12 minute read
BRIGITTE SHIM
Point William Project THE EXPERIENCE
By Rose Marie Bresolin
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As part of my research, I began with a visit to The Corkin Gallery in Toronto’s Distillery District. Touring a space that brought the outside in, while still protecting visitors from the elements, I began to get a feel of a space that Brigitte Shim shaped. And after watching several videos on social media, I was left thinking that this was an amazing and humble individual that I would soon be meeting. In a clip from an engagement as keynote speaker, Brigitte was introduced by a former student whose generous recounting of his experience with her stand outs. More remarkable is that on reaching the podium, Brigitte didn’t give the usual thanks and break quickly into speaking of herself, to an audience who had come for exactly that. Instead, she began to share her experience of having mentored that very student. It made me fling off my editor’s hat, and I found myself uttering out loud, “I like this person!” As a teacher, I recognize that this is the stuff that makes a difference in the shaping of the future.
Point William is one of three slender peninsulas jutting into Lake Muskoka, located on the Canadian Shield with a rich geographic and cultural history. The masterful work at Point William intertwining landscape and the building of Point William is documented in the publication of a wonderful book by Kenneth Frampton and Michael Webb. Its construction has been a multi-decade tale of innovation and obstacles. The Architecture of Point William: Shim Sutcliffe, features striking illustrations and photography by some big names like Edward Burtynsky. With detailed write-ups that include the masterly crafted article by writer Ben Dreith and stunning photos by Scott Norsworthy of Nuvo magazine 2018 edition, Spencer turns its spotlight on the brilliant creative minds behind the 21-year project.
A project that was begun in 1997 and completed in 2018, the Point William home stands as a tribute to critical regionalism. Built on granite, a part of this large granite mass rises untampered from the ground between the site’s home and cottage that afford spectacular views of the water and a generous streaming of light. The compound is a testament to underscore that the needs of man and nature need not be seen in opposition to one another. Above, Left: Rose Marie Bresolin with Architect Brigitte Shim
For the Interview, Brigitte Shim and I met at the Toronto Convention Centre in a media room with a view of the bustle of the Toronto Interior Design Show 2022.
Rose Marie Bresolin: Let’s start from behind the scenes for the Point William Peninsula Project. Did the owners seek you out at the onset or were you part of a selection process?
Brigitte Shim: They came to us. So, they asked us to visit the site before they purchased it, and we told them that they should buy it. Actually, most of these properties stay in families for generations, and are seldom offered for sale. There are only small windows of when they are available, and if you don’t go for it, the window closes.
It’s apparent that your guidance was important to them even before they bought the property. Would I be correct to think that in launching the journey for the build with them you also began to build a relationship?
For sure.
What was the first major obstacle that set the project date back, because we’re looking at something that took a long time.
It did. We actually had to get to know what they really needed, and we had to do a master plan in order to request a rezoning for the whole property. The owners then presented it to the local municipality to get their approval before starting. The rezoning was completed in 1997, which was quite a while ago. But without doing that they would not have been able to build all the various buildings that we built over time.
We then told the owners that they should start with the smallest project, which was the boathouse. There was a boathouse there, but it was a one-boat garage, very small and had no sleeping accommodation. With these lakes, Muskoska, Rosseau, and Lake Joseph, there’s a long tradition of these incredible boathouses, and they’ve been around for several hundred years. So instead of starting with the largest project, we began with the smallest. But the boathouse is actually so much a part of the cultural heritage of this entire section of Ontario. We built it in 2004, and over time we constructed all of the other buildings.
I would say that when we first started, they didn’t know if they would like living there or not, but they came to really love it, and it became a family centre for them. So as we built the one, they loved it. Then we built the second, the third and the fourth. It’s really kind of a process where they not only got to know the place Muskoka, but they came to love their property and spent a lot of time there, so It was kind of an evolution. As we said, by building the first; a) because it was not a very nice boathouse, and b) you’re adding value to the property, it was a great way for them to spend time right on the water.
Do the owners have children?
Yup, and that puts them in a good position to start a new tradition for their family.
You mentioned that in the evolution, they came to love their home and the land it sits on. I’m thinking you must have done the same.
Oh yeah. We learned a lot, and it’s such a very special place. Being on the Canadian Shield is very special. It’s a unique landscape; to the whole world it’s a special place.
Wow, how lucky they are and how lucky am I to be listening to the experience.
Between when you completed the boathouse and moved on to the guest cottage, did the owners have second thoughts, like, ‘maybe we should stop now?’
Well we did the boathouse first, and then we didn’t do the cottage until 10 years later. There was time for them to adapt. It was kind of a 1907 building, and because it was a vernacular building, we had to keep to the same footprint and the same silhouette. The cottage that was there was a turn of the century cottage and was falling apart. But to receive permission to retain it on the same sight we had to follow certain rules. And that’s what we did. So, that became the guest cottage, and they moved into that when Photo Credit: Shim-Sutcliffe we demolished the main cottage. They got to stay there while the next building was under construction.
Photo Credit: Scott Norsworthy
The owners are from Toronto. Living on a peninsula would have been quite an adjustment for them?
Well, they still have a house in the city, so this was never their permanent residence.
Did the relationship between yourselves and the owners morph into a lasting one?
