Elsa Lam
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Articles by Elsa Lam
Editorial: Cultural Gifts
KESKUS, the International Estonian Centre, designed by Kongats Architecture, is currently under construction in Toronto. Photo by Riley Snelling In late August, hundreds of Estonians gathered in Toronto to celebrate construction progress on Keskus, the International Estonian Centre near St. George Subway Station in the centre of downtown.
Grounded in Nature: Indigenous House, University of Toronto Scarborough Campus
A Home Away from Home PROJECT Indigenous House, University of Toronto Scarborough Campus, Toronto, Ontario ARCHITECTS Formline Architecture + Urbanism in association with LGA Architectural Partners PHOTOS doublespace photography TEXT Taylor Tabobondung Welcome to Indigenous House: a place where Indigenous students can create community, engage in ceremony and find and achieve academic greatness.
Book Review: How to Build a River
Over the past six years, Toronto photographers Vid Ingelvics and Ryan Walker have been documenting the transformation of Toronto’s Port Lands. The $1.35 billion project has involved flood protecting over 200 hectares of downtown lands, and remaking some 30 hectares of industrial brownfields into a naturalized river valley system.
Super Nova: School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape (SAPL), Calgary, Alberta
The design team emphasized the building’s geometry by extending the existing notches into sharp points wrapped in hot-rolled steel, offering magnetic pin-up surfaces. Open shelving at the windows puts student models on display.
Place of Pride: Bouchier Indigenous Student Centre, Fort McMurray, Alberta
PHOTOS Greg Hidalgo Located in Treaty 8 Territory, Keyano College’s main campus is in the centre of Fort McMurray. The area is well known to Métis architect Tiffany Shaw, whose family is from the region. There is a large proportion of Indigenous people in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo—about 13 percent overall—and Fort McMurray is a hub for a dozen Nations, including Denesuline, Cree, and Métis peoples.
Report: Taking Stock
Dr. Annmarie Adams delivers a keynote presentation at the Taking Stock symposium. TEXT Jennifer Esposito, Shelagh McCartney, Maya Mahgoub-Desai, and Anne-Marie Armstrong PHOTOS Alexandra Berceanu In 2000, a landmark book asked a question the Canadian architecture community had quietly avoided for decades: where are the women?
New Legal Order: University of Victoria Indigenous Law Wing, Victoria, British Columbia
Peeled log columns are set in dense clusters along the main circulation route, creating an atmosphere akin to a walk in the forest. 19 of the log columns were recuperated from trees felled on campus.
Editorial: Sharing Space
Editor Elsa Lam at work in the friends’ flat where she co-works during the day. Photo by P. Kambitsch On a recent summer night, dozens of neighbours gathered for an informal evening concert on a tree-lined laneway in Riverdale, a residential neighbourhood east of downtown Toronto. It’s an area that has long been a magnet for professionals and creative professionals—doctors, lawyers, filmmakers, broadcasters, architects.
Boatbuilding and Belonging: Maritime Museum of the Atlantic Boat School, Halifax, Nova Scotia
A striking water-facing façade marks the boatbuilding school as a landmark to passing ferries, pleasure boats, and naval and merchant ships on the Halifax harbour. PROJECT Maritime Museum of the Atlantic Boat School ARCHITECT RHAD Architects TEXT T. E.
On the 2026 Governor General’s Awards: What does architecture need to do now?
Kìwekì Point, by Patkau Architects with Janet Rosenberg Studio. Photo by doublespace photography We live, as the old saying goes, in interesting times.
Entre Chien et Loup
Installation view, Abbas Akhavan: Entre chien et loup, 2026, Canada Pavilion, 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. Commissioned by the National Gallery of Canada and presented in partnership with the National Gallery of Canada Foundation and the Canada Council for the Arts. © Abbas Akhavan.
2026 Governor General’s Medals in Architecture
Every two years, the prestigious Governor General’s Medals in Architecture recognize and celebrate outstanding design in recently built projects by Canadian architects. The competition, established by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada in collaboration with the Canada Council for the Arts, continues a tradition initiated by the Massey Medals in 1950. Here are this year’s winners.
Book Review: The House is (Not) a Prison; Architectures Lesbiennes
The House is (Not) a Prison: On the Queerness of Architecture By Colin Ripley (Montreal: Concordia University Press, 2025) Architectures lesbiennes: Subversions du lien, de l’intime et de l’espace By Milena Charbit (Marseille: Shed Publishing, 2025) I am writing from within a so-called “living cell” designed by Le Corbusier—one that Colin Ripley reflects on in his book The House is (Not) a Prison: On the Queerness of Architecture.
