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11 NEWS

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts unveils new pavilion by Atelier TAG and Jodoin Lamarre Pratte; Prix de Rome and Ronald J. Thom award recipients announced.

15 RAIC JOURNAL

New practice support initiatives announced; winning essays from the MAQ Young Architectural Critic Competition.

37 INSITES

Kaitlyn Gillis and Dak Kopec offer tools and tips for using the insights of environmental psychology to create healthier buildings.

39 BOOKS

24 SURREY OPERATIONS CENTRE AND WORKS YARD REDEVELOPMENT A municipal operations plant by RDH Architects with Taylor Kurtz Architecture + Design raises the bar for industrial facilities. TEXT Hadani Ditmars

30 TELUS GARDEN OFFICE TOWER

41 CALENDAR

Álvaro Siza at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto; the Anatomy of the Architectural Book at the CCA in Montreal.

42 BACKPAGE

Holocaust survivor Elly Gotz reflects on an exhibition that presents architectural evidence of the gas chambers at Auschwitz.

ED WHITE PHOTOGRAPHICS

A n office tower in downtown Vancouver by Henriquez Partners Architects, with fit-out for TELUS’s workspaces by office of mcfarlane biggar architects + designers, takes an experimental approach to the relationship with its urban surroundings.

TEXT Erick Villagomez

David Sisam reviews Charles Waldheim’s newest tome, Landscape as Urbanism.

COVER TELUS Garden Office Tower

by Henriquez Partners Architects with interior fit-out for TELUS offices (including Sky Box meeting rooms) by office of mcfarlane biggar architects + designers. Photo by Andrew Latreille.

V.61 N.08 THE NATIONAL REVIEW OF DESIGN AND PRACTICE / THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE RAIC

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VIEWPOINT

LEFT Rendering from the Montreal Cité Administrative planning study by Lemay, which won a Canadian Society of Landscape Architects’ Award.

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ART DIRECTOR ROY GAIOT ASSISTANT EDITOR SHANNON MOORE EDITORIAL ADVISOR IAN CHODIKOFF, OAA, FRAIC CONTRIBUTING EDITORS ANNMARIE ADAMS, FRAIC ODILE HÉNAULT DOUGLAS MACLEOD, NCARB, MRAIC

Landscape Vistas This spring, I had the privilege of serving as the outside voice on the jury for the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects’ Awards. With my training in architecture, it seemed an easy fit—but the distance between the two design professions is in some ways both smaller and greater than I had anticipated.

The proposals we evaluated dealt equally in paving as in plants, in parking as in parks—the hard materials familiar to architects. The buzzword around the jury table was “placemaking.”

How well did a design ref lect—and amplify— what was unique and important to a particular locale?

The Peace Garden at Nathan Phillips Square, by PLANT Architect (one of several f irms with a foot in both professions), was admired for the way it carved out a place of sanctuary within the bustle of Toronto. A mix of native plants and a water feature were essential to this—but so was the broader planning process. PLANT envisaged moving an illmaintained garden from the middle of the plaza to its edge, creating space by mounding the new garden over a major exhaust vent for an underground parking garage.

Noticeably absent from many of the entries by non-architects were scale drawings. One of the organizers said to me, only half joking, that architects ask landscape architects for plans at two times: when a project goes out to tender, and when the architect wants to submit for an award. I felt nervous judging entries without the usual trinity of plans, sections and elevations.

But while architects are more concerned about the impact of objects in abstract space—the information conveyed by line drawings—landscape architects are more finely attuned to the experience of the space between objects.

The most helpful documents, in this regard, were the short videos included in some of the submissions, including a playground by space2place that received an honourable mention.

The video showed how the activity zones were interconnected, and also featured children playing king-of-the-castle on the mounds and carrying pails of water to the sandpit. It gave

­­EDITOR ELSA LAM, MRAIC

the project the life that the jury was looking for beneath the surface of all of the entries.

That sense of lived experience was also important in considering bigger-picture submissions, such as master plans and cultural landscape inventories. Beyond meeting baseline professional standards, the jury aimed to anticipate what the future life of each document would be. How carefully was a study conducted? How comprehensive was the consultation process?

Was a document likely to become a valuable reference, or to sit on a shelf and gather dust?

I was particularly impressed by a master plan for Montreal’s administrative district by Lemay, which attempted to study the spaces from almost every conceivable angle. One spread was devoted to a sociological-style analysis of the way the public realm around City Hall was used, from early morning delivery trucks parking along fire routes to midday sunbathers lounging on a patch of lawn and other activities at night. Rarely would architects include a week-long site study of this type in their planning. For landscape architects, it was a worthwhile means of investigating the current use of a place, in order to inform its future design.

Perhaps my greatest surprise was our deliberation over a relatively modest project, which we eventually selected to receive one of the honourable mentions. The revitalization of downtown Fenwick, Ontario, by The Planning Partnership, centered on the widening of sidewalks and incorporation of parking areas along a single intersection, and the creation of planting beds around a historic f lagpole. One of the jurors persuasively argued that this was exactly what this small Ontario town needed: an appropriately scaled intervention that gave renewed dignity to its downtown.

In the end, that’s what placemaking is about: rather than creating landmarks ex nihilo, it is finding the essence of an existing place and bringing it to life. It’s a lesson that landscape architects and architects alike would do well to heed.

Elsa Lam

REGIONAL CORRESPONDENTS HALIFAX CHRISTINE MACY, OAA REGINA BERNARD FLAMAN, SAA MONTREAL DAVID THEODORE CALGARY GRAHAM LIVESEY, MRAIC WINNIPEG LISA LANDRUM, MAA, AIA, MRAIC VANCOUVER ADELE WEDER PUBLISHER TOM ARKELL 416-510-6806 SALES MANAGER FARIA AHMED 416-510-6808 CUSTOMER SERVICE / PRODUCTION LAURA MOFFATT 416-510-6898 CIRCULATION CIRCULATION@CANADIANARCHITECT.COM PRESIDENT OF IQ BUSINESS MEDIA INC. ALEX PAPANOU HEAD OFFICE 80 VALLEYBROOK DRIVE, TORONTO, ON M3B 2S9 TELEPHONE 416-510-6845 E-MAIL elam@canadianarchitect.com WEBSITE www.canadianarchitect.com Canadian Architect is published monthly by iQ Business Media Inc..

The editors have made every reasonable effort to provide accurate and authoritative information, but they assume no liability for the accuracy or completeness of the text, or its fitness for any particular purpose.

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2016 AWARDS OF EXCELLLENCE

CANADIAN ARCHITECT INVITES ARCHITECTS REGISTERED IN CANADA AND ARCHITECTURAL GRADUATES TO ENTER THE MAGAZINE’S 2016 AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE. Early-Bird Deadline: September 2, 2016 ($115 entry fee) Regular Deadline: September 23, 2016 ($150 entry fee) Projects must be in the design stage, scheduled for construction or under construction but not substantially complete by September 23, 2016. All projects must be commissioned by a client with the intention to build the submitted proposal. All building types and concisely presented urban design schemes are eligible.

Awards are given for architectural design excellence. Jurors will consider the project’s physical organization and form, response to context, innovation, and demonstration of exemplary environmental or social awareness.

Submissions will be accepted in PDF format, up to 12 pages with dimensions no greater than 11” x 17”.

Total file size is not to exceed 25MB. There is also the option to submit a video up to two minutes in length.

For more details and to submit your entry, visit: www.canadianarchitect.com/awards/

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Winners will be published in a special issue of Canadian Architect in December 2016.

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11

PROJECTS

Diamond Schmitt Architects in joint venture with KWC Architects has unveiled its plans to transform Ottawa’s former central train station into an interim home for The Senate of Canada. The design has been approved by the National Capital Commission.

The grand structure on the Rideau Canal— built in 1912 to serve as Ottawa’s central train station before serving as the Government Conference Centre in the late 1960s—will see its architectural features restored and public access return when it reopens in 2018. The building will house The Senate while the permanent Chamber in Parliament Hill’s Centre Block undergoes a decade-long renovation of its own. The temporary facility will also accommodate offices for Parliamentarians and their staff, along with committee rooms and related support functions.

The transformation will maintain the character of the building—an exemplar of Beaux Arts Classicism. It will reintroduce an interior processional route while restoring major public spaces, including the finely detailed General Waiting Room and Concourse.

The renewed spaces will refresh signif icant design features, including columns, arches, large Diocletian windows and vaulted plaster ceilings. The Library of Parliament will conduct tours of the building, welcoming the public for the first time in decades. www.dsai.ca

MMFA unveils new pavilion dedicated to international art and education.

In November 2016, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) will be opening the doors of its Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion for Peace as part of Montreal’s 375th anniversary. The architectural quality of the pavilion, built by the consortium of Atelier TAG and Jodoin Lamarre Pratte Architectes— two local architectural firms chosen by competition in 2013—bolsters Montreal’s status as a UNESCO city of design.

In 2012, Michal and Renata Hornstein gifted 75 works to the MMFA, making its old masters collection the second largest in Canada. Following the donation, the Museum received special funding from the Quebec government to add a fifth pavilion to its museum complex. Michal Hornstein died recently. His wife, Renata, states, “Michal spent his career in real estate development, and so he appreciated the building’s design, especially the abundance of natural light. In a few months, it will be the public’s turn to discover our works and

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DIAMOND SCHMITT ARCHITECTS AND NORM LI

Diamond Schmitt and KWC Architects to design interim Senate of Canada.

CANADIAN ARCHITECT 08/16

NEWS

ABOVE A rendering of the interim Senate of Canada, which is set to occupy a Beaux Arts train station in downtown Ottawa, in a design by Diamond Schmitt Architects with KWC Architects.

the Museum’s entire collection of international art in this magnificent setting.”

The new pavilion will contain a contemporary art circuit named the Path of Peace, featuring works by five artists, including Jean Michel Othoniel. Montreal’s MU Architecture will design urban murals for the reception areas in the Michel de le Chenelière International Atelier for Education and Art Therapy.

Junction alternates between the larger scale of building and the smaller scale of furniture.

The practice offers design, make and build services by combining a design studio, woodworking workshop and build crew. www.canadacouncil.ca

Toronto project among finalists for best architecture in the Americas.

www.mbam.qc.ca/en

AWARDS Canada Council for the Arts announces architecture prize winners.

Dubbeldam Architecture + Design and Studio Junction have been awarded Canada Council for the Arts prizes in architecture.

Dubbeldam has won the 2016 Professional Prix de Rome in Architecture. The award encourages excellence in contemporary architectural practice through worldwide research and study. Valued at $50,000, it will support Dubbeldam’s research project entitled “The Next Green – Innovation in Sustainable Housing”, which entails travel to Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Germany to study cutting-edge research and sustainable housing precedents for northern climates.

Meanwhile, Studio Junction—an emerging practice established by Peter Tan and Christine Ho Ping Kong—won the $10,000 Ronald J. Thom Award for Early Design Achievement.

The award is presented to an architect or firm with exceptional potential, which describes this multi-faceted Toronto practice. Studio

The Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) College of Architecture has announced the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize ( MCHAP) f inalists, recognizing the best built works of architecture in the Americas realized from January 2014 through December 2015.

Among the finalists is one Canadian entry: the Fort York National Historic Site Visitor Centre in Toronto, by Patkau Architects and Kearns Mancini Architects. The other finalists are: Weekend House in Sao Paulo, Brazil, by Angelo Bucci; UTEC Campus in Lima, Peru, by Grafton Architects; Pachacamac Museum in Lima, Peru, by Llosa Cortegana; Tower 41 in Mexico City, by Alberto Kalach; Star Apartments in Los Angeles, by Michael Maltzan; and Grace Farms in New Canaan, Connecticut, by SANAA. Wiel Arets, dean of IIT, officially launched the biannual award in 2014. The winner of the second edition will be announced in Chicago on October 19, 2016, following a day-long symposium that will invite students, faculty and the finalists’ architects and clients to dialogue about the nominated works.

