Doors Open Toronto 2023 – Architects Talk: Listening to Spaces

Amanda Robinson is Vice President of Architecture at Aercoustics Engineering Limited, specialising in building and room acoustics. She is a professionally qualified mechanical engineer who has specialised in acoustics since graduating with honours from Adelaide University in 1996. Amanda has had extensive experience working with multidisciplinary practices in Canada, Australia, and the UK. Prior to joining Aercoustics in 2022, Amanda was Co-CEO at Marshall Day Acoustics (Melbourne), with shared responsibility for the Australasian business development and management. Amanda was the Secretary of the Victorian division of the Australian Acoustical Society for four years. Prior to that, she was Secretary for the Association of Noise Consultants in the UK. She has undertaken numerous presentations, including the Talking Spaces Symposium held by the University of Melbourne. She is part of the International WELL Sound Advisory Committee to assist in the next iteration of the WELL rating tool and is an accredited WELL Professional.

Joseph L. Clarke is an associate professor of architectural history at the University of Toronto. His book Echo’s Chambers: Architecture and the Idea of Acoustic Space (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2021) is the first major English-language study to explore how acoustic experimentation has been entangled with debates over typology, form, and visualization techniques. Before becoming a historian, he practiced architecture at Eisenman Architects and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

With more than 30 years of experience, Robert (Bob) Sims has delivered a diversity of projects from comprehensive architectural design and construction projects to complex master plans. For each project, he works closely with clients and stakeholder groups to achieve visionary objectives with practical solutions. He joined the firm in 1990 and has worked on numerous seminal, award-winning institutional projects including Woodsworth College at the University of Toronto. He is acutely tuned into the intricacies of performance venues: for 15 years, he was the associate-in-charge for projects at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. This included the original 1991 master plan, the renovation to the historic Mazzoleni Concert Hall, the TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning, and the award-winning Koerner Hall. Robert’s performing arts expertise also includes Orchestra Hall for the Minnesota Orchestra. At KPMB, he has been instrumental in the realization of projects such as the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre, St. Michael’s Cathedral Block Master Plan, and the offices for The Globe and Mail. In Toronto, he is currently working on the renovation and modernization of the Bloor Street United Church and St. Thomas Anglican Church, and a new home for St. Monica’s Parish. He firmly believes great architecture combines art and technology in a rational, inventive formality, and creates simplicity and calm in a frenzied world.

Brigitte Shim along with her partner, A. Howard Sutcliffe, are both principals in the design firm Shim-Sutcliffe Architects. Shim-Sutcliffe’s built work explores the integration and interrelated scales of architecture, landscape, furniture, and fittings. To date, Shim and Sutcliffe have received sixteen Governor General’s Medals and Awards for Architecture from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) and an American Institute of Architects National Honor Award along with many other professional accolades for their built work ranging from projects for non-profit groups to public and private clients. Brigitte Shim and A. Howard Sutcliffe were honored to be recipients of the 2021 RAIC Gold Medal for Architecture.

Brigitte Shim is also a full Professor at the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design at the University of Toronto and has been an invited visitor at Yale, Harvard, Ecole Polytechnique Federal de Lausanne, Auckland University, and others.

Stefan Novakovic is a Toronto-based writer and editor specializing in architecture and urbanism. Stefan is a Senior Editor at Azure Magazine, and previously served as Associate Editor at Canadian Architect, and Assistant Editor at UrbanToronto.ca. His writing has also appeared in a wide range of publications, including Canadian Interiors, Designlines, Building Magazine, the New York Review of Architecture, the McGill International Review and Torontoist.

Stefan has also appeared as a speaker at the Architecture and Design Film Festival, Toronto’s Interior Design Show, the Ontario Association of Architects Conference, the University of Toronto Munk School’s Walter Gordon Symposium on Public Policy, and Architect@Work International. He has also presented original research at the 46th Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada Conference. He is the winner of a Canadian National Magazine Award (B2B) and a Canadian Online Publishing Award.

Dr. Tor Oiamo is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at Toronto Metropolitan University. His training in physiology and environmental health geography supports a passion for understanding how human-environment interactions impact health and well-being, and how these impacts are distributed in space and society. Research activities are predominantly focused on urban noise and health modelling, and he regularly collaborates with government health and regulatory agencies. He is currently a visiting researcher at the Norwegian Institute of Public health, assisting their efforts to advance national standards and assessment methods for transportation noise exposures.