For sure, a very special one.
Looking back now, what were some of the highlights?
I just think an ongoing conversation over a time period is really amazing, right? Really positive.
Humour?
Oh Yeah. I think that they just love being there and while they take the project seriously, they’re not overly serious about themselves, so they’re a pleasure to be with.
Howard Sutcliffe, the other brilliant mind behind your several undertakings, your husband and partner. You’ve been together since your days in university. Working on projects of this magnitude must get pretty intense at times, yes?
Oh for sure. We work out of a small studio here in Toronto on Queen Street East that is very small, and we work on every project together. It’s not like my project, your project. We work collaboratively, so sharing space has never been a real issue.
I would imagine that you would have had to ‘re-imagine’ the Point William House Project a number of times, given the 21 years that it took to accomplish the project. (they both laugh.) And given the constraints.
I actually think that constraints are always good, because they force a certain creativity, and you just have to work with them. I believe that’s a positive thing.
Have any of your other projects lasted nearly as long, or been nearly as challenging?
Yup – Our very first project was for Barbara Frum. We actually worked with Barbara and her partner-husband Murray and Murray’s second wife, Nancy Lockhart, on a property for 30 years.
Given the number of educational institutions you’re aligned with, it’s clear that teaching is very important to you. Can you elaborate?
Educating the next generation of architects is essential to the fostering of design excellence in Canada and helping to guide the future of our world. I see teaching as a form of design advocacy; part of permeating, contributing and being deeply invested in what really matters. The Daniels Faculty at the University of Toronto for example, fosters an environment of tremendous reciprocity.
Your advice for architectural students before they enter their professional life.
I believe the perceived boundaries between the disciplines of architecture, landscape and urban design, visual art and forestry are artificial. Given the importance of linking site, design and place-making, as teachers we can provide students with the advantageous opportunity to discover each discipline and the very interesting territories in between.
You’re a keynote speaker here at IDS2022 on the occasion of its real-time revival since 2020. You must feel happy to go live again; to find yourself immersed in the energy of the countless eager designers from around the world. Not to mention the vibrant energy of a welcoming Toronto public! Can you share a little about your presentation?
Yes; it’s really great to be here, seeing my colleagues again and interacting with the public. So, in the talk, I tried to share more about what we do. Architecture of course, but we also do furniture and hardware. I tried to share a little of that, and I also tried to share that there were some early furniture pieces. We worked with a company called Virtu, owned by Esther Shipman that’s been around for a long time. So as young architects, we designed a lot of furniture. Some of them for Barbara and some for other people. But they were largely experiments in materiality, how things go together, and for us there was an important learning curve and a knowledge base for how to put things together.
And in closing, back to the little girl Brigitte. Take us from there to becoming an architect. What motivation do you recall, and were there players to encourage you along the way?
Photo Credit: Scott Norsworthy
That’s complicated really. I was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and my parents moved to Toronto when I was in grade one. I never knew any architects and we didn’t have any in the family. It was just something I was interested in. I went to the University of Waterloo where I met Howard, and it was more like, ‘I’ll just stay until I don’t like it.’ It was just interesting to have a leap of faith to take the journey. Sometimes, if you know someone it really helps, but it wasn’t something I experienced.
Yeah but you did it! And there’s a message in that. Sometimes there just isn’t that hand. From an architect working for a company to an entrepreneur working out of your own studio. You and Howard went into business for yourselves. That was another leap! Tell us something about that experience.
Yeah, so we worked in a lot of offices. I worked for Arthur Erickson and Baird Sampson in Toronto. My husband worked for Ron Thom Architect and then Barton Myers. We also worked at Bloomberg, so we had a lot of experience. We kind of decided we didn’t want to work for a large firm, and we wanted to do our own work. For us, bigger was not better. It was about us wanting to control the work and doing things that were really meaningful. And so we just decided to work on our own.
Meaningful and lasting! You inspire others. What, who keeps you inspired?
I feel like I’ve been pretty lucky to meet some amazing women, like Barbara Frum for inspiration. Phyllis Lambert who founded the Canadian Center for Architecture is another source of inspiration. I think that there have been some remarkable and compassionate women who have been really important role models for me.
As Brigitte set off to catch a colleague’s speech, I was left feeling how remarkably fortunate our up-and-coming architects are in having Brigitte as a guiding force. And next I realized I hadn’t asked the whereabouts of the font of energy she drinks from….
Awards and Recognition
The Order of Canada year – 2013, Ottawa 16 Governor General Awards Non-profit projects for housing in Toronto Constructing a Dining Hall at a campsite about 3 hours out of Toronto that’s operated by Mooreland Community Services in Toronto. The summer camp built in the wilderness supports young people who are at risk and has been in existence since 1907 Professor at the University of Toronto Visiting professor at Yale, Harvard and Calgary Universities The Aga Khan Award for Architecture – Brigitte has served on their master jury and their steering committee many times The American Institute of Architects National Honour Award- the highest honour awarded architects was received by Brigitte and Howard in 2012 Canadian Architect RAIC Gold Medal 2021 – The publication is a special issue of Canadian Architect that is a celebration of Shim-Sutcliffe’s masterful transformation of Point William through architecture, landscape, furniture and fittings over two decades.
