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U of T: Munk School of Global Affairs (Bloor & Devonshire, KPMB) COMPLETE

Hypnotoad

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From Tuesday's Globe and Mail

It’s Janice Stein’s dream and Peter Munk’s money: the vision of a global plaza reconfiguring Toronto’s downtown Bloor Street West and becoming the hub of Canada’s conversation with the world.

On Tuesday, the University of Toronto will announce its new School of Global Affairs. The school is the product of the largest single philanthropic gift in the university’s history – $35-million from gold-mining magnate Mr. Munk and his wife, Melanie – plus $25-million from the Ontario government.

Prof. Stein, who heads the parent Munk Centre for International Studies established by a multimillion-dollar gift from Mr. Munk a decade ago, said the new school “fulfills a dream for me. It says we can be among the best. We don’t move out into the world and engage. We lack a culture willing to take a risk. We have to stretch our necks.â€

The school will be quartered in a century-old stone Georgian-style building at the corner of Devonshire Place and Bloor, the former headquarters of the Meteorological Service of Canada. The building’s one-time observation tower will be girdled with a flashing pixel board, announcing the world’s major news stories to the street and sidewalk bordering the university’s stadium, the Royal Conservatory of Music and the Royal Ontario Museum.

The high-profile visibility of the school – which will take in its first 40 students this summer and is now conducting an international search for a director – makes it as interesting as the scholarly work that will be expected of it.

It is located in the heart of one of the world’s most multicultural cities, near haute couture shops, art galleries, museums, the Royal Conservatory’s celebrated new concert hall and the Ontario legislature. Its illuminated ticker tower, with content provided by a major media outlet, will make the school an attraction on its own and be a symbol, said Prof. Stein, of Canada looking outward to the world. Moreover, she said, the school is restoring the building, metaphorically, to its original purpose: as an observatory.


map


The university says the school – which initially will offer a master’s degree in global affairs and later will add undergraduate and doctoral programs – will join an elite cadre of international academic institutions such as the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in Massachusetts, the London School of Economics and Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies in Washington. It will have partnerships with graduate international studies schools in Shanghai, Tokyo and Mexico City.

Its students will be required to go outside the country for four months to work with a global corporation, or global institution such as the United Nations or a global non-government organization and learn how to build international networks. The school will produce Canadians, Prof. Stein said, who will have thought about global society and can come back to Canada and build global bridges.

In a telephone conversation from Switzerland, Mr. Munk said, “In a bipolar world, it was easy to believe in and support American values. We’re not in a bipolar world any more. The world has come to question more and more American values and the American way of doing things.

“Canada has a unique opportunity to step into the shoes that America has vacated, and I think that requires an elite group of highly educated, globalized Canadians who can be the spokespersons of every aspect of globalization. I don’t mean just trade, or democracy, or multiculturalism … but all the things Canada stands for, from health care down to the fundamental rejection of any kind of corruption.â€

University president David Naylor said it’s critical for Canada to have a stronger presence in the world as emerging giants India and China take a bigger role in global affairs.

“As a corollary, if as a major educational and research institution, we don’t have a world-beating school that has eyes and ears on the world and connections to a whole host of smart people everywhere thinking about how countries can act in the broader global affairs sphere, then we’re disadvantaged and our students and faculty are disadvantaged.â€

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I wonder what changes they'll make to this property to realize the plaza vision as well as add classroom spaces.
 
I'm glad that building's getting some love; I've always been fond of it. However:

The building’s one-time observation tower will be girdled with a flashing pixel board, announcing the world’s major news stories to the street and sidewalk...

DO NOT WANT
 
What's Janice Stein thinking?

It sounds quite interesting when she describes the idea and very original. But in reality, it's a historic building, and I just can't imagine the ticker being integrated in any dignified way. The tower is also slightly further from Bloor than the rest of the building, so it would have to be huge and they might have to cut down the trees on site for it to be visible.
 