A Cultural Journey into the Origins of Spain’s Ceramics Industry
Last February, Canadian Architect was invited to Spain’s Castellón province to attend Time of Spain, an initiative co-hosted by the Spanish Ceramic Tile Manufacturers’ Association (ASCER), which represents 90 percent of the country’s producers, and the Spanish government’s Institute for Foreign Trade.
Circle Wellness, Vancouver, BC
Designed as private sanctuaries, each spa pod includes a cedar soaking tub, cold plunge, and salt-block-lined infrared sauna. Photo by Ema Peter At the eastern edge of Vancouver’s Granville Island—a dense tangle of industrial buildings rendered into a lively marketplace and artisan hub in the early 1980s—a place of quiet stands out. This building, like many of its neighbours, is clad in corrugated metal and assembled from shipping containers.
No Flatlining in Flatland: Arthur House, Regina, Saskatchewan
The Arthur House’s concrete walls along its lot lines create framed courtyards that act as outdoor rooms for the home, providing abundant sunlight shielded from glare to the interior. PROJECT Arthur House, Regina, Saskatchewan ARCHITECT 5468796 Architecture TEXT Trevor Boddy PHOTOS James Brittain Regina is a city that keeps its architectural wonders hidden.
Book Review: Hidden Toronto
Hidden Toronto By Dave LeBlanc (Firefly Books, 2026) For over 20 years, writer Dave LeBlanc has delighted Canadians with his weekly Architourist columns for the Globe and Mail. Now, his rich knowledge of Toronto buildings and places comes to the foreground in a new book, Hidden Toronto. Blending history and observation, the book looks at some 50 places and elements that make up our cityscape.
Gateway to the Kootenays: Hall Street Pier, Nelson, BC
The new public pier includes a sculptural wooden canopy and a swimming area within Kootenay Lake. On the town end, a glass pavilion houses the historic 1922 Ladybird racing boat. PROJECT Hall Street Pier, Nelson, BC ARCHITECTS MBAC (Urban Design) with Stanley Office of Architecture Inc.
Miracle on the Prairies: Coronation Park Sports and Recreation Centre, Edmonton, Alberta
A glass link connects the new facility to the Peter Hemingway Aquatic Centre, creating North America’s first year-round indoor triathlon training space. PROJECT Coronation Park Sports and Recreation Centre, Edmonton, Alberta ARCHITECTS Joint venture between hcma architecture + design and Dub Architects, in collaboration with FaulknerBrowns TEXT Brian Allsopp PHOTOS Nic Lehoux The winter northern Prairie sun reflects off the copper-hued panels of a mysterious large object in the park.
Editorial: Notes to a graduating class
Photo by MD Duran on Unsplash This month’s Viewpoint is excerpted from editor Elsa Lam’s convocation remarks to the 2026 graduating class of the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design at the University of Toronto. Congratulations grads! You have reached the end of a major chapter in your lives. Your education has equipped you with skills particular to your discipline of study. But it has also grown your capacity to be critical thinkers and leaders in your field.
RAIC Emerging Architectural Firm Award: MOTIV Architects
The Granary is a mixed-use development featuring a boutique microbrewery, restaurant, and 36 townhouses, designed as a vibrant hub within the Southlands Market District. Photo by Andrew Latreille Architectural Photography Vancouver-based MOTIV Architects was co-founded by architects Tracey Mactavish and Asher deGroot in 2017. In the past nine years, the firm has evolved as a practice structured around positive environmental and social impact as its primary motivator.
RAIC Prix du XXe siècle: Lalme’ Iwesawtexw
The school’s massing protects the village common space from harsh winter winds. The sculptural forms are clad in cedar shingles that, over time, have taken on shades from a soft silver-grey to a deep red-brown depending upon orientation and exposure. Photo by Patkau Architects Inc. Lalme’ Iwesawtexw (Seabird Island Community School) stands as a landmark project in the evolution of Indigenous education and architecture in Canada.
RAIC Architectural Journalism & Media Award: Mobs and Microbes
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.
RAIC Prix du XXe siècle: École de Design, Université de Québec a Montréal
The building’s playful main elevation facing Rue Sanguinet hints at the dynamic composition of spaces within. Photo by Michel Brunelle Canadian cities host two kinds of universities: historical institutions founded around the nineteenth century, and modern ones established soon after 1945.
2026 RAIC Gold Medal: Pat Hanson | Editorial Viewpoint
A series of study models explores geometric variations for the Stormwater Facility in Toronto, Ontario. This special issue of Canadian Architect celebrates 2026 RAIC Gold Medal winner Pat Hanson, and the work of her firm, gh3*. Hanson’s exceptional design abilities came onto my radar when gh3*—then just a six-year-old-firm—won two of five projects in an open national design competition for park pavilions in Edmonton.
