A warm welcome to our new and returning staff and students for the winter semester.
We have already had a busy and productive academic year in the School of Architecture. In the fall we were pleased to host two Sheff Visiting Professors who led the M1 studio: Manon Asselin and Katsuhiro Yamazaki from Atelier TAG. Current Sheff Visiting Professors are Judith Leclerc and Jaime Coll from Barcelona, participating in the international studio with Montreal architect Talia Dorsey and Prof. Robert Mellin. This year we also welcomed new part-time professors Marc Hallé, Morgan Carter, Marc-André Plourde and new media technician Juan Osorio.
Our students continue to make us proud. This year they’ve already garnered top prizes for their design projects, innovative papers and competition entries. Faculty members, too, continue to attract research funding, competitive fellowships, and honours. Our post-professional option, Urban Design and Housing, for example, was called out by Azure magazine as a particularly innovative program.
Prof. Aaron Sprecher has organized another dynamic lecture series, comprised of practitioners and theorists from around the globe. Witold Rybczynski delighted us with a preview of his forthcoming book to kick-off the series. Next, Jean-Pierre Chupin introduced us to the world of architectural competitions via the analogical thinking of the late Prof. Peter Collins. Our exhibition series, too, brings colleagues and friends from outside the School into the heart of the Macdonald-Harrington Building for the opportunity to look at original architectural shows and meet with students and faculty in a unique learning environment.
This semester has brought some personal highlights for me too. On February 1, I attended the presentation of the Governor General’s Medals in Architecture at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, reconnecting with former Principal David Johnston. And I was honoured to join historians Natalie Zemon Davis and Prof. Elizabeth Elbourne for a lively debate on the shifting boundaries of gender studies on Valentine’s Day.
As usual, summer travel opportunities abound within the School. Thanks to the Wilfred Truman Shaver scholarship, a group of lucky third-year students will accompany Prof. David Covo on an architectural tour of Romania in July 2013. Prof. Ricardo Castro will teach ARCH 379 Summer Course Abroad in Greece.
We look forward to celebrating with architect Blanche Lemco van Ginkel (B. Arch. 1945) as she receives an honorary doctorate from McGill at Convocation on May 28!
Accomplished alumni, generous donors, inspired visitors, talented students, productive professors, and outstanding opportunities continue to make the school a unique and inspiring place to study architecture.
Prof. Annmarie Adams
19 February 2013
