Another year has come and gone and we’re rounding up the top 10 most read news posts of the year.

From the many updates on the beloved Ontario Science Centre and Ontario Place to a review of the Well in Toronto, here are the top most-visited news posts of 2024 in order.

10. Amid 865 trees coming down, Province releases 95-year lease with Therme

The highly contested redevelopment of Ontario Place, a waterfront property in downtown Toronto, came to a head this fall with the abrupt demolition of the trees and structures in a large part of the property. The work—which included the removal of every single tree on the western portion of the waterfront site—is part of the approximately $200-million in work that taxpayers are funding to prepare the land for Therme, an Austrian spa company, to develop a stadium-sized indoor waterpark on the site.

9. The Well, Toronto, Ontario: Review by John Lorinc

The Well, a much anticipated and heavily publicized collaboration between RioCan and Allied Properties REIT, opened in Toronto this year. Several design firms were involved in the project, including Hariri Pontarini Architects, Urban Strategies, CCxA, BDP, architects—Alliance, Wallman Architects, and Adamson Associates. Journalist John Lorinc reviewed the complex, and explains its significance for Toronto urbanism.

8. Cost of Ontario Science Centre temporary location exceeds cost of roof repairs

On June 24, 2024, Infrastructure Ontario put out an RFP for a commercial/retail space to house a temporary Science Centre until its planned new facility at Ontario Place is complete. Canadian Architect editor Elsa Lam noted that the temporary location, which would not be open until 2026, would put the Science Centre in a location that was significantly smaller—and likely much more remote—than its current site. She also analyzes how the cost of the temporary location would exceed the cost of making necessary repairs to the existing Moriyama-design Science Centre.

7. Ontario Place project at risk as Canada ignores engagement requirements with Indigenous Peoples

A release issued by the Haudenosaunee Development Institute (HDI) stated that it believes that the Federal government has failed to meet Indigenous engagement obligations for the Ontario Place project on Toronto’s waterfront. The release noted that if the Government of Canada fails to fulfill its responsibility to engage and collaborate with Indigenous Peoples, the multi-billion-dollar Ontario Place development project could face significant delays.

6. Ontario Science Centre doesn’t require full closure: A close reading of the engineers’ report

Just after the Ontario Science Centre was abruptly closed, Canadian Architect editor Elsa Lam released a deep dive into Rimkus engineers’ roof report, which was used to justify the closure. Her analysis suggests that the building’s key exhibition areas could continue to operate safely—even if the Ontario government choose not to invest in any structural roof repairs by the fall.

5. McGill University researchers say modern temperature control and ventilation design could be transformed with historic technique

Researchers from McGill University say that by revamping a forgotten heat recovery technique used in the design of Montreal’s Royal Victoria Hospital, modern temperature control and ventilation design could be transformed.

4. TSA issues open letter on Ontario Science Centre closure

On June 21, 2024, the provincial government announced that the Ontario Science Centre’s landmark 1969 building, by Japanese-Canadian architect Raymond Moriyama, would be closed immediately, for an indefinite period of time. Organizations including Canadian Architect, ACO, and the TSA rallied quickly to voice their opposition to the closure.

3. The true cost of repairing the Ontario Science Centre is much, much less than what Infrastructure Ontario has been saying—and the proof is in its own documents

Two figures have been cited by the Ontario Government: $478 million and $369 million. The actual number is much less—around $200 million, or just $24 million for tackling priority repairs to keep the museum open for several years to come, writes Elsa Lam.

2. As Province edges towards demolition of Science Centre, documents point to a manufactured crisis

The documents issued by the government on July 11 point to known issues and minor problems that can be easily resolved, providing further evidence of a manufactured crisis surrounding the closure.

1. Provincial government agrees to pause demolition at Ontario Place

On July 10, 2024, the Ontario government agreed to halt demolition pending the results of Ontario Place Protectors (OPP)’s challenge to the Rebuilding Ontario Place Act on July 19. Unfortunately, after the group’s challenge was unsuccessful, demolition continued. OPP has appealed the ruling.

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NDP Ontario leader Marit Stiles has filed a complaint with the Ontario Integrity Commissioner about the process in which Austrian spa company Therme was chosen to redevelop Ontario Place.

In her affidavit to the Integrity Commissioner, Stiles questions the call-for-development of Ontario Place, the evaluation process, and the lease agreement with Therme. Stiles claims that Infrastructure Minister Kinga Surma has shown “preferential treatment” to Therme during the Ford government’s process of partnering with private companies to redevelop Ontario Place. As a result, Stiles is asking for an investigation to indentify whether the infrastructure minister broke ethics laws by choosing Therme as the main proponent for the redevelopment of Ontario Place.

