Thesis Research Studio

Ever wonder what MArch thesis at UofT is like?

Last year the Masters of Architecture program at Daniels UofT switched from a self-directed thesis to a two-term studio. This meant that instead of having to determine a topic and find an advisor yourself, you were placed in a studio with a topic.

We came to the first class with a presentation of our past work and two possible ideas for what we wanted to do our project on. I really wanted to do something in Japan but at the time I couldn’t come up with a topic in three days that met the studio brief so I looked at another important issue which was indigenous reconciliation in Canada. I don’t know much about Ontario so I thought it would be an important aspect of my education to study the First Nations in Ontario.

My topic is the Carrying Place Trail.

The studio is organized around making a visual essay or film with supporting drawings and physical models. Last week I presented my film as at the term-end review. This is the cumulation of my research through the term in preparation for the winter term where I will be making a design.

Unfortunately two days before the review the school shut down because of COVID and so the review turned from an exhibition into a zoom meeting. The online review format wasn’t able to really show off the physical models I made that were suppose to be exhibited so I created another video. I’m quite proud of how these models turned out. They’re suppose to be idea models and they served to help me understand the project better and generate inspiration for possible design interventions. In this aspect they were very successful.

Related posts:

Why do we only get one free credit report in a year? Why is it that credit scores go down when you check it? I dont understand why we cant be entitled (through the gov) to view our credit…

Light is an amazing thing that I realize how grateful I am to observe and understand. Light is an element that stimulates sight which enables our ability to actually see things. Glorious photons I…

You know those developers who start coding and ask questions later? You don’t want to be them. These fools rush in without defining the problem space. The opposite of the kamikaze developer is not…