2025 RAIC Foundation Scholarship Recipients

THE ARTS & LETTERS CLUB OF TORONTO FOUNDATION AWARD FOR ARCHITECTURAL CONSERVATION 

The Arts and Letters Club of Toronto Foundation's Award for Architectural Conservation This award honours the memory of Richard Moorhouse, Founding President of the ALCTF and former Chair of the National Trust for Canada. The $1000 award is open to students or recent graduates working on applied research, or projects making a tangible contribution to architectural conservation in Canada.

Jury:
Arlene Dedier, Julia Gerzovitz, Marilyn Mirabeli, Allan Teramura

Recipient:
Janet Li, University of Waterloo

Winning Submission:
Facadism – a critique of the increasingly common practice of the preservation of the exterior walls of historic structures while constructing entirely new and much larger buildings behind them. 

Jury Comment: 
Janet Li’s proposal makes a significant contribution to the field of architectural conservation by critically addressing the widespread practice of facadism in Toronto. It offers both a theoretical framework and empirical analysis that reveals how facadism prioritizes superficial preservation of façades at the expense of authentic heritage values, including social, cultural, and environmental dimensions.

THE CANADA GREEN BUILDING COUNCIL SCHOLARSHIP FOR SUSTAINABLE DESIGN AND RESEARCH

Established in 2006, the main purpose of this award is to nurture the next generation of “green” designers and accelerate the mainstreaming of green building principles. The two $5000 awards are open to thesis proposals from students at all architectural schools and the RAIC Syllabus Program.

Jury:
Franc D’Ambrosio, Roxanne Gautier, Joanne McCallum 

Joint-Recipient:
Holly Mills, UBC SALA

Winning Submission:
Phenomenological Material Analysis: Expanding the Scope of LCA

Jury Comment: 
Holly’s proposal embodies a very thoughtful process, providing a specific example of how to integrate qualitative and phenomenological considerations into a traditional LCA. In so doing, it seeks to embed our intuitive knowledge in a way which will complement and expand our understanding of LCA.  This expansion is long overdue. 

Joint-Recipient:

Olive Lazarus, Carleton University 



Winning Submission:
Biography of a Bale: Local Material Narrative as Architectural Practice
 
Jury Comment:
Olive’s submission was clearly articulated and beautifully illustrated; developing a methodology for the identification and use of hyper-local materials in design and construction. The process of developing a material biography can inform design in a very meaningful way; supporting the creation of a robust local economy. While the material choices explored are location specific; the methodology is potentially transferable across Canada, maximizing its impact. The abstract relationship we typically have with materials specification has been replaced with spatial storytelling and material biographies

THE KIYOSHI MATSUZAKI RAIC ENDOWMENT FUND AND SCHOLARSHIP 

This scholarship was established in memory of Kiyoshi Matsuzaki PP/FRAIC, 1943- 2012 and honours his unyielding support of the younger generation of students, the next leaders of our profession.

The scholarship goes to a student enrolled in the RAIC Syllabus Program, reflecting RAIC’s dedication to promoting excellence, and providing financial support to those who demonstrate their commitment to completing the RAIC Syllabus Program and achieving professional registration. This year the value of the scholarship has been raised to $10,000.

Jury:
Anna Batebe, Paule Boutin, Gerrie Doyle, Monica Guzman, Stuart Howard

Recipient: 
Sarah Robertson

Jury Comment: 
The scholarship is awarded to Sarah Robertson, in recognition of her exceptional dedication and achievements. Sarah enrolled in the Syllabus program in 2008, pursuing it while working as an architectural technologist, and is now close to completing it.

She has maintained high academic standing throughout her studies, especially in all the design studio courses. Her portfolio includes elegant, well designed and rendered academic projects, as well as truly beautiful commercial and residential built projects on which she has collaborated as part of the design team of the architectural firms where she has been employed.



THE BING THOM AWARD

Established through an endowment from the Bing Thom Foundation, this award honours the memory of internationally renowned architect Bing Thom (1940-2016) and his enduring belief in the transformative power of architecture.
 
Open to students from accredited schools of architecture in Canada and Hong Kong, the submission requirement is an essay responding to the questions: "Explain how a work of architecture can be transformative. Can you cite examples that demonstrate how the impact of a single building on a community can be transformative? Is every good building transformative on some level?"  Two awards of $3500 will be offered every second year.
 
We received 79 submissions for this award, with all members of the jury being impressed not only by the general quality of the writing and illustrations in the essays, but also by the diversity of interpretations of the notion of ‘transformative’ in relation to architecture.
 
Jury:
Paule Boutin, David Covo, Paul Fast, Julia Gersovitz, Allan Teramura
 
Joint Recipient:
Adam Cohen, University of Waterloo


 
Essay Topic:
Fuller’s Pantheon: An evaluation of Buckminster fuller’s geodesic dome, built for Expo ’67 in Montreal, comparing it to The Pantheon in Rome;
 
Jury Comment:
This essay is elegantly crafted, thoroughly researched, and a joy to read. Adam’s comparison of Fuller’s dome to the Pantheon is imaginative and insightful, and he closes the essay with a ‘call to action’ that is compelling.
 
