to consider how these chemical processes will be scaled up so that they can be implemented on an industrial scale.”

LCRMC researchers are working with players along the value chain, from polymer foam companies such as Woodbridge to pulp and paper companies such as Domtar, as well as organizations focused on research and development such as FPinnovations.

Together they aim to create new pathways to translate their innovations into full-scale applications.

Says Yan, “I see this as an opportunity to develop a greener, more sustainable economy.”

Where We Gather: U of T’s School of Cities partners with Toronto Public Library for lecture series on public space

Christopher.Sorensen — Fri, 20 Sep 2019 19:35:53 +0000

Where We Gather: U of T’s School of Cities partners with Toronto Public Library for lecture series on public space

Christopher.Sorensen Fri, 09/20/2019 - 15:35

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Ann-Marie Nasr (left), Toronto’s director of parks development and capital projects, with U of T’s Shauna Brail, Alissa North and Alex Josephson at the first talk hosted by U of T’s School of Cities and the Toronto Public Library (photo by Chiao Sun)

Topic

Daniels Faculty of Architecture

Faculty of Arts & Science

Innis College

Urban Studies

How do public spaces shape city life? What do we want for society and for our city?

The ��Ƶ’s School of Cities has partnered with the Toronto Public Library for a four-part lecture series to answer some of the key questions and challenges surrounding public space.

“Toronto is a growing city and we’re growing vertically,” said Shauna Brail, an associate professor of urban studies and the school’s associate director of partnerships and outreach. “There’s a real challenge in ensuring that as dwelling units get smaller, we create spaces outside of private spaces.

“We need to think about public space differently as a 21^st century city.”

At the first talk, Tuesday evening, Alissa North, an associate professor at the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design and author of Operative Landscapes: Building Communities Through Public Space, said the image of parks while growing up in Toronto were flat, open spaces, but that view no longer holds true.

“What’s amazing about Sorauren [Avenue] Park is that it’s been imprinted by community use. It started with the pumpkin festival, there’s a really amazing market, Raptors games, movie nights, and then the plaza came along,” she told the crowd gathered at the Toronto Reference Library.

“But you know your community park has arrived when you get the bake oven. It shows that community park is working. When Toronto invests in neighbourhoods – that’s how you have a win.”

In fact, Toronto has 1,500 parks, about 12.6 per cent of city land, equal to 8,000 hectares of parkland. It’s a lot for the city to work with, while also looking at ways to improve, said U of T master’s in planning alumna Ann-Marie Nasr, director of parks development and capital projects for the City of Toronto’s Parks, Forestry and Recreation.

“Our culture has grown. There’s an expectation what public spaces need to be for daily living,” she said. “People used to think about going to a park on the weekend, and now it’s just a seamless extension of people’s living space.”

Alex Josephson, a lecturer at Daniels and co-founder of architecture and design firm PARTISANS, said architecture requires many interdisciplinary inputs, from visionaries to engineers, as well as the public.

Attendees listen to a panel discussion at Where We Gather: Public Life in Toronto at the Toronto Reference Library (photo by Chiao Sun)

PARTISANS is currently revitalizing Toronto’s Union Station, one of Canada’s most significant heritage buildings. Josephson said they looked at the project through the perspective of the individual, rather than the crowd.

“We feel like we brought a layer to Union Station that’s all about programming – continuous, temporary programming. We flipped the idea of a train station into a cultural hub, a platform for Toronto’s most diverse, culinary, retail and cultural offerings,” he said.

“As much as it feels the city is fully built-out, it’s not even close. I think it’s about [Toronto] recognizing what we have, and leveraging it fearlessly and boldly, where any [visitor] would come here, just to experience our public realm.”

Further discussions this fall will examine city streets, digital space and privacy.

“In Toronto we’re grappling with these questions around digital technology and the impact on our public and private spaces,” said Brail, citing Sidewalk Labs’ partnership with Waterfront Toronto and their redevelopment proposal for Quayside, a parcel of land on Toronto’s eastern waterfront.

“What happens in the public realm when you have a private partner – particularly a private partner with strong ties to one of the largest tech companies in the world [Google] – and what does that mean for people who use that space?”

The next installment of Where We Gather: Streets of Toronto takes place Oct. 7 at the Toronto Public Library’s Bloor/Gladstone branch.

