DAS NEWS

In this issue: Year End Show 2026 | Msko-mjigoodenh Giizhigad / Red Dress Day | Say It Loud Exhibition | CVU Walking Tours | Doors Open Toronto & more!

Year End Show 2026: Open Until June 23rd!

Visit us at 325 Church St. as PHC Gallery as well as all studio spaces will be open to the public until June 23, 2026. A map of the space to guide your tour can be found here.

Thank you to our YES 2026 Sponsors!

Msko-mjigoodenh Giizhigad / Red Dress Day

This year at TMU, we are commemorating this day by having a Gathering Circle which includes a pipe ceremony and our third annual outdoor Red Dress Exhibit | Msko-mjigoodenh Zhinoomaagewin. The exhibit will be a visible reminder, bringing forth awareness of the targeted gendered and racialized crimes against the Indigenous Peoples. 

All community members are invited to visit and observe the Msko-mjigoodenh Zhinoomaagewin | Red Dress Exhibit located this year at Sankofa Square (formerly Yonge-Dundas).

Doors Open Toronto May 23rd - 24th

As with previous years, this year DAS is participating in Doors Open Toronto from May 23 - May 24. Completed in 1981, our unique brutalist building with dramatic atriums was designed by the acclaimed Canadian architect Ron Thom (1923-1986). Thom also designed Massey College (1963) at the University of Toronto, the master plan for Trent University (1967) including the Bata Library and the Champlain and Lady Eaton Colleges, the Toronto Zoo (1974), the Shaw Festival Theatre in Niagara-on-the-Lake (1973) and numerous other projects, including many houses in British Columbia celebrated as examples of west-coast modernism. 

This is a great opportunity to see both the building and the year end show, with student work from all levels!

Learning from the Land

As part of CAFÉ 2026: Indigenous Knowledge and Design, the Upper Atrium of the Department of Architectural Science (DAS) hosted a week-long exhibition of student work from Indigenous-led courses at DAS. Presented by the Canadian Architecture Students Association (CASA-ACÉA), the exhibition showcased select student work from ARC920 Advanced Architecture Design Studio (Fall 2024, Fall 2025), led by Erik Skouris (Two Row Architect), and AR8106 Current Topics in Architectural Praxis: Indigenous Form Making (Fall 2025), led by James Bird (Moriyama Teshima Architects / Massey College), along with other Indigenous curriculum development initiatives in DAS, which have been underway since Spring 2024.

Canadian Architect profiles award-winning book co-edited by DAS Professor Dr. Leila Farah

The WPA’s renovation of New Orleans’ St. Roch Market introduced clean, streamlined interiors, tiles, and brightly painted surfaces—an approach that epitomized America’s renewed commitment to public health. Courtesy of the Louisiana Division / City Archives of the New Orleans Public Library

Co-edited by Leila Marie Farah (Toronto Metropolitan University) and Samantha L. Martin (University College Dublin), and published by Leuven University Press, the book Mobs and Microbes: Global Perspectives on Market Halls, Civic Order, and Public Health presents new research on market halls, crossing between architectural history, urban history, and urban studies.

“Markets have always been, on some level, anchors of community. Over the past several decades, these complexes have been cast as civic monuments and framed as centers of urban revitalization,” write co-editors Farah and Martin. “Prior to 2020, whenever a newspaper or magazine featured a market hall, it was typically in the context of a heritage or conservation campaign.”

SAY IT LOUD – Toronto Coming September 2026

Mark your calendars for September 2026! SAY IT LOUD - Toronto—a collaboration between BAIDA, SOSA, and DAS-TMU—will launch in physical and online formats. The exhibition celebrates up to 50 architects through data, graphics, storytelling, and networking. Rooted in the internationally acclaimed Beyond the Built Environment initiative founded by Pascale Sablan, this event showcases diverse excellence in design.

Interested in submitting your work? Review the guidelines in the online portal. For sponsorship inquiries, contact Julia Jamrozik at jamrozik@torontomu.ca.

Join CVU’s Summer Walking Tours:

Free Passes for the DAS Community

Looking for a summer learning opportunity? The Council on Vertical Urbanism Canada invites the DAS community to two pilot walking tours: a PATH tour led by the City of Toronto’s James Parakh, and a transit-oriented development tour with guides from UrbanToronto. Six runs of each tour are planned (max 20 people per tour).

Students and faculty can join for free using promo code TMU-COMMUNITY (10 passes available). Additional passes are 50% off with code CVU-MEMBER. Full details and schedule: buytickets.at/cvucanadaoffice.

DIALOG's Architectural Scholarship Deadline May 22nd!

This scholarship is open to students enrolled in a Canadian architecture school who are entering their final year of a professional architecture degree program.