Joint Recipient:
Elaine Nahli, Toronto Metropolitan University


 
Essay Topic:
‘The Transformative Power of Architecture: Small-Scale Community Impact’. Using examples from Bangladesh and Burkina Faso, the essay argues that true transformation is often most powerful at the local level, where small-scale interventions can deeply affect daily lives.
 
Jury Comment:
Elaine’s essay was a thoughtful and lucid reflection on the concept of ‘transformative’ versus ‘monumental’. She presents a well-constructed and very timely argument for the consideration of transformative architecture as a measure of its social, cultural, and environmental impact at the scale of both the individual and the community.
 
Honourable Mention:
Naïla Laksari, Carleton University
 
Essay Topic:
When the Walls Went Up – A Transformative Tale of Change and Resilience
 
Jury Comment:
Naïla’s essay, an engaging childhood memoir, explores the idea of ‘transformative’ in relation to chaos theory. She draws on her vivid memory and a series of beautifully rendered collages to describe how adding a single floor to her family home transformed their relationship with the community in ways that were natural but unforeseen.

THE RAIC FOUNDATION BURSARY 

This bursary supports the Foundation’s mission to promote architecture in its broadest sense. The award of $5000 is to encourage public education or enabling significant scholarly research that results in publications, exhibitions or other presentations.
 
Jury:
Paule Boutin, Shelley Craig, Michael Cox
 
Recipient:
Jean-Philippe Beauchamp


 
Winning Proposal:
‘Réimaginer linvisible’. In the face of the housing affordability and homelessness crisis, this project has the potential to stimulate more research into rooming houses, that can be shared across Canada - building upon a Montreal typology to create homes based on social connectivity for under-served populations.

Jury Comment:
Jean-Phillippe Beauchamp’s proposal is a well-organized and strong submission with a clear methodology for exploration of the rooming house typology. The team has included a thoughtful work plan that builds on work and research completed to date.  The research and data collection methodology will provide a strong platform for collaborative student workshops. The inclusion of Bâtir son quartier, as a project partner, will ground the project in the local needs of the community, provide a pathway for future demonstration projects, and further sharing of the knowledge with other non-profit groups and local authorities.


 
AWARDS CHOSEN BY FACULTY

Recipients for the following awards are chosen by faculty members at the respective school of architecture, with the exception of the Foundation 50 Indspire Scholarship, for which the recipient is chosen by Indspire.
 
BERNARD JODOIN SCHOLARSHIPS

These scholarships are to financially assist students in the schools of architecture of the Université de Montréal, McGill University and Université Laval and to perpetuate the memory of Bernard Jodoin, FIRAC. The scholarships, with a value of $2500 each, are funded by a generous gift from Mrs. Gisèle B. Jodoin.
 
Bernard Jodoin founded the firm of Jodoin, Lamarre, Pratte et associes in 1958.  He presided over the Organizing Committee of the Order of Architects of Quebec and was one of the founders of the Association of Architects in Private Practice in Quebec.  Mr. Jodoin was a member of the National Research Council in Ottawa, a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada and a recipient, posthumously, of the Medal of Merit of the Order of Architects of Quebec.
 
2025 Recipients:
Université de Montréal: Marianne Benoit
McGill University: Deborah Yang
Université Laval: Sophie-Anne Lavoie
 
SOUTHWEST ONTARIO COLLEGE OF FELLOWS STUDENT SCHOLARSHIPS

These scholarships are being awarded for the first time this year and are funded by the generous annual donations we have received from the Southwest Ontario College of Fellows. There are three recipients, one from each of the schools of architecture in the southwest Ontario region: Toronto Metropolitan University; the University of Toronto and the University of Waterloo. In each case, the recipient is the RAIC Student Medallist from that school.
 
The Student Medals are prestigious awards given to one student at each accredited school of architecture; recognizing their academic excellence and/or outstanding final projects. Thanks to the generosity of the Southwest Ontario Fellows, three of these students now also receive a scholarship of $5000 each.
 
2025 Recipients:
Toronto Metropolitan University; Florencio (Vince) Tameta
University of Toronto:
University of Waterloo: Elizabeth Yeoh 
 
ANDRE FRANCOU LEGACY TRAVEL GRANT 

French industrialist André Francou endowed this award to assist a graduate from the Université de Montréal to travel to France to study the characteristics of French architecture.
 
2025 Recipient:
Frederick Langevin
 
ERNEST WILBY SCHOLARSHIP

This annual student award was created to support the advancement of the arts of Architecture and Design in Canada, with special emphasis on Awards for outstanding achievement in design. Since its inception, it has migrated from school to school each year. This year it is the turn of Carleton University.
 
2025 Recipient: 

FOUNDATION 50 INDSPIRE SCHOLARSHIP
 
Each year, the RAIC Foundation donates $5000 to the Indspire Building Brighter Futures Program, which supports Indigenous students studying at an accredited school of architecture in Canada. These donations are matched by the federal government, doubling their impact. 

2025 Recipient: 
Brent Piikeekoot, UBC SALA