Cherry blossoms and black holes: Check out these May events

Romi Levine — Wed, 01 May 2019 16:14:22 +0000

Cherry blossoms and black holes: Check out these May events

Romi Levine Wed, 05/01/2019 - 12:14

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Cherry blossoms are beginning to bloom outside of Robarts Library (photo by Noreen Ahmed-Ullah)

Romi Levine

Topic

City & Culture

Myhal Centre for Engineering Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

School of Cities

Art Museum

Cherry Blossoms

Daniels Faculty of Architecture

Faculty of Arts & Science

Rotman School of Management

Science Rendezvous

Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library

U of T Mississauga

U of T Scarborough

April showers have brought May flowers as the cherry blossoms outside Robarts Library begin to bloom. But the Instagram-worthy foliage isn’t the only event getting people excited at the ��Ƶ this month.

May is full of fascinating events – from city-wide science, architecture and photography festivals to talks by a Nobel Prize-winning physicist and a researcher on the team who captured the first-ever image of a black hole.

Here is a selection of events taking place on all three campuses this month:

May 2

Kids can learn about what it’s like to work and study at U of T at Bring Our Children to Work Day. The annual event invites appointed faculty, librarians and staff to bring children in Grades 4 to 7 for an exciting day of activities. Registration is now closed but you can find out more about the events on the downtown Toronto, Scarborough and Mississauga campuses.

Faculty and students from U of T, York, Ryerson and OCAD have been working together on a research project exploring affordable student housing in Toronto. The group will be presenting some of their findings at StudentDwell+: Reimagining Student Housing, a two-day symposium held at York University.

Donna Strickland, Nobel Prize in Physics recipient for 2018, will be delivering the Welsh Lecture in Physics at U of T. She’ll be talking about her award-winning work on ultrashort optical pulses.

Hear from Harvard University’s Peter Galison, a member of the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration, about what went into capturing the historic image of a black hole, at an event presented by U of T’s Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology.

May 3

Exciting news for the Robarts Library expansion – crews have begun to drill the concrete to connect the library with the new Robarts Common structure. Studying at Robarts may be a little loud, but you can ask staff at the ground floor information desk and second-floor Ask Us desk for earplugs.

Shutterbugs rejoice – Toronto’s Contact photography festival is back, with captivating exhibitions taking place on U of T campuses:

See the world through the eyes of an engineer at Ambition, Innovation, and Excellence: A Decade at Skule, which will feature photographs from current students and alumni, providing an intimate look at the faculty.
Director of the International Human Rights Program in the Faculty of Law, Samer Muscati, will be showcasing photographs from his visits to Rwanda 15 and 25 years after the genocide at Hart House and at U of T Scarborough. An event to commemorate the 25^thanniversary of the genocide will be taking place at U of T Scarborough this afternoon.

May 4

American artist Carrie Mae Weems will be speaking at U of T as part of the Contact festival. The MacArthur grant recipient, whose work has been displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, will also be presenting her work at U of T’s Art Museum and at locations across the city. Her lecture is sold out but you can join the waitlist.

May 5

Roll up your sleeves and join the U of T Trash Team for the annual Clean up the Don event, where you can do your part for the environment by picking up litter along the Don River watershed.

May 8

What makes a successful city? U of T’s School of Cities is hosting an event that will explore the challenges and opportunities faced by big cities around the world for the book launch of Perfect City: An Urban Fixer’s Global Search for Magic in the Modern Metropolis, by Joe Berridge, one of the world’s leading urban planners.

Ahead of the G20 summit in Japan, the Centre for the Study of Global Japan and the G20 Research Group of U of T are hosting a one-day symposium to discuss the evolving agenda of the annual meeting of global leaders. Officials and scholars from around the world will be attending the event held at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, including Takako Ito, consulate-general of Japan in Toronto.

May 11

Glowing bacteria, mutant flies, scavenger hunts and virtual reality tours are just a few of the displays and activities at this year’s Science Rendezvous, the annual family-friendly festival. Here’s what’s happening on the downtown Toronto, Scarborough and Mississauga campuses.

May 13

This is the last week to see the work of some of U of T’s talented artists at the Master of Visual Studies graduate exhibition and the Shelley Peterson art exhibition at U of T’s Art Museum.

May 14

Listen to captivating stories told by members of Toronto’s medical community at the department of medicine’s annual Story Slam, in partnership with the Annals of Internal Medicine.

May 25

Explore some of U of T’s most fascinating spaces at this year’s Doors Open Toronto. It’s your chance to admire the architecture in the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, explore One Spadina, and check out the new Myhal Centre for Engineering Innovation & Entrepreneurship, which will be hosting lightning lectures and interactive activities for kids.

May 28

Join urban thought leaders, policy-makers, planners, community advocates and business leaders to exchange ideas on ways to meet the challenges of governing cities in the midst of change at the Governing Cities in the 21st Century symposium. The event will feature experts including Michelynn Laflèche, vice-president of United Way Greater Toronto, Bill Peduto, mayor of Pittsburgh, and Richard Florida, University Professor at the Rotman School of Management. You can learn more and register here or watch the livestream.

