#BeAGlobizen with Gabriel Fain Architects & Studio VAARO
Gabriel Fain Architects
Globizen: Was it scary going out on your own and starting your own architecture firm?
GFA: Yes it was very scary. When I left the large office I was working at I had only 1 project underway and no leads on any future work. I figured that to do a project well you need to give it 100% of your attention. My rule is that each building needs to be taken all the way through from design to construction so it was impossible to do that while moonlighting. In 2016 things were rather stable - as we all may remember - and so I thought that if it didn't work out there were always offices I could go work at.
Globizen: Tell us about some of the projects that Gabriel Fain Architects is currently working on.
GFA: Currently the office is growing as we're working mainly on midrise projects. We expect construction to start on a 6 storey, 28 unit mass timber building in September so we're full steam into working drawings and detailing. This will be a boutique condo building in the Junction neighbourhood and we hope to share it with the public closer to the summer months. We're also working on a pair of midrise rental buildings (8 storeys and 4 storeys) directly adjacent to a park in the east end of the city consisting of nearly 200 units. This project is currently in the planning phase and will require several years to execute the full vision. While these and other larger projects are underway, we do have several ongoing smaller projects that we've taken on because they provide the opportunity for various forms of experimentation. For example, one of the houses we're doing will be built of CLT and prefabricated in a shop in Southern Ontario. We're testing the limits of mass timber here so we can then apply it on larger scale projects.
Globizen: What is the single most important thing for architecture in Toronto in the next 5 years?
GFA: We need to make it law to build out of locally sourced wood for buildings in the 6-12 storey range. We may still need concrete and steel for many years to come on some parts of these buildings but we'll need to minimize our reliance on energy intensive resources.
Studio VAARO (Aleris Rodgers and Francesco Valente-Gorjup)
Globizen: You both lived, studied, and worked around the world from Los Angeles to Hong Kong. Why return/come to Toronto and start your firm here?
SV: Toronto is a vibrant and relatively young city undergoing an incredible urban and architectural transformation; given projections of future population growth, the city’s need for housing, schools, commercial and cultural facilities will remain critical. As architects, we naturally want to be part of this exciting, pivotal moment in Toronto’s history, and to have the opportunity to meaningfully impact a city that’s still finding its own design voice.
Globizen: What is the one thing about architecture in Toronto that stands out from the other cities you’ve worked in? This could be a good thing or a bad thing.
SV: Our practice is very interested in context, so what stands out to us is actually Toronto’s urbanism. The other cities that we’ve lived in were dominated by a certain type of construction—Los Angeles by low-density sprawl, Basel, Switzerland by 4-5 story buildings, and Hong Kong by dense towers. Toronto’s urban fabric is a fascinating mix of these typologies. Although a majority of Toronto consists of low-density residential neighborhoods, there’s a growing number of high-density pockets emerging beyond the downtown core, as well as ongoing efforts to gently densify residential neighborhoods with the “missing middle” (multi-family residences and mid-rises). Balancing this urban mix, as well as the tension between residential neighborhoods and the expanding areas of higher density, are two big issues framing Toronto’s contemporary architectural discourse.
Globizen: Tell us about some of the projects that Studio VAARO is currently working on.
SV: As a practice, we split our time between small-scale projects (currently mostly residential) and large-scale international design competitions. We’re working on several houses in Toronto that are in various stages of design and construction. For all projects, we engage in an iterative design process with a strong focus on material exploration. Our House A has a minimal but hyper-contextual form, with a beautiful hand-made red brick facade. House M and House X explore some exciting interior spatial configurations. We’re also designing a single-family home in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina that will combine sustainable practices with traditional local building methods and materials.