SUPARKBIA
Design Studio II Master of Landscape Architecture Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design University of Toronto Fadi Masoud + Elise Shelley 2018
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DESIGNING DYNAMIC SUBURBAN PARKS
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TRANSFORMATION In the final phase of the studio, groups worked to develop transformative design proposals in their respective suburban parks. Rooted in the research, conceptual frameworks, and the contextual analysis revealed from previous phases, each proposal included a series of measured and precise topographic manipulations, as well as a set of transformative vegetal and programmatic moves. These moves worked to enhance the functionality, performative, and cultural experiences of the parks. Teams illustrated how their proposal transforms seasonally/ cyclically (vegetation, flows/drainage, programming), and with time (succession, disruption, maintenance, growth, shrinkage). In the final weeks of the semester, students continued to illustrate and detail, in various scales and using various media (including 3D physical models, animation, and isometric drawings), key design moves and features. During this phase, there was also an emphasis on constructing a strong and cohesive narrative presentation. Teams began a process of iterative design moves that transformed the suburban parks. Each team started by identifying key zones and areas of interventions and then overlayed new topography, circulation, program and canopy. Once a general schematic design proposal was in place, teams tested various dynamic forces on their proposals. Teams rendered the effects of seasonal/cyclical changes
on vegetation, water flows/drainage, programming, as well as time-based changes (vegetation succession, possible disruptions, change in maintenance regimes, growth, shrinkage, change in park users). These drawings formed the basis for their animations and rendered views.
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BRAMPTON 1. Centennial-Meadowland Park Elspeth Holland Edward Marchant Zhengbang Wang 2. County Court Park Hillary DeWildt Ambika Pharma
This project combines Centennial and Meadowland parks located west of the historic downtown region in Brampton, Ontario. The parks make up a combined area of 21.3 hectares within the Etobicoke Creek watershed. The objectives of this project are to improve the water quality of the Etobicoke Creek, to increase the ecological functioning of riparian ecosystems within the parks and the watershed, and to incorporate the creek into the vegetative and programmed areas of the park. This project proposes to achieve these objectives through three design interventions: expanding the creek bed throughout the length of the park; introducing a network of berms that capture and filter water; and introducing a network of hummocks in the tablelands. This design seeks to reactivate the Etobicoke Creek through a series of landforms that increase ecological functioning and redefine peoples’ perception of a suburban park. It acts as a central element for uniting the two parks and integrates ecological and social spaces. Although the creek defines physical space in the parks, it is isolated from the programmed areas and treated as a separate entity. By removing physical barriers and allowing the watercourse more room to breathe, in conjunction with interventions to reinforce the banks of the creek and improve water quality, socio-environmental conditions of the park and the ecosystem(s) of which they are a part of will improve. The design for this project consists of expanding the creek bed and introducing a system of constructed wetland areas to slow down the flow of water out of the channel, improve the water quality of the creek, and provide opportunities for people to experience and interact with clean water.
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CENTENNIAL-MEADOWLAND PARK
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Centennial Meadowland Park City of Brampton - 43°41’12.93”N 79°45’5.83”W / 43°68’58.9”N 79°75’30.4”W
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Centennial Meadowland Park City of Brampton - 43°41’12.93”N 79°45’5.83”W / 43°68’58.9”N 79°75’30.4”W
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COUNTY COURT PARK County Court Park is part of the County Court neighborhood in Brampton and is situated within the Etobicoke Creek watershed. Developed in the 1980s, the neighbourhood of County Court was built atop a former wetland. The neighbourhood now experiences significant drainage issues, as evidenced in the areas of standing water throughout the park. The park was not designed to effectively manage the water that runs on and through the site and, as a result, the water quality of the adjacent creek and its watershed has been impacted. The park also lacks the programmatic elements that reflect the diversity of the County Court neighbourhood. This project addresses how hydrology is treated in a suburban context, considering the scale of the Etobicoke Creek watershed to the scale of County Court Park. It aims to integrate the hydrological process into a design can create a more performative and unique space in an otherwise monotonous suburban landscape. The redesign introduces a closed-loop hydrologic system that captures, filters and treats run-off from the adjacent community before releasing the water back into the Etobicoke Creek. It also acts as a response to 50 to 100-year storm events. Through landform, the park was regraded to ensure positive drainage. The park transitions from an upland zone through a cleansing biotope to a large wetland at its eastern edge. The wetland habitat is situated at the
lowest point of the park, approximately 6 metres below street level, and is complete with a planting palette that acts as a natural cleansing system for treating run-off. The vegetation activates the site and provides different pockets for programmatic elements, creating a visible typology for treating water in a suburban context.
