Tuesday, November 18, 2025
After 4 amazing days of film screenings, Q&As, and panel discussions—and even one very fun and educational trivia night!—the 7th annual Architecture and Design Film Festival (ADFF) Toronto has come to a close.
The largest North American festival of its kind, for almost two decades ADFF has entertained and educated audiences on architecture and design through moving and thoughtful films capturing our built environment and those who shape it. With editions in New York, Vancouver, and Los Angeles, the TSA is proud to be a Toronto partner of this travelling festival, providing logistical, volunteer and programming support right here in our home city.
Held at the iconic TIFF Lightbox, the Toronto edition of ADFF 2025 featured 13 thought-provoking films exploring a wide range of topics: from sustainability and resilience in extreme environments to the work of modern architects in Sweden and Spain. Some of this year’s highlights included The Space Architect (2025), a heart-wrenching but hopeful reflection on the extraordinary career of NASA architect Constance Adams told just days before her death; Prickly Mountain and My Design Build Life (2025), an insider view of Warren, Vermont, a small town thought to have the highest concentration of architects and designers anywhere in the USA; and Changing Lanes (2025), a film documenting the struggle and debates behind New York City’s bike lanes. Toronto itself was also featured in this year’s selection with Kensington Market: Heart of the City (2024), a film documenting the ever-evolving neighbourhood and the pressures it is facing.
Complementing this year’s film selection were numerous panel discussions and director Q&As.
In a discussion following Miralles (2024) moderated by Elizabeth Pagliacolo of AZURE, Arancha González Bernardo of Odami and Maria Denegri of Denegri Bessai discussed Spanish architect Enric Miralles and his influence in Spain and Canada. Following We The Others (2024), Ranee Lee of DESIGNwith and OCAD and Ute Maya-Giambattista of O2 Planning discussed the work and values of the Brazilian Campana brothers, in a panel discussion moderated by Eric Mutrie of AZURE and organized in partnership with the Design Industry Advisory Committee (DIAC). Finally, John Lorinc of Spacing guided us through a discussion on lessons learned from New York’s bike lane controversy following Changing Lanes (2025), with a panel featuring Jacquelyn Hayward of the City of Toronto, Neiland Brissenden of the Bloor Annex BIA, and Ben Wolf, the film’s director. We would also be remiss not to mention TSA’s very own Michelle Chan’s role in moderating a Q&A with Stuart Clarfield, director of Kensington Market: Heart of the City.
And while those were the panels we had originally planned for, we also saw a number of impromptu discussions pop up at the festival, including one at the packed TIFF Founders Lounge following the screening of Building on the Edge (2025) as we discussed the role of collaboration between academia, suppliers, and the industry within our own Toronto context. A special thanks to Upper Canada’s Pat French for encouraging this conversation!
As if 13 great films weren’t enough, this year we were also excited to host a special one-night-only trivia night exploring one of cinema’s (and Canada’s!) favourite architectural styles: brutalism. Originally created by Dutch architect and filmmaker Jord den Hollander, and adapted for Canadian audiences by the TSA’s Joël León Danis and Michelle Chan, the evening was filled with a lot of laughter, learning, and definitely a few groans, as we went through a whirlwind tour of brutalism in cinema. Made possible through the generous support of the Ontario Association of Architects, the program included over 25 films and buildings, and the night ended with a number of special prizes including copies of Concrete Toronto and the Concrete Map of Toronto, as well as the highly sought-after Golden Trowel. Special thanks to everyone who turned out for this fun trivia event, and congrats again to the winners!
With ADFF Toronto 2025 all wrapped up and the festival now making its way to Mumbai, we want to take some time to say thank you to all those who made this year’s festival possible including the hundreds of attendees that came out to support the festival, our event volunteers who welcomed attendees and answered their many questions, TSA staff, and our TSA Film Committee—Ralph Holmes, Michelle Chan, Alireza Partovi, and Domitillah Antoinee—for all the behind-the-scenes work of screening films and putting together this year’s panels, and the always attentive and professional TIFF staff for their smooth running of the event. A very special thanks to our panelists and moderators for all of the insightful post-screening discussions and to all our local partners and friends who help promote the festival year after year.
Last but certainly not least, we want to give a special thanks to festival founder and director Kyle Bergman and his team for the ongoing partnership and giving us the opportunity to be part of such a special event. We can’t wait until the next one!