The MCHAP winner will also be named MCHAP Chair at IIT College of Architecture for the following academic year, and

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NEWS receive funding of up to $50,000 USD in support of research and a publication related to the theme of “Rethinking Metropolis.” www.worldarchitecturefestival.com

OLA announces recipients of 2016 New Library Building Award.

The Ontario Library Association (OLA) has announced f ive recipients of the 2016 New Library Building Award. The award encourages and showcases excellence in the architectural design and planning of libraries in Ontario, and runs every third year to allow a critical number of projects in all types of libraries to be built. The OLA runs a companion awards program to recognize library additions, renovations, restorations, and adaptive reuse projects.

This year’s winners are: Centennial College Ashtonbee Campus Renewal & Library, by MacLennan Jaunkalns Miller Architects (MJMA); Toronto Public Library Fort York Branch Library, by KPMB Architects; Haliburton County Public Library, by HavenCraft Designs; Ryerson University Student Learning Centre, by Zeidler Partnership Architects in association with Snøhetta; and the Toronto Public Library Scarborough Civic Centre Branch, by LGA Architectural Partners in joint venture with Phillip H. Carter. www.accessola.org

Seven Canadian projects shortlisted for 2016 WAF awards.

Le CCA tient à remercier de leur appui généreux le ministère de la Culture et des Communications, le Conseil des Arts du Canada, le Conseil des arts de Montréal, la Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts et Hydro-Québec.

Seven Canadian projects have been shortlisted for the 2016 World Architecture Festival (WAF) awards. All types and sizes of architectural projects are represented on the 343-strong shortlist, with entries ranging from private homes, shops and schools to large commercial developments and ambitious landscape projects.

The Canadian finalists include: Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, by KPMB Architects and HCMA Architecture + Design Architects in joint venture; 12 Degrees in Toronto, by Core Architects; Grandview Heights Aquatic Centre in Surrey, by HCMA Architecture + Design; Biodôme Natural Science Museum in Montreal, by KANVA; Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal, by Cannondesign + Neuf architect(e)s; Arthur Residence in Regina, by 5468796 Architecture; and Aga Khan Park in Toronto,

by Vladimir Djurovic Landscape Architecture.

Now in its ninth year, WAF has received a record number of award entries for November’s annual event. The shortlist consists of architects from 42 different nations with projects based in 58 countries.

Testa & Weiser, Carbon Tower ( prototype ) : rendu extérieur, 2002. AP174 documents d’archives Testa & Weiser, Centre Canadien d’Architecture, Montréal. Don de Peter Testa et Devyn Weiser. © Peter Testa et Devyn Weiser Testa & Weiser, Carbon Tower (prototype) : exterior rendering, 2002. AP174 Testa & Weiser records, Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal. Gift of Peter Testa and Devyn Weiser. © Peter Testa and Devyn Weiser

www.worldarchitecturefestival.com

WHAT’S NEW Permanent recognition of architects required on buildings in Toronto.

Canadian Centre for Architecture #archaeologyofthedigital cca.qc.ca The CCA gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Conseil des arts de Montréal and Hydro-Québec.

Image: Testa & Weiser, Carbon Tower (prototype) : exterior rendering, 2002. AP174 Testa & Weiser records, Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal. Gift of Peter Testa and Devyn Weiser. © Peter Testa and Devyn Weiser

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The City of Toronto and the Ontario Association of Architects have announced that they will be requiring architectural recognition on all buildings over 1,000 square metres in size.

The requirement stems from a 2011 amendment proposed by a Council member on the Planning and Growth Management Committee of the City of Toronto. The amendment cited a number of benefits, including public recognition for architects, an opportunity to better engage the public in the debate about architecture, and the economic benefit resulting from architectural tourism. Although the requirement was approved, it has not yet been widely enforced. Now, it will become an integral part of the Site Plan Approval process.

“The way that buildings and urban environments are designed has the potential to impact the lives of those who live, work, learn and play in them. As such, the architects responsible for these designs 2016-07-11 1:54 PM

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BEN RAHN ABOVE The Toronto Public Library at Scarborough Civic Centre, designed by LGA Architectural Partners in joint venture with Phillip H. Carter, won a 2016 OLA New Library Building Award.

should be recognized for their contributions,” says Les Klein, FRAIC, founding principal of Quadrangle Architects.

The requirement asks that buildings large enough in gross f loor area to qualify “aff ix or inscribe the Architect of Record or primary Design Architect on a location near the main entry or prominent façade of the structure; and that the lettering for this recognition

cover an area of at least 0.2 metres by 0.3 metres, or 0.06 square metres.” www.oaa.on.ca

McEwen family invests in Laurentian University’s School of Architecture.

The Laurentian University School of Architecture will now be known as the McEwen

School of Architecture, in recognition of a signif icant investment by Rob and Cheryl McEwen. Four million dollars will be used to complete the School’s $45 million stateof-the-art facility, while $6 million will enhance the student experience and maximize their capacity to become agents of change for architecture globally.

“Investing in Laurentian’s School of Architecture is a thrilling and proud moment for us. This school’s focus on green and sustainable design, rooted in northern landscapes and community, is creating unique opportunities for the next generation of architects,” says Rob McEwen. “We are already seeing the impact the school has had on northern communities in its f irst three years, and we look forward to the innovation and excellence in design these young leaders will achieve in years to come.”

Rob and his wife, Cheryl, are passionate about encouraging and promoting excellence and innovation in education and health care.

Their donations to furthering these objectives are in excess of $50 million.

The McEwen School of Architecture welcomed its charter class in September 2013.

It will launch its Master of Architecture graduate program in 2017.

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NEWS

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NEWS Annmarie Adams appointed Chair, Social Studies of Medicine at McGill.

Dr. Annmarie Adams, FRAIC, has been appointed Chair of the Department of Social Studies of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine at McGill University. With this appointment, Adams will also become the inaugural Stevenson Chair in the History and Philosophy of Science, including Medicine.

Adams has held a number of leadership roles at McGill since joining the University’s School of Architecture in 1990 as its first female faculty member. A champion of promoting women in academia, Adams served as director of the Institute for Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies in the Faculty of Arts in 2010-2011.

From 2011 to 2015, she was director of the School of Architecture, during which time she concurrently served as chair of the Canadian Council of University Schools of Architecture.

She is a longtime member of the board of curators of the Osler Library and is involved in the Maude Abbott Medical Museum.

As chair, Adams will continue to develop the Department of Social Studies of Medicine’s research and education missions, while mentoring its faculty members. She will be responsible for leading strategic planning and advising the dean on all matters related to the

Department, while pursuing and expanding her own research. Adams will also maintain her appointment to the School of Architecture within the Faculty of Engineering. www.mcgill.ca

RAIC announces new Director of Practice Support.

The RAIC has announced a new addition to the staff of the National Office in Ottawa.

Donald Ardiel, MRAIC, will assume the fulltime position of Director of Practice Support in September.

Ardiel is a licensed architect, certified project manager and educator with more than 25 years of experience in architectural practice, 18 of those as a sole practitioner. During his architectural career, he has specialized in public sector projects for healthcare, education and community services, as well as research laboratory facilities.

As Director of Practice Support, Ardiel will be responsible for programs, projects and issues that enhance architectural practice, services, and the profession. Existing programs, such as the syllabus and the Canadian Handbook of Practice, will form a large part of his work. He will also serve on the Practice Support Committee, as well as multi-industry groups such as the Federal Real Property

Advisory Committee and the Construction Industry Consultative Committee. www.raic.org

Metsä Wood launches international wood design competition.

Cities all over the world are in dire need of new ways to house a rapidly growing urban population. The City Above the City international wood design competition invites architects and students to address these challenges of urbanization in both sustainable and humane ways.

The competition is a continuation of Metsä Wood’s Plan B project, started in 2015 to explore the possibilities of using wood in urban construction. This year’s entrants are encouraged to select a centrally located building in one of the world’s most populated cities and develop an innovative wood design solution that adds density through additional f loors.

Building additional f loors with Kerto LVL as the primary material is a central requirement for the design work. Entrants are challenged to propose construction systems that draw on the performance characteristics of a variety of wood technologies. The deadline for submissions is September 30, 2016. planb.metsawood.com

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15 The 2017 Festival of Architecture will take place in Ottawa, May 24 to 27. The RAIC and OAA are proud to host the festival during Canada’s 150th birthday celebrations.

Mark your calendar!

Le Festival d’architecture de 2017 se tiendra à Ottawa, du 24 au 27 mai. L’IRAC et l’OAA sont fiers d’organiser ce festival pendant les célébrations du 150e anniversaire du Canada. Notez ces dates à votre agenda!

The Moriyama RAIC International Prize will be open for submissions in September. The competition invites architects from all over the world and offers a $100,000 prize.

L’appel de candidatures au Prix international Moriyama IRAC sera lancé en septembre. Le concours est ouvert aux architectes de partout dans le monde et il comprend un prix de 100 000 $.

A call for presenters and tours has been launched for the 2017 Festival of Architecture in Ottawa. Share your ideas and expertise via a continuing education course, or host an architectural tour of the National Capital Region for delegates.

Un appel de propositions de présentations et un appel à visites guidées pour le Festival d’architecture de 2017 à Ottawa ont été lancés. Partagez vos idées et votre expertise en présentant un cours de formation continue ou organisez une visite architecturale à l’intention des délégués dans la région de la capitale nationale.

The May 1 membership renewal deadline has passed, but it’s not too late to renew for 2016. Log in to your account at www. raic.org to keep your membership in good standing.

La date limite du 1er mai pour le renouvellement des adhésions est passée, mais il n’est pas trop tard pour renouveler votre adhésion de 2016. Il suffit d’ouvrir une session dans votre compte à www.raic.org et de fournir les informations et payer les frais requis pour maintenir votre statut de membre en règle.

The RAIC is the leading voice for excellence in the built environment in Canada, demonstrating how design enhances the quality of life, while addressing important issues of society through responsible architecture. www.raic.org L’IRAC est le principal porte-parole en faveur de l’excellence du cadre bâti au Canada. Il démontre comment la conception améliore la qualité de vie tout en tenant compte d’importants enjeux sociétaux par la voie d’une architecture responsable. www.raic.org/fr

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RAIC Journal Journal de l’IRAC A whole new way to manufacture buildings Une toute nouvelle façon de fabriquer des bâtiments

Qu’est-ce que l’on voit sur les toits de tous ces nouveaux bâtiments? Des nids? Non. Des imprimantes 3D! John Crace, FRAIC, is a Halifax-based architect.

John Crace, FRAIC, est un architecte établi à Halifax.

Toward a Stronger Profession Vers un renforcement de la profession Maria Cook Editor, RAIC Journal Rédactrice en chef, Journal de l’IRAC

Over the next few months, the RAIC will announce new program and advocacy initiatives aimed at strengthening architectural practice, raising the profile of architects and architecture, and improving the quality of Canada’s built environment.

Starting this fall, the RAIC will establish a new practice support group at the National Office that will focus on programs, projects and issues that impact architectural practice, education and the profession. It will be headed by architect Donald Ardiel, MRAIC, as Director of Practice Support.

