FOURTH YEAR UNDERGRADUATE
Jake Levy—FCCP (Ont) Education Foundation Architecture Award
![]()
Jake Levy—FCCP (Ont) Education Foundation Architecture Award
About the Award
FCCP (Ont) Education Foundation Architecture Award:
The Award recognizes excellence in design with a focus on urban planning issues, in an Architecture Option/Specialization studio.
Terraform
In the 2023/2024 academic term, students were tasked with designing a community hub for the Kensington Market and Trinity Bellwoods neighborhoods—two distinct socio-economic communities that share Alexandra Park. This park, often described as a patchwork, has developed in segments over time, leading to a fragmented identity where programs and buildings emerged independently. Before proposing a new community hub on the site, urban planning strategies to understand the essence of community and the importance of gathering spaces. Recognizing that the desire for social connection is fundamental to human experience, the project aimed to envision an environment that nourishes this need in a modern and practical setting. This initiative, dubbed Terraform, was driven by the act of gathering, reimagining community spaces as dynamic, self-sufficient, and inclusive environments. In Toronto’s dense urban fabric, Terraform seeks to weave the streetscape and landscape together. The design concept involves a green roof that extends from the surrounding park, serving as an extension of the community. This model poetically envisions a community that raises the land and finds shelter within it. The users of this community hub residents, designers, and neighbors of Toronto, highlighting the importance of catering to a diverse population, with different religions, language cultures or social economics, with varied needs. The heart of the design problem is to create a community hub that acts as a beacon for play, interaction, and creativity. The model emphasizes this through its urban corner, strategically located at a critical intersection to welcome the community, city, and its inhabitants.
FCCP (Ont) Education Foundation Architecture Award:
The Award recognizes excellence in design with a focus on urban planning issues, in an Architecture Option/Specialization studio.
Terraform
In the 2023/2024 academic term, students were tasked with designing a community hub for the Kensington Market and Trinity Bellwoods neighborhoods—two distinct socio-economic communities that share Alexandra Park. This park, often described as a patchwork, has developed in segments over time, leading to a fragmented identity where programs and buildings emerged independently. Before proposing a new community hub on the site, urban planning strategies to understand the essence of community and the importance of gathering spaces. Recognizing that the desire for social connection is fundamental to human experience, the project aimed to envision an environment that nourishes this need in a modern and practical setting. This initiative, dubbed Terraform, was driven by the act of gathering, reimagining community spaces as dynamic, self-sufficient, and inclusive environments. In Toronto’s dense urban fabric, Terraform seeks to weave the streetscape and landscape together. The design concept involves a green roof that extends from the surrounding park, serving as an extension of the community. This model poetically envisions a community that raises the land and finds shelter within it. The users of this community hub residents, designers, and neighbors of Toronto, highlighting the importance of catering to a diverse population, with different religions, language cultures or social economics, with varied needs. The heart of the design problem is to create a community hub that acts as a beacon for play, interaction, and creativity. The model emphasizes this through its urban corner, strategically located at a critical intersection to welcome the community, city, and its inhabitants.