May 30

Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic will be at the Rotman School of Management to discuss his new book, Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders? (And How To Fix It), which explores the flaws in a system that rewards arrogance and loudness over humility and wisdom.

From One Spadina to University College: What goes into conserving and updating U of T’s heritage buildings

Romi Levine — Mon, 30 Apr 2018 19:36:42 +0000

From One Spadina to University College: What goes into conserving and updating U of T’s heritage buildings

Romi Levine Mon, 04/30/2018 - 15:36

Cutline

One Spadina, once the home of Knox College and Connaught Laboratories, now houses the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design (photo by John Horner)

Romi Levine

Topic

City & Culture

Daniels Faculty of Architecture

Robarts

University College

Hidden gems are scattered across the ��Ƶ campuses – not just in quiet corners of the university but under the drywall.

When heritage architects from ERA Architects were exploring One Spadina ahead of its large-scale renovation, they noticed big circular cut-outs in the walls of one of the rooms. They soon realized that hidden within those walls were large hammer beam trusses – a remnant of the building’s first use as the site of Knox College.

“It was called convocation hall, and it was their big assembly hall – a three-storey space that had an overlooking balcony,” says Andrew Pruss, a principal at ERA.

During the 1940s, the hall was converted into three separate storeys when the space was used by Connaught Laboratories where, following the discovery of insulin, research and manufacturing of insulin took place.

“The room was a process of stripping back and revealing, and that was certainly a very exciting aspect of the renovation,” says Pruss.

The original site of Knox College's convocation hall in One Spadina (photo courtesy of The Presbyterian Church in Canada Archives)

U of T has 56 heritage buildings located on all three campuses, with all but six of these located on the downtown Toronto campus. An additional 30 heritage buildings on the downtown campus are owned by the federated colleges. Maintaining, conserving and updating these buildings is no easy task – but it’s one the university takes very seriously.

“U of T has a responsibility to preserve its heritage as Canada's premier institution and one of the oldest institutions in Ontario,” says Scott Mabury, U of T’s vice-president of university operations.

“We are responsible for ensuring that they remain an asset for the mission of the ��Ƶ – of teaching and learning, research and discovery,” he says. “It's a connection to our past, and our past is very much influencing where we are today as such a globally-recognized university.”

U of T works closely with the City of Toronto in the conservation of its historic buildings, in accordance with the city’s official plan and with the federal Standards & Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada.

“The heritage consultants we bring on board for projects look to these standards and guidelines when they are making heritage recommendations,” says Christine Burke, director of campus and facilities planning.

When a building is listed as heritage, its attributes are identified and any building alteration needs to consider these appropriately and with sensitivity, says Burke. But within the parameters of these guidelines, there is no one-size-fits-all solution for how a heritage building is conserved or updated, she says.

“Many of our projects require that combination of conservation and adaptive reuse, but really each project is unique and each has a different context,” says Burke. “The St. George campus has been built over time, in layers, and our heritage buildings are located in a variety of contexts that are considered as part the process.”

University College, U of T’s oldest and arguably most iconic building that opened in 1859, is undergoing renovations this year. The revitalization project is focused on transforming interior spaces, making them more accessible and student-friendly.

The University College library is part of the large-scale reviltalizaiton project (rendering by Kohn Shnier Architects and ERA Architects)

Accessibility is a big challenge for some of U of T’s oldest buildings, says Burke.

“In so many of these buildings, the ground floor is raised, sometimes by half a floor. Internally, there's narrow stairs, different levels and no elevators,” she says.

Part of the UC revitalization includes installing ramps inside the building and an elevator that will be visible from the courtyard.

“If you were to add the elevator inside the building, you would essentially damage the fabric of the interior, but bringing it outside is a creative solution – that's opened up an amazing opportunity for UC to become accessible. It was also important that the view of UC as photographed from King’s College Circle wasn’t altered, so the addition of the elevator was tested to make sure it wasn’t visible from that vantage point,” says Burke.

Preserving the historic core of U of T’s downtown Toronto campus also means making sure the area around the buildings appears welcoming to faculty, staff, students and visitors. The Landmark Project aims to do this by making a portion of the campus pedestrian-only and adding more green space.

“It envisions removing the ring of surface parking in this historic area to bring about a much more pedestrian-oriented, accessible space, and dramatically improve the landscape setting of this collection of our oldest buildings,” says Burke.

It’s not just U of T’s older buildings that require TLC. Last year, the exterior of the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, also a heritage building, underwent serious renovations to protect its invaluable collection of books from humidity damage.

