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U of T architecture students celebrate resilience in Winter Stations design competition

Christopher.Sorensen — Mon, 07 Feb 2022 17:16:26 +0000

U of T architecture students celebrate resilience in Winter Stations design competition

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 02/07/2022 - 12:16

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John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design students use mirrors to play with the concept of reflection in their Winter Stations installation, called Introspection (rendering courtesy of the students)

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John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture

A team of ��Ƶ students from the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design is one of six finalists chosen to present an installation as part of the Winter Stations exhibit at Woodbine Beach.

Inspired by emotions felt during quarantine and isolation – and in keeping with the competition's theme this year, resilience – the team plays with the concept of reflection by using mirrors in their piece, titled Introspection.

“In highlighting the subject’s presence, we hope to promote introspection into one’s own emotional resilience as one faces their own reflection,” the team explains in the project description.

“We are very proud to be representing the Daniels Faculty at this year’s Winter Stations,” says Christopher Hardy, a second-year student in the master of architecture program and team lead. “This project is an opportunity for us to not only showcase our design talents and creativity but also to reconnect with our fellow peers after almost two years of remote learning.”

The annual Winter Stations competition has received submissions from more than 90 countries. Established by local architecture and design firms, the contest is intended to draw attention and visitors to the beaches in Toronto's east end in the winter.

Each project is required to incorporate an existing lifeguard station in its design. They are selected through a single stage international design competition and stay up for six weeks. The exhibition runs from Feb. 21 to March 3. The winning team receives a $2,500 honorarium.

This isn't the first time that a project by Daniels Faculty students appears in the finals of the competition. In 2017, U of T students had two projects in the exhibit, Midwinter Fire and I See You Ashiyu.

Christopher Law, Jacob Henriquez and Maggie MacPhie assemble their project, Introspection, at the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design in January (photo courtesy of Christopher Law)

The Introspection team members designed a red pavilion – plywood sheets covered with wooden slats – surrounding a lifeguard tower. The pavilion’s inner walls are lined with mirrors. “While the trellis roof allows the sun to illuminate the interior and its visitors, the red lifeguard tower stands unyielding in the centre of the pavilion, reminding us of the inherent stability within us,” the project description says.

Dean Juan Du says she is looking forward to visiting Introspection and the other installations when Winter Stations opens over the Family Day long weekend this month. “This pavilion is a timely and creative expression of a theme we’ve all had to navigate intimately,” she says. “Our faculty, students and staff have come together and risen to incredible challenges these last couple of years. Both Introspection and the larger exhibition invite people to reflect on our vulnerabilities and strengths, on what it means to be resilient both individually and collectively.”

On April 2, Du will be hosting a symposium with a similar theme: “Design for Resilient Communities.”

Hardy and his team hope to start installing Introspection at Woodbine Beach this week. “We invite Daniels community members to check out our pavilion,” he says. “It’s a space that hopefully will inspire people to not only think about what we’ve been through, but also what we’re capable of.”

The Introspection team includes:

Christopher Hardy, master of architecture
Tomasz Weinberger, bachelor of arts, architectural studies
Clement Sung, master of architecture
Jason Wu, master of architecture
Jacob Henriquez, master of architecture
Christopher Law, bachelor of arts, architectural studies
Anthony Mattacchione, master of architecture
George Wang, master of architecture
Maggie MacPhie, master of architecture
Zoey Chao, master of architecture
Fiona Lim Tung, assistant professor, teaching stream, and project sponsor and supervisor

'Making meaningful places': Claude Cormier landscape architecture award launched at U of T's Daniels faculty

Christopher.Sorensen — Fri, 29 Oct 2021 16:35:50 +0000

'Making meaningful places': Claude Cormier landscape architecture award launched at U of T's Daniels faculty

Christopher.Sorensen Fri, 10/29/2021 - 12:35

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Claude Cormier's beloved design for Berczy Park in downtown Toronto featured a huge three-tier, 19th century-style fountain with 27 cast-iron dogs, a large bone and a cat (image by Industryous Photography)

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John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture

Claude Cormier, a ��Ƶ alumnus and celebrated Canadian landscape architect, is supporting U of T’s masters in landscape architecture (MLA) students and bolstering recognition for the importance of the landscape architecture profession by establishing a scholarship at the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design.