Along with the letter, the complaint also includes a nine page-long affidavit, and over 1,000 pages of documentary evidence. The documents reveal that the province is required to provide Therme with 1,600 parking spaces in a planned garage that will have over 2,000 spaces—even though the call for development was explicit in only offering existing parking to applicants. “This evidence suggests that Therme received preferential treatment, and its private interests were improperly furthered, as a result of decisions for which Minister Kinga Surma is ultimately responsible,” reads the letter.

The complaint also cites evidence reported in Canadian Architect that the Provincial government unnecessarily closed the Ontario Science Centre, based on a deliberate misinterpretation of engineering reports about the roof condition.

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Aurora Town Square, which recently opened on September 21, 2024, is a community facility and outdoor square located in the heart of downtown Aurora by RAW Design.

Aurora Town Square is the Town’s largest capital project and is a key component of its downtown revitalization. The Square was designed with an inclusive and sustainable focus that was deeply rooted in Aurora’s rich history.

The Town Square offers a variety of amenities aimed at enhancing community life and bringing more opportunities for culture and heritage to the Town. The 29,000 square-foot outdoor community space includes a skating loop with an overhead catenary lighting system for the winter. During warmer months, an interactive water feature and Amphitheatre will aim to be the hub for community gatherings, events, and performances.

While this smaller municipality is known for its recreation facilities, it is trying to foster an arts and culture ecosystem and provide community members with access to world-class arts and culture outside of Toronto.

A 32,000 square-foot addition to the Church Street School creates a new Cultural Centre and Museum for the town. The renewed facility includes a flexible Performance Hall that seats up to 250 guests, along with several multi-purpose arts programming spaces. The Aurora Museum & Archives  is housed within a permanent, environmentally controlled, artifact collection space.

The year-round connectivity provided by the Treasure Hill Bridge aims to ensure that visitors have access to the Aurora Public Library and the new Museum and Cultural Centre at any time.

Aurora Town Square’s partners include the Aurora Cultural Centre, Aurora Museum & Archives, and Aurora Public Library. These partners operate independently yet collaboratively, enhancing the opportunities for arts and culture in Aurora.

The opening event marked the beginning of several weeks of Grand Opening celebrations, featuring live performances, interactive workshops, activities, programs, and exhibits, that will continue until October 13, 2024.

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The Architectural Conservancy of Ontario (ACO) has announced the return of their annual Symposium this September.

Each year, the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario’s Toronto Branch hosts a symposium that aims to explore current heritage ideas. This year’s symposium will examine the phenomenon of Intangible Heritage—or heritage that is distinct from built form.

In the past, themes have included Housing and Heritage, Main Streets, Modernist Schools, and Demolition.

This year’s event is set to take place on September 29, 2024, and will be hosted at the Cecil Community Centre in Toronto, Ont.

“Intangible Heritage can relate to traditions, activities, commerce, communities, identities, and storytelling. There’s a sense in which all heritage has intangible elements,” reads the event page. “While it certainly has relationships with physical spaces, what makes Intangible Heritage different from built heritage is that its significance lies outside traditional evaluations of architectural merit. It is use, not aesthetics, that defines Intangible Heritage.”

The first panel will feature speakers including Lisa Prosper, Cultural Landscapes and Indigenous Heritage, Dane Williams, Black Urbanism, and Chiyi Tam, Chinatowns. The second panel will feature Sneha Mandhan, Suburban Banquet Halls, Nicholas Jennings, Music Venues, and Michael McClelland, The Church-Wellesley Village.

For 91 years, the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario has protected, documented, and conserved culturally and historically significant sites throughout the province and created educational programming that makes that heritage more accessible.

For more information and to purchase tickets, click here.

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A fundraiser has been started in an effort to save the original Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre (JCCC) located at 123 Wynford Drive in Toronto.

The building, designed by the late Raymond Moriyama, holds deep cultural, historical and architectural significance, and is currently at risk of being almost entirely demolished to make way for condo towers.

“Less than 20 years after Japanese Canadians were unjustly incarcerated during the Second World War, the Japanese Canadian community built the JCCC as a living monument to celebrate their ancestry, regain a sense of self-respect and promote friendship with all Canadians through culture,” reads the GoFundMe page. “Due to a funding shortfall at that time, 75 community members stepped forward and put second mortgages on their homes and businesses to finance the building.”

According to the fundraiser page, the Toronto NAJC has opposed this development and received significant pro bono legal support for over a year.

It noted, however, that to continue contesting the developer’s plan for 123 Wynford Drive at the Ontario Land Tribunal hearing in August, funds must be raised.