The plans include revising the Canadian Handbook of Practice—the definitive reference for architectural practice in Canada—for the first time in 10 years. The new practice support group will advance the RAIC’s policy agenda by working with expert members of committees, task groups and networks, such as Sustainable Indigenous Communities and Responsible Environments. It will also represent the profession’s interests in multi-industry groups, such as the Federal Industry Real Property Advisory Committee and the Construction Industry Consultative Committee. “Members will have more opportunities to become involved,” says RAIC Executive Director Jody Ciufo.

Au cours des prochains mois, l’IRAC annoncera un nouveau programme de sensibilisation visant à renforcer la pratique de la profession, à mieux faire connaître les architectes et l’architecture et à améliorer la qualité du cadre bâti du Canada.

Dès l’automne, il créera à l’interne un groupe d’aide à la pratique qui, sous la direction de Donald Ardiel, arch., MRAIC, orientera ses activités sur des programmes, des projets et des dossiers qui influent sur l’exercice de la profession, l’éducation et la profession elle-même.

Le programme prévoit la révision du Manuel canadien de pratique de l’architecture, la référence par excellence en cette matière, pour la première fois en dix ans. Le groupe travaillera avec des experts membres de nos comités, groupes de travail et réseaux, comme ceux sur les communautés autochtones durables et sur les environnements responsables. Il représentera les intérêts de la profession au sein de comités multidisciplinaires de l’industrie comme le Comité consultatif sur les biens immobiliers du gouvernement fédéral et le Comité consultatif de l’industrie de la construction.

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The changes come at a time when the RAIC is on an upswing. Recent activities, such as the advocacy campaign to relocate the National Memorial to the Victims of Communism and the Moriyama RAIC International Prize, have done much to attract positive attention from the media, government officials, policy-makers and potential partners.

Increasingly, the RAIC is taking on issues such as fair contracts, qualificationsbased procurement, sustainability and design excellence.

The election of a new federal government last October has marked a significant shift in engagement and consultation on issues in the built environment. The meetings of RAIC President Allan Teramura, FRAIC, with Minister of Canadian Heritage Mélanie Joly, and Minister of Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna, demonstrate that the RAIC has a voice on Parliament Hill.

The goal is to build on these successes and opportunities by attracting more members, including more architects. Currently, the RAIC has about 5,000 members, but only one-third of Canada’s approximately 9,000 architects are members.

This was the context for introducing a change in the post-nominal designation, MRAIC, earlier this year, and asking members to vote on it last June at the annual general meeting (AGM) at the 2016 Festival of Architecture in Nanaimo, BC. The RAIC Board of Directors asked members to approve a motion to replace the MRAIC designation with a new RAIC designation for members who are licensed or registered to practice architecture.

The proposal sought to strengthen the RAIC’s influence as an advocate and to protect against misuse of the designation.

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It was seen as a first step toward the creation of a broader membership that included allied professionals as well as a larger proportion of Canada’s licensed and registered architects.

The Institute needs to “achieve a critical mass of architects, large enough to make the RAIC’s voice resonate with credibility and authority,” Teramura told the gathering.

After a heartfelt discussion, votes were cast by members at the AGM and under the RAIC’s proxy system. A 2/3 vote in favour was required to pass the motion. The motion fell short by 12 votes and did not receive the number of votes needed to take effect.

If it had passed, the MRAIC designation would have been phased out by the end of 2019. The new designation would have allowed interns and retired and honorary members to use modified designations.

About 10 percent—or fewer than 500 members—would have been ineligible for the RAIC designation. They fell into three categories: Canadian graduates, international graduates, and faculty.

The point made clearly from members on both sides of the issue was that they wanted more time for discussion and consultation on this proposed change. At the next board meeting in September, board members will reconsider the proposed approach to designation and set up a consultation process to examine issues raised by the post-nominal discussion.

Meanwhile, the growing engagement of members bodes well for “the lasting contribution we can make by stepping up as a single voice,” says Teramura.

« Les membres auront plus d’occasions de participer à ces initiatives », a déclaré la directrice générale de l’IRAC, Jody Ciufo.

Les changements surviennent à un moment où l’IRAC est en plein essor. Ses récentes activités, comme la campagne en faveur de la relocalisation du monument commémoratif aux victimes du communisme et le Prix international Moriyama IRAC, ont attiré l’attention des médias, des représentants du gouvernement, des décideurs et des partenaires potentiels.

L’IRAC s’investit de plus en plus dans les dossiers portant sur les contrats équitables, la sélection fondée sur les qualifications, la durabilité et l’excellence du design.

Depuis l’élection d’un nouveau gouvernement fédéral, on constate un virage important dans l’engagement et la consultation sur des questions liées au cadre bâti. Les rencontres du président de l’IRAC, Allan Teramura, FRAIC, avec la ministre du Patrimoine canadien, Mélanie Joly, et la ministre de l’Environnement et du Changement climatique Canada, Catherine McKenna, démontrent que la voix de l’IRAC se fait entendre sur la Colline du Parlement.

1 The AGM. Left to right: Allan Teramura, Jody Ciufo, board members Ewa Bieniecka and Michael Cox 2 Members sign in for the AGM 1 L’AGA. De gauche à droite : Allan Teramura, Jody Ciufo et les administrateurs Ewa Bieniecka et Michael Cox 2 Des membres signent le registre

Nous entendons miser sur ces réussites et saisir l’occasion pour augmenter notre effectif et le nombre de nos membres architectes. Nous comptons environ 5 000 membres, mais seulement le tiers des quelque 9 000 architectes du Canada en font partie.

Ce constat nous a amenés à vouloir modifier la désignation postnominale MIRAC, un peu plus tôt cette année, et à demander aux membres de voter sur cette modification lors de notre dernière assemblée générale annuelle (AGA) tenue dans le cadre du Festival d’architecture 2016, à Nanaimo (C.-B.).

Le conseil d’administration de l’IRAC a demandé aux membres d’approuver

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Critical winners Critiques à la une!

une motion visant à remplacer la désignation MIRAC par une nouvelle désignation IRAC octroyée seulement aux architectes inscrits auprès d’un ordre d’architectes du Canada.

La proposition visait à accroître l’influence de l’IRAC en tant que porteparole de la profession et à empêcher l’utilisation à mauvais escient de la désignation. Nous y avons vu une première étape menant à la création d’un effectif élargi comprenant des membres de professions connexes, mais aussi une plus grande proportion d’architectes.

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L’IRAC doit « être formé d’une masse critique d’architectes suffisamment importante pour faire résonner sa voix avec crédibilité et autorité », a déclaré le président Teramura lors de l’AGA. Après un vibrant débat, les membres ont voté. Leurs votes se sont ajoutés à ceux qui ont voté par procuration, comme le permettent les règlements de l’IRAC. La résolution devait recueillir les 2/3 des voix exprimées pour être adoptée. Il a manqué 12 voix. Elle a donc été rejetée.

Si elle avait été adoptée, la désignation MIRAC aurait cessé complètement d’être utilisée à la fin de 2019. La résolution prévoyait des dispositions pour les stagiaires, les membres à la retraite et les membres honoraires qui auraient pu utiliser la désignation IRAC en y ajoutant leur statut. Environ 10 pour cent – ou moins de 500 membres – n’auraient plus été autorisés à utiliser la désignation IRAC. Ce sont les membres diplômés d’écoles d’architecture agréées du Canada, diplômés d’écoles d’architecture de l’extérieur du Canada et enseignants universitaires.

1 The winners of the MAQ Young Architectural Critic Competition were announced in Montreal last April, at an event that featured a discussion between Emmanuel Caille from Paris, editor-in-chief of d’architectures (left) and New York author and critic Paul Goldberger (centre).

2 Winners Kristen Smith (left) and Marie-Pier Bourret-Lafleur (right).

Les membres, tant ceux qui étaient en faveur de la résolution que ceux qui s’y opposaient, ont clairement indiqué qu’il n’y avait pas eu suffisamment de temps pour la discussion et la consultation sur le changement proposé. À sa prochaine réunion, en septembre, le conseil d’administration reverra l’approche proposée par rapport à la désignation et mettra en place un processus de consultation pour examiner les questions soulevées par ce débat.

1 Les prix pour le concours ont été remis à Montréal, en avril dernier, dans le cadre d’une soirée comprenant une conversation publique entre Emmanuel Caille, rédacteur en chef d’architectures (Paris) et l’auteur et critique new-yorkais Paul Goldberger.

D’ici là, l’engagement croissant des membres augure bien « pour la contribution durable que nous pouvons apporter en parlant d’une seule voix de plus en plus forte », a conclu Allan Teramura.

2 Les lauréates Kristen Smith (à gauche) et MariePier BourretLafleur (à droite).

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The MAQ Young Architectural Critic Competition, created in 2011 by the Maison de l’architecture du Québec (MAQ), aims to encourage architectural criticism by writers aged 34 and younger.

Le Concours Jeune Critique MAQ en architecture, créé en 2011 par la Maison de l’architecture du Québec (MAQ), vise à stimuler la critique en architecture auprès des jeunes auteurs de 34 ans et moins.

The 2015 competition, supported by the RAIC, received a record 88 submissions from across Canada (23 in French and 65 in English) on the theme “A Library for the 21st Century.” Competitors analyzed more than 20 Canadian library buildings.

Sur le thème « Une bibliothèque pour le XXe siècle », plus de 88 textes (23 en français et 65 en anglais) ont été soumis lors de l’édition de 2015 de ce concours organisé avec le soutien de l’IRAC. Les participants ont analysé plus d’une vingtaine de bibliothèques canadiennes.

First Prize in English went to “Growing Pains,” by Kristen Smith, an architecture student at Ryerson University. Her text on Ryerson’s new Student Learning Centre, designed by Snøhetta and Zeidler Partnership Architects, appears on page 18.

Marie-Pier Bourret-Lafleur, a French literature graduate student at McGill University, took First Prize in French for her review of the Marc-Favreau Library, designed by Dan Hanganu Architectes.

The winning entry appears on page 20.

Le premier prix anglophone a été attribué à Kristen Smith, une étudiante en architecture de l’Université Ryerson.

Son texte, sur le tout nouveau Student Learning Centre de l’Université Ryerson conçu par les architectes Snøhetta et Zeidler apparaît à la page 18.

Le premier prix francophone a quant à lui été attribué à Marie-Pier Bourret-Lafleur, étudiante à la maîtrise en littérature française à l’Université McGill, pour son texte sur la bibliothèque Marc-Favreau de la firme Dan Hanganu Architectes.

Son text apparaît à la page 20.

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Growing Pains

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Kristen Smith First Prize in English, MAQ Young Architectural Critic Competition Premier prix anglophone, Concours Jeune Critique MAQ en architecture

A youthful energy permeates the sidewalk running between Yonge-Dundas Square and Gould Street, one block to the north.

At the corner, the glossy, faceted volume of Ryerson University’s new Student Learning Centre grabs and holds the attention of students and casual observers alike.

Throughout history, libraries have been sensitively designed, often in a conservative style; the results are rarely so bright and brash. To call the seven-storey, $112-million structure a landmark library may be an oxymoron of sorts—but clearly it was never on Ryerson’s agenda to satisfy the traditional bookworm. With copious amounts of colour, light, attitude and drama, the architectural team of Snøhetta and Zeidler Partnership has breathed life into an adolescent offspring of the contemporary library era.

Books—the defining feature of most libraries—are totally absent from the building.

But most visitors don’t even notice. The

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design indulges short attention spans; one is in turn mesmerized by the wildly fritted white and blue façade panels, nursing a headache after taking the all-yellow elevator, or staring at their smartphone.

