THIRD YEAR UNDERGRADUATE
Jessica Iozzo & Matthew Chetcuti—Ontario Association of Architects Award


About the Award
For best demonstrated design excellence involving exemplary responses to the climate crisis in a project or assignment is presented to two students.



Connectivity forms the basis of growth and understanding ideas of the collective. Within the Oakwood-Vaughan community, the NIA Centre for the Arts aims to support minority groups through creative exploration and fostering connections between artists within Toronto. In this proposal for NIA Centre, this concept of interactivity comes into play through an interior streetscape that supports the intermingling of creative activities such as music, art and drama. With emphasis on the presence of community, this streetscape allows users to circulate about the perimeter of the three programmatic cores of the building fostering a direct connection between the streetscape below and activities of the interior. Creativity cannot prosper in isolation; for this reason the building utilizes diffuse glazing and translucent roof systems to permeate into modular spaces creating visual connections within each programmatic core. Further, the design focuses heavily on usage of sustainable materials and constructability, where CLT members and an active facade address ideas of technical expression.




Toronto Metropolitan Department of  Architectural Science Toronto, CA.