When the library was built in 1973, “the building science around high humidity in environments in Canada wasn't fully understood,” says Christopher Borgal, principal at Goldsmith Borgal & Company Ltd. Architects, which led the renovation project alongside structural engineering firm RJC.

“The problem is that to keep these very important books intact, they had to keep the temperature and humidity at a very stable rate all year round. Unfortunately in winter, when we have a fairly high humidity level inside a building, if the exterior envelope of the building isn't working properly, then you start having significant issues with condensation and water flow inside the building,” he says.

The solution? The exterior was encased in a special kind of foam and new concrete cladding was installed – matching the original architectural aesthetic while avoiding having to relocate the books.

“Modernist architecture has its own problems,” says Borgal. “One wants to keep the best of the past as well as the best of the recent past so this library has been an interesting project for us.”

The Robarts Common expansion is set to open in 2019 (renderings by Diamond Schmitt Architects)

Construction is also underway to build an addition to Robarts Library that will add 1,200 new study spaces.

As new buildings are built on campus with sustainability in mind, U of T is also looking at how to make its older buildings more energy efficient, says Burke.

“Our standards are rising as sustainability and greenhouse gas emissions become a bigger challenge that we're all trying to grapple with,” she says. “When we do retrofits, we're looking to increase building energy efficiency but there are challenges to doing that when working with heritage buildings.”

Burke says the university has selected the physical geography building on St. George Street as a test case.

“We are looking to see if there's a way to restore this building and attain a first as a net-zero heritage building in Ontario.”

Back at One Spadina, which re-opened its doors in 2017 as the home of the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, architects including Pruss have found a way to create a space in the location of the convocation hall that pays homage to its former glory.

One Spadina's Mediatheque (photo by John Horner)

The room, now called the Mediatheque, features high ceilings, exposing the original beams, and a viewing platform, similar to the original balcony, on the third floor.

The building has been praised by architects and critics alike – with good reason, says Burke.

“It responds so sensitively to its context and in conserving the former Knox College building, which is a landmark in the city and a gateway to the university,” she says. “The two buildings – the old and the new – complement each other so well without competing. It seems like a perfect resolution for that project.”

Buildings like One Spadina have a lot to offer in the way they inform and inspire new uses, says Pruss, who was reminded of a quote by the late, prominent urban thinker Jane Jacobs:

“Old ideas can sometimes use new buildings. New ideas must use old buildings.”

The New York Times celebrates One Spadina at U of T

ullahnor — Mon, 11 Sep 2017 18:19:44 +0000

The New York Times celebrates One Spadina at U of T

ullahnor Mon, 09/11/2017 - 14:19

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The Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design is the third building for an architecture school by architect Nader Tehrani (photo by John Horner)

Topic

Global Lens

Daniels Faculty of Architecture

landscape

Design

One Spadina

Subheadline

Showcasing the new home of the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design

The New York Times features U of T's One Spadina in an article about a generation of architects making their mark on the world.

The article spotlights Nader Tehrani, who along with Katie Faulkner – both principals at the Boston-based firm NADAAA – designed the new home of the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, which has being receiving critical accolades.

One Spadina is Tehrani's third building for an architecture school.

The New York Times writes that for Daniels, Tehrani “floats an origami-like roof over a 110-foot-wide column-free room to create floodlit studio and social spaces below. A new circulation spine attempts to better link the building, which is set on a traffic roundabout, into the city.”

Read the article

U of T experts on Tropical Storm Harvey, pounding Texas and Louisiana

ullahnor — Mon, 28 Aug 2017 20:42:51 +0000

U of T experts on Tropical Storm Harvey, pounding Texas and Louisiana

ullahnor Mon, 08/28/2017 - 16:42

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Houston residents walk down a flooded street as they evacuate their homes (photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Noreen Ahmed-Ullah

Author legacy

Noreen Ahmed-Ullah

Topic

Global Lens

U of T Scarborough

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Daniels Faculty of Architecture

Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Thousands of residents have been rescued from their flooded homes in Texas, at least 30 people have died, and hundreds remain stranded as Tropical Storm Harvey continues to batter the region, making a second landfall in Louisiana.

U of T News spoke with three experts about how Texas's poorly graded flood control infrastructure contributed to rising water levels, whether Louisiana addressed flooding issues after Katrina, public health concerns related to flooding and whether climate change has played a role in the storm.

Jennifer Drake, an assistant professor of civil engineering who teaches at the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, says Texas's flood control infrastructure recently received a D grade.

“Texas has known that its flood infrastructure needs improving for a long time,” she says.

“The most important policy that coastal towns can do to prepare for extreme storms and flooding is to protect high-risk coastal areas and floodplains from urban development,” she says. “The second most important policy is to limit urban sprawl.”