More importantly, however, the exclusion of books allows the building to fulfill other functions: such as hosting gatherings in an open-concept amphitheatre, facilitating one-on-one digital media instruction, sparking entrepreneurial collaboration and networking, offering access to both academic and career support, and providing a range of casual and group study spaces that feature expansive views of Ryerson’s unique urban setting.

To the world outside of Ryerson University, the building is a shameless act of self-promotion, strategically placed at the campus’s foot on Yonge Street. Unapologetic in its scale, proportions and sharp attitude towards pedestrians, the building walks an extremely fine line between being welcoming and intimidating. At times, the

current that draws in visitors feels predatorial in nature, with the mirrored angle of the expansive entry staircase and the canted roofline above curiously forming an open jawline. This relative abruptness largely results from the spatial compromise of wedging a vast, open lobby into an array of stacked programs—one of which is ground-level retail.

Yet the piling-up of such large, dramatic spaces fulfills a critical function. Since Ryerson’s official transition from a polytechnic institute to a university in 1993, the school has undergone massive identity changes that have never been fully visible to the public. Accordingly, Snøhetta was called upon to design not only a building, but an architectural brand.

Looking through the firm’s range of graphic projects (including the visual identity for Oslo’s 2022 Winter Olympics bid and a reimagining of the Norwegian currency), Snøhetta is no stranger to creating

1 The eye-catching exterior of the Ryerson Student Learning Centre in Toronto, by Snøhetta with Zeidler Partnership Architects.

1 L’extérieur accrocheur du Ryerson Student Learning Centre à Toronto, de Snøhetta et Zeidler Partnership Architects.

Photos: Doublespace Photography

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promotional material. Consequently, the Student Learning Centre is the campus building that most confidently articulates the present and future vision of Ryerson.

The same fundamental identity changes that necessitate a conspicuous building have had a unique impact on student life.

Ryerson is divided into eight faculties, in addition to housing Canada’s largest university-affiliated entrepreneurial start-up incubator. Within these faculties are myriad highly specific, career-oriented programs that impart professionally relevant skill sets to their graduates. While this is a defining feature of the university, it means that the majority of university spaces must be programmed to satisfy a specific academic niche. The resulting lack of inter-departmental circulation is compounded by Ryerson’s urban location with limited real estate, and the fact that the majority of its students are commuters. The university was thus in dire need of a neutral space for students of all

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backgrounds to congregate. In essence, the jaws that may feel menacing to pedestrians have a different appearance to students—they’re the portal to a communal foyer for the entire school.

The sheer volume of students casually congregating near the building’s entrance makes this fact apparent. And the crowds don’t dispel inside. Nearly every corner, all the way to the top levels, is full during the afternoon, when students have gaps between classes. It makes you wonder where all these students passed their time before the building opened.

Each of the upper floors has a name and configuration that reflects a particular natural theme: The Garden, The Sun, The Beach, and so on. Each level additionally boasts a range of collaborative spaces and digital media resources. Unfortunately, the greatest distinguishing factor between floors remains their differing campy colour schemes. Ranging from jarring to toxic,

2 The spacious lobby acts as a communal foyer for students from different departments.

3 Flexible study spaces are distributed throughout the building.

2 Le hall spacieux agit comme un foyer communal pour les étudiants des différents départements.

3 On trouve des espaces d’études flexibles un peu partout dans le bâtiment.

it feels as if the cheapest avenues were selected to create artificial visual interest.

Thankfully, most students see through this, and don’t visit the building expecting to smell the roses or get a tan.

The Student Learning Centre was completed in February 2015. It raises the question: will such vibrant design decisions mature gracefully as Ryerson further expands and integrates itself into Toronto’s downtown core? Ryerson is still a young university, and in many respects, the Student Learning Centre behaves like an insecure teenager trying to wear all the cool brands and follow all the latest trends. While many people look back on their teenage years with chagrin, it’s undeniable that those years also bring greater autonomy to one’s identity and image.

Similarly, the Student Learning Centre represents an important phase in Ryerson’s development process, and proves that the school is slowly crafting its own voice in the urban academic landscape.

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Une bibliothèque à coeur ouvert

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Marie-Pier Bourret-Lafleur Premier prix francophone, Concours Jeune Critique MAQ en architecture First Prize in French, MAQ Young Architectural Critic Competition

Pourtant, de récentes constructions, comme la bibliothèque Marc-Favreau de l’arrondissement Rosemont — La PetitePatrie à Montréal, montrent qu’un autre aspect mérite d’être érigé en point central de ces établissements : l’être humain qui les fréquente. C’en est fini de la lecture comme activité solitaire et des interdictions qui pesaient sur l’usager : on peut y parler, manger et boire un café. Cette vocation sociale se reflète dans les grands axes qui ont guidé l’élaboration de la bibliothèque, inaugurée le 7 décembre 2013 : la famille, les nouvelles technologies, le design et le développement durable.

On est en effet bien loin des rangées vertigineuses et poussiéreuses quand on pénètre le bâtiment lumineux conçu par Gilles Prud’homme, de la firme Dan Hanganu, dont le projet a été sélectionné à l’unanimité par le jury, à l’issue d’un

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concours lancé en juillet 2009. Au contraire d’une boite hermétique qui garderait jalousement ses secrets, la bibliothèque Marc-Favreau appelle l’environnement extérieur à l’intérieur par son espace dégagé qui encourage la circulation de l’un à l’autre. Sise au confluent du boulevard Rosemont, de la rue de Saint Vallier, d’une ligne de métro et de pistes cyclables, elle se démarque par son accessibilité.

Dans ce carrefour encore dominé par le gris de l’asphalte et du béton, la structure en L de la bibliothèque Marc-Favreau brille par son alliage de transparence et de blancheur opaline, meme la nuit quand des DEL s’animent pour flatter sa façade.

L’édifice contraste avec l’ancien bâtiment de briques auquel il se greffe, même s’il l’égale en hauteur. Évoquant les vêtements de Sol, le plus célèbre personnage du comédien Marc Favreau, les motifs translucides sur les panneaux de verre de la façade ouest répondent aux losanges formés par les me-neaux qui se croisent au sud et à l’est. C’est à l’étage que l’on a le plus agréable point de vue, assis dans un petit fauteuil du solarium — un cube de verre prolongeant le bâtiment, judicieusement appelé « Le cristal », les pieds posés devant le foyer central.

Il s’agit d’une force du projet de Gilles Prud’homme : permettre de profiter, depuis l’intérieur, des éléments qui rythment l’enveloppe de la bibliothèque.

La plupart des cloisons sont faites de verre, ajourées ou encore serties de miroirs, et le regard du visiteur n’est que rarement bloqué. La bibliothèque crée ainsi un lien fluide entre les aires et, du même coup, entre ses usagers.

Ceux-ci y trouvent d’ailleurs une variété d’ambiances. L’alternance d’un revêtement métallique argenté et du verre en longues bandes verticales laisse le choix entre une portion plus ou moins ombragée du comptoir, le long du mur ouest de l’étage. Les étudiants qui ont trimbalé leurs ordinateurs sont ravis de se réfugier dans un coin sombre. En plus d’une salle dynamisée par des planchers orange vif (la seule où le silence est suggéré), les nombreuses tables et salles de réunion laissent place aux séances de travail, tant en solitaire qu’en équipe, et viennent pardonner les quelques erreurs d’ergonomie (il s’avère par exemple impossible de loger confortablement ses jambes sous certains comptoirs).

On s’active davantage au rez-dechaussée, où sont groupés l’accueil,

Photos: Michel Brunelle

Dans « Reinventing the Library », publié dans le New York Times du 23 octobre dernier, l’écrivain canadien Alberto Manguel appelait à un retour à la centralité du livre, qu’il voit s’amenuiser dans les bibliothèques. Autrefois symboles de l’identité sociale et dépositaires de la mémoire collective, ces lieux de savoir sont voués à perdre peu à peu ces fonctions, selon lui.

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1 La bibliothèque Marc-Favreau à Montréal, de Dan Hanganu architectes.

2 La transparence des matériaux fait contraste avec la solidité du bâtiment existant.

3 Les motifs cristallins filtrent la lumière dans les zones de lecture.

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l’espace café et la section dédiée aux enfants. Les grandes portes coulissantes de l’entrée principale s’ouvrent sur des rayons de livres de hauteur décroissante qui s’adaptent à la taille du jeune public auquel ils sont destinés, tout comme les postes de recherché de cette pièce appelée « Le coffre ». Par sa polyvalence, la bibliothèque Marc-Favreau se modèle à ses usagers, mais leur offre aussi les possibilités des technologies récentes.

La bibliothèque possède notamment un système de prêt automatisé et permet l’accès à plusieurs logiciels et outils de référence.

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Cette préoccupation pour les citoyens et leur futur se traduit finalement par l’orientation verte de la bibliothèque, qui vise une certification LEED Argent. Le bois, omniprésent, est issu d’un approvisionnement écoresponsable. Au rez-dechaussée, une paroi de lierre grimpant sépare les rayonnages des postes informatiques. En traversant l’espace café, on atteint enfin une terrasse extérieure nichée dans l’angle formé par le bâtiment.

Si le carré de dalles manque de charme, c’est que la terrasse fera partie d’un ensemble plus grand, le parc Luc-Durand, qui attend toujours ses 80 arbres. Dans ce

1 The Marc Favreau Library in Montreal by Dan Hanganu Architectes.

2 Transparent materials contrast the solidity of the existing building.

3 Crystalline patterns filter light into the reading areas.

parc nommé en l’honneur de celui qui incarnait Gobelet, l’acolyte de Sol, l’aspect fédérateur de la bibliothèque de Rosemont continuera de se déployer. Les habitants du quartier pourront s’y regrouper autour d’une patinoire d’improvisation extérieure, la première au Québec, pour assister à un match ou en disputer un.

La bibliothèque Marc-Favreau sort pour ainsi dire de ses murs. En plus de la structure fluide et ouverte de son bâtiment, elle s’ancre dans son milieu et dans la vie tout court : plus qu’un sanctuaire dédié aux livres, elle veut entrer dans le quotidien de ses usagers. Nous aurons d’ailleurs presque réussi à oublier les 112 000 documents de la collection, car ce qui gravite autour d’eux a visiblement reçu plus d’attention au moment de la conception, comme le dénonçait Alberto Manguel. Il est vrai que les bibliothèques risquent plus d’être abandonnées par leurs lecteurs que par leurs livres. À moins qu’ils ne s’évaporent tous dans le nuage, les bouquins, eux, resteront là, sagement alignés sous leur rassurante forme matérielle. Il est sans doute astucieux d’avoir misé sur le contenant pour séduire les usagers, car, semble se demander la bibliothèque Marc-Favreau, que deviendraient les livres sans leurs lecteurs?

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Symposium Preview: Architectural Criticism in Canada Aperçu du symposium : la critique architecturale au Canada

Kristen Gagnon Symposium organizer and PhD Candidate, Carleton University Organisatrice du symposium et doctorante, Université Carleton

Architectural criticism is in a state of flux and malleability as it attempts to adjust and remain relevant within the changing context of mass communication.

The shift toward digital platforms and outlets, while affecting media in general, has allowed for new and emerging methods of communicating architectural ideas to the public. This transition to online communication also allows the lay critic the same access to readership as the professional.

A recent case in point is Mirvish + Gehry Toronto, a major mixed-use development project in the arts and entertainment district of Toronto. Not only has it been discussed extensively by the established critical architectural guard, but it has also been thoroughly analyzed through a very public discourse and debate. As such, public or popular criticism is now at a pivotal point in its history, as it decides if, and how, it will include and engage those outside of the field of architecture and traditional media.

