News

The Waterloo Architecture community wishes to congratulate the 52 students who have completed their Master of Architecture degree. While we can't celebrate in person, the Class of Spring 2020 were sent a video of congratulatory messages from faculty, participated in a virtual toast (image below), and on June 20th joined the Class of 2020 Virtual Convocation Celebration.

Warm congratulations to all – we are so pleased to welcome your wonderful group to our growing family of alumni!

Congratulations to Waterloo Architecture undergraduate students Matthew Lam and Benjamin Ma, who received an honourable mention for their joint project Duality at the FORM 2020 Student Innovation Competition by Formica.

Waterloo Architecture would like to congratulate MArch student Edward WooHyun Chung, whose PokoPoko Table was announced as a Winner of the NYCxDESIGN Awards. The PokoPoko Table was chosen as the only winner from Canada in the student category. 

Nomadic Architecture: A New Way Of Living on the Go

Professor Anne Bordeleau has been re-appointed as O’Donovan Director, School of Architecture for a four-year term commencing May 1, 2020.

During her first term as Director, Professor Bordeleau established herself as an inspirational leader for students, faculty and staff in the School. Guided by a strong vision, the School made considerable improvements on many fronts including curriculum, graduate programming and student wellbeing. 

Morphogenesis Dress, Iris van Herpen with Philip Beesley/Living Architecture Systems Group, for the Sensory Seas collection, Paris Fashion Week January 2020 (photograph: Philip Beesley)

The idea of prefabricating hospitals to contain epidemics has a long history that includes a Danish-designed felt hut, in widespread use over a century ago.

Read Historian Robert Jan van Pelt's Going Viral, featured in Canadian Architect.

Assistant Professor David Correa's Wander Wood Pavilion is featured in The Architect's Newspaper. The Wander Wood Pavilion was fabricated and assembled over three days to demonstrate the wide range of forms and applications timber can have when applied to robotic fabrication methods.

Read more at: The Architect's Newspaper

Read more at: Canadian Architect (Feb. 2019)

The home of the future might constantly adapt to its residents

Imagine if your home reacted to your arrival — not with a robotic Alexa or Google greeting, but by physically adapting to your presence to make you feel welcome. Hallways might self-generate as you need them, and rooms would reshape to suit your needs.

From the Buddhist concept of completeness in Nirvana to James Hilton’s Shangri La, a utopian place of perfection, to the biblical depiction of heaven, to Dante’s aethereal and so on, man has always strived to find the sublime beauty. 

Philip Beesley describes himself as a sculptor who is dedicated to building prototypes for the future. But I would say he is one of the last dreamers and a maker of sublime worlds – worlds that are right here, on earth, accessible to anyone.