The 2021 Toronto Urban Design Awards program acknowledges and celebrates those who are helping to improve communities by shaping the physical environment and recognizes the significant contribution that architects, landscape architects, urban designers, artists, design students and city builders make to the look and livability of our city.
The awards provide a snapshot of what has been accomplished and enables us to reflect on how we can best contribute to the process of city-building and inspires us to keep raising the bar.
| Date | Action |
|---|---|
| February 25, 2021 | Call for Entries |
| April 26, 2021 | Project Entry Deadline |
| May 20, 2021 | Sponsorship Deadline |
| September 14, 2021 | Virtual Awards Ceremony |
Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture and Urbanism
Director of the Centre for Landscape Research, University of Toronto
Fadi Masoud is an Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture and Urbanism at the University of Toronto and the Director of the Centre for Landscape Research. His research, teaching, and design work focuses on the relationships between environmental systems, design, and instrumental planning policy tools. Masoud currently leads research projects on climate adaptive urban and landscape design, novel resilient urban codes, and the future of metropolitan public open space. Prior to joining the University of Toronto, Masoud held teaching and research appointments at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design and Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Urban Studies and Planning. Masoud trained and practiced as a planner, landscape architect, and urban designer. He is the editor of Terra-Sorta-Firma: Reclaiming the Littoral Gradient, an atlas of urbanism on reclaimed land (Actar 2021). Masoud currently sits on Waterfront Toronto’s Design Review Panel and was a member of the City of Toronto’s Urban Flooding’s Working Group.
Principal, Diamond Schmitt
Michael Leckman is a Principal with Diamond Schmitt. As founding member and Co-Chair of Toronto’s Design Review Panel, he has shaped a critical debate on city planning. Michael has also contributed to the profession as guest critic and lecturer at schools of architecture across Canada, and speaker at industry conferences, including the CaGBC, the Urban Land Institute, and the OAA. He champions sustainable innovation, which has enabled new approaches to green building design. Michael is responsible for major academic and cultural projects across North America with aggressive sustainable design mandates, including LEED, Net Zero Energy, and the Living Building Challenge.
Founder, Land Art Design Landscape Architect Inc.
With over 30 years of experience in landscape architecture, Jackie is the founder at Land Art Design Landscape Architects Inc., based in Toronto.
Jackie has served on the Hamilton Design Review Panel and is currently on the Burlington Urban Design Panel.
She specializes in the design of multi-use developments, streetscapes, open spaces, and parks in the urban environment. She is committed to creating high quality, unique designs that build beautiful livable cities with moment of wonder and awe. Each project develops the best sustainable practices of LEED or Green Standards within the various municipalities. Having grown up on farms she is focused on expanding our natural environments in our cities, recognizing the physical and mental health and wellness benefits of time with nature. To that end, for each of her projects, she makes a donation to Grand Trees for the planting of native trees in the GTA.
Principal Architect, Smoke Architecture Inc.
KaaSheGaaBaaWeak | Eladia Smoke is Anishinaabekwe from Obishikokaang | Lac Seul First Nation, with family roots in Alderville First Nation, Winnipeg, and Toronto. Eladia has worked in architecture since 2002, founded Smoke Architecture as principal architect in 2014, teaches as a Master Lecturer at Laurentian’s McEwen School of Architecture, and serves as a founding member of RAIC’s Indigenous Task Force. Eladia represented Canada at the 2018 Venice Biennale Unceded exhibition as part of an international team of Indigenous designers and architects. Current professional work includes community-based and institutional projects working alongside Indigenous stakeholders, collaborating with First Nation communities, and listening closely to our Elders.