The scholarship includes C$5,000 in funding for the recipient’s final research thesis, C$3,000 to cover travel and project-related expenses, and a public presentation organized by DIALOG. Students are invited to submit their application by May 22, 2026.

Scholarship Details

The Architectural Scholarship in Honour of Michael Evamy provides financial assistance to the selected student to undertake a specific research project based on a field of study of interest to him/her/them. The intent of the study is to enrich and advance the candidate’s personal and professional experience and knowledge on a topic relevant to the practice of architecture.

Selection will be based on the following criteria:

• The candidate’s expressed interest in the scholarship and his/her/their chosen field of study.

• The specific nature of the investigation relative to his/her/their chosen field of study.

• Demonstrated academic achievement and leadership ability.

• The successful candidate will be notified and the award will be publicly announced.

Applications are due at 11:59 p.m. MT on May 22, 2026.

Student Research Volunteers Wanted:
Park Social Inclusion Study

Join a collaborative research project led by Dr. Samantha Biglieri, Dr. Terri Peters, and the City of Toronto, along with PhD student Yaxin Jiang, exploring how public park design and infrastructure affect social belonging and exclusion.

We are seeking DAS student volunteers to assist with data collection across 10 Toronto parks in May 2026. Activities include:

• Observational studies of built environment features in parks

• Intercept surveys with park users

This is a valuable opportunity to gain hands-on research experience at the intersection of design, public space, and social equity.

📋 Interested? Please review the recruitment poster and complete the recruitment form.

Apply Now: 2027 Venice Fellowship

The call for applications for the 2027 Venice Fellowship is now open!

This fellowship offers a unique opportunity to spend one month conducting independent research in Venice, Italy, while serving as an exhibition ambassador for Canada’s official entry to the 20th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia (May 8 – November 21, 2027).

Who can apply?

• Students enrolled in a Canadian school of architecture

• Early-career arts practitioners in disciplines including visual arts, architecture, dance, media arts, literary arts, music, theatre, and related fields

Fellowships: The Canada Council will award 21 fellowships. Priority will be given to applicants who self-identify as First Nations, Inuit or Métis, Black, racialized, Deaf or having a disability; members of official language minority communities; youth; 2SLGBTQ+; members of gender-diverse communities; women; and those at intersections of these identities.

Deadline: June 17, 2026

Click the link below to learn more about the call and meet the 2025 Venice Fellowship recipients.

Éclos Capsule Collection Call for Submissions

DesignTO is pleased to announce a new open call in partnership with Cosentino: the Éclos Capsule Collection. This competition invites Canadian designers to explore the creative potential of Éclos, a next-generation mineral surface, through the design of furniture, objects, or sculptural works that push the material beyond surface and into form.

Key Details

• Who can apply: Canadian designers living in Canada or abroad, including students and professionals
• What to submit: Proposals for furniture, objects, or sculpture using Éclos as the primary material
• Artist fee: $1,000 CAD for selected designers
• Submission: Online form (multiple entries permitted)

Selected by a jury of industry professionals, designs will be fabricated in Toronto and presented as part of the 2026 Éclos Capsule Collection. Participants will benefit from exhibition opportunities in major Canadian and U.S. cities, inclusion in a coordinated press campaign, and access to professional photography—offering a platform to expand your practice and share your work with new audiences.

Deadline for submissions: Friday, May 22, 2026 at 11:59pm ET

Complimentary RAIC Membership for Students

Follow these three steps to apply for RAIC membership: 

• Download the application form that matches your qualifications
• Complete the fillable PDF
• Email the form and any required supporting documentation to membership@raic.org.

Design Competition:
Tactical Urbanism Now! The Revolution of Public Space

Participants are invited to explore how temporary, lightweight interventions can act as powerful tools for testing ideas, responding to local conditions and rethinking the future of public space.

Rather than fixed solutions,  this competition looks for proposals conceived as prototypes: flexible, testable and rooted in real urban life. Whether addressing climate stress, reclaiming space for people or strengthening community ties, the goal is to show how small-scale interventions can unlock new possibilities and reshape the urban experience over time. Submissions due by October 20.

ACSA Competitions

ACSA has a long precedence in creating and providing competitions for students and faculty. ACSA competitions are national and international in scope, offering unique opportunities to investigate, develop, and challenge systematic approaches to design. Entries are critiqued and judged by a jury of experts with diverse backgrounds. Competitions also assist instructors with developing a range of design challenges for use in their courses.

2026 Japan IDPA International Pioneer Design Award

Competition - Spatializing Justice: Building Blocks

Competition: Mass Timber Innovation and Design Center
of Canada

Vertical Urbanism Resources

2026 AZ Awards Gala: Celebrating Excellence in Design

CASA-ACÉA People's Choice Awards

TMU Student Care - Reminder of Services

Giving Tuesday