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County Court Park City of Brampton - 43°39’47.3”N 79°43’42.2”W
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County Court Park City of Brampton - 43°39’47.3”N 79°43’42.2”W
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County Court Park City of Brampton - 43°39’47.3”N 79°43’42.2”W 0m
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NORTH YORK 1. Driftwood Park and Hydro Finch Corridor Zixin Chen Bonnie Chuong Wenpei Feng 2. Driftwood Parkette Yuanyuan Ye Chilling Zhou
The Driftwood Park and Hydro Finch Corridor is an underutilized park region managed by the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) and Hydro One. The site is bounded at its edges by high and low-rise residential areas, an elementary school, and York University. The current design lacks appropriate pedestrian access and fails to connect the two surrounding communities adjacent to the park. The TRCA and neighbourhoods have demonstrated interest in developing this space; however, there are significant barriers to designing this space including high voltage electrical towers and an oil pipeline that runs underneath the corridor. The redesign for the park focuses on reconnecting the neighbourhoods on either side of the hydro corridor and diversifying the ecology of Black Creek through the spread of pollinator species. series of raised circular landforms adjacent to the high-rise buildings are intended as programmable spaces. The use for these transitory spaces and programs will be dependent on the needs of the community. Permanent features of the design include connected pathways, a playground, a splashpad, a dog park, a skate park, and community gardens. The design also introduces a range of low-growing pollinator species to improve the ecological diversity of the corridor. These initiatives are in line with the objectives of the TRCA’s Sustainable Neighbourhood Action Program (SNAP) and will provide a range of colour to the site.
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DRIFTWOOD PARK + FINCH HYDRO CORRIDOR
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Driftwood Park & Hydro Corridor City of Toronto - 43°65’68.4”N 79°60’10.4”W
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Driftwood Park & Hydro Corridor City of Toronto - 43°65’68.4”N 79°60’10.4”W
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Driftwood Park & Hydro Corridor
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Driftwood Parkette is a 0.69 hectare park in the Jane and Finch neighborhood in North York, Toronto. The neighbourhood surrounding the park is a family-based with a large percentage of children. On the Western border of the park are a Boys and Girls Club, childcare centre, and middle school. On the Eastern border is Black Creek, a tributary of the Humber River. Historically, Black Creek shaped the form of this neighbourhood, however, today it is channelized and its presence is ambiguous. Currently, Driftwood Parkette is a relatively unimaginative space that lacks enough areas for play and interaction that are important to children. Moreover, the form of the park and surrounding neighbourhood have an undefined character which is unrelated to the historical significance of Black Creek. Using Black Creek as an inspiration, this design seeks to incorporate more areas for play, education, and discovery. The park’s lack of identity is redefined by circulation, vegetation, and landforms. The undulating topography and vegetation reconnects Driftwood Parkette to Black Creek, moving throughout the space like flowing water. The landforms provide a new identity to the space and act as play structures for children. Between these forms, pedestrian paths have been incorporated to provide connections between residences surrounding the parkette. The resulting design acts as a natural playground.