Jennifer Drake, an assistant professor who also teaches at the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design.

What if anything could have been done to avoid flooding at this scale?

The flooding that is currently being experienced in Houston is historic and catastrophic in scale. An event of this scale is not preventable. For regional-scale flooding events like Hurricane Harvey, it is critical to have state-level floodplain management.

Texas has known that its flood infrastructure needs improving for a long time. Some actions that could help prepare for extreme flooding are state-wide flood infrastructure planning, limiting and eliminating development within the floodplains, investing in early flood-warning systems and ultimately encouraging increased urban density over urban sprawl.

Texas does not fund flood control infrastructure and its flood control infrastructure was graded D by the ASCE in 2012.

Can stormwater management avoid flooding of this magnitude?

Stormwater management typically refers to urban sewer infrastructure. This infrastructure is expected to flood during extreme events like Hurricane Harvey. Regional-level flooding is managed by big-infrastructure; this includes the natural and man-made watercourses, coastlines, floodplains, reservoirs and dams. An example of this kind of management is the U.S. Army Corps' decision to release water from Houston’s Addick and Barker reservoirs. This water is going to flood portions of the city downstream of the dams, but this is a preferable scenario.

What can cities that are coastal towns do to prepare for extreme storms and flooding?

The most important policy that coastal towns can do to prepare for extreme storms and flooding is to protect high-risk coastal areas and floodplains from urban development. By protecting this natural infrastructure we can eliminate a great deal of destruction. The second most important policy is to limit urban sprawl. Low density cities like Houston cover a massive area, which means that more people and public infrastructure is exposed. The vast amount of impervious surfaces that comes with low-density sprawl amplifies the impact of extreme weather by creating more flood water. Higher density communities with large undeveloped natural areas in key locations (e.g. floodplain) are more resilient and can sustain extreme weather with less destruction.

The storm is now pounding through Louisiana. Can you talk about flood control infrastructure developments since Katrina. Will those help now, or is stormwater management still an issue there?

There has been a large investment in infrastructure since Katrina. New Orleans has spent $14 billion on improvements to levees, flood walls, pumps and flood gates.

However, many of the issues that led to the flooding after Katrina are still present today. Louisiana has lost a lot of its coastal wetlands, which can provide flood protection. New Orleans is still heavily reliant on structural protections like levees, which can fail, and there is still a great deal of development within floodplains.

Art and Architecture intersect at U of T’s Future Environments event

ullahnor — Thu, 27 Apr 2017 21:58:37 +0000

Art and Architecture intersect at U of T’s Future Environments event

ullahnor Thu, 04/27/2017 - 17:58

Cutline

The design of green roofs like the Green Roof Innovation Testing Laboratory at Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design will be one of many areas explored in the Future Environments event

Dale Duncan

Author legacy

Dale Duncan

Topic

City & Culture

Daniels Faculty of Architecture

Environment

Sustainability

Science and Engineering Engagement

What role does art and design play in addressing the critical challenges facing our environment?

Those not familiar with art and design may find the range of approaches – and the new ways of thinking they inspire – surprising, says Mason White, an associate professor at the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design.

On May 3, White, along with five colleagues from Daniels will shine a light on the innovative ways that art and architecture are shaping the future. The event, Future Environments, Art and Architecture in Action, is free and open to the public.

Topics will include the ways that computation and digital technology are enhancing the ability of architects to unite a greater complexity of aspects into building design, the importance of incorporating local context and interdisciplinary research into the design of green roofs, the value of metaphor in understanding technology and the role of museums in shaping public memory.

“The breadth of approaches will be fascinating,” says White, whose own design firm Lateral Office has gained prominence for its research in the arctic and experimentation with strategies to engage citizens in the urban context. “Sometimes design comes out of a very scientific approach. Sometimes it comes out of something very whimsical.”

Presented by the ��Ƶ’s Science and Engineering Engagement (SEE) and Daniels, Future Environments will highlight the rich cross-disciplinary collaborations that are increasingly vital to research and academic inquiry.

“SEE is excited to partner with the Daniels Faculty to deliver that element of surprise, at the intersection of architecture and technology, with this evening of ideas,” says University Professor Molly Shoichet, senior adviser on science & engineering engagement.

Nora Young, from CBC’s hit radio show, Spark, will emcee the evening at U of T’s Convocation Hall.

“I hope to portray the potential of architecture and urban design to be more collaborative with environments rather than see environments as something to defend against and to protect us from,” says White about his presentation, titled “Micro-Environments.”

Joining him on stage will be emerging Canadian designer and U of T Assistant Professor Brady Peters, Toronto-based scholar, composer and artist Mitchell Akiyama, Liat Margolis, director of U of T's Green Roof Innovation Testing Laboratory, Charles Stankievech, director of visual studies, and Barbara Fischer, executive director of U of T's Art Museum.