2026 RAIC Gold Medal: Pat Hanson | Testimonials
Pat Hanson’s sketches for the Leslie Lookout Tower’s portals facing the cardinal directions—north, south, east and west. Carol Bélanger FRAIC City Architect, City of Edmonton Edmonton has always been a city that rewards clarity of purpose. We build in a climate that demands resilience, for communities that value authenticity over pretence. Perhaps that is why Pat Hanson’s work resonates so deeply here.
2026 RAIC Gold Medal: Pat Hanson | 2006-2026
Oversized pivoting steel doors at the Borden Park Natural Swimming Pool in Edmonton, Alberta. TEXT Elsa Lam IMAGES Raymond Chow / gh3*, unless otherwise noted Pat Hanson was born in Lajord, a Norwegian farming community in Saskatchewan, and moved to a new house in a Regina suburb as a child. She took art classes as a child and teenager, and eventually enrolled as an art major at the University of Regina. At this smaller university, the only art classes offered were in art history.
RAIC Architectural Practice Award: Moriyama Teshima Architects
From left to right, top to bottom, MTA partners Ronan Bauer, Diarmuid Nash, Ben Feldman, Urvish Patel, Brian Rudy, Phil Silverstein, Carol Phillips, and Emmanuelle van Rutten. Photo by Annemarie Minardi Origins Raymond Moriyama founded his architectural practice in Toronto in 1958 and established a partnership with Ted Teshima in 1970. Early in life, as Japanese Canadians, they experienced the removal of citizenship during the Second World War.
RAIC Research & Innovation Award: Resource Circularity—Reimagining Cities as Regenerative Ecosystems
As cities transition from mitigation to adaptation, Resource Circularity proposes architecture as an active contributor to urban resilience. By equipping architects with a structured method to evaluate and integrate productive infrastructure, the research establishes a durable foundation for future practice, research, and policy engagement. By 2050, nearly 70% of the global population will live in cities.
RAIC Prix du XXe siècle: Ontario Science Centre
A canopy-level bridge connects between the main entrance building and the exhibition areas, which cascade down into the Don Valley. Photo by James Brittain Opened in 1969 and among the last of Canada’s Centennial projects, the Ontario Science Centre is an architectural masterpiece that has touched the lives of millions of young Canadians.
RAIC International Prize: Material Cultures
From left to right: George Massoud, Summer Islam and Paloma Gormley, co-directors at Material Cultures. The not-for-profit UK-based design and research studio is the winner of this year’s RAIC International Prize.
2026 RAIC Gold Medal: On Pat Hanson / gh3*
This year’s RAIC Gold Medal recognizes Pat Hanson’s work from the past twenty years at the helm of gh3*, the studio formed in 2006. Rather than an oeuvre developing over time, these projects appear—strikingly—as fully mature works secure in concept, technique, and handling of form and materials.
2026 RAIC Gold Medal: Pat Hanson | Jury Comments & On Receiving the Gold Medal
Jury Comments Her work is recognized as a powerful and conceptually rigorous body of architecture that consistently elevates infrastructural and utilitarian typologies into poetic and dignified public spaces. Through pure and expressive forms, refined detailing, and a deep commitment to user experience, her projects transform even the most challenging programs—such as bus terminals, swimming pools, and other public infrastructure—into elegant and inspiring works of architecture.
Sweetening Edmonton Life: O-day’min Park and Pavilion
The pavilion’s barrel vaulting nods to historic modern buildings in the city, speaking to a time when park pavilions were celebratory. Photo by Raymond Chow / gh3* Visiting O-day’min Park during opening week, I’m struck by the noise and laughter of children playing. It’s a familiar sound in cities with high-density downtown neighbourhoods, but not something I’m used to in central Edmonton.
RAIC Advocate for Architecture Award: Christopher Glaisek
Biidaasige Park, the largest Toronto park to open in a generation, is at the heart of a project that renaturalized the mouth of the Don River, and opened development potential for 400 hectares of land by removing it from the floodplain.
From Na├"ve-but-Earnest Intern to Game Changer
We are in the middle of an extraordinary revolution. Artificial Intelligence will (eventually) change the way we do everything-not just architecture. New AI-based products, or ones that claim to be AI-based, are being released every day and the power of AI is increasing exponentially. By the time this article is published, it will be hopelessly out of date. As architects, we clearly cannot ignore AI.
Geoffrey Turnbull
There is no singular response to our housing crisis. The challenges are overwhelming, especially when so many of the decisive choices are made by politicians, bankers, developers and investors before architects are invited to the discussion. And yet, as professionals, we understand what can be built after what is deemed legal or financeable.