The page also noted that the surrounding neighbourhood already has 10,000 homes in the approval pipeline and is in desperate need of a community hub.

“As this Toronto neighbourhood continues to grow, it’s important for residents to have spaces to gather,” reads the page. “The building holds significance not only for the Japanese Canadian community but for all Canadians. It stands as a testament to the roots of multiculturalism and a memorial to the history of Japanese Canadians. This landmark reflects the spirit of friendship that is embodied in the inclusive values that define our nation.”

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Alison Brooks Architects has announced that the University of Toronto has selected their practice, in collaboration with Executive Architects Adamson Associates, to revitalize the Claude T. Bissell Building for the Faculty of Information, a world-leading center of excellence for research and education in information studies.

The building, which was completed in 1973, is 7,000 square metres in size and one of three heritage buildings that form the John P. Robarts Research Library complex.

This landmark project will support the Faculty’s growth and overall mission to leverage technology for human good as well as to make knowledge, information platforms, and systems equitable and accessible to all.

The commission includes a comprehensive reimagining of the Bissell Building’s social, teaching, and research spaces to modernize the identity of the Faculty of Information and create a new front door to the St. George Campus.

Research and design labs, classrooms, and makerspaces—all of which will be newly accessible, inclusive spaces—will support the Faculty’s combined model of experiential, experimental, and empirical learning.

“This revitalisation project represents a historic opportunity to work with a brilliant client to transform one of the University’s most memorable Brutalist icons into a place that fosters open collaboration, active learning and impactful research,” said Alison Brooks, founder of Alison Brooks Architects and creative director.

“We’re inspired by the Bissell Building’s considerable artistic legacy which we will enhance and honour with our work. We look forward to collaborating with the University, the Faculty and our wider consultant team to sensitively transform this significant piece of Toronto’s built history, to support the University’s Climate Positive Campus Plan and secure its architectural legacy for future generations.”

Javed Mostafa, Dean of the Faculty of Information, University of Toronto said, “As a fan of Brutalist architecture—be it the Bissell Building, where I now work, or the National Parliament Building in Bangladesh, the country where I was born—I am thrilled to have Alison Brooks in charge of this renovation. Under their architectural stewardship, I expect the new Bissell Building to emerge an even more welcoming human and social space that will foster engagement and create further connections to the city and our communities.”

Full Project team:

Alison Brooks Architects – Design Architect

Adamson Associates – Executive Architect

ARUP – Sustainability, Electrical, Mechanical, Structural, Envelope, Civils, Transport, Wind, Fire Protection

David T. Fortin Architect – Indigenous Architect

ERA Architect – Heritage Architect

The Planning Partnership – Landscape Architect

A.W. Hooker – Cost Consultant

HGC Engineering- Acoustics

ENTRO Communications – Wayfinding

Soberman Engineering – Vertical transportation

LMDG Consultants – Code & Accessibility

Upper Canada – Hardware

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The Toronto Society of Architects (TSA) has announced the return of their three popular in-person programs—as well as the addition of a new family program—as part of this year’s Doors Open Toronto.

Doors Open Toronto is an annual event organized by the City of Toronto in partnership with the wider community, and provides rare public access for one weekend to architecturally and culturally significant buildings across the city.

The free weekend-long celebration of architecture and public space will take place on Saturday, May 25, and Sunday, May 26, 2024. This edition of the event will feature over 150 sites for exploration, walking tours, and more.

As part of Doors Open weekend, the TSA has also organized two special programs which reflect this year’s theme, “Hidden Histories” and will include a public panel discussion on the layered process of city building at Evergreen Brick Works and two different one-hour walking tours: Stories of St. Lawrence and Stories of the Church and Wellesley Village.

This year, Open Studio, an initiative providing behind-the-scenes access to architecture studios across the city, will also be making a comeback. This year’s edition includes the participation of 14 studios in 11 different locations, as well as a number of related sites including the Ontario Association of Architects Headquarters, and the schools of architecture at the University of Toronto and Toronto Metropolitan University.

The studios include Taylor Hazell Architects, Project Studio Architects, Dubbeldam Architecture + Design, the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design, University of Toronto, DTAH, Three Architecture Practices at 18 Gloucester Lane, Department of Architectural Sciences, Toronto Metropolitan University, HOK, Guido Costantino Projects Inc., RAW Design Inc., SvN Architects + Planners, Hariri Pontarini Architects, Q4 Architects Inc., and OAA.

New this year is TSA Paper City, a family-friendly activity happening at the Ontario Association of Architects Headquarters that invites kids and their families to build structures and add them to a large community art piece; a paper metropolis.

For more information about Doors Open Toronto, click here.