“Architecture and art are as much a way of finding the world, as of forming it, and have surprising and often misunderstood historical and contemporary relationships with scientific inquiry,” said Richard Sommer, dean and professor of urbanism at Daniels. “This event will present members of the Daniels Faculty whose research moves beyond traditional text and mathematical modes of ideation to explore intersections between design, the environment and visual culture.”

After the event, the audience will be invited to the Art Museum for a reception and to celebrate the opening of the exhibition “It’s All Happening So Fast: A Counter-History of the Modern Canadian Environment.”

Those interested in the event must register to attend

U of T architecture students pay homage to Trinity Bellwoods in zine

geoff.vendeville — Tue, 04 Apr 2017 19:30:20 +0000

U of T architecture students pay homage to Trinity Bellwoods in zine

geoff.vendeville Tue, 04/04/2017 - 15:30

Cutline

U of T architecture students Marienka Bishop-Kovac and Phat Le grew up near Trinity Bellwoods Park but only met in university. They describe their experiences growing up in the neighbourhood in a new zine (photo by Geoffrey Vendeville)

Geoffrey Vendeville

Author legacy

Geoffrey Vendeville

Topic

Daniels Faculty of Architecture

Landscape and Design

Subheadline

Marienka Bishop-Kovac and Phat Le write about local landmarks and reflect on the changing neighbourhood

When they walk around the Trinity Bellwoods neighbourhood, Marienka Bishop-Kovac and Phat Le often bump into familiar faces.

On a recent stroll, the U of T architecture students, waved hello to a gallery owner and to Le's 80-year-old great uncle, who was on his way to play tennis.

But the students say the neighbourhood has changed considerably since their childhood. Fancy restaurants and boutiques have moved in, replacing neighbourhood fixtures such as Superior Sausage, a butcher shop which opened in 1937 and closed just four years ago.

Bishop-Kovac and Le, who grew up a few blocks away from each other but only met at the ��Ƶ, reflected on the evolution of the area in a zine titled I'M SO MAD.

Le's parents came to the city as refugees from Vietnam while Bishop-Kovac traces her family's roots to the former Czechoslovakia.

What are they “mad” about, exactly?

“We grew up around this area, and you start loving it. But then you realize that everyone is trying to push you out,” Le said.

Phat Le, seen here with his mom, My Nguyen, grew up in an apartment above his family's store Hong Phat Variety on Queen Street West near Ossington Avenue (photo by Geoffrey Vendeville)

He and Bishop-Kovac write about local landmarks that continue to endure – like the St. John's Lutheran Church where Bishop-Kovac's grandparents were married – and bygone landmarks – like the convenience store where Le and his grandma would stop for beef patties.

They are putting their memories into words to start a dialogue about gentrification, Bishop-Kovac said.

At the same time, they wrestle with the question of whether they are part of the problem: “It is a complex, emotional hypocrisy to try and process,” Bishop-Kovac writes. “I am so mad that this city has been destroying the landmarks of my childhoold, but I do love me some vegan quinoa onion rings.”

The students are planning at least two more issues this summer, one about Honest Ed's (R.I.P.) and another featuring other people's stories about the city.

U of T News recently went on a trip down memory lane with them, chatting about landmarks in the neighbourhood.

Classic Variety

Le's family made friends with the owners of this convenience store, which is no more. Le has fond memories of stopping here on his way to school with his grandmother to buy beef patties. (All graphics are by Phat Le and Marienka Bishop-Kovac)

210 Ossington

“My dad used to go here to rent VCR of Vietnamese variety shows or Vietnamese dramas,” Le writes.

They would pick movies from a dusty catalogue of titles.

“I never got along with the owner's kid,” Le said, adding the kid was “probably a gemini.”

St. John's Lutheran Church

“This was the church my grandparents, who were political refugees, were married in, and I was baptized there,” Bishop-Kovac writes.

She also went there for Sunday school.

“I was part of a boy gang in Sunday school,” she says. “We would mostly run around the church playing hide and seek.” (The church is on Concord Avenue, a few blocks north of the Bellwoods area)

Superior Sausage

The old butcher shop was frequented by both Le's and Bishop-Kovac's families. Sausage, sauerkraut and raspberry syrup from the shop were always at Bishop-Kovac's dinner table at Easter and Christmas.

“Our traditional feast has altered in flavour as the ingredients are more challenging to acquire,” she writes.

