PINA PETRICONE
BArch, MArch II, OAA, AAA, FRAIC
Principal, Giannone Petricone Associates
Pina Petricone is a founding principal of Giannone Petricone Associates with Ralph Giannone. She guides the studio to deliver innovative, visionary, and widely recognized work and research by leading and advancing the firm’s creative and research output to be at the forefront of industry practice and professional knowledge. Pina oversees and guides projects with studio teams to optimise design quality, to foster teaching and learning, and to inspire and motivate all at GPA.
As a Principal of Giannone Petricone Associates and a Professor of Architecture at the University of Toronto, Pina’s dual role is a defining feature of the practice, enabling her to contribute intellectual rigor and research to the firm’s projects and processes, as well as to give real projects academic consideration. Pina teaches design and theory at all levels of the Master of Architecture program and has recently been awarded a LEAF Impact Grant by the Vice Provost for Innovation in Undergraduate Teaching to develop a unique design research internship program for BAAS students.
Pina has presented her work and research at several international conferences and symposia, including the Columbia University Think Tank on the Building Intelligence Project, IF World Conference at the Politecnico di Milano, the Banff sessions on Architecture in Banff, Alberta, and the Tectonics: Making Meaning Conference at the Eindhoven Technical University, Netherlands. Her work and research have been published widely in Canada, the U.S., Asia and Europe.
Pina received her undergraduate professional degree in architecture from the University of Toronto in 1991, a Master of Architecture II from Princeton University in 1995 and became a fellow of the Royal Architecture Institute of Canada in 2015.
BArch, MArch II, OAA, AAA, FRAIC
Principal, Giannone Petricone Associates
Pina Petricone is a founding principal of Giannone Petricone Associates with Ralph Giannone. She guides the studio to deliver innovative, visionary, and widely recognized work and research by leading and advancing the firm’s creative and research output to be at the forefront of industry practice and professional knowledge. Pina oversees and guides projects with studio teams to optimise design quality, to foster teaching and learning, and to inspire and motivate all at GPA.
As a Principal of Giannone Petricone Associates and a Professor of Architecture at the University of Toronto, Pina’s dual role is a defining feature of the practice, enabling her to contribute intellectual rigor and research to the firm’s projects and processes, as well as to give real projects academic consideration. Pina teaches design and theory at all levels of the Master of Architecture program and has recently been awarded a LEAF Impact Grant by the Vice Provost for Innovation in Undergraduate Teaching to develop a unique design research internship program for BAAS students.
Pina has presented her work and research at several international conferences and symposia, including the Columbia University Think Tank on the Building Intelligence Project, IF World Conference at the Politecnico di Milano, the Banff sessions on Architecture in Banff, Alberta, and the Tectonics: Making Meaning Conference at the Eindhoven Technical University, Netherlands. Her work and research have been published widely in Canada, the U.S., Asia and Europe.
Pina received her undergraduate professional degree in architecture from the University of Toronto in 1991, a Master of Architecture II from Princeton University in 1995 and became a fellow of the Royal Architecture Institute of Canada in 2015.
Project Spotlight
THE ROYAL
The Royal Hotel reimagines a landmark Victorian hotel for the 21st century. In so doing, it resuscitates a cultural hub at the centre of Picton’s growing community while setting a new standard for heritage projects for Prince Edward County at large. The dilapidated building was transformed to take its rightful place as an urban catalyst along Main Street whose design leverages the building’s history as indispensable to creating an experience that is transporting yet firmly rooted in the local context.
Playing on the expectations of the hotel’s history, we abstracted the quintessential tropes of a Victorian railway hotel, creating a rich contrast between the formalities of British tradition and the informalities of rural Ontario. In the dining room, the typical Victorian ceiling rosette was reinterpreted to emulate the underside of a mushroom. The treatment not only celebrates the agricultural spirit of PEC, but by interrupting the ceiling plane it also defies the historic structure’s limited ceiling heights to feel grander.
The petrification of Victorian textiles is a foundational design concept that guided key materials and motifs to have the power to transport visitors with the unexpected. The parlour’s undulating fireplace evokes starched white linens being unfurled, and wood-framed cross-stitched headboards recall embroidery still in its hoop. Tartan is rendered in mosaic tiles in guestroom bathrooms, and the bathroom vanities recall a scalloped tablecloth with the sink sitting atop like a bowl left behind. It’s a vignette evocative of a Victorian setting, but its articulation is unmistakenly contemporary.
Ultimately, the building’s former state of deterioration is reimagined to evoke a state of sublime transformation. Vintage elements along with collaborations with local artisans and artists help not only restore the lost lustre of the 31,000-square-foot railway hotel, but ultimately elevates it to a contemporary, inclusive, and convertible version
of itself.
THE ROYAL
The Royal Hotel reimagines a landmark Victorian hotel for the 21st century. In so doing, it resuscitates a cultural hub at the centre of Picton’s growing community while setting a new standard for heritage projects for Prince Edward County at large. The dilapidated building was transformed to take its rightful place as an urban catalyst along Main Street whose design leverages the building’s history as indispensable to creating an experience that is transporting yet firmly rooted in the local context.
Playing on the expectations of the hotel’s history, we abstracted the quintessential tropes of a Victorian railway hotel, creating a rich contrast between the formalities of British tradition and the informalities of rural Ontario. In the dining room, the typical Victorian ceiling rosette was reinterpreted to emulate the underside of a mushroom. The treatment not only celebrates the agricultural spirit of PEC, but by interrupting the ceiling plane it also defies the historic structure’s limited ceiling heights to feel grander.
The petrification of Victorian textiles is a foundational design concept that guided key materials and motifs to have the power to transport visitors with the unexpected. The parlour’s undulating fireplace evokes starched white linens being unfurled, and wood-framed cross-stitched headboards recall embroidery still in its hoop. Tartan is rendered in mosaic tiles in guestroom bathrooms, and the bathroom vanities recall a scalloped tablecloth with the sink sitting atop like a bowl left behind. It’s a vignette evocative of a Victorian setting, but its articulation is unmistakenly contemporary.
Ultimately, the building’s former state of deterioration is reimagined to evoke a state of sublime transformation. Vintage elements along with collaborations with local artisans and artists help not only restore the lost lustre of the 31,000-square-foot railway hotel, but ultimately elevates it to a contemporary, inclusive, and convertible version
of itself.
