News

Directorship, School of Architecture

With great pleasure I announce that Dr. Ila Berman has accepted the position of O'Donovan Director of the University of Waterloo School of Architecture. Dr. Berman will take up the position in January 2014. She will become a regular faculty member, tenured at the rank of Full Professor in September 2013 starting with a non-teaching term that will allow her to complete several research and design projects before she takes up her administrative tasks.

The most prestigious design awards in the field of branding and marketing are the D&AD Awards in London, England. This year's Best of the Year in the Branding category of the student awards is Waterloo Architecture student Sam Vickars.

Local filmmaker James Anthony Usas was recognized with a Gold Remi for Experimental Drama for his film House of the Gathering, based on the history of Kitchener, starting from when the city was known as Berlin. The film was recognized by the 2013 WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival, based in Houston.

Waterloo Architecture Alumnus Paul Dowsett's firm, Sustainable T.O Architecture + Building, is the only Canadian firm to be short-listed for construction in an international competition for sustainable housing in Cambodia. Waterloo Architecture undergraduate students Kristin Allison and Sean Maciel were involved in the project while completing their co-op term.

Congratulations to Jiyeon Kim and Michelle Piotrowski who received an Honourable Mention for the LIVE·MAKE Industrial Arts Center Cincinnati architectural design competition! This project was completed as part of Terri Boake's ARCH 384 Competition Elective offered in the Winter 2013 term. Please visit the Industrial Arts Center Cincinnati website for the submission and further details.

Congratulations Jiyeon and Michelle!

Congratulations to University of Waterloo students Renee Hum-Hsiao, Elaina Poleto, Keegan Steeper, Joanne Yau and Thomas Yuan who received first prize for their design of an environmentally sustainable bank branch of the future. The winning team received $5,000 and an opportunity to meet with some of Canada's top architecture professionals at B+H.

Two Waterloo Architecture grads, David Colussi and Helena Grdadolnik (the very first M.Arch graduates in the School's history) founded Workshop Architecture in 2010. It has been named the top emerging architecture firm in Ontario. Warm congratulations to David and Helena!

The School of Architecture congratulates Beth Nenniger and Laura Austin, two of our fourth year students, who won a Velocity award to support their start-up company DraftingSpace. DraftingSpace was one of the four winners among 10 startups that made pitches to judges at the VeloCity Venture Fund finals at UW on Tuesday March 26, 2013.  Congratulations Beth and Laura!

Lateral Office has been selected to curate the 2014 Biennale project by the Canada Council for the Arts and the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.