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DRIFTWOOD PARKETTE
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Driftwood Parkette City of North York - 43°46’04”N 79°30’49”W
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- Brookview Middle School - Walking distance: 7min
- Shoreham Public Sports and Wellness Academy - Walking distance: 5min
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SEMI-PUBLIC PARK:
- Shoreham Public Sports and Wellness Academy - Walking distance: 5min
- Brookview Middle School - Walking distance: 7min
- Walking distance: 6min - Facilities: Playground Parking Lot
- Walking distance: 5min - Facilities: Playground Parking Lot
SEMI-PUBLIC PARK:
PUBLIC PARK:
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- Walking distance: 5min - Facilities: Playground Parking Lot
- Walking distance: 6min - Facilities: Playground Parking Lot
PUBLIC PARK:
- Edgeley Park: - Walking distance: 7min - Facilities: Bike Trail Outdoor Basketball Court Parking Lot Playground Outdoor Swimming pool - Driftwood Parkette
- Edgeley Park: - Walking distance: 7min - Facilities: Bike Trail Outdoor Basketball Court Parking Lot Playground Outdoor Swimming pool - Driftwood Parkette
- Shoreham Park - Walking distance: 7min - Facilities: Playground - Facilities: Splash Pad Playground Parking Lot
- Shoreham Park - Walking distance: 7min - Facilities: Playground - Facilities: Splash Pad Playground Parking Lot
$60,000 - 79,000
Annual Income under $30,000
172$80,000 +
$60,000 - 79,000
Annual Income under $30,000
$0 - 9,999
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Toronto $10,000 - 19,999
$0 - 9,999 Neighborhood
$20,000 - 29,999 $30,000 - 39,999
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$40,000 - 49,999
$10,000 - 19,999 $20,000 - 29,999
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Analysis of the neighborhood:: Determining Points of entry
Personal Income After Tax
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$30,000 - 39,999
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35.4% Percentage of female lone parent families in low income household
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Direction of black creek: Developing Circulation
23% 13% Percentage of population under 14
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26.9% 25%
19.2% 25.2% Percentage of households without cars
Percentage of trip to school by active mode (walk + bike)
23% 13%
Surrounding residences: Introducing resting area
Percentage of population under 14
9.4% 3.4%
This area is a family-based neighborhood with a large percentage of children. As play is a central to a child’s ability to grow into a productive adult, playgrounds are important to this community. Thus, providing a healthy, fun and safe play spaces for kids to be kids become top priority in the design process. Second, as a park that has been indirectly influenced by the black creek, Driftwood Park should
Percentage of lone parents relative in population
show some strong connection to the creek; however, instead of the shape of creek looking from the plane, there is no element that could relate to the creek when standing in the park. A re-recognition of a neighborhood park in the black creek region should be established.
19.2% 25.2% Percentage of households without cars
“Parks and playgrounds are the soul of a city.” - Marty Rubin Driftwood Parkette used to be a leftover 1.7 acres suburban area in Jane and Finch neighborhood located in the northwest end of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in the district of North York. Although it was proposed to transform into a park that met neighborhood’s needs, Driftwood Parkette suffered from stiff programs, undefined circulation, poor land-
“Parks and playgrounds are the soul of a city.” - Marty Rubin Driftwood Parkette used to be a leftover 1.7 acres suburban area in Jane and Finch neighborhood located in the northwest end of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in the district of North York. Although it was proposed to transform into a park that met neighborhood’s needs, Driftwood Parkette suffered from stiff programs, undefined circulation, poor landscape and vegetation cover, and absence of neighborhood recognition. Without a well-designed concept and plan, the park became an unwelcomed, stagnant and depressing space. Therefore, this project is committed to revitalizing Driftwood Parkette focusing on enrich lives and reconnect the neighborhood.
Playground for children: Extruding landform
The organic waving landform provides a unique natural playground for children to run up and down, ensuring kids get the balanced and active play they need to thrive. Pathways are introduced between landforms providing a dynamic movement through the park mimicking the flow of the creek and also connecting all residences around the park. Intermediate resting area could let adults and parents spend some quality time in the park. As lots of residences have their backyard closer to the park, privacy and noise are also taken into consideration during design process. Areas closer to backyards are either planted with trees and shrubs or left with open lawn that blocking from the loud resting area.
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Driftwood Parkette City of North York - 43°46’04”N 79°30’49”W
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SCARBOROUGH 1. Littles Park Bronwyn Austin Tharshni Shanmuganathan Alyssa Lagana 2. Pinetree Park Alex Ntoukas Blake Creamer
Littles Park, situated in Malvern, Scarborough is representative of a condition occurring between public parks that are located near schools or other civic institutions. The park is located between St. Bede Catholic Elementary School and Fleming Public School, situated on opposite ends. This redesign considers the contrast between legal and perceived boundaries between the public park and school. Although there are no physical boundaries separating the school yards from the park, there is a sense that the public park acts as a barrier between schools and is otherwise an ambiguous space. Access to Littles Park is limited by a ravine, a tributary to the Rouge River, that runs along the west boundary of the park. This proposal aims to create a connection between the two schools through sightlines and infrastructure with the programmatic potential to serve all members of the surrounding community. The centre field was designed as a space that both schools could use while still maintaining separate school properties. Accessibility has been addressed by reworking the path system by including more deliberate and safe entrances onto the school property and the public park from all directions. Flexible program areas serving school children and the aging population are found at the entrances and in the centre of the park.
