Skip to content

ERA Architects

Stories

Teaching-based Professionals, Business-based Researchers

by ERA Architects

The magazine Landscapes: Landscape Architecture in Canada/Paysages: L’architecture de Paysage au Canada examines and explores pertinent issues in the field of landscape architecture. In their latest issue (Vol. 18, No. 2), the article “Active Praxis, Hybrid Practice,” written by Shelley Long, takes a look into the new hybrid practices found in landscape architecture, in both teaching-based and business-based environments, wherein academics and professionals are experimenting with interdisciplinary thinking to formulate new ideas, inspire innovation, and move the profession forward.

Teaching-based professionals included Marc Boutin from Marc Boutin Architectural Collaborative (MBAC) in Calgary, Alissa and Pete North from North Design Office of Toronto, and Dietmar Straub and Anna Thurmayr from Straub + Thurmary Landschaftarchiteken of Winnipeg. These individuals integrate their academic research into their landscape architecture practice to inform new methods and engage the public. Texture City (MBAC), Core Sample installations (North Design Office, 2006), and the Folly Forest project (Straub + Thurmayr Landschaftarchiteken) are all excellent examples of academic risk-taking and interdisciplinary innovation.

Business-based research and innovation relies on a creative office culture that supports and promotes interdisciplinary research and experimentation. Firms that encourage this experimental approach include ERA Architects, located in Toronto, Montreal, and Prince Edward County, Claude Cormier + Associés (CC+A) in Montreal, and the Hapa Collaborative in Vancouver. Each of these firms has advanced the field of landscape architecture through collaborative projects and community-based initiatives. For example, ERA has worked with community members to establish the non-profit group Friends of Allan Gardens (FOAG), and helped organize, alongside Janet Rosenberg and Studio and The Cultural Landscape Foundation, the first-ever conference in Canada on cultural landscapes. ERA also helped in the administration of the Tower Renewal project, which began as a thesis and is now a forceful project that will transform the future of Toronto’s tower neighbourhoods. CC+A’s design for Berczy Park in Toronto and Hapa Collaborative’s Mid Main Park’s “bendy-straw” trellis are also excellent examples of innovative projects propelled by research and experimentation.

Related Projects

The Distillery District Cityscape Development Corporation & Dundee Realty
Toronto