The Centre for Landscape Research (CLR) at the University of Toronto is dedicated to advancing the discipline of Landscape Architecture through a robust culture of design research and innovation. Our mission is to enrich the knowledge base and practice of Landscape Architecture while fostering collaborations across the Architecture, Urban Design, Forestry, and Visual Studies programs at the Daniels Faculty and across the University of Toronto. At the heart of our efforts lies the Platform for Resilient Urbanism (PRU), an initiative committed to pioneering urban climate adaptation and resilience strategies. Through design, education, and research, we explore resilient design as a contemporary practice model and a proactive policy tool.
Since our inception in the early 1980s with groundbreaking research in computer-aided design (CAD) and geographic information systems (GIS), the CLR has been a leader in integrating technological advancements with landscape architecture. Officially established in 1989 under the leadership of Professor Ed Fife, our legacy includes contributions from previous directors such as Pierre Bélanger, Liat Margolis, Professor Emeritus John Danahy, and Robert Wright. Over the years, the CLR has supported and nurtured various research initiatives led by our faculty, including the GRIT Lab by Liat Margolis and Gutter to Gulf by Jane Wolff and Elise Shelley.
Today, the CLR continues collaborating with public agencies, research institutions, and governments such as the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA), the Centre for Connected Communities, the City of Toronto's Resilience Office, Toronto Water, Waterfront Toronto, Broward County, Florida, and Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation. We also engage with academic partners like the University of Toronto's School of Cities, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, the School of the Environment, University of Pennsylvania's Ian McHarg Center, MIT's Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism, and MIT's Urban Risk Lab.
In times of environmental and social crises, landscape architecture has consistently offered multi-scalar imaginative solutions for urban challenges, rooted in systems thinking and the integration of social, civic, and ecological functions for the public good.
Since our inception in the early 1980s with groundbreaking research in computer-aided design (CAD) and geographic information systems (GIS), the CLR has been a leader in integrating technological advancements with landscape architecture. Officially established in 1989 under the leadership of Professor Ed Fife, our legacy includes contributions from previous directors such as Pierre Bélanger, Liat Margolis, Professor Emeritus John Danahy, and Robert Wright. Over the years, the CLR has supported and nurtured various research initiatives led by our faculty, including the GRIT Lab by Liat Margolis and Gutter to Gulf by Jane Wolff and Elise Shelley.
Today, the CLR continues collaborating with public agencies, research institutions, and governments such as the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA), the Centre for Connected Communities, the City of Toronto's Resilience Office, Toronto Water, Waterfront Toronto, Broward County, Florida, and Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation. We also engage with academic partners like the University of Toronto's School of Cities, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, the School of the Environment, University of Pennsylvania's Ian McHarg Center, MIT's Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism, and MIT's Urban Risk Lab.
In times of environmental and social crises, landscape architecture has consistently offered multi-scalar imaginative solutions for urban challenges, rooted in systems thinking and the integration of social, civic, and ecological functions for the public good.