The St. Thomas Parish Hall is deeply important to the community of Moose Factory. The back of the church holds a graveyard full of generations of Omushkego peoples. That alone, validates the need to restore the church. The church also represents the complex history of the arrival of Christian missionaries on Indigenous land.
Hidden Canada: How Douglas Cardinal Brought Indigenous Perspectives into St. Mary’s Catholic Church
The monumental design of St. Mary’s Church can be attributed to Cardinal’s application of Indigenous architectural traditions to breathe life back into the buildings with which we react.
Hidden Canada: The Possibility of Garden City Design in Canadian Suburbs
As we reckon with the pandemic and an ongoing climate crisis, we are repeatedly faced with questions on how and where we can live sustainably. Do garden suburbs present a solution?
Hidden Canada: The History and Future of Rooming Houses in the Annex, Toronto
The distinctive architecture of the Annex has a history rooted in multiple-occupancy living. With proper regulations, support, and upkeep, rooming houses have the potential to provide effective, affordable housing in Toronto.
Hidden Canada: A NextGen and U of T Project
The articles in this series seek to unveil some of Canada’s architectural riches and emerged from a class project at the University of Toronto. In this fourth-year undergraduate seminar, students were asked to either focus on little-studied aspects of the built environment in Canada, or to approach well-known places from a fresh perspective.
Guild Park and Gardens: Toronto’s Architectural Sculpture Gallery
After the Second World War, Toronto underwent development and many buildings were pulverized into gravel. Thanks to the foresight of one collector however, the remains of some sixty-odd buildings were salvaged from the rubble and artfully arranged on the grounds of the former Guild Inn.
Searching for Meaning in Mesopotamian Architecture
Architecture is the language of a city. Ancient Mesopotamians achieved and cultivated a transcendental quality in their built environment.
Opinion: House-by-House to Holistically
A long-time fixture of the heritage vocabulary has been the word “save.” To save something is not unnoble; in fact, it connotes heroism and valour. It implies that the advocates for historic places are defenders against an omnipresent threat. However, it also implies we are reactionary.
15 Queen Street Initiative
In May of 2021, ACO NextGen partnered with the Cookstown Community Development Team (CCDT) to provide a small group of students with real-world experience in architectural preservation.
Becoming a Heritage Detective: Identifying Historic Wallpapers in the Mann House (1861)
After a stack of old wallpaper is discovered behind some plaster in a heritage home, Sarah Harrison tries to figure out how old each layer is.
ACO NextGen 