Landscape and Urban Design

Temporary, but Impactful: Michael McClelland Discusses New Creative Project Initiatives at The Drake Hotel

by ERA Architects

NXT City and Pavilion Project are teaming up to present ‘Short Term, Lasting Impact’, a panel discussion about the value of temporary projects at The Drake Hotel Underground. The event takes place on the evening of March 23rd, and features STACKT founder Matt Rubinoff, Layne Hinton + Rui Pimenta from in/future and Michael McClelland from...

Sabina Ali & Graeme Stewart Speak to ‘Modern Tower Blocks and the 21st Century City’

by ERA Architects

Harlyn Thompson Lecture Series – Faculty of Architecture, University of Manitoba Thursday, March 16, 2017 6PM Lecture Eckhardt Gramatte Hall University of Winnipeg Speakers: Sabina Ali – Chair, Thorncliffe Park Women’s Committee Graeme Stewart – Principal, ERA Architects, Co-Founder/Board Member, Centre for Urban Growth and Renewal (CUG+R) and Co-Editor, Concrete Toronto: A Guidebook to Concrete...

The (Lane)way Forward: Exploring the Potential of Under-Served Public Space

by ERA Architects

As Toronto’s population increases in density, it places more pressure on ever-shrinking resources, including public space. The use of laneways in the city to increase public space offers the opportunity to release some of this pressure. ERA’s Annabel Vaughan moderated a panel discussion on November 30th on just this subject. Organized by The Laneway Project,...

‘Tower, Slab, Superblock: Social Housing Legacies and Futures’ Sparks the Imagination on Postwar Design and Construction

by ERA Architects

Participants included: Geraldine Dening, Co-Founder, Architects for Social Housing, Simon Elmer, Co-Founder, Architects for Social Housing, Phineas Harper, Deputy Director, The Architecture Foundation, Paul Karakusevic, Founder and Partner, Karakusevic Carson Architects, Jean-Louis Cohen – Sheldon H. Solow Professor in the History of Architecture at New York University, Javier Arpa, Research and Education Coordinator of The Why...

New Visions for Social Housing in Canadian Architect Magazine

by ERA Architects

In the November issue of Canadian Architect author Jay Pitter investigates how spatial issues contribute to community challenges such as isolation, despair and violence in urban social housing communities. Using the community where she grew up in Toronto as a case study, Pitter explores the design deficiencies of the Corbusian “Towers in the Park” style...

Big Cities in a ‘small’ Context

by ERA Architects

How do cities grow? Do we limit growth or encourage it? Direct it or simply discover its natural rhythms? While municipal planning, land use policies and settlement patterns have shaped the physical aspect of North American cities, often social, cultural and environmental forces leave a firmer mark on our communities. ERA’s Philip Evans and Heather...

Flags: Public Artwork Complete

by ERA Architects

A new public work by artist Josh Thorpe has just been launched at Maple Claire Park, Toronto. For this project, entitled Flag Field, ERA Architects provided landscape architectural and project management services. Flag Field consists of fourteen custom flags on flagpoles ranging from 25 to 50 feet high. Thorpe designed the flags as simple drawings...

University of Toronto’s New Secondary Plan

by ERA Architects

Aerial view of proposed character areas. Photo credit: University of Toronto The University of Toronto is engaged in creating a new Secondary Plan for its Downtown (St. George) campus. A Secondary Plan outlines expectations for an area’s future growth and provides a policy framework to inform its future physical development. The new plan will replace the...

TSA’s Urban Affairs Forum, “Generosity by Design”

by ERA Architects

Can architecture be generous? Do architects have an inherent civic obligation? Those were the questions up for discussion at the Toronto Society of Architects (TSA) January 21st Urban Affairs Forum, titled “Generosity by Design.” Speakers included Robert Allsopp from DTAH, David Sisam from Montgomery Sisam Architects, Helena Grdadolnik from Workshop Architecture, and Philip Evans from...

Regent Park’s Commemoration Strategy

by ERA Architects

How do you commemorate the heritage of a complex, evolving neighbourhood that is still in the throes of change? How do you interpret the vibrancy of a neighbourhood while considering the significance of its buildings, most of which no longer exist? ERA Architects is addressing these questions through the establishment of a Commemoration Strategy for...

The Future Ridgeway Community Court

by ERA Architects

Following the success of the ESS sport court, ERA has been retained to oversee the design and construction of a new sports court and outdoor community space in the Ridgeway neighbourhood of northwest Mississauga. A talented group of local youth at the Erin Mills Youth Centre successfully applied for and were granted funding through the...

6th Canadian German Conference on Energy Efficient Retrofits in Buildings

by ERA Architects

In an effort to bring emerging green technologies and practices into Ontario, the Canadian German Chamber of Industry and Commerce Inc. held its 6th Canadian German Conference on Energy Efficient Retrofits in Buildings. In attendance were representatives of seven companies from Germany, alongside around 90 conference delegates, including representatives from industry, associations, and academic institutions,...

