School: University of Toronto
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Undergraduate program: Bachelor of Arts
Graduate program: Master of Architecture
Number of students: 1,000 (undergraduate), 275 (graduate)
Number of faculty: 52
Notable alumni: George Baird, John H. Daniels, Raymond Moriyama, Bruce Kuwabara, David Pontarini, Ken Greenberg, Don Schmitt, David Sisam
Website: daniels.utoronto.ca
Strengths: A sparkling new home base providing a powerful multidisciplinary “ecosystem” for architecture learning in a city defined by its booming growth and transformation
The overview: In 2017, the university’s John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design took up residence in the state-of-the-art One Spadina Crescent building, a 140-year-old Gothic Revival landmark reimagined as a 21st-century teaching and research facility through a $69-million overhaul and expansion. The new facility beefs up the robust Architecture program’s digital material and fabrication technologies, and the department also looks at the vibrant Toronto region as its extended laboratory for “the pursuit of new knowledge and forms of practice … to produce flexible, adaptable and critical minds.” While the Honours BA is an introduction to architectural studies, the Masters degree not only looks to train adept professionals but also to “redefine the relationship between building design, material fabrication and urbanism by examining the ways in which architecture can address questions of cultural relevance, modern craft and environmental durability.”