The Claude Cormier Award in Landscape Architecture will annually cover the domestic tuition fees of an MLA student, in their third and final year, who shows promise to pursue creative and pioneering forms or approaches to practice.

The scholarship, which was established in 2020 and is now being announced publicly as U of T returns to in-person learning, builds on gifts that Cormier has made to the school since 2000, and is the largest private gift designated to U of T’s landscape architecture program to date.

Claude Cormier (Photo by Annie Ethier)

“This is an important moment for landscape architecture,” says Cormier. “There is growing recognition that landscape architecture is not about selecting plants to adorn a building, but rather that landscape is integral to making meaningful places.

“Landscape architecture is about drawing connections between people and buildings, connecting natural ecosystems with urban environments, and positively steering the health of ourselves and our planet.

“We need to support the next generation of landscape architects to discover new ways of designing for our built environment.”

Cormier first studied agronomy at the University of Guelph before graduating from U of T’s bachelor of landscape architecture professional program in 1986. He went on to complete his master’s degree in history and theory of design at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. After working for several esteemed Québec design practices, he formed his eponymous studio – Claude Cormier et Associés – in 1995.

His breakout moment came in 2000 at the Métis Garden Festival in northern Québec with the installation Blue Stick Garden (Jardin de Batons Bleus). Recognizing the limited time for the festival installation’s planting and growth, Cormier used an intensive arrangement of painted wooden sticks in lieu of plant material. His abstracted perennial garden delighted visitors and quicky established his reputation for subversive designs that extended the perception and definition of landscape architecture.

In Montréal, the summer installation Pink Balls – a kilometre-long canopy of pink plastic balls swaying over St. Catherine Street – was conceived as a landmark for a pedestrian-only district during Pride season that was later reinstalled in rainbow hues as 18 Shades of Gay. With an optimized modest budget, the installation has established an iconic image for its neighbourhood (the Gay Village), attracting international media, more visits by locals and tourists and an overall improvement in the reputation of the neighbourhood.

Blue Stick Garden (Claude Cormier et Associés)

With Sugar Beach in 2010, Cormier wowed Torontonians with a permanent installation of pink umbrellas and a soft sand beach just south of the business district. The park demonstrated that contemporary public spaces could add value and fun in equal measure. More recently, the design for Berczy Park in Toronto features a huge three-tier, 19th-century-style fountain with 27 cast-iron dogs, a large bone and a cat. The unusual installation establishes a welcoming environment and prompts conversation amongst strangers.

“As I am getting older, I am grateful to those who supported my trajectory and for the life I have been able to enjoy designing spaces that bring surprise and delight to people irrespective of their demographic or background,” says Cormier. “The notion of legacy has become very important to me, and with that is a great desire to uplift to others. I am proud to support the Daniels Faculty, its students and the ��Ƶ because it is both my alma mater and such a progressive and cosmopolitan school.”

Sugar Beach, Toronto (Industryous Photography)

Associate Professor Liat Margolis, director of the landscape architecture program, says, “Claude is not only an inspiration to our students, he is also a ‘joyful giver.’ His extreme generosity and joie de vivre elevates both our program and the art and profession of landscape architecture. He inspires our students with his designs, through their unconventional materiality, and their ability to address serious concerns with good humour. With this award our students will be forever reminded of his remarkable career.”

Agata Mrozowski, a third-year MLA student and the 2021 recipient of the Claude Cormier Award in Landscape Architecture, says the scholarship well help her complete her studies.

“It has taken a village to make this experience of graduate school at U of T in the Master of Landscape Architecture program possible for me. To receive this gift means a sense of relief, for there were times I was not sure I would have the means and capacity to complete my studies.”

Mrozowski’s connection to Cormier’s work began during her first year of the MLA program when she focused on Sugar Beach as a precedent study for her visual communications course.

“I spent a lot of time there and learned that what is an aesthetically playful and whimsical design was deeply rooted in the historical context of the site and in direct conversation with the Redpath Sugar Plant directly across the harbour,” says Mrozowski. “I appreciate that his work does not romanticize or idealize notions of nature, yet works within urban constraints in creative and thoughtful ways to produce public spaces.”