Alexandre Cassiani et François St-Hilaire, Architects, Partners Photo credit: Martine Doucet Menkès Shooner Dagenais LeTourneux Architectes (MSDL Architectes) has announced the appointment of Alexandre Cassiani and François St-Hilaire as partners to the firm. Cassiani and St-Hilaire have been part of the MSDL Architectes team for more than 10 years and both play a key role in their respective teams. Cassiani joined MSDL Architects in 2012, and has contributed to projects such as Maison Manuvie and Place Banque Nationale, the new 40-storey office tower housing BNC’s head office. He holds a mas ..read more

Photo credit: Le Canal de Lachine 4.0 A total of 18 applications were received after the City of Montréal announced it was seeking the services of three multidisciplinary teams to help design scenarios for both public and private lands in the economic areas adjacent to the Lachine Canal. Montréal and its partners launched Lachine Canal 4.0, a landmark urban transformation project to revitalize this industrial area, in the spring of 2023. Given the quality of the proposals received, the Economic Development Department has decided to award four mandates as opposed to three. Each team will work ..read more

Winner of a 2024 RAIC Architectural Journalism and Media Award Jim Taggert Jim Taggart left architectural practice in 1993 to pursue parallel interests in writing, editing and education. He started as a freelance writer whose byline soon became a regular fixture in various professional and trade magazines. In 2002, he was appointed as a contributing editor by both Canadian Architect and Wood Design & Building magazines.  When publisher Don Griffith left Wood Design & Building in 2005, he and Taggart conceived a new publication for the growing Canadian green building movement. Sus ..read more

Manitoba Women in Design By Marieke Gruwal (Winnipeg Architecture Foundation, 2024) Manitoba is an important site for the history of women architects in Canada. Between 1920 and 1960, the University of Manitoba graduated the highest number of women who became registered architects, totalling a third of Canadian-educated women registrants at that time.  Manitoba Women in Design offers a snapshot of dozens of these women, from Manitoba’s first registered woman architect, Elizabeth Lord (née Campbell), to the first woman graduate of the University’s landscape architecture program, Cynthia ..read more

  In our May issue Our May issue is a celebration of winners. Topping the list is the RAIC’s Gold Medal recipient, Justice Murray Sinclair. His recognition marks the growing importance of dialogues around Indigenization, de-colonization, and reconciliation within Canadian architecture. The RAIC International Prize winner, Aotearoa-based Ngā Aho, recognizes a national organization of Maori design professionals who have come together to support each other to better serve the design aspirations of Maori communities. Ngā Aho serves as an inspirational model for how Indigenous practitioners ..read more

In February 2019, the Senate and House of Commons moved to temporary locations while Parliament’s Centre Block, their permanent home, is rehabilitated. The House of Commons is currently situated in the restored West Block, designed by Architecture49 and EVOQ Architecture, architects in joint venture, while the Senate is currently located in a renovated Beaux-Arts train station designed by DSA-KWC Architects in joint venture. An HOK-WSP joint venture called CENTRUS is leading the design of the expansion, conservation and rehabilitation of the main facility of ..read more

Editor Elsa Lam was part of the OAA Design Excellence jury, which convened for in-person deliberations at the OAA Headquarters this spring. Photo OAA This month’s issue of Canadian Architect is a celebration of award winners: it features the laureates of the RAIC Gold Medal, the RAIC International Prize, the RAIC Annual Awards, and the National Urban Design Awards. As co-chair of the RAIC Awards Advisory Committee, and a jury member for numerous architectural awards over the past decade, I’ve had many opportunities to reflect on what makes for the most successful award programs—as well as the ..read more

Radoslav Zuk in his office. Photo by Manon Paquet It is with sadness that we announce the death on February 25, 2024, of our colleague Emeritus Professor Radoslav Zuk, B.Arch. ’56 (McGill), M.Arch. ’60 (MIT), D.Sc. ’92 Hon (Ukrainian Academy of Art). Ukrainian born, Radoslav completed high school and music studies in Austria before starting in architecture at McGill. Following internships and graduate study at MIT, he taught at the University of Manitoba and then returned to McGill as an Assistant Professor in 1966. Although he retired officially in 2003, he continued to teach until 2020, end ..read more

WINNER OF THE 2024 RAIC ARCHITECTURAL PRACTICE AWARD Dubbeldam’s office is located in a building on Toronto’s St. Clair West owned and renovated by the firm into a mixed-use creative hub. The building also includes a coworking space, a ground-floor marketing agency, an indie coffee shop, and a residential unit in a raised basement. Photo by Scott Norsworthy Founded by Heather Dubbeldam, a fourth-generation architect, Dubbeldam Architecture + Design has developed a reputation for innovative, beautifully crafted, and environmentally responsible projects that embody the spirit of place and peopl ..read more

Justice Murray Sinclair is the winner of this year’s RAIC Gold Medal. Photo courtesy Sinclair Family Born and raised on the former St. Peters Indian Reserve North of Selkirk, Manitoba, Justice Murray Sinclair has become a leader for human rights and reconciliation in Canada.  In 1980, Justice Sinclair was called to the Manitoba Bar and focused primarily on civil and criminal litigation, Indigenous Law, and Human Rights. Justice Sinclair was well-known for his passionate and thorough representation of his clients, Indigenous governments, Indigenous child welfare agencies, Friendship Centr ..read more