News

The University of Waterloo would like to honour and recognize our fellow colleagues who celebrate milestones of distinguished service to the University of Waterloo community.

These recipients who celebrate their loyal and tireless work have left a legacy of excellence that has developed the University of Waterloo into a world-class institution.

Waterloo Architecture would like to congratulate our colleagues celebrating a milestone in 2021:

Two architects who have compiled a long list of accomplishments since graduating from the University of Waterloo added to it this week with a prestigious award from a national organization.

Brigitte Shim and A. Howard Sutcliffe, who met at Waterloo and graduated together from the School of Architecture in 1983, were named the winners of the 2021 Gold Medal by the Royal Architecture Institute of Canada (RAIC).

A UWSA segment of the From Behind the Mask quilt is now installed at the school, next to the Melville Café entrance! These blocks are authored by members of the UWSA community, tying their stories back to the site of the school. 

Can the buildings that we live in come alive? Could such living buildings help us to create a healthier, more sustainable future?

What does it really mean to be a smart city or healthy city and are we even close to living sustainably in urban environments? Will the pandemic and rise of working from home affect how we design city life and civic spaces now and in the future? What does an age-friendly city look like over the next couple of decades? These timely questions and more will be addressed by a panel of alumni and academia experts as we examine where architecture and city design are headed in light of a great social upheaval.

Elsa Lam, Canadian Architect editor and Waterloo Architecture graduate, reached out to Jaliya Fonseka, a recent graduate and adjunct faculty member of the University of Waterloo School of Architecture, and Anne Bordeleau, as Chair of the Canadian Council of University Schools of Architecture, to share their perspectives on equity in architectural education and beyond.

Congratulations to MArch students Christopher Hardy and Poorna Patange, Associate Professor Val Rynnimeri, along with team members from the University of Waterloo and the University of Toronto, for receiving an Honourable Mention for their project submission, The Spine. Of 105 submitted entries from graduate teams around the world, the UW and UofT Hines Competition team earned a spot in the top 10!

Waterloo Architecture wishes to congratulate David Correa and llLab. for the project Bamboo Bamboo, Canopy and Pavilions, winner of ArchDaily's Building of the Year 2021, in the category Small Scale & Installations.

Online, February 6, 2021

WA Professor Philip Beesley participated in a panel at a DigitalFUTURES Young talk, moderating and responding to Interactive Architecture research from five design teams. Philip was joined by moderators Virginia Melnyk and Gustavo Rincon, with presentations by Roshni Gera + Misbah Shehreen Baig + Yunzhu Duan + Elisavet Konstantinidou, Mümün Keser, Mona Ghandi, Zoe Diakak + Marina Mersiadou, and Irem Bugdayci.

We would like to extend warmest congratulations to Robert Jan van Pelt, who has received the Engineering Research Excellence Award in the Professor category.