Whichever way criticism proceeds, what cannot be understated is the valuable role it can and should play as the threshold between the profession of architecture and the public understanding and appreciation of our built environment. For while we spend the majority of our time in and around buildings and designed spaces, there is still a significant lack of education about the importance and impact of design in our daily lives among the general population.

To explore these ideas further, and within a public forum, a dozen of Canada’s leading critical writers will come together for a day of discussion on October 21, 2016, at Carleton University.

Hosted by the Azrieli School of Architecture & Urbanism and Spacing magazine, POP CAN CRIT: Current Conditions in Popular Canadian Architecture Criticism will exam-

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ine the role, significance, and future of the professional critic and public criticism, within the context of the contemporary Canadian media landscape. This event will allow for those in the field to express their views on the state of criticism today, and for those in attendance to ask the hard questions to the individuals at the heart of these matters.

Speakers at the symposium will include Trevor Boddy, FRAIC; Alex Bozikovic; Ian Chodikoff, FRAIC; Maria Cook; Sophie Gironnay; Christopher Hume; Elsa Lam, MRAIC; Shawn Micallef; Rhys Phillips, Hon. FRAIC; Marco Polo, FRAIC; Lisa Rochon; and David Theodore, MRAIC. La critique architecturale est en période de mutation et de malléabilité et elle tente de s’ajuster et de demeurer pertinente dans le contexte évolutif de la communication de masse.

La migration vers les plateformes et autres produits numériques a certes des incidences sur les médias en général, mais en matière d’architecture, elle favorise l’émergence de nouvelles façons de communiquer des idées au grand public. Elle permet également aux critiques profanes d’exprimer et de publier leurs commentaires en s’adressant au même lectorat que le critique professionnel.

Le projet Mirvish + Gehry Toronto, un projet majeur de complexe à usage mixte dans le quartier des arts et spectacles de Toronto illustre bien cette tendance.

Il a fait l’objet d’un vaste débat au sein des critiques d’architecture et d’une analyse exhaustive dans le cadre d’un discours et d’un débat très publics. La critique publique ou populaire est maintenant à un moment tournant de son histoire.

Décidera-t-elle d’inclure et d’engager des personnes qui ne sont pas dans le domaine de l’architecture et des médias traditionnels et, dans l’affirmative, comment le fera-t-elle?

Quel que soit son mode d’expression,

il ne faut pas sous-estimer le rôle important que la critique peut et doit jouer en faisant le pont entre les réalisations des architectes et le public qu’elle amène à mieux comprendre et à mieux apprécier notre cadre bâti. Encore aujourd’hui, la population n’est pas sensibilisée à l’importance du design et à ses incidences dans nos vies quotidiennes. Pourtant, nous passons la plus grande partie de notre temps à l’intérieur et dans les environs de bâtiments et d’espaces conçus par des professionnels.

Pour approfondir ces idées dans le cadre d’un forum public, douze des principaux critiques d’architecture au Canada se réuniront pendant toute une journée, le 21 octobre 2016, à l’Université Carleton.

Organisé par l’École Azrieli d’architecture et d’urbanisme et le magazine Spacing, le symposium POP CAN CRIT : Current Conditions in Popular Canadian Architecture Criticism se penchera sur le rôle, l’importance et l’avenir du critique professionnel et de la critique publique dans le contexte du paysage médiatique contemporain du Canada. Cette activité permettra aux professionnels du domaine d’exprimer leurs points de vue sur l’état actuel de la critique et aux autres personnes présentes de leur poser des questions difficiles.

Les participants du symposium seront Trevor Boddy, FRAIC; Alex Bozikovic; Ian Chodikoff, FRAIC; Maria Cook; Sophie Gironnay; Christopher Hume; Elsa Lam, MRAIC; Shawn Micallef; Rhys Phillips, Hon. FRAIC; Marco Polo, FRAIC; Lisa Rochon; et David Theodore, MRAIC.

For more information and event registration, visit www.spacing.ca/PopCanCrit Pour un supplément d’information et pour s’inscrire, visitez le: www.spacing.ca/PopCanCrit

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THE WORKS A MUNICIPAL OPERATIONS CENTRE IN SURREY SHOWS THAT ARCHITECTURE FOR THE MUNDANE BUSINESS OF PUBLIC WORKS CAN BE FAR FROM ORDINARY. Surrey Operations Centre and Works Yard Redevelopment, Surrey, British Columbia ARCHITECTS RDH Architects Inc. (Design Architect) and Taylor Kurtz Architecture and Design (Architect of Record) TEXT Hadani Ditmars PHOTOS Ema Peter PROJECT

Public works architecture in Vancouver had its heyday in the mid-century. In the 1950s, municipal operations centres like the Dal Grauer substation on Burrard (designed by Ned Pratt and B.C. Binning) ref lected both elegance and pragmatism. Later 20th century work was often consigned to the realm of pre-engineered sheds or tilt-up concrete garages, hidden from view in out-of-the-way locations. Municipal workers would come and go, largely unseen by the public.

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Now, the city of Surrey, at the southern suburban edge of Vancouver— and with twice its land mass and a rapidly gaining population—is reviving the bid to make public works infrastructure beautiful.

The bold new commission for the Surrey Operations Centre and Works Yard Redevelopment follows in the footsteps of more prominent public projects in the area, such as Bing Thom’s main library and shopping mall-university complex in Surrey Central. Standing in their league as a design-forward exemplar, the Operations Centre recently received an AIBC award, along with two other City of Surrey projects: the Guildford Aquatic Centre by Bing Thom with Shape Architects, and the Grandview Aquatic Centre by HCMA Architecture + Design.

The Operations Centre, a $53-million LEED Silver project by RDHA of Toronto and Taylor Kurtz of Vancouver, also speaks to a larger global trend of creating architecturally significant public works buildings. The

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ABOVE Angled, cedar-lined openings mark the entrances to the Surrey Operations Centre as well as upper floor balconies on all sides of the office block. The stripped-down material palette of wood, glass and steel is used throughout the complex’s service and storage buildings.

handsome, sculptural Spring Street Salt shed by Dattner Architects and WXY in New York City is a recent edifice of note.

With its simple palette of steel, glass and rough-hewn cedar, the Surrey Operations Centre provides a highly functional series of buildings that serve as a mini-campus for Surrey’s parks, engineering, facilities and bylaws departments. However, its elegant yet unassuming design goes beyond the purely functional, effectively offering a new civic landmark for the burgeoning community.

The complex is one in a series of municipal operations centres that RDHA has designed in the past decade (including, notably, the sleek Newmarket Operations Centre in 2010, which won a Governor General’s

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Medal). It represents, says design architect Geoff Miller, MRAIC, an attempt to “redefine the building type in terms of architectural quality and demonstrate that, contrary to tradition, it can be approached with as much seriousness and refinement as any other typology.”

More and more, says Miller, public works buildings are “becoming essential hubs for the efforts of our municipal governments to reinvent themselves as environmentally sustainable institutions, through the work of the parks, engineering and operations departments in particular.”

“Our goal,” he says, “is to make this transition visible to the public and to change the expectations of the people who work in these facilities. They are no longer simple sheds hidden in industrial parks on the

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LEFT The fleet repair shops incorporate aircraft hangar doors, giving the block a sleek, loft-like feel. When open, the doors form a minimalist canopy over the service bays. ABOVE The staff entry opens from a generous outdoor terrace that can be used for casual midday breaks as well as for special events.

outskirts of the community, but sophisticated places of public interface, city administration and skilled labour.”

Working with the City of Surrey, adds architect of record Craig Taylor, MRAIC, was “a pleasure” due to their “commitment to forwardthinking and sustainable design.” His firm is no stranger to civic projects—it won a BC Heritage Award for a 2009 conversion of a 1912 school into a community centre, designed the South Surrey Recreation Centre, and is at work on a new city arena. Taylor credits current city manager Vince Lalonde for championing the project and “pushing us to excel and create something special.”

The site itself is revealing of Surrey’s recent sea change. Located on 148th Street, the new operations centre is close to the open farmland that was once the area’s mainstay. It’s poised at the junction between suburban single family housing to the east and an industrial zone to the west. The Centre spans both aesthetics, creating a home away from home for the city’s municipal workers.

There is a sense of shelter as one arrives at the main administrative building, which is designed to mitigate the shift in scale from residential to industrial, and includes an office wing and a workshop wing. Angled cedar soffits draw you in, while the high-performance glass envelope ref lects glimpses of the community back to itself. A subtle interplay of solidity and transparency, gravitas and transcendence plays out in the street-side façade. This is especially evident in an oculus-like, cedar-clad balcony carved out of the curtain wall on the north end—a neat effect that repeats on all elevations. Similarly, thin rectangles of glazing punctuate the cedar entranceway, setting a theme that continues throughout.

Moving north and west into the complex, a series of staggered, rectilinear buildings of varying heights fold organically into the site, which slopes downward from north to south. A large salt and sand shed remains from the municipal operations complex that previously occupied the site; other structures, including the former main operations building, were

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demolished. In the new complex, office zones face the residential area, while the noisier f leet maintenance section is located towards the west side.

“One of the main challenges,” explains Taylor, “was designing a new centre [on the bones of the old one] while still maintaining operations.”

To do so, a key strategy was locating the new office building on the site of the old facility’s parking lot. Conversely, after the old building was demolished, its site became a vehicle storage area.

While the new operations centre delights aesthetically, it also improves functionality. A central atrium in the main building acts as a light-filled core, linking disparate departments—previously located on different sites—and encouraging conversation and collaboration. Open stairwells connect four f loors; three for off ices and a top level slated for future growth. (The latter was recently rented by location scouts for a new Schwarzenegger film.) The offices open to a green roof, atop the adjacent workshops, that includes space for employees’ vegetable gardens.

At ground level, the lobby acts as a gathering space for workers coming and going, while doubling as a mini-museum of technology. At its far end, a glass case displays century-old pipes and valves. A wood ceiling, patterned with slices of rectangular LED lights and sloped downward for a sense of intimacy, leads visitors to a cedar wall displaying a hollowed-out log that was once used as a water pipe.

Men in orange overalls pass through the space, returning from the f ield after a day’s work and retreating to the adjacent employees’ gym and shower area. They pass kids’ drawings of the centre adorning the lobby’s walls. The scene evokes a Richard Scarry tableau, f illed with busy workers responsible for keeping the city humming along.

The separate f leet maintenance building—f illed with the sweet aroma of a cedar mill on an adjacent industrial site—is equally impressive. Stylish airplane hangar doors f lip up to act as rain canopies; inside is a boy’s own adventure land of plows, tractors and excavators.

The big, open industrial space in itself is so appealing (to this

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OPPOSITE A skylit atrium in the main office building brings natural light through the floorplate and visually connects various departments.

BELOW The wood-lined lobby acts as an informal gathering space; its sidewalls include built-in display areas.

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design writer, it’s evocative of a supersized Brooklyn loft) that one imagines workers may want to linger here past their shift times.

Another cedar soffited entranceway beckons to an adjoining wing, edged in steel and punctuated by long rectangular glazing. This houses vehicle dispatch, a general store as well as an emergency command centre. Along the north edge of the property line, a linear storage outbuilding doubles as an acoustic buffer for nearby houses. It reads like an industrial playground: with fire hydrants, pipes, and even uprooted plastic horsey rides on display, eagerly awaiting installation.

In suburban Surrey, where public architecture trumps residential design—so fetishized in neighbouring Vancouver—the centre not only provides a refuge and operations hub for city workers, but also ushers in a new pride of place in public works architecture.