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It is with sadness that we announce the death on February 25, 2024, of our colleague Emeritus Professor Radoslav Zuk, B.Arch. ’56 (McGill), M.Arch. ’60 (MIT), D.Sc. ’92 Hon (Ukrainian Academy of Art). Ukrainian born, Radoslav completed high school and music studies in Austria before starting in architecture at McGill. Following internships and graduate study at MIT, he taught at the University of Manitoba and then returned to McGill as an Assistant Professor in 1966. Although he retired officially in 2003, he continued to teach until 2020, ending a career at McGill that spanned 54 years.

Radoslav was an outstanding teacher—imaginative, passionate, and active across the curriculum. His courses were legendary, especially his ‘9-systems’ design studio, his seminar on architectural theory, and his Summer Course Abroad in Venice. The Faculty recognized his students’ appreciation of his teaching with the Ida and Samuel Fromson Award for Outstanding Teaching in 2001, and with the creation of the Radoslav Zuk Travel Award in Architecture in 2016.

He was also one of those rare academics who managed to preserve an association with practice that was not only active but celebrated. His work was intelligent and beautiful. Churches that he designed for the Ukrainian Catholic Church drew international acclaim and have been recognized with numerous prizes, including the Governor General’s Medal in Architecture in 1986 (shared with Hugh McMillan Architects Ltd) for St. Stephen’s Byzantine Ukrainian Catholic Church in Calgary. 

Radoslav was as well known for his buildings as he was for his ideas about the theoretical foundations on which they were designed. His teaching, professional work, and background in classical music shaped his research. Theory and practice, design methodology, geometry, architecture and music, and the cultural determinants of architectural form comprised the broad spectrum of his research interests. His writings and his buildings were widely published and regularly presented at conferences in Canada, the US, and throughout Europe. 

Radoslav’s generosity and intellectual versatility were also highly valued by the wider university community. His many administrative contributions included, in addition to continuing responsibility for curriculum development and scholarships in Architecture and Engineering, participation in university task forces on the creative and performing arts and on the music libraries. 

The list of his academic and professional honours reflects the sparkling diversity of his interests and achievements: the D.Sc. (Hon) from the Ukrainian Academy of Art, and Fellowship in the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, the Society for the Arts, Religion and Contemporary Culture, the Royal Society of Arts, the Ukrainian Academy of Architecture, and the International Institute for Advanced Studies in Systems Research and Cybernetics.

We will remember Radoslav Zuk as an inspiring teacher, an accomplished scholar, a brilliant architect, and as a gentle and cultured man who changed the lives of generations of students and colleagues all over the world.

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Manitoba Women in Design

By Marieke Gruwel (Winnipeg Architecture Foundation, 2024)

Manitoba is an important site for the history of women architects in Canada. Between 1920 and 1960, the University of Manitoba graduated the highest number of women who became registered architects, totalling a third of Canadian-educated women registrants at that time. 

Manitoba Women in Design offers a snapshot of dozens of these women, from Manitoba’s first registered woman architect, Elizabeth Lord (née Campbell), to the first woman graduate of the University’s landscape architecture program, Cynthia Cohlmeyer. 

Despite facing the usual stereotypes—School of Architecture director Milton S. Osborne observed that “there is little doubt but that the most of them [women] will be more interested in domestic architecture than in any other phase of architectural design”—Gruwal documents women designing airports and railway stations, working on metropolitan development plans, and frequenting construction sites. 

The unusually high number of women was influenced by the presence of the University of Manitoba’s diploma course, and later baccalaureate, in interior design. But Gruwal’s research makes it clear that this wasn’t a course in mere “decoration.” It was headed by Joan Harland, a graduate of the school of architecture, who later played a key role in establishing accreditation standards for interior design as a profession. Several of the programs top graduates were hired by GBR; Marjorie Pritchard (née McNulty) designed the interiors of the Winnipeg International Airport Terminal; Margaret Stinson (née King) was responsible for the interior design of Winnipeg’s new City Hall. 

Gruwal writes that her book is only “part of the beginning” of understanding the role of women in shaping the province’s built environment. “There are so many more women whose contributions must still be researched and acknowledged.”

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Advocacy efforts are currently underway to protect the landmark fountain in Victoria’s Centennial Square from being removed.

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The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) has announced that Justice Murray Sinclair will be the recipient of the 2024 RAIC Gold Medal.

The RAIC Gold Medal is an award that represents the highest honour for a significant contribution to Canadian architecture. The award also recognizes excellence in design, research, education, expertise, public presence, sustainability, social justice, and commitment to future architects.

Sinclair was the chair of Canada’s Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission. This role exposed historical injustices and systemic structures that treated Indigenous people as less than human.