Can landscape design mitigate wildfires? U of T student says yes

lavende4 — Mon, 18 Jul 2016 15:19:33 +0000

Can landscape design mitigate wildfires? U of T student says yes

lavende4 Mon, 07/18/2016 - 11:19

Cutline

Aftermath of the Fort McMurray wildfire: what can landscape architects do to help mitigate wildfire disasters? (Jonathan Hayward/Getty Images)

Dale Duncan

Author legacy

Dale Duncan

Topic

Our Community

wildfires

Daniels Faculty of Architecture

landscape architecture

During a trip to Adelaide, Australia in 2015, Jordan Duke witnessed her first wildfire.

“We were driving over a hill and I could see a large plume of smoke in the horizon,” she said. “Thousands of hectares were on fire.” From the plane, the next day when she flew out, Duke was struck by the vast expanse of charred earth. She thought about it the entire flight home.

As a student in the Master of Landscape Architecture program at the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, Duke wondered: what could landscape architects do to help mitigate wildfire disasters? In the wake of the fire that struck Fort McMurray in Alberta in May, it’s a question that carries increased relevance — particularly since wildfires are predicted to increase in the future.

For her thesis project the following year, Duke researched how wildfires could be mitigated through tools that exist within the realm of landscape architecture. Her research culminated in the development of a strategy for Cleland Conservation Park. The park is based in South Australia where in February 2009, wildfires claimed over 170 lives. Her plan — which combined remote sensors embedded in the landscape with site-specific landscape design strategies that would produce both short- and long-term results — projected new possibilities, not only for the field of landscape architecture but also for how we could diminish such disasters in the future.

“There’s a lot of planning when it comes to wildfires in terms of where to build neighbourhoods, and there are many techniques to track and evaluate an area’s likelihood of burning, but I found that there were few systems in place to reduce the risk of a large wildfire occurring in the first place, “ says Duke.

Inspired by her work the previous summer at the Daniels Faculty’s Green Roof Innovation Testing Laboratory (gritlab), the first part of her strategy included embedding remote sensors within the landscape that would allow for real-time monitoring of data such as humidity, wind, temperature, vegetation density, and water availability — factors that contribute to the likelihood of a fire.

“At gritlab, we learned that sensor technology is cheap and easy to deploy. I had no computer engineering background, but by the end of the summer, we were installing sensors throughout the green roof, downloading data and doing analysis,” says Duke. “This triggered an idea: what if we could take these sensors and deploy them across a huge site to monitor variables that would let us know in advance when fires are likely to happen?”

Under Duke’s plan, data from the sensors would activate a variety of responses across the landscape. For example, on dry, hot days, weather modifiers installed along the ridges and valleys of the park would disperse mist across the site to increase humidity levels. Using the regular ocean breeze moving across the site, the modifiers would also scatter the seeds of fire-resistent cypress trees along the ridges of the landscape. Over time, the wall of trees that would eventually grow would become windbreaks that could help slow the pace of a fire.

Excess rainwater, which normally flows down the hills to the ocean during heavy rain, would be collected in reservoirs, which could become recreational pools for people visiting the park or sources of water for animals in search of refuge. When sensors indicate the risk of a fire in a particular location, however, the water would be released down the valley to soak the landscape below. The large amount of rapidly released water would also increase erosion runoff, thus creating firebreaks throughout the valley.

Duke also considered vegetation, which provides fuel for burning fires. Artificial watering holes strategically placed throughout the park would attract animals in times of drought. Native wallabies, kangaroos and other animals coming to the pools of water would then feed on nearby vegetation, reducing fuel for a potential fire.

“None of these devices eliminate risk,” says Duke. “Instead, they work to shift risk from large scale, catastrophic events to smaller, everyday risk levels.”

In addition to these and other tactics designed to mitigate risk, Duke explored ways to influence human behavior. The weather monitors along the ridge of the hill above the city, for example, could be programmed to light more brightly at night during periods of high-energy use.

“The idea is to change the collective consciousness of the local population by highlighting invisible phenomena and patterns that are contributing to climate change and wildfire occurrences,” says Duke. Energy consumption in the city of Adelaide is among the highest in Australia.

Jordan Duke (centre), with Dean Richard Sommer and Associate Professor Alissa North, Director of the Master of Architecture Landscape program, at the 2016 Graduation Awards Ceremony

While the scope of her thesis was to research and propose a new approach to mitigating wildfires, Duke does hope to one day build and test her project.

Her hope is that the strategy she devised will plant the seeds for ways that landscape architects can contribute to wildfire mitigation in the future.

“Developing science fiction scenarios are necessary,” says Duke. “Imagining what could be done is usually the first step towards something actually happening.”

Assistant Professor Liat Margolis was Duke’s thesis advisor. Duke received the American Society of Landscape Architects Certificate of Honor and the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects Student Award of Merit at this year’s graduation awards ceremony.