As a roads and drainage worker in orange overalls, returning from a day of ditch excavation, puts it: “Our old building was an asbestosfilled, cramped space, with cracked drywall. This place is environmentally friendly, has a lunch room, gym, lockers and lots of space for equipment storage—and it looks great. It was way beyond our expectations.”

Hadani Ditmars is a Vancouver-based journalist and photographer. Her forthcoming book Between Two Rivers: a Journey Through the Ancient Heart of Iraq is out next year with IB Tauris.

CLIENT THE CITY OF SURREY | ARCHITECT TEAM RDH ARCHITECTS—BOB GOYECHE, GEOFF MILLER, DAN HERLJEVIC, LUC JOHNSTON. TAYLOR KURTZ ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN—CRAIG TAYLOR, PATRICK MURPHY, BENJAMIN BECKWITH, SVETLANA SHARIPOVA, KENT FAWCETT, CHRISTINA FONG, ASAR AMINPOUR. | STRUCTURAL WSP ENGINEERING (FORMERLY HALSALL ASSOCIATES) | MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL INTEGRAL GROUP | LANDSCAPE PHILLIPS FARVAAG SMALLENBERG | INTERIORS TAYLOR KURTZ ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN | CONSTRUCTION MANAGER GRAHAM CONSTRUCTION & ENGINEERING | CIVIL R.F. BINNIE & ASSOCIATES | CODE GAGE BABCOCK & ASSOCIATES | GEOTECHNICAL GEOPACIFIC CONSULTANTS LTD. | SUSTAINABILITY RECOLLECTIVE CONSULTING | COMMISSIONING C.E.S. ENGINEERING LTD. | AREA 14,572 M2 | BUDGET $54 M | COMPLETION PRIMARY BUILDINGS—MAY 2015; SITE DEVELOPMENT/FINAL COMPLETION—SEPTEMBER 2016.

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THE NEW TELUS GARDEN BUILDING IN VANCOUVER ATTEMPTS A DELICATE BALANCE BETWEEN FITTING INTO ITS URBAN CONTEXT AND CREATING A DISTINCT ARCHITECTURAL BRAND FOR ITS CLIENT. TELUS Garden Office Tower, Vancouver, British Columbia Henriquez Partners Architects TELUS OFFICE FIT-OUT office of mcfarlane biggar architects + designers inc. (project commenced as predecessor firm McFarlane Green Biggar Architecture + Design Inc.) TEXT Erick Villagomez PHOTOS Andrew Latreille, Ema Peter, and Ed White as noted PROJECT

ARCHITECT

Canadian telecommunications superpower TELUS is no stranger to iconic buildings and pushing architectural limits. With its boot-shaped Brian Canfield Centre and the William Farrell Building Revitalization (that sports the country’s f irst double-skin façade), the company’s portfolio of strong architectural pieces is meant to ref lect boldness and innovation. The most recent addition to its growing collection—TELUS Garden—aims to follow suit.

OPPOSITE The ambitious TELUS Garden complex includes an office tower with a bar-shaped volume daringly cantilevered over streets on either side. ABOVE, LEFT TO RIGHT The Sky Garden extrusions contain suspended meeting rooms designed by office of mcfarlane biggar (omb); the illuminated underside of a Sky Garden animates the street at night.

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The ambitious project, located in downtown Vancouver, brings together developer Westbank, led by Ian Gillespie, and Henriquez Partners Architects (HPA), led by Gregory Henriquez, FRAIC. Although Westbank and HPA have worked together a number of times over the past 15 years—including on the high-profile Woodward’s redevelopment—they might seem an odd combination on the surface. Gillespie is a developer with a seemingly insatiable appetite for creating architectural landmarks: a repertoire that includes Shangri-La hotels in Vancouver and Toronto, partnerships with starchitects Bjarke Ingels Group in several cities, and, most recently, a planned tower with Kengo Kuma. HPA has its own following as a firm that is focused on the ethical responsibilities of the profession towards the common good.

Yet, in many ways they complement one another, as a duo that can balance form and substance, respectively. And based on the recent accolades for TELUS Garden, including a Lieutenant Governor’s Award, it would seem they hit their stride on HPA’s first office building.

Telus Garden recently garnered LEED Platinum certif ication, due in part to its many innovative technological and mechanical systems.

These include a district energy system that recovers energy from a neighbouring telecommunications building, Vancouver’s largest solar panel rooftop array, and an incredible integration of passive solar and heating

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A sculptural canopy shelters a public plaza and leads visitors into the office lobby; floating meeting rooms designed by omb include lounge areas on top; the rooms pair with Henriquez Partners’ airy façades to give TELUS employees a memorable connection to downtown Vancouver. ABOVE The glulam arcs continue within the lobby, which includes a water feature that links it to the plaza.

OPPOSITE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP

systems, including radiant ceilings. From this perspective, the building speaks to the power of early design-stage systems thinking. Yet, closer examination reveals a building that, at key moments, expresses the contradictions and dichotomies of its team members.

Located in downtown Vancouver, the million-square-foot complex is adjacent to the Busby-renovated William Farrell Building, filling in the rest of that city block around the existing Kingston Hotel. One of its most prominent elements is a 22-storey office slab that addresses West Georgia Street, the business spine of the downtown core. Also a part of the office building, sitting at a 90-degree angle to the slab, is a shorter seven-storey bar that frames a notch of open space at the site’s north corner. The complex f inally includes a separate 47-storey residential podium tower at the block’s south corner, facing the quieter intersection of Richards and Robson Streets.

From the air, the site planning ref lects the contextual sensitivity HPA is known for. Masses, voids, and land-uses are where they should be, speaking to the larger urban context and addressing West Georgia as a significant ceremonial axis. This is very much in line with Baird/ Sampson Associates’ seminal 1982 study, Greening Downtown: Design Guidelines for Georgia-Robson Corridor. Added to this is the thoughtful desire to activate an existing laneway connecting Robson to West Georgia as a mid-block pedestrian spine, through the incorporation of small commercial frontages that spill out into it. Once the public art is installed—

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a series of sculptural lanterns for the alley by Turner Prize-winner Martin Boyce—this will be a unique contribution to Vancouver’s public spaces.

In three dimensions, however, the 47-storey residential tower overshadows its immediate Robson Street neighbours, despite a strong attempt at breaking down the massing and a well-scaled podium. Conversely, the 22-storey office slab is quite modest in comparison to other towers along West Georgia. Surely, the heights were a consequence of an economically driven mindset, ref lecting the city’s outsized market for residential real estate.

The most prominent aspect of TELUS Garden is the seven-storey section of the offices—in particular, a large four-storey square extrusion that pierces the off ice slab and thrusts over part of Richards Street on one side, and Seymour Street on the other. Located three storeys above street level, the Bar (as it is called by the designers) is the most aggressive architectural move in the project, effectively taking up public right-of-way for private purposes.

The gesture is reminiscent of Thom Mayne’s cantilevered projection atop the University of Toronto Graduate House. However, where the latter has a larger urban logic and contributes meaningfully to the surrounding fabric—both in its light materiality and as a strong gateway element for the campus—the rationale behind the TELUS Garden gesture, and its relationship to the “good” of the city at large, is much more ambiguous. This leaves it open to interpretation.

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ABOVE A petal motif, abstracted from the TELUS logo, creates a leafy ceiling for an office lobby designed by omb. The firm curated a comprehensive, customized art program to ensure the integration of art, interior design and client vision within the TELUS office spaces. OPPOSITE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP Generous terraces connect the TELUS workplace to the city and to the outdoors; planter heights are calibrated to double as seating for outdoor events; the roof gardens were collaboratively designed by omb, HPA and PFS Studio.

At best, it can be seen as a playful architectural element that whimsically critiques Vancouver’s regulation-heavy context, and questions what many view as an overly conservative architectural and planning environment. At worst, it acts as a kind of architectural advertising through built form. Architectural showsmanship plagues many of our cities, but this instance is particularly dangerous in setting a precedent for encroaching into the street. By doing so, it overturns longstanding public realm practices that have made Vancouver a model of successful urbanism.

Many observers in the local design scene are baff led by how the protrusion of the Bar into the streets was permitted without a larger discussion, especially given the many years the City has spent developing sensitive public realm guidelines, instituting an intelligent Urban Design Panel, and putting a diverse Development Permit Board into place. Regardless, it is clear that the decision requires a critical re-examination of the nature of public space in the city, and under what circumstances one could (and should) infringe upon the public right-of-way.

In contrast to its cantilevered faces, the view of the building from along West Georgia Street is more subtle and convincing, particularly from the west, where the dominant f low of traffic originates. Building on the existing rhythm, proportions and materials of other structures along the corridor—including the skewed Scotia Tower and Miesian TD Tower—the pristinely glazed narrow side of the TELUS office slab fits right in with the adjacent sentinels. A wonderfully subdued and well-scaled three-storey projecting accent, sitting between the 18th and 21st f loors, adds delicate personality to the building.

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Those who happen to glance westward along West Georgia may also notice that the accent sets up a big sibling-little sibling architectural conversation with Westbank’s Shangri-La Tower, five blocks away—the latter has a similar, albeit less well-proportioned, detail. This is HPA at its best, sensitively situating architectural pieces and elements that delightfully speak across scales of urban experience in a meaningful way.

Looking to the entry plaza, one also notices that the height of the seven-storey volume (which includes the controversial Bar), takes its lead from the historically significant Hudson’s Bay Building that lies kittycorner to it. The result is a nicely scaled outdoor room on West Georgia.

The effect is somewhat marred by the size of a gracefully arcing glass, steel and wood canopy sitting within the void—beautiful in itself, but too large relative to its enclosing boundaries. A tightness and feeling of visual clutter result. Here, the well-meaning desire to add a scalar element to meet the street perhaps found an overly exuberant formal expression.

The long east façade of the office slab is a relatively monotonous wall of glass along Richards Street. Fortunately, the care with which Henriquez articulated the residential tower—in particular, the saw-toothed façade of its podium—offers a good contrast along this edge.

The project’s most consistent expression is in the interiors for the TELUS offices, where office of mcfarlane biggar architects + designers (omb) pushed standard workspaces above and beyond the norm. TELUS occupies the entirety of the Bar and nine levels of the tower, with the bulk of its operations accommodated on the second through ninth f loors, and executive offices on the upper two levels.

As one would expect, the heart of the interior design lies within the Bar, where omb has reinterpreted the cantilevered language of the

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building proper to fit out the multi-storey “Sky Gardens” that overlook Seymour and Richards Streets. Glass- and wood-walled meeting rooms f loat above raised gardens planted with live trees and shrubs; these are the project’s most dynamic interior spaces. The design of these “Sky Boxes”, taken in conjunction with HPA’s wise decision to maximize the use of clear glazing throughout the shell, allows the experience of merged public and private realms to resonate strongly here.

The accessible and simply landscaped roofs of the Bar—designed as a collaboration between omb, HPA and PFS Studio—take this even further, merging interior activities and exterior spaces in a simple, meaningful way. The east-facing roof deck along Richards Street even includes a small organic garden whose products are donated to the local Covenant House, integrating a noble desire to give back to the community.

A variety of solo and collaborative spaces for contemporary office workers are interspersed throughout the f loorplates, ranging from

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standing mobile workstations to formal meeting rooms and lounges, and offering varying levels of acoustic and visual privacy. A palette of natural materials, clear layout, thoughtful lighting, subtle accents and wellcurated art fuse to create an unexpectedly modest working environment: one that speaks very well to an integrated design approach and to TELUS’s vision of innovation.