His dedication and leadership in promoting truth and reconciliation, dismantling colonial relationships, and advocating for the rights of Canada’s founding peoples have had an important impact on the Canadian architectural landscape, both in present and in the future.

“The RAIC acknowledges the profound connection of Canada’s colonial history and its impact on First Nations. To promote reconciliation, the RAIC instituted the Indigenous Task Force in 2016 and the Truth & Reconciliation Task Force in 2020,” says Jason Robbins, President, RAIC. “Honoring Murray Sinclair with the 2024 RAIC Gold Medal reflects the profession’s recognition of architecture’s transformative power in promoting reconciliation, social justice, and a more inclusive built environment.”

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On February 14, 2024, the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) announced the launch of OpenROM, an initiative that will open the museum up more to the public and create a cultural and civic hub in the heart of the city.

OpenROM includes an architectural transformation of the museum’s main floor and a redesigned Bloor Street entrance. While work is set to begin in early 2024, the museum will remain open throughout the three-year construction period.

This revitalization project, funded by private philanthropy, has been catalyzed by a $50-million donation from the Hennick Family Foundation.

Following the completion of the construction period, OpenROM will introduce ongoing free access to the museum’s main floor which builds on the success of ROM’s summer-long Free Main Floor pilot program.

OpenROM’s expansive architectural design, year-round free admission to the museum’s entire main floor, and unlimited access to special programming, live performances, and hands-on activities, will make ROM a great gathering place for Ontarians.

“OpenROM is more than a physical transformation; it is a major leap forward in the museum’s ongoing evolution to becoming an even more welcoming and accessible space,” said Josh Basseches, ROM director and CEO. “This is an opportunity to truly throw the doors of the museum open, both literally and figuratively, and invite more people in to experience all ROM has to offer. We want people from down the block and around the world to feel like this is a place for them, where they are inspired and belong.”

Siamak Hariri, of Toronto-based firm Hariri Pontarini Architects, is leading the design. Building on the iconic Daniel Libeskind-designed Michael Lee-Chin Crystal, OpenROM will transform 86,000 square feet on the main floor as well as create 6,000 square feet of new gallery space on the second and third levels.

“We’re going to re-introduce ROM to Toronto with a design that, in effect, turns the museum inside out,” said Siamak Hariri. “We’re going to bring daylight and views deep inside and create new connections with Bloor Street, within the ground floor public spaces and the galleries themselves.”

The project also includes enhancements to the exterior spaces. A new showcase water feature will wrap around the heritage façade at the corner of Bloor Street and Queen’s Park and this fountain will evolve with the seasons, changing from burbling water in the summer to cracked ice in the winter.

Anchoring the exterior will be a newly designed and fully accessible Bloor Street entrance, which is set to be sheltered by a bronze canopy. The floor-to-ceiling glass entryway, which is the future Hennick Entrance, will offer pedestrians direct sightlines into the building and create a connection between the museum and the neighbourhood.

On the inside, visitors will enter a bright, open foyer, which will feature artworks and specimens from ROM’s collection, with an unobstructed view into the museum. An oculus, (a giant, circular portal in the ceiling)  will draw visitors’ eyes upwards and bathe the entryway in light while also offering a view of the dinosaur galleries above.

The foyer will lead into the new heart of the museum: Hennick Commons, a sunlit four-storey atrium capped with a sweeping, high-performance diagrid glass ceiling. Visitors will encounter a new, 2,400-square-foot forum there where audiences may enjoy regular performances, programs, and hands-on experiences.

Adjacent to the forum will be a grand multi-level, lily pad staircase, offering three accessible overlook platforms for surveying the museum and knit together old and new wings of the building in hopes of improving mobility.

ROM’s multi-year renewal plan began with the reopening of the Weston Entrance on Queen’s Park in 2017. Two years later in 2019, ROM introduced a new public outdoor space with the unveiling of the Helga and Mike Schmidt Performance Terrace and the Reed Family Plaza on Bloor Street.

Most recently, in 2021, the museum opened the Willner Madge Gallery, Dawn of Life – the first major permanent gallery of its kind.

“The next in a series of bold architectural initiatives, OpenROM will elevate the museum’s role as a vital Toronto landmark, recognized as Canada’s preeminent museum and one of the world’s great cultural institutions,” said Basseches.

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Maîtres d’Œuvre Architectes (MDO), has introduced Espace Péribonka, located in the village of Péribonka, on the banks of Quebec’s Lac Saint-Jean.

The Village of Péribonka, founded in 1888, is home to roughly 500 residents, but although small, contains historic and cultural significance as a colonial settlement.

