The Questionnaire: The architects revitalizing Toronto’s long-suffering waterfront

Claude Cormier

Founding principal, Claude Cormier et Associés

Current waterfront projects: Love Park, Leslie Lookout Park
Dream job as a kid: “Genetics and plant breeding. I wanted to invent a flower.”
Celebrity doppelgänger: “When I was younger, people said I looked like Bryan Adams.”
If you could have one superpower: “Unlimited energy.”
Guilty pleasure: “Poutine.”
Project you’re most proud of: “The Ring in Montreal. It looks simple, but it’s structurally and thematically complex.”
Favourite Toronto building: “Massey College at U of T.”
Architects you admire: “Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron because of their inventiveness and clarity of design.”
Your job requires… “Drive, persistence, confidence and vision.”
Biggest success: “Learning to identify good ideas and sell them.”
Hardest part of your day: “Airports, airplanes and endless delays.”
Biggest regret: “That it took this long for our firm to get to where it is.”
Love Park and Leslie Lookout Park are special because… “Converting post-industrial spaces into places people enjoy is pretty amazing.”
You want to make the waterfront more… “Whimsical and humorous and fun.”

Alison Brooks

Principal and creative director, Alison Brooks Architects

Current waterfront project: Quayside
Dream job as a kid: “Veterinarian. Animals have an intelligence that humans can’t understand.”
If you could have one superpower: “Teleportation. I’d save so much time.”
The coolest thing in your office: “Some neat building models and vintage Eames chairs.”
Great public spaces are… “About diversity of architecture. There’s nothing worse than a monoculture.”
Favourite Toronto building: “I love the pods at Ontario Place. I actually got married there.”
Project you’re most proud of: “The Cohen Quadrangle at Oxford. The school wants it to last at least 400 years.”
Architect you admire: “Louis Sullivan. He believed that architecture involves both intuition and training.”
Your dream project: “Public educational buildings are ideal—architecture as a community service.”
Your job requires… “Stamina, imagination and versatility.”
Biggest success: “Winning the Stirling Prize in 2008.”
Quayside is special because… “It’s a new mix of uses—from affordable housing to workshops to urban farms.”
You want to make the waterfront more… “Welcoming, permeable and inclusive.”

Gary McCluskie

Principal, Diamond Schmitt Architects

Current waterfront project: Ontario Place
Dream job as a kid: “Hockey player.”
Celebrity doppelgänger: “Alec Baldwin, though he’s had a bad time recently.”
If you could have one superpower: “The ability to extend time. I want to do more during the day.”
Great public spaces are… “Filled with people doing things together.”
Project you’re most proud of: “David Geffen Hall for the New York Philharmonic. It’s been seven years of work.”
Favourite Toronto building: “City hall. The iconography of cupping hands communicates that idea of gathering.”
Architect you admire: “Frank Lloyd Wright. His buildings are amazing.”
Your dream project: “Both Geffen Hall and Ontario Place are dream projects!”
Your job requires… “Listening, to hear what our clients need and what our collaborators can bring.”
Hardest part of your day: “Leaving the office! There are always things I just want to keep working on.”
Ontario Place is special because… “There will be year-round activities, perfect for holidays.”
You want to make the waterfront more… “Resilient. A generational upgrade will make it a great place to visit once again.”