Walking the talk: Jane's Walks with a U of T connection

lavende4 — Mon, 02 May 2016 17:38:38 +0000

Walking the talk: Jane's Walks with a U of T connection lavende4 Mon, 05/02/2016 - 13:38

Cutline

U of T's Dylan Reid (centre) leading a previous Jane's Walk (photo by Alexandra Guerson via flickr)

Topic

City & Culture

Toronto

Daniels Faculty of Architecture

Landscape & Design

Jane's Walks

This year's Jane's Walks — a series of free, citizen-led walking tours held in nearly 200 cities around the world — take place the weekend of May 6 to 8. Inspired by writer and activist Jane Jacobs, the event gives participants the opportunity to explore neighbourhoods through the eyes of local residents.

With more than 175 walks to choose from in Toronto alone, deciding on a walk to take can be overwhelming. Here are some Jane's Walks with a U of T connection on the May 6-8 weekend. Several are led by Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape & Design faculty and alumni, others are taking place on the U of T campus.

Green Roof and Walk Tour (at U of T's St. George campus)
Walk leader: Jonathan Silver (MA, Philosophy)
May 6, 2016, 12:30 PM, 2 Hours

Why Socks Are Not Enough: Social Justice on the Danforth
Walk leader: Denise Pinto (MLA 2011) and Lois Didyk
May 6, 2016, 4:00 PM, 1.5 Hours
May 8, 2016, 4:00 PM, 1.5 Hours

East Danforth East - A Culinary Walking Tour
Walk leader: Phil Pothen (MLA 2006), Elise Aymer, Danning Liao, and Janet Masching
May 6, 2016, 11:00 AM, 2 Hours
May 8, 2016, 1:00 PM, 2 Hours

King and Spadina: One of The Two Kings
Walk leaders: Margie Zeidler (BArch 1987) and Paul Bedford (U of T Adjunct Professor)
May 7, 2016, 10:00 AM, 2.5 Hours

Walking around Gerrard Square
Walk leaders: Todd Irvine (Co-Instructor, Urban Ecology Field Course) and Dylan Reid (BA 1989, Faculty of Law web communications officer, Spacing Magazine senior editor)
May 7, 2016, 10:00 AM, 2 Hours

Listening to the Language of Plants
Walk leaders: Yi Zhou (MLA 2013), Jasmeen Bains (MLA 2013), andTyler Bradt (MLA 2013)
May 7, 2016, 11:00 AM, 1 Hour

Modern U: Modernist Architecture on the ��Ƶ's West Campus
Walk leader: Robert Moffat
May 7, 2016, 1 PM, 1 Hour

Summerhill Summerdale
Walk leader: John van Nostrand (BArch 1972)
May 7, 2016, 2:00 PM, 2 Hours

Little Free Libraries: An Impromptu Reading Walk With Neighbours
Walk leader: Denise Pinto (MLA 2011)
May 7, 2016, 4:00 PM, 1.5 Hours

Walk the Green Line: Infrastructures of Park Space
Walk leader: Netami Stuart (MLA 2004)
May 8, 2016, 10:00 AM, 1 Hour

Kensington Unseen
Walk leaders: Daniella Levy-Pinto (PhD Political Science 2016), Maureen Coyle (MSc 2013, PhD candidate, lecturer in Kinesiology & Social Work)
May 8, 2016, 11:00 AM, 1 PM

Walk with us Woodbridge!
Walk leaders: Gail Shillingford (BLA 1995) and Moira Wilson (MLA 2006)
May 8, 2016, 2:00 PM, 1 Hour

Bloor on Wheels: Prepare to be Bloored!
Walk leaders: Adam Cohoon and Maureen Coyle (MSc 2013, PhD candidate, lecturer in Kinesiology & Social Work)
May 8, 2016, 3 PM, 1 Hour

Did you know?

Jane's Walk originated in Toronto, and Master of Landscape Architecture alumna Denise Pinto (MLA 2011) is the Global Director of the festival.

Read a profile of Denise Pinto published bythe Daniels Faculty last year

Jane Jacobs, who lived in Toronto from 1968 until her death in 2006, would have celebrated her 100th birthday this year on May 4. In honour of her centenary, a number of events are planned throughout Toronto (and beyond), including an exhibition at Urbanspace Gallery,Jane at Home, curated by Jim Jacobs and Margie Zeidler (BArch 1987).

Visit flickr to see the original of the photo at top

Daniels Faculty of Architecture

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Classic Variety

210 Ossington

St. John's Lutheran Church

Superior Sausage

Can landscape design mitigate wildfires? U of T student says yes

Walking the talk: Jane's Walks with a U of T connection

Did you know?