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LITTLES PARK
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Littles Road Park City of Scarborough - 43°48’58.97”N, 79°12’21.52”W
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Littles Road Park City of Scarborough - 43°48’58.97”N, 79°12’21.52”W
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Pinetree Park is located in the neighbourhood of Malvern, Ontario. The park is a representation of the disconnect between spaces created from cross-national infrastructure development. The larger context surrounding the park includes Rouge National Park, a hydro corridor, and heavily used roadways connecting to a much larger network of infrastructure. Abrupt boundaries in ownership means the landscape is maintained under different principles and methods. Budgets of landowners are relevant in determining perceived value of the land. Minimal maintenance of both private and public land has resulted in environmental issues such as improper drainage. An analysis of the topography of Pinetree Park revealed a natural sink in the land where students might play field related sports or other activities. To compound this issue, access to Malvern Junior Public School in Pinetree Park is difficult, and children in the community are forced to walk through unprescribed forest paths which are not maintained. To tackle issues in drainage and capitalize on the educational and community opportunities of the park, private and public maintenance, budgets for maintenance, and physical characteristics were analyzed. The cost of maintenance and communication between different landowners is a huge issue for Pinetree Park. Increasing access across Pinetree Park will encourage greater mobility between the different spaces. This will maximize potential for educational opportunities, ecologically productive spaces, and other activities which encourage community involvement.
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PINETREE PARK
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Pinetree Park City of Scarborough - 43°47’58.37”N, 79°14’02.67”W
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Pinetree Park City of Scarborough43°47'58.37"N Pinetree Park 79°14'02.67"W City of Scarborough - 43°47’58.37”N, 79°14’02.67”W 0 75 150m
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MARKHAM 1. Crosby Park Avery Clarke Jennifer Tran Alexandra Walker 2. Calvert Park Caroline Kasiuk Aliya Karmali-Esmail
This redesign uses a gradation of landforms to organize programmatic elements within the site. The design seeks to create a clear transition from public to the private spaces using topography and vegetation to reconcile adjacencies, and extend them beyond their immediate footprints. The plaza space is vegetated with strips of planting beds which refer to landforms located in the flex field. These elements have the programmatic potential to accommodate a variety of events including farmers markets and performances, while acting as an overflow space for events along the street and in the community centre. As the planting beds approach the flex field they begin to increase in size, creating a gradient of vegetation starting out as a groundcover and moving back to taller vegetation. The landforms are terraced to create amphitheatre seating facing onto the public square, offering residents new experiences within the site. This project contains a repetitive visual language which defines the space and gives it a coherent character.
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CROSBY PARK
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Crosby Park City of Markham - 43°52’7.24”N, 79°18’50.06”W
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Crosby Park City of Markham - 43°52’7.24”N, 79°18’50.06”W
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The aim of this project is to create a connection from Calvert Park to the Rouge River watershed. Using topography and vegetation as a medium, this intervention reintroduces a relationship to the Rouge River and values the importance of reconnecting habitats in our urban environments. This design uses paths and vegetation to sculpt the park as a geometric landform which lead to a central lookout feature. A bridge carries users into the park leading into paths which borders the landforms. Swales and vegetation address on-site drainage and add layers of depth while creating visual interest. Tolerant wild grasses are introduced to help create buffer zones in the park and between surrounding properties. The vegetation builds upon the species found in the Rouge River ravine. The ravine acts as a drainage basin and reminds visitors of their connection within the larger Southern Ontario network. Finally, to address programming, the existing sports fields and playgrounds have been replaced by flexible programming and landform.
