News | Williamson Chong

Canadian Architect features Abbey Gardens in the 2011 Awards of Excellence Issue

Abbey Gardens is in distinguished company in this year’s Awards of Excellence. The December issue of Canadian Architect highlights all the winning projects. … more >

HydroLAB: Graduate Studio Review at the Taubman College of Architecture & Urban Planning at the University of Michigan

Betsy Williamson learned a new word last week: Anthropocene… Professor Geoff Thun’s advanced studio was charged with designing a laboratory for the 21st century and presented provocative and complex projects at their final studio review. It was a pleasure to sit with Kiel Moe and Amy Kulper to engage and discuss the students’ work.

An excerpt from the studio brief, “What should be the ambition of architecture in a time when the earth’s lithospheric and geoclimatic condition has been so fundamentally reshaped by human intervention as to necessitate the definition of a new geologic era, recently proposed to be called the Anthropocene? … more >

Lincoln Lab: MIT Core 3 Final Review

Betsy Williamson spent a fantastic 24 hours in Boston, catching up with old colleagues and meeting new friends at MIT’s core studio reviews on Friday. Professor Meejin Yoon, along with Professors Sheila Kennedy and Andrew Scott led an ambitious studio to develop architectural design proposals for the new West Lab research and development facility for the famed Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington, Mass. A follow up tour of the Media Lab and visits to the Foster + Partners addition to the MFA, Simmons Hall, Howeler + Yoon’s BSA space and the ICA rounded out the whirlwind visit. … more >

Abbey Gardens receives 2011 Canadian Architect Award of Excellence

Canadian Architect has announced that Abbey Gardens is the receipient of a 2011 Award of Excellence. One of only two national award programs devoted exclusively to architecture, the Awards of Excellence have recognized significant building projects in Canada on an annual basis since 1968. Awards are given each year to architects for buildings in the design stage. Jurors considered response to the program, site, geographical and social context, and evaluated physical organization, structure, materials and environmental features. … more >

House in Frogs Hollow featured in Celebrating Excellence in Wood Structures

The Canadian Wood Council just released a publication celebrating the 2010-11 North American Wood Design Award Winners. The House in Frogs Hollow is featured along with the work from Studio Gang Architects, IwamotoScott Architecture, Cutler Anderson Architects, David J. Agro, Eskew+Dumez+Ripple, Mankouche/Bard/Schulte, Flansburgh Architects, Robert M. Cain, Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis Architects, HGA Architects and Engineers, The Miller Hull Partnership, StructureCraft Builders Inc. , and McFarland Marceau Architects . … more >

House in Frogs Hollow receives 2011 Wood WORKS! Award

The House in Frogs Hollow has received a 2011 Wood WORKS! Award. The Wood WORKS! Awards recognize the people and organizations pursuing excellence and innovation in wood design, advancing the use of wood in Ontario. The 11th Annual Wood WORKS! Awards evening took place on Thursday November 3, 2011 at the Ottawa Convention Centre. … more >

Marshall McLuhan Coach House Institute Design Charrette

WCa recently took part in a day-long charrette that focused upon design proposals for a new Coach House Institute (CHI) and a new Faculty of Information Building for the University of Toronto. Other design teams included Bruce Mau Design, Diamond-Schmitt Architects, and IBI Group. Special thanks to Dr. Seamus Ross, Dean Faculty of Information (iSchool) and Dr. Dominique Scheffel-Dunand, Director of the McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology, Faculty of Information Coach House Institute for the invitation. … more >

STITCHES: Suzhou Fast Forward Exhibition

STITCHES: Suzhou Fast Forward, features seven pieces of hand-crafted embroidery from the Zhou XueQing Embroidery Art Center in Suzhou, China. Dexterously stitched in fine silk threads, these exquisite pictures represent an array of subject matter including flowers, birds, and landscapes, continuing Suzhou’s 2000-year history of embroidering illusionistic scenes. Believing that this ancient craft could be the springboard for experimentation, resulting in contemporary expressions of what embroidery might be in the 21st century, WORKShop invited a small group of architects, artists, designers, and inventors to create original works. … more >

University of Texas at Arlington Lecture

Shane recently presented our current work and new research at The School of Architecture at the University of Texas at Arlington as part of their 2011 Fall lecture series. Special thanks to Albert Marichal for the invitation. … more >

Galley House profiled on Smart.Studio.TV

Smart. Studio. bills itself as “the world’s smallest, and possibly the craziest, mobile TV studio: agile, trendy and versatile.” Journalist Alex Bozikovic takes Pete on a tour of Toronto’s architectural highlights including the Galley House. Prior Smart.Studio. destinations have included Amsterdam, Berlin, Frankfurt, Lisbon, and London. See the YouTube clip here. … more >