The development of the Péribonka tourist site consists of a a $17 million, multi-governmental investment in a multifunctional complex, a new fire station, and a renovation of the Louis-Hémon Museum.

MDO was awarded the mandate as part of a public tender process for their vision that contained a fresh new approach to previous proposals.

Prior to settling on a final design, the firm participated in various meetings with the project’s stakeholders to gain a thorough understanding of the nature of the project, as well as the diverse needs and expectations of those it would serve.

After receiving carte blanche approval, MDO focused on infusing a “WOW” effect into their design of a project which included the preservation and rejuvenation of existing buildings, such as a church that was designated as the new home of the museum.

A key focus of Espace Péribonka was to develop an appealing tourist destination within the core of the municipality which was achieved through the design of multifunctional spaces that addressed  stakeholder needs, with connections between the buildings and spaces of the site.

MDO also assisted the client and worked with the Quebec Ministry of Culture to acquire permission to relocate an existing cultural heritage structure to the new site.

Maison Samuel-Bédard, a historic home built in 1903 approximately six kilometres away from the Espace Péribonka, is symbolic of early colonial settlement in the region. The parties agreed upon a temporary declassification of the heritage site in order to relocate it to a new protective inner courtyard at Espace Péribonka.

“One of the biggest challenges in addressing government concerns was to ensure that the heritage site would remain visible in a setting of contemporary attractions,” said Alexandre Simard, designer at MDO. “By creating a fully glazed corridor connecting the two bookend buildings of the site, we provided visibility through to the inner courtyard where Maison Samuel-Bédard now stands.”

The corridor links the church and museum with the newly constructed Town Hall, with the housing civic functions and services including a library, administrative offices, and more.

The client also commissioned studies to assess the condition of existing buildings at the beginning of the project, and it was determined that the existing Town Hall had become dysfunctional due to structural decline. As a result, MDO created a new Town Hall to host the municipal library and other community organizations and functions.

A major challenge to MDO’s design concept was that it had multiple environmental considerations, such as natural elements and noise pollution inherent to the site’s location along a major regional access road. To address this challenge, they developed a glass curtain wall as an inviting exposé of the library.

To address the presence of direct sunlight, the firm collaborated with Sollertia to develop custom sunscreens which would protect the interior and preserve its panoramic views of the Péribonka River, a major tributary of Lac Saint-Jean.

“Although Espace Péribonka is in the heart of a village, with beautiful panoramic views along the river, environmental factors played a very significant role in ensuring the site’s tranquility,” said Simard. “Omnipresent winds informed many aspects of the building designs, and we created a low-lying barrier wall to absorb traffic noise emanating from the busy regional road in front.”

The new library and multifunctional room are made up of laminated spruce wood beams and columns. Exposed glulam beams and columns were also strategically exposed as an aesthetic complement.

MDO also incorporated black Péribonka granite at its base, which pays homage to the regionalist architecture of the Saint-Édouard de Péribonka church, built in 1948.

“The concept we developed was powerful, but the key to ensuring its successful execution was the unconditional support we received from the community,” said Carl Hovington, architect and project manager at MDO. “Each project begins with its own particularities and architectural identity, and we leveraged our experience and expertise to create something truly unique.”

Construction of the project began in 2020, and the main components of the Espace Péribonka tourist site were completed in 2023. The municipality now hopes to attract 30,000 visitors annually to Espace Péribonka.

“We feel a particularly great sense of pride in completing this project,” said Hovington. “While carrying out the project, we developed a special attachment to the community and its inhabitants, who we hope will enjoy Espace Péribonka for many years to come.”

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Researchers at McGill University’s Peter Guo-hua Fu School of Architecture recently examined the original ventilation system in Montreal’s Royal Victoria Hospital.

According to findings outlined in a recent article in iScience, the researchers said that by revamping the lost technique, modern temperature control and ventilation design could be transformed.

“These historical insights could help us to design less equipment-heavy solutions today with a new approach to energy-sufficient architecture and healthy indoor environments,” said co-author Professor Salmaan Craig.

The team for the Royal Victoria Hospital, built in 1893, found an early precedent for ventilation heat recovery. This was an efficiency measure that recuperated heat from the exhaust air so that stale, indoor air could be replenished with fresh, outdoor air.

“Ventilation heat recovery is vital for healthy, energy-efficient buildings but needs miles of ductwork. The supporting infrastructure causes substantial emissions during manufacture, maintenance, and disposal,” said Anna Halepaska, PhD candidate and the study’s first author.

Through research and lab experiments, the researchers verified the ventilation rate and amount of heat recovery of the thermos-hon system used at the Royal Victoria Hospital. They found that by revamping this technique, which operated without ductwork or fans, it was in fact possible to recover heat through partition walls and floors while also maintaining a steady ventilation flow.

