The Ontario Association of Architects’ OAA now is an annual lecture series given by the current year’s recipient of the Best Emerging Practice Award. As both a celebration and a sharing of ideas and experience – now recognizes the contribution by young firms to the profession and provides a setting to discuss the opportunities and challenges faced by young practices.
The 2018 edition of the OAA now lecture series is presented by Suulin Architects, the recipient of OAA’s Best Emerging Practice Award (2018). Suulin Architects is a 6-person architecture firm located in downtown Toronto with an associate office in New York City. Amy Lin and James Chavel started their collaboration at Shim-Sutcliffe Architects in 2008, working as co-project architects on an assisted living home for the Sisters of St. Joseph in Toronto. After completion of the project, they established Suulin Architects in 2014. The company’s website offers more information about the firm:
We are a holistic design practice and believe in an integrative design approach which extends beyond the building and includes all of the elements of the site from architecture and landscape, down to the furniture. In our projects, we place great emphasis on enhancing the connections to nature, and awareness of the environment. Suulin means ‘forest’ in taiwanese, which partly derives from the meaning of our combined names, while serving also to mark our commitment to the environment.
We have both practiced the art of building for over 18 years. Before working at SSA Amy was previously an associate and senior designer at Ennead Architects (formerly Polshek Partnership Architects) where her principal projects were the Clinton Presidential Library, the NY Standard Hotel, and the Weill Cornell Medical College Research Building. James Chavel was at Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects where he worked primarily on the Phoenix Art Museum Extension and Cheatham Residence.
This year’s OAA now lecture will take place on November 8 at Toronto’s Berkeley Church at 315 Queen Street West. More information is available via the OAA’s website, linked here.