A strategic briefing for the architecture profession
Federal Policy, Local Impact: The Engagement and Influence of Architects Three years ago, Justin Trudeau said housing wasn't a primary federal responsibility. Today, not only is Canada in a housing affordability crisis, but Build Canada Homes (BCH), the new federal agency-turned-Crown Corporation tasked with building affordable housing at record speed and scale, is already largely staffed, selecting projects, and hoping to break ground by this fall.
A Complex Housing Ecosystem
Over the past decade, the issue of housing affordability has come into sharp focus. When I left Canadian Architect in 2012, the average home price in Toronto was just under $500,000. In 2025 that figure exceeded $1 million for the fifth consecutive year; by January 2026 it had dipped marginally to $950,000. A glut in the condo market is just one factor contributing to this price correction.
Housing in Action
The 21st century has belonged to urbanists. In civic discourse concerning the built environment, issues of affordability, ecology and spatial equity have risen to new prominence since the turn of the millennium. Amidst deepening and deeply intertwined crises of housing access and climate change, previously nebulous topics like zoning law and land use policy became a locus of political dialogue.
Housing Leadership by Design: Johanna Hurme
There is no singular response to our housing crisis. The challenges are overwhelming, especially when so many of the decisive choices are made by politicians, bankers, developers and investors before architects are invited to the discussion. And yet, as professionals, we understand what can be built after what is deemed legal or financeable.
Gregory Henriquez
There is no singular response to our housing crisis. The challenges are overwhelming, especially when so many of the decisive choices are made by politicians, bankers, developers and investors before architects are invited to the discussion. And yet, as professionals, we understand what can be built after what is deemed legal or financeable.
Housing Leadership by Design: ZoĆ" Coombes
There is no singular response to our housing crisis. The challenges are overwhelming, especially when so many of the decisive choices are made by politicians, bankers, developers and investors before architects are invited to the discussion. And yet, as professionals, we understand what can be built after what is deemed legal or financeable.
Housing Leadership by Design: Carol Phillips
There is no singular response to our housing crisis. The challenges are overwhelming, especially when so many of the decisive choices are made by politicians, bankers, developers and investors before architects are invited to the discussion. And yet, as professionals, we understand what can be built after what is deemed legal or financeable.
Housing Resources
Our selection of key publications, funding sources, housing organizations, and other resources related to increasing the stock of affordable housing in Canada. Guides and Catalogues ReHousing provides tools and guidance for converting single-family houses into multi-unit housing, including typology-based renovation pathways. Its resources include Toronto-specific property tools such as budgeting and feasibility information.
Indigenous Hub, Toronto, Ontario
PROJECT Indigenous Hub, Toronto, Ontario ARCHITECTS BDP Quadrangle, Stantec Architecture, Two Row Architect, ERA Architects TEXT Elsa Lam PHOTOS James Brittain unless otherwise noted The Indigenous Hub is Toronto's best-sounding block. As you approach from the south, a fringe made of tens of thousands of metal beads, hung from the eaves of the Indigenous Community Health Centre, rustles in the wind, making a sound uncannily like a babbling brook.
From Intervention to Institution
In the 2022 book Why Public Space Matters, urban anthropologist Setha Low draws on decades of ethnographic research to provide a compelling argument that public space is essential to human flourishing and a healthy civic life. As Low outlines, high quality public space supports social justice and democratic practices, health and well-being, play and recreation, informal economy and social capital, environmental and ecological sustainability, and cultural identity and place attachment.
Canada's Ice Huts
TEXT Mark Bessoudo PHOTOS Richard Johnson Growing up along the shores of the Kennebecasis River in Renforth, New Brunswick, I watched as ice fishing huts appeared each winter on the frozen surface. They arrived with the season, clustered closely together-part settlement, part mirage-and vanished just as predictably. I never fished from them. My relationship to these structures was almost entirely visual, formed through repeated observation until their presence became habitual.
Architecture and Videogames-Intersecting Worlds
Edited by Vincent Hui, Ryan Scavnicky, and Tatiana Estrina (Routledge, 2025) Review by Ksenia Eic As an architect and avid gamer, I have long been aware of the many intersections between architecture and videogames. But there are precious few books on this large subject. The editors of a new volume by Routledge acknowledge this fact, and took the opportunity to cover as much ground as they could.
Pôle municipal de Vaudreuil-Dorion, Vaudreuil-Dorion, Quebec
PROJECT Pôle municipal de Vaudreuil-Dorion, Vaudreuil-Dorion, Quebec ARCHITECTS Lapointe Magne et associés and L'ŒUF Architectes TEXT Odile Hénault PHOTOS David Boyer, unless otherwise noted In June 2025, a new building was inaugurated in Vaudreuil-Dorion, a rapidly growing municipality just west of Montreal. Home to a city hall and a public library, this recent addition to a traditional suburban landscape is more than the sum of its parts.
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