The McGill team also found out how and why the system was originally designed in such a way by following a paper trail of correspondence between clients, consultants, architects and engineers.

“With windows more likely to be closed in the winter, patients would be warmed by fireplaces in the wards while fresh air, pre-heated to room temperature, would arrive from the ground-floor plenum,” they explain. “This warm air would naturally rise up through flues hidden in the exterior walls, circulating over patients, before exiting through a trunk in the attic as it was sucked out by a chimney.”

“Fuel economy and clean indoor air were real concerns in the 19th century, especially in hospitals. However, this early heat recovery innovation responded to the harsh Canadian winter on very pragmatic terms. It provided a means to preheat outdoor air, which stopped the pipework in the air heating system from freezing in cold snaps,” said Craig.

The researchers also clarified the role of British hospital specialist Henry Saxon Snell, who backed away from the project after developing its original designs.

According to the researchers, the board of governors pushed Snell to step down after local consultants argued his ventilation technique wasn’t fit for the cold weather.

The researchers proved the governors right and found out why Snell’s “scheme” was unfit while also revealing the method that replaced it.

“It’s also surprising that much of the ventilation design was inspired by a completely different building type—namely the Canadian Parliament building. Architectural historians sometimes think of hospitals as unique, but this work shows those crucial connections,” said professor Annmarie Adams, co-author and architectural historian.

By uncovering this early history of heat recovery, it puts a spotlight on the environmental ideas that motivated 19th-century engineers and architects in Canada and abroad.

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By Jeannie Marshall (Bibliosis, 2023)

REVIEW Adele Weder

For much of the past millennium, Christian iconography has dominated the Western world’s art and architecture, often fusing the two fields together in one building. The fresco-packed Sistine Chapel, embedded within the Pope’s official residence in Vatican City, is one of the most renowned of such structures. In her book All Things Move: Learning to Look at the Sistine Chapel, Jeannie Marshall makes a unique case for considering the Chapel as something other than a religious enclave, scholarly artifact, or checklist tourist attraction. It’s all those, of course, but its otherworldly qualities transcend religious, academic, or tour-bus affiliations. 

Built in the late 15th century, the Chapel is mostly celebrated for being lined with masterpiece frescoes of Biblical scenes, painted by many of the best Renaissance artists. But the building itself cannot be separated from those embedded images on its walls and ceilings—neither conceptually nor literally. It is difficult to even think of the Sistine Chapel scrubbed of its art: it would transform into a different building altogether. The circulation passages, the trompe-l’oeil cornices painted onto the ceilings and corners: all of this this underpins the author’s engagement with the building’s famed frescoes.

Marshall has spent the past 20 years living in Rome, periodically visited the Chapel, and has interwoven history, memoir, and journalistic observation to explore new ways to engage with this vaunted landmark.  Significantly—or not—she is a self-described “agnostic, looking at art for its beauty and secular meaning.” 

Although Michelangelo’s prowess as an architect equalled his renown as an artist, he didn’t design the physical building. But his commission to illustrate the Chapel interior with the story of the creation of humanity can be called a design brief for the ages. A procession of discrete frescoed galleries in the larger building eventually leads to the climactic ceiling tableau of God reaching out His index finger to create Adam, lying supine on a bed of clouds. “It is just a room,” she reiterates, “but it feels like its own universe.” 

The Apostolic Palace, which houses the Chapel, is the Pope’s official residence; it doubles as one of the world’s top art galleries. The building itself is rarely promoted in tourism campaigns or analyzed in architectural history texts, not because it has failed as art-gallery architecture, but precisely because it has succeeded. That is, if you believe the role of a gallery is to carry the art in a way that encourages the visitor to engage with the interior life of the art rather than as a visual meme. 

To be sure, architecture is just one of many sub-themes in this book, which toggles between personal philosophy, art history, family drama, political history, and contemporary literature. The wonderfully evocative title derives from American poet Heather McHugh’s poem “What He Thought,” about the burning at the stake of Giordano Bruno in 1600 for heresy. Bruno averred that God did not stand at a fixed point at the centre of an orbiting universe “but rather is poured in waves through all things. All things move.” 

Bruno was later exonerated and celebrated by scientists, because—of course—all things do move, literally, as our puny earth orbits the sun, which in turn orbits our galaxy, and so forth. But all things move conceptually as well: the Sistine Chapel has “moved” so far away from its original purpose as religious pedantry and proviso, as this unique memoir eloquently reveals. Yet no one—including the most Godless pagan—would suggest it be demolished. We can apply that philosophy to heritage architecture as well: it can rarely serve its original historic purpose, and yet it can move on to become a vessel carrying so much more meaning than its initial program. 