It is a design truism that one should embrace missteps as a part of the design process. This can certainly be extended to ongoing developerarchitect relationships, as the partners learn each other’s strengths and weaknesses on a project-by-project basis, and work to calibrate their skills in the future. As the first office building by Westbank and HPA, one can certainly take away many positive lessons. Given the down-to-earth nature of HPA, one is certain that both parties will also be mindful of improvements that can be made in the future: particularly around bringing more awareness to the long-term implications of design decisions

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on the public realm. Certainly, the decision by TELUS to approach the duo is well-justified, and the company’s commitment to delivering courageous, important works of architecture and design should be applauded.

Ultimately, TELUS Garden remains one of Vancouver’s most important recent projects, as the bumps above Seymour and Richards serve as reminders to be vigilant about critically assessing what we hold dear about the public realm. To many, they will also recall a (hopefully brief ) moment when promotion was given too much license over public interest.

Erick Villagomez is the founding principal of Metis Design Build, and teaches at the University of British Columbia’s School of Community and Regional Planning.

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CORP. | ARCHITECT TEAM GREGORY HENRIQUEZ, PETER WOOD, ERIK ROTH, PATRICK SHAEFFER, PAYAM ASHJAE, JAIME DEJO, DRAGOSLAV MITIC, BEN ROWE, NICK JAMES, JUAN HURTADO, LUKE CHO, NORMAN HUTH, SHADI JIANFAR, ROCIO GARCIA, CHRISTIAN RUUD, ARNOLD WONG | STRUCTURAL GLOTMAN SIMPSON | MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL INTEGRAL GROUP | LANDSCAPE PHILLIPS FAREVAGG SMALLENBERG | INTERIORS AMBIUS PROJECT DEVELOPMENT NORTH AMERICA | CONTRACTOR ICON PACIFIC CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION | CIVIL APLIN + MARTIN CONSULTANTS LTD. | WATER FEATURE VINCENT HERLTON & ASSOCIATES LTD. | LEED INTEGRAL GROUP | ENVELOPE RDH BUILDING ENGINEERING LTD. | CODE LMDG BUILDING CODE CONSULTANTS LTD. | TRANSPORTATION PLANNING BUNT + ASSOCIATES ENGINEERING LTD. | ACOUSTIC BKL CONSULTANTS LTD. | CURTAIN WALL BVDA FAÇADE ENGINEERING LTD. | ELEVATOR GUNN CONSULTANTS INC. | LIGHTING EOS LIGHTMEDIA | ENVIRONMENTAL SNC-LAVALIN ENVIRONMENT / PHH ARC ENVIRONMENTAL LTD. | GEOTECHNICAL GEOPACIFIC CONSULTANTS LTD. | LAND SURVEYOR MCELHANNEY ASSOCIATES LAND SURVEYING INC. / MATSON, PECK & TOPLISS SURVEYORS + ENGINEERS | WIND GRADIENT MICROCLIMATE ENGINEERING INC. | COMMISSIONING C.E.S. ENGINEERING LTD. | ARBORIST ARBORTECH CONSULTING LTD. | FIRE NOVOTA ENGINEERING LTD. | WINDOW MAINTENANCE INFRASTRUCTURE NTEC INDUSTRIES LTD. | AREA 47,160 M2 | BUDGET $750 M | COMPLETION SEPTEMBER 2015

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6 TELUS GARDEN - TELUS OFFICE FIT-OUT

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ARCHITECT OFFICE OF MCFARLANE BIGGAR ARCHITECTS + DESIGNERS INC. (PROJECT COMMENCED

AS PREDECESSOR FIRM MCFARLANE GREEN BIGGAR ARCHITECTURE + DESIGN INC.) | CLIENT TELUS | ARCHITECT TEAM MICHELLE BIGGAR, STEVE MCFARLANE, TRACEY MACTAVISH, HOZUMI NAKAI, STEPHANIE DA SILVA, JOSHUA LUNN, CARLA SMITH, GERRY REIBLING, NICHOLAS STANDEVEN, ADAM JENNINGS, ANNABELLA ALFONZO | STRUCTURAL REID JONES CHRISTOFFERSEN LTD. | MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL INTEGRAL GROUP | LANDSCAPE PHILLIPS FAREVAGG SMALLENBERG | CONTRACTOR TURNER CONSTRUCTION | CODE LMDG BUILDING CODE CONSULTANTS LTD. | ACOUSTIC MICHAEL NOBLE, TIBERIU SPULBER | AREA 14,500 M2 | BUDGET $18 M | COMPLETION SEPTEMBER 2015

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GROUND FLOOR 1 RETAIL ENTRY ELEVATOR 2 WATER FEATURE 3 PLAZA 4 OFFICE LOBBY 5 KOI POND

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6 RETAIL 7 LOADING 8 PARKING ENTRANCE 9 RESTAURANT

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HEALTHY BUILDING SYNDROME TEXT

Kaitlyn Gillis and Dak Kopec

ARCHITECTS CAN BE BETTER EQUIPPED TO DESIGN HEALTHY ENVIRONMENTS WITH THE HELP OF EMERGING TOOLS, SUCH AS THE WELL BUILDING STANDARD AND RESEARCH FROM ENVIRONMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY. Canadians spend over 90 percent of their time indoors—either in buildings or in transit between them. While that’s been acknowledged by the design sector for some time, the health impact of spending so much time indoors has been relatively neglected. An emerging design trend is taking a hard look at how the built environment informs the health and wellbeing of building occupants. As a large and culturally diverse country with an emphasis on social justice, Canada has the potential to become a global leader in this health and wellbeing movement.

International Agencies Numerous colleges and universities, including the University of Victoria, are developing graduate level programs that specif ically focus on human health as part of the design process. Coinciding with these educational programs is the establishment of the WELL building standard in 2014. The WELL building standard follows USGBC designations and credentialing processes established for sustainability, but a different organization, the International WELL Building Institute, administers it. Designers can seek the WELL Accredited Profes-

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ABOVE Natural light and views are optimized within CBRE Group’s offices in Vancouver, which were designed by Perkins+Will to adhere to the WELL building standard.

sional credential ( WELL AP), and buildings can achieve various levels of certif ication—from Silver to Platinum.

The certification criteria focus on human biology and psychology, and the effect of the built environment in facilitating healthy experiences.

The standard is presented through seven categories: air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort and mind. Points are assigned for over a hundred features that can have a positive impact on 11 bodily networks, from the endocrine to the muscular system. For example, achieving the requirements of effective ventilation design would benefit the cardiovascular, nervous and respiratory systems.

The WELL standard is premised on the World Health Organization’s definition of health as the optimal physical, psychological and sociological state of an individual—and not simply as the absence of disease or infirmity. This comprehensive definition has been around since 1948, but our practical conceptualization of health often remains centered on illness and injury. In every moment of life, humans are in an environment, whether it is natural or built. At all of these moments, there’s an opportunity to positively impact people’s health through design.

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INSITES

Teknion’s Toronto showroom, designed by San Francisco-based Vanderbyl Design and registered for WELL certification, includes a range of formal and informal work areas. Lounge-like settings with harbour views present an inviting alternative to traditional workplaces.

ABOVE

Environmental Psychology Just as LEED is a starting point for thinking about environmentally progressive buildings, WELL is a first tool towards a more nuanced understanding of how architectural design can inf luence health. Flip through a university course catalogue, and you may see subjects such as Architectural and Design Psychology as sub-specializations within the greater field of Environmental Psychology—one of the key areas underlying WELL design. As an area of applied research, environmental psychology focuses on how individuals are inf luenced by (and in turn inf luence) their environment. Environmental psychologists test strategies to positively affect interactions with the environment, such as increasing connections with nature through biophilic design.

One branch of research focuses on the relationship between neurotransmitters and full spectrum sunlight, as well as the relationship between the hormone melatonin and one’s sleep-wake cycles. The inclusion of extensive glazing in the built environment is a catch-all expectation—most designers will champion as many windows as a budget can afford while meeting performance targets. Environmental psychologists have delved deeper, finding that since natural light facilitates the absorption of melatonin, an environment with natural lighting will help employees remain more alert and avoid drowsiness that often occurs in the late afternoon. Moreover, natural light is essential for preventing Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). On the f lip side, they’ve also found that there are some negatives that can result from too much filtered natural lighting: from “washed out” spaces that cause visual distortions, to optical illusions generated from the juxtaposition of streaming light on shadows. The principle of providing natural light, in other words, should be applied in a manner that accounts for the particularities of context.

For designers looking to delve beyond WELL , environmental psychology research has generated a wealth of practical insights (one resource for accessing these is the InformeDesign portal, informedesign.org). For example, by understanding mood and sleep patterns in relation to artificial light, one can better design bedrooms and hospital rooms that encourage restfulness and restoration. Including nature in built environments has been

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proven to reduce stress and anxiety, decrease levels of aggression, and augment creativity and performance. Much research has revolved around the ideal office environment, striving to identify the right balance between an open office layout that provides daylight and views to the outdoors, and sheltered areas that allow workers to focus without acoustic distractions, or the underlying stress of having one’s back exposed to an open area. Another important tenet of environmental psychology, which comes intuitively to some architects, is the planned development of environments that entice people to engage in positive behaviors—for instance, designing wide, well-lit staircases, or providing active workstation options.

Environmental Psychology and Canada The diversity of Canada’s environments—from its different climate zones to the size of its settlements, to its multicultural communities— gives it the potential to be at the vanguard of healthy design, particularly as it relates to the insights of environmental psychology. Unlike a field such as public health that focuses on universals, environmental psychology emphasizes diversity among populations. While all people on the planet are virtually the same in terms of biology, there are many factors related to topography, climate and social evolution that inf luence and affect behaviour, perceptions and methods of coping. This means that there is much opportunity for architects to specialize within their own region, becoming local authorities in designing for health and wellbeing.

As greater awareness arises on the impact of healthy environments, designers have an important opportunity to include qualified health and wellbeing initiatives in their practices. Those that do so stand to benefit in multiple ways: by broadening their service offerings, distinguishing themselves from their competitors, and producing better, healthier places for their clients.

Kaitlyn Gills is a project manager at the Light House Sustainable Building Centre in Vancouver.

Dak Kopec is Director of the Master of Design Studies in Design for Human Health program at Boston Architectural College.

2016-07-29 10:09 AM

Landscape as Urbanism: A General Theory

By Charles Waldheim. Princeton University Press, 2016.

“In a period of a cult to the individual and the genius, with all due respect to genius, it is not to them that we owe our best cities.” Josep Lluís Sert, 1956.

DAVID SISAM

DAVID SISAM

“The architectural revolution, like all revolutions, begins with enthusiasm and ends in some sort of dictatorship.” Alvar Aalto, on the International Style, RIBA Talk, 1957.

ABOVE, TOP TO BOTTOM A view of the High Line,

by James Corner of Field Operations with Diller Scofidio Renfrew and Piet Oudolf, a leading example of Landscape Urbanism; Olmstead’s Central Park is a large traditional landscape that sits within the grid-planned city—a hybrid where each is made better by the other.

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The 20th century modernist landscape architect Thomas Church once bemoaned his profession’s status in relation to architecture as “parsley around the roast.” Fortunately, in the almost 40 years since Church’s death, much has changed. Concerns regarding resilience in light of climate change, the remediation of brownfield sites and failed industrial cities, the revitalization of waterfronts, and the overall concerns of hydrology, ecology and sustainability have elevated landscape architecture to a new and much more significant role.