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CALVERT PARK
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Calvert Park City of Markham - 43°52’37.0”N, 79°20’45.26”W
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Calvert Park City of Markham - 43°52’37.0”N, 79°20’45.26”W
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MISSISSAUGA 1. Churchill Meadow Community Common Alexandre Dos Santos Bonnie Tung Likun Liu 2. Mullet Creek Park Michael Wideman Shikha Jagwani
Churchill Meadows Community Commons is a suburban park with sports amenities and ample open space. However, like many other suburban parks, it lacks a central element to weave together its uses as a school grounds, public space, and neighbourhood park. The existing voids between these areas results in an ambiguous and undefined space. This design is a response to three central issues: existing programming that is single-function or transient; unrelenting vastness; and no clear indication between public park space and safe school zones. This design uses surface materials to direct movement and experience throughout the space. The surfaces are separated into accessible softscapes; playfields and mowed lawns, inaccessible softscapes, accessible hardscapes, and striated agricultural zones. These help to break the monotony of the existing park conditions. The space is further structured with gridded rooms which contain flexible programming. These areas are connected by a meandering path, which will accommodate programming, and better integrate it into the park. It also provides an identity for an otherwise generic, disconnected space. This proposal is an experimental response to traditional suburban parks. The design integrates itself into its surrounding context, to serve a greater amount of people outside of those who use sports fields. The elements placed within the park consider community engagement by providing spaces for outdoor education and school food programs.
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CHURCHILL MEADOWS COMMUNITY COMMON
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Churchill Meadows Community Common City of Mississauga - 43°33’27.0”N, 79°44’52.4”W
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Churchill Meadows Community Common City of Mississauga - 43°33’27.0”N, 79°44’52.4”W
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Site Plan Churchill Meadows Community Common - 43°33’27.0”N 79°44’52.4”W 0
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This proposal aims to address the stagnant nature of North American suburban park design, which is often characterized by sports fields, mowed lawns, and playgrounds and acts as a precedent for innovative suburban greenspaces. The park design is a response to declining urban biodiversity and proposes new structures and programming that form habitat, address flood risk, and accommodate nonconventional park users. It rejects traditional suburban park design and challenges the concept of what a suburban park can be and who, or what, it should be made for. The site is Mullet Creek Park, a 10-hectare site in an isolated commercial corner of Mississauga, Ontario. Mullet Creek Park is a secluded, utilitarian park created by empty space between office buildings. The space is occasionally used by office employees; however, its real users are the animals and plants who live there. The proposal makes a clear delineation between human and natural realms, suggesting an innovative restructuring of the site through gabion wall infrastructure. The design redistributes existing materials and processes in the park to slow water, filter runoff, and facilitate more purposeful ecologies. This restructuring provides the park’s ultimate framework, creating elevated observation piers, sediment collection points, basins of varying depths for water retention and niche habitat creation, and terraced bioswales along park edges. These bioswales are calculated to filter and retain the runoff of 100-year storm events flowing off each parking lot.
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MULLET CREEK PARK
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Mullet Creek Park City of Mississauga - 43.5990°N, 79.7501°W
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Mullet Creek Park City of Mississauga - 43.5990°N, 79.7501°W
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Special thanks to the following people who provided insight, feedback, and valuable information to our studio throughout the semester.
Nina Chase Principal Co-Founder, Merritt Chase Landscape
Dean Richard Sommer Daniels Faculty, University of Toronto
Marc Ryan
Liat Margolis Daniels Faculty, University of Toronto
Principal Co-Founder, Public Work Drew Adams
Alissa North Daniels Faculty, University of Toronto
LGA Architects
Jane Wolff Daniels Faculty, University of Toronto
Shannon Logan Senior Project Manage, Sustainable Neighbourhoods, TRCA
Heather Huckfield Daniels Faculty, University of Toronto
Adriana Gomez
Christopher Henion Daniels Faculty, University of Toronto
Senior Project Manager, Sustainable Neighbourhoods, TRCA Nina-Marie Lister Ryerson University
Ryan Burns Daniels Faculty, University of Toronto Adriana Arrenndo Daniels Faculty, University of Toronto
Amy Whitesides Studio Director, Stoss Landscape Urbanism
Behnaz Assadi Daniels Faculty, University of Toronto
Wai Ying DiGiorgio
Michael Piper Daniels Faculty, University of Toronto
Principal, Planning Partnership
Book Design and Layout: Ambika Pharma + Hillary DeWildt, Edited By: Elspeth Holland