I would love for some curious scribe, or perhaps Marshall herself, to use this book as a springboard for a deep dive into the Chapel’s architecture and strategic “interior design” (though it sounds almost blasphemous to call it by such a pagan term). The actual architect of the Chapel, Baccio Pontelli, isn’t even mentioned in the book, let alone credited. Who was he, and what else did he build? Did he confer with Michelangelo and the other Renaissance artists on the frescoes lining his building, or like some other architects, was he envious of their acclaim—or dismayed that their work didn’t align with his design intentions? 

In Marshall’s book, I read and recollected wistfully how the ceiling tableau of Adam and God is so far from the ground and at such an angle that one cranes one’s neck uncomfortably just to catch a somewhat anticlimactic glimpse of those Boys. Did Michelangelo, or his client, intend this? What else can we know about the perspectival effects, the trompe l’oeil, the labyrinthine circulation pattern that lures us to this hallowed room? I would love a follow-up book to delve into all of that. 

The book concludes with Marshall’s thoughts about the significance of viewer engagement with art, that it “answers a human yearning, a basic need to engage at a level beyond the rational and beyond the spiritual.” It’s a thought that applies equally to the architecture that contains it, and a pertinent thought for every reader and designer on every project—for the ages, including for our own age.

The post Book Review: All Things Move—Learning to Look at the Sistine Chapel appeared first on Canadian Architect.

Toronto’s Koffler Centre for the Arts is currently presenting a small but powerful exhibition on The Synagogue at Babyn Yar. Designed by Swiss architect Manuel Herz for a client group that included Canadian architectural historian and Holocaust scholar Robert Jan Van Pelt, the building is a reminder of architecture’s fragile but poignant ability to offer hope and healing.

The woods of Babyn Yar, in western Kyiv, Ukraine, are the site of one of the Nazi regime’s worst massacres—the so-called “Holocaust of bullets.” On September 29th and 30th, 1941, 33,771 Jews were shot and killed by German troops in a deep ravine on the site. Over the following months, some 40,000 to 70,000 more Jews, Soviet prisoners of war, and others were murdered at Babyn Yar. 

In 2018, a two-stage international competition was conducted to create a Holocaust museum on the site. A winning entry was selected which minimized its above-ground presence by extending four storeys underground. However, it soon became clear that because Babyn Yar was the site of mass murder, the construction would be disturbing what Jewish tradition viewed as cursed ground. The project was shelved.

Through his involvement with the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Foundation, Van Pelt suggested that a more appropriate response could be to build a synagogue—an active place of worship. He recommended Manuel Herz as the designer, based on the young architect’s innovative synagogue in Mainz, Germany.  

Herz’s design hovers atop the ground, supported by shallow strip foundations, and folds away—literally—when not in use. Jews self-identify as the “People of the Book,” and Herz combined this idea with the magical wonder of his infant son’s pop-up books. The building’s slab-like form is manually opened by the congregation, unfolding to unveil the central Bimah (a reading platform for the Torah), benches, and a balcony. An open-air design aims to demystify Jewish ceremonies, and build bridges between Jewish and non-Jewish residents of Kiev.

Inside, the walls have been colourfully painted with iconography from wooden Ukrainian synagogues dating back to the 17th century, which were destroyed in WWII. Constellations on the ceiling recreate the night sky on September 29th, 1941. The building is made from oak, salvaged from barns and other structures across Ukraine: the trees are old enough to have witnessed the massacre. Wood is intentionally chosen as a fragile material that must be regularly oiled and cleaned.

The project moved quickly—going from initial commission in the fall of 2020 to realized building in only five months, in time to mark the massacre’s 80th anniversary. That year, the building was used regularly for synagogue services. Russian’s invasion of Ukraine—less than a year after the synagogue’s completion—has so far left the synagogue intact, but there has been a tragic loss of life in the vicinity.

“On 1 March 2022, rockets struck just 150 meters from the synagogue,” wrote Manuel Herz shortly after the invasion began, emphasizing that the building’s survival is nothing compared to the loss of a single human life. “Only a few months after its inauguration, the synagogue is caught up in war, which only celebrates death. What is the point of commemorating history if the lessons to be learned are forgotten and ignored so easily? It leaves me speechless, numb, and powerless.”

Nonetheless, the synagogue remains in use.  “I pray for the people of Kyiv and of Ukraine, that the savagery of the war end as soon as possible,” writes Herz, “and I hope that the synagogue can eventually regain its community, so that the lessons of fragility are not drowned out by the cruel noise of war.”

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