Charles Waldheim, a distinguished teacher, writer and theorist at Harvard, has been an advocate and champion of the welcome rebirth of landscape architecture under the moniker of “Landscape Urbanism.” Waldheim’s very thorough and highly researched book Landscape as Urbanism: A General Theory examines the historical, theoretical and cultural conditions that have resulted in an array of impressive projects: including New York’s High Line, Brooklyn Bridge Park, and closer to home, the Toronto Waterfront and the proposed Lower Don Lands project. Waldheim sees all these as exemplars of Landscape Urbanism.

Waldheim’s broader ambition is to position the landscape architect as the urbanist of this age. He states: “Landscape Urbanism presents an implicit critique of architecture and urban design’s inability to offer coherent and convincing accounts of contemporary urban conditions,” and claims that “landscape supplants architecture’s historic role as the basic building block of urban form.”

Fighting words indeed! Waldheim’s prime argument for this transformation is the broad ecological foundation of the landscape discipline (the concluding chapter of the book is entitled “From Landscape to Ecology”.)

What are we to make, then, of his seeming endorsement of Atlanta as a positive example of the North American urban condition?

He quotes Rem Koolhaas’s description: “Atlanta does not have the classical symptoms of the city: it is not dense; it is a sparse, thin carpet of habitation… Atlanta is not a city; it is a landscape.” Atlanta is also an unmitigated ecological and public health disaster.

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In comparison to Barcelona (a city of approximately the same population and level of wealth per person), Atlanta takes up eleven times as much land, and produces six times the transport-related carbon emissions per person.1 Atlanta’s automobile commute distances are the longest in the United States.

Waldheim has a particularly strong antipathy toward New Urbanism. However, he takes on the easy (and deserving) target of its nostalgic sentiment and historicist forms without discussing New Urbanism’s well-crafted charter, or the more regional New Urbanism of Peter Calthorpe on the West Coast. Eerily, Waldheim’s complete dismissal of the traditional urban form of streets and squares brings to mind Le Corbusier’s wholesale condemnation of the street, at La Sarrez in 1928—where as one commentator stated, Corb’s open hand became a closed fist.

The problem is hubris—the suggestion that one “ism” or formula is universally appropriate. The verbal and written exchanges between proponents of New Urbanism and Landscape Urbanism often border on juvenile.

To dispel this false dichotomy, one only has to look to Central Park in New York, where Olmstead’s large landscape sits within the traditional city: a hybrid where each is made better by the other. Traditional urbanists have worked jointly with landscape urbanists to produce outstanding work. The Lower Don Lands and the Toronto Waterfront are examples of such collaboration.

Rather than a territorial battle, the emergence of a more significant role for landscape architects should be seen as a refreshing opportunity for a team-focused, collaborative approach to urbanism.

Too often, architects have treated landscape architecture as exterior decoration, denying it the significant role it deserves. Waldheim’s support of landscape architecture is both timely and welcome. That doesn’t mean that Landscape Urbanism should—any more than New Urbanism—become a formula for universal application.

David Sisam, FRAIC, is a founding principal of Montgomery Sisam Architects.

1

The New Climate Economy. The Global Commission

on the Economy and Climate: The Victoria Transport Policy Institute and LSE Cities, 2015.

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PRODUCT SHOWCASE

CANADIAN CENTRE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Canam-Buildings: Better Building Solutions

The Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) has become a major international point of confluence for architectural and design thinking, research, publication, debate and innovation. Under the direction of Mirko Zardini, recent work includes Archaeology of the Digital, an investigation into the use of computers and toward the CCA’s objective to create an international collection of digital architecture.

Canam-Buildings is an industryleading fabricator of steel joists, girders and steel deck. It also designs, manufactures and installs the Reveal Series decking system, Murox prefabricated building system, and Hambro composite floor systems.

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© Photos : Stéphane Groleau

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Arriscraft introduces Thin Adair® Limestone. This dynamic, thin product features three face rises in variable lengths and a blend of sepia and bluegrey colors. A combination of naturally occurring patterns augments the unique beauty of this natural stone product.

Thin Adair® Limestone installs like tile, in a dry mount style - horizontally or vertically. Adair® is a natural limestone quarried in Ontario, Canada. www.arriscraft.com 1-800-265-8123

2016-07-29 10:09 AM

Architecture + Wine

Nicholson and Macbeth

Winnipeg Design Festival

August 14, 2016 Organized by BEAT, this coach

To August 27, 2016

September 14-17, 2016

bus tour to the Niagara region pairs cheese and wine tastings with site visits to wineries designed by superkül, KPMB, Diamond Schmitt Architects and more. Several project architects will be in attendance. www.beatoronto.com

Doors Open: Aurora August 20, 2016

This event invites individuals to explore the hidden treasures of the historical town of Aurora, located on the rolling hills of the Oak Ridges Moraine in Ontario.

Presented by the Niagara Society of Architects, this display at Willowbank showcases work by two prominent local architects. www.willowbank.ca

This annual festival includes films, lectures, installations, tours and other events celebrating contemporary design, fashion and art in The Peg. www.winnipegdesignfestival.net

Health Sciences Centre Architectural Tour August 31, 2016

This walking tour, led by researcher and writer Christian Cassidy, explores the history and architecture of the Health Sciences Centre and Bannatyne Campus at the University of Manitoba. www.winnipegarchitecture.ca

Archaeology of the Digital: Complexity and Convention To October 16, 2016

The third installment in the CCA’s series on the use of digital tools in architecture, this exhibition examines 15 seminal projects from the 1990s and 2000s.

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www.cca.qc.ca

17th International Garden Festival To October 1, 2016

Twenty-six interactive garden installations, including several new pieces by Canadian designers, are on view at the 17th edition of the International Garden Festival in Grand-Métis, Quebec. www.refordgardens.com

Theaster Gates: How to Build a House Museum To October 30, 2016

The Art Gallery of Ontario hosts this exhibit on Chicago artist Theaster Gates and his investigation into the transformative potential of a house museum. www.ago.net

www.doorsopenontario.on.ca

2016 AFBC Golf Tournament

Vancouver and Victoria Architectural Walking Tours

The Anatomy of the Architectural Book

Álvaro Siza: Gateway to the Alhambra

August 22, 2016

To August 31, 2016

To October 3, 2016 This CCA exhibition examines

To January 8, 2017

www.cca.qc.ca

www.agakhanmuseum.org

Hosted by the Architecture Foundation of British Columbia, this Vancouver golf tournament welcomes architects, engineers and clients to socialize, network and compete on the green. www.architecturefoundationbc.ca

Organized by the Architectural Institute of British Columbia, this series of walking tours covers areas including Gastown, Yaletown, Strathcona, the West End and Fort Victoria. www.aibc.ca/tours

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the relationship between book and building cultures, making visible the axes along which architectural knowledge circulates through books, into buildings, and back.

This exhibition features models, sketches, architectural objects and videos that reveal Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza’s design process for a new entrance and visitor centre for the Alhambra.

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BACKPAGE

THE EVIDENCE ROOM TEXT

Elly Gotz Francesco Galli, courtesy La Biennale di Venezia

PHOTO

AN EXHIBITION BY CANADIAN RESEARCHERS TESTIFIES TO THE GREATEST CRIME COMMITTED BY ARCHITECTS. February 23, 2016 Today I touched the gas column—a reproduction of the device that inserted Zyklon B into the gas chambers at Auschwitz.

As a Holocaust survivor I felt the cold hand of history on my spine. I knew a good deal about the Auschwitz-Birkenau murder factory, but the gas column really shocked me. Because of what I had read about people thinking they were going into a shower room, I had always imagined the gas being dispersed by sprinklers. Touching that construction had a profound effect on me— a new visceral recognition, all these years later.

The gas column was in the workshop at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture where a team of professors and students were preparing a remarkable exhibition that has since made its way to the Venice Architecture Biennale, which opened in May. The exhibition creates a visual and tactile impression of the forensic architectural evidence presented by expert defense witness Professor Robert Jan van Pelt at the 2000 trial in London for Holocaust denier David Irving’s suit against historian Deborah Lipstadt and her publisher for libel. The truth of the Holocaust became the issue in contention.

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A major element of the display is a reconstruction of the steel mesh gas column through which Zyklon B gas pellets were lowered into the gas chamber. The display also includes reproductions in plastercast relief of original architectural drawings for the construction of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the door of the gas chamber with a tight seal around the edge and a hinged lid covering the exterior peephole, and other artifacts.

The whole exhibition is in white, the only thing to separate our present reality from the monstrous artifacts at hand, perhaps to permit us to remain unsoiled by the black reality of the evil it represents.

For me, a survivor of Dachau, the most compelling feature of the exhibition is its tactile character. By removing colour, sound and interpretation from The Evidence Room, we are forced to rely on touch to elicit its meaning.

Most people are by now aware of the Holocaust. It is possible to know things, to be aware of them, but not feel them.

This exhibition lets people touch the metal of the gas column, run their fingers over the drawings, and connect in that mysterious way that sometimes happens when reality overwhelms us by becoming part of us.

ABOVE Reproductions of a gas-tight hatch, a door with a protected peephole, and a column for lowering gas pellets present architectural evidence for the killing chambers at Auschwitz.

It is difficult to imagine the details of a gas chamber, where humans were locked in to die.

One has to feel the double grates that protected the bucket filled with poison pellets from the desperate hands of the condemned, peer into the bucket, and imagine the pellets melting away, the poison oozing out of them. Only then can real awareness arise in the soul and place the viewer inside the gas chamber.

The simplicity of this killing machine is obscene. I imagine the original designers, engineers and architects congratulating themselves on such a cheap and cunning solution.

Today’s visit is still reverberating with me.

I’m still processing what I saw and felt.

Holocaust survivor Elly Gotz was born in 1928 in Kovno, Lithuania.

The Evidence Room is on display as part of the 15th International Architecture Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia until November 27, 2016. A version of the exhibition is also presented at the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal until September 11, 2016.

This text is an excerpt from a companion book published

by New Jewish Press.

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5th INTERNATIONAL LAFARGEHOLCIM AWARDS FOR SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION

Total Prizes of $2 Million We are committed to sustainable construction and projects that support PROGRESS - PEOPLE PLANET - PROSPERITY - PLACE. LafargeHolcim Awards Silver 2014 – $50,000 USD. Lieu de vie on the new Paris-Saclay university campus hosts a mix of activities including indoor and outdoor sports facilities, food outlets and various public spaces across more than 4,000 sq m of floor area. Using rough materials, robust and long lasting techniques, the “urban shelf” is organized vertically with its different activities superimposed on one another, using the roof as a panoramic playground for football and basketball games. Paris, France

LafargeHolcim Awards Gold prize – $100,000 USD. The central flower and vegetable garden at Benny Farm was always the neighborhood focus of social interaction. At the core of the design is the establishment of participatory models and investment in sustainable construction, centered on common energy, water & waste management. Montreal, Canada

Enter your project in one of these categories: l Architecture, building and civil engineering l Landscape, urban design and infrastructure l Materials, products and construction technologies Professional and Next Generation awards.

LafargeHolcim Acknowledgment Prize – $7,500 USD. The sustainable library and classroom building demonstrates environmental responsibility and stewardship for the student body and the community. Such forces are put to work in an ingenious way by the warped concrete roof that is shaped so as to increase the velocity of air currents, thus eliminating the need for mechanical ventilation. Vancouver, Canada

LafargeHolcim Acknowledgment Prize – $25,000 USD. Heritage Reframed: University building renovation and extension.

The complete DFALD restores the architecture, landscape and urban design within the round of Spadina Crescent. The site’s hydrology is evident in the roof profile, shaped to guide water into pools, bio-swales and ultimately to cisterns for irrigation. Toronto, Canada

For more information: application.lafargeholcim-awards.org

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