Janet Li

Nominated for the Stephen A. Otto Award for Research and Documentation for her thesis “Façadist Toronto: Heritage at Face Value”

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Janet Li was motivated to explore façadism in Toronto by her experience of the city. She is an architecture student born on another continent who sees the city with fresh eyes and wonders why there is such a cavalier attitude to the connection with the past. Her Masters Thesis, ‘Façadist Toronto: Heritage at Face Value,’ was completed in 2023 at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture. The work investigates the phenomenon of incorporation of elements of historic buildings, primarily their facades, in large scale urban developments in Toronto. It provides an account of the current environment, highlighting the overwhelming effect of speculative real estate development on heritage sites.  The thesis makes its major contributions in documenting 100 façadist projects in Toronto, developing a taxonomy of types, and producing detailed case studies.

Li undertook primary research by interviewing industry professionals, and analyzing city reports, archival information, and press reports. The inventory is thorough and provides an index of the ubiquity of the practice of façadism in Toronto. The thesis identifies the shortfalls of the current legislative and administrative systems and challenges advocates, designers, and policymakers to make changes in policy, strategy, and understanding to safeguard the integrity of heritage resources. It is a reference applicable not only to Toronto, but to other communities and cities.

This thesis shines a light on the extent, nature and effects of a practice that seems to have become universal. The goals of heritage preservation, it argues, have actually been undermined and trivialized by a practice that literally eviscerates and flattens buildings in the service of intensification.

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