University of Toronto’s Landscape of Landmark Quality Design Competition

by ERA Architects

The University of Toronto put forward an eight-week intensive Landscape of Landmark Quality Innovative Design Competition to revitalize the historic landscapes of St. George campus. These major public spaces include King’s College Circle, Hart House Circle, the Sir Daniel Wilson Quadrangle, Back Campus, and Tower Road. Following a qualification stage, four teams were selected to...

Harvest Festival in Thorncliffe Park

by ERA Architects

On Saturday, September 26th, the Third Not-So-Annual Harvest Festival took place in Thorncliffe Park. Hosted by not-for-profit Diasporic Genius (DG), the festival featured a pop-up Women’s Cultural Café, an initiative of the Thorncliffe Action Group (TAG). Diasporic Genius, TAG, and ERA Architects collaborated to design, build, and run this dynamic pop-up café. Thorncliffe Action Group (TAG)...

Visit the Markham House!

by ERA Architects

This Saturday, September 19, 2015, Mirvish Village will be hosting the grand opening of the Markham House, located at 610 Markham Street. Doors will open from 11:00am to 6:00pm, providing guests the opportunity to revel in an abundance of festivities. There will be food and drinks presented by tasty cafes and restaurants from the Annex...

Toronto House Transformation

by ERA Architects

Throughout most of the dynamic city of Toronto, structures originally built as houses have been transformed for innovative use. These transformed houses often create spaces for businesses, organizations, and various other establishments; such alterations often generate some of the busiest streetscapes in Toronto. These streetscapes are where new ideas, communities, and initiatives have taken root. Adaptive reuse...

EU Research for Tower Renewal

by ERA Architects

As part of ongoing research related to the Tower Renewal project, ERA’s Graeme Stewart and Michael McClelland, with project partners Evergreen Cityworks and planningAlliance, recently toured the Netherlands and Germany. Touring built projects, construction sites, and meeting with planners, engineers, architects, city administrators, and even a Dutch Senator, the team witnessed Europe’s cutting edge in...

Metropolis: Tower Renewal Key to Toronto’s Liveability

by ERA Architects

This month’s issue of Metropolis Magazine ranks Toronto #1 globally for liveability; it is in good company with Tokyo and Helsinki, numbers two and three respectively. The feature article, written by Toronto Star columnist Christer Hume, outlines Toronto’s many virtues and points to Tower Renewal as a way forward for both enhancing liveability and addressing the...

TCLF Presents, Second Wave of Modernism III: Leading with Landscape Conference

by ERA Architects

As part of The Cultural Landscape Foundation’s conference series, Second Wave of Modernism III: Leading with Landscape will take place this May. The conference will tackle numerous issues including those that deal with the city’s identity – what does it mean for a 21st century city to be historic and modern at the same time?...

Toronto the Good Celebrates the City’s Parks & Trees

by ERA Architects

Toronto the Good is a party thrown each year by ERA Architects (and friends) to celebrate Toronto and contemplate its history and evolution with fellow architects, designers, thinkers, and urban-minded people.This year Toronto the Good in partnership with The Cultural Landscape Foundation will present the Second Wave of Modernism III: Leading with Landscape conference. Join us...

The Ward: A new book, coming 2015

by ERA Architects

ERA is excited to announce a new book all about Toronto’s St. John’s Ward. The Ward: The Life and Loss of Toronto’s First Immigrant Neighbourhood is a collaboration with Coach House Books, John Lorinc, Ellen Scheinberg, and approximately 50 local writers. St John’s Ward, bordered by Yonge to the east, University to the west, Queen...

Innovation and the public realm

by ERA Architects

In a time of increasing growth and reduced public spending in cities, how can we maximize the public realm as a shared interest? To explore this problem, ERA Architects joined forces with MITACS, a Canadian non-profit organization that supports research partnerships between academia and industry, and Jeff Biggar, a PhD student of urban planning at...

Public space: Two from our library

by ERA Architects

At ERA we often gather on a Wednesday morning or a Friday afternoon to share progress on recent projects, issues affecting our cities, or to look at both historical and contemporary research in architecture, landscape, planning, design, technique, process, theory, etc. Recently these titles came up for discussion: How to Study Public Life by Jan...

Tower Renewal crash course, update on “Showcase”

by ERA Architects

Recently ERA’s Graeme Stewart and Evergreen Cityworks‘ John Brodhead presented a webinar on Tower Renewal in partnership with the Social Innovation Generation and Cities for People. The webinar presents an impressive picture of the last eight years of Tower Renewal efforts, and includes discussion of Toronto’s unique built form in relation to other cities, its...

Architecture and value

by ERA Architects

This past November at Carleton University’s Forum Lecture Series, ERA’s Michael McClelland presented on how changing cultural values interact with how we practice architecture. Seeking to expand the range of what we think of as architecture, Michael’s talk asks, What should architects do? According to him, they shouldn’t only make buildings, but conduct research, engage...