I will wait until I see the plans and renders but yes, the front of this building has some amazing trees and a nice lawn (which would be a shame to lose for another barren 'plaza'). It would be great if they could make the under-utilized land in the back a decent space.
 
From U of T News:

U of T announces new Munk School of Global Affairs
Tuesday, April 13, 2010

The University of Toronto today launched the new Munk School of Global Affairs.

An unprecedented gift of $35 million from Peter and Melanie Munk will dramatically expand U of T's research capacity, enable the hiring of new faculty and drive the expansion of new facilities. This first-tier professional school will play a key role in educating Canadians as global leaders.

The Munk School of Global Affairs signals a new frontier of scholarship in Canada's higher education community. The Munk School positions UofT as a leading player in a broad range of subjects from water to cyber security. The new Munk School will welcome its first class of students to the Masters of Global Affairs program in September 2010. In the coming years, the school will offer a selective Bachelor of Arts program and a PhD in the Dynamics of Global Change.

Building on the foundation of the Munk Centre for International Studies, this transformation marks the largest single individual gift to UofT, bringing the Munks' total financial support for the University to a remarkable $50.9 million.

"I am honoured that Melanie and I could make this gift to the University of Toronto," said Peter Munk, chair of Barrick Gold. "The world is changing. We want to do our part to ensure that Canada not only secures its place on the world stage but helps create the knowledge that improves people's lives."

Remarking on the impact of the announcement Dr. David Naylor, president of the University of Toronto, said: "This is a great day for our University - and, I believe, a great development for Ontario and for Canada. This exceptional gift means that the new Munk School will significantly increase the scale of our university's role in harnessing global opportunities, while tackling some of the world's most pressing challenges.

"As Canada reaffirms its position as leader on the global stage, the Munks' extraordinarily generous gift means that many more of the next generation of leaders will come from Canada."

The Munk School will offer an unmatched student experience promoting opportunities for international faculty and an increased number of student exchanges. The university will support this expansion through the provision of land and buildings that will grow the school's facilities at the landmark heritage building located at 315 Bloor Street West, the northern gateway to the University of Toronto. The University will also make room for a significant increase in cross-appointed faculty.

"Canada has a unique opportunity to step into the shoes that America has vacated, and I think that requires an elite group of highly educated, globalized Canadians who can be the spokespersons of every aspect of globalization," Munk told the Globe and Mail. "I don't mean just trade, or democracy, or multiculturalism ... but all the things Canada stands for, from health care down to the fundamental rejection of any kind of corruption."

The Munks' gift is in addition to an important investment of $25 million made by the Government of Ontario in its 2008 budget. "Without the visionary investment made by the Government of Ontario in 2008, the Munk School simply would not have the critical mass of support necessary for Toronto to claim a unique role in the study of global affairs," Naylor said.

"We are proud to support the Munk School of Global Affairs," said Dalton McGuinty, premier of Ontario. "This school attracts the best and the brightest from around the world. Their work in understanding global economic trends and developing innovative policy ideas supports our Open Ontario plan to create new opportunities for growth and jobs in today's knowledge economy."

"Only 10 years ago a generous gift from Peter and Melanie Munk helped create the Munk Centre for International Studies. The Centre has grown, becoming Canada's hub for discovery across a broad range of subjects," said Professor Janice Stein, director of the Munk School. "Melanie and Peter's deep commitment to educating Canadians as global leaders has guided the work that we do here at the centre and will inspire generations of students and faculty at the new Munk School. We are very honoured to have the strong support from the province for this exciting project."

http://www.news.utoronto.ca/lead-stories/u-of-t-announces-new-munk-school-of-global-affairs.html

AoD
 
For those who are not familiar with this building:

315BloorWest.jpg


3593067053_f4a4d72254.jpg
 
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The underlined sentence suggests that the university at large will help accommodate the growth, meaning it won't be a solely Trinity-led endeavour, but how will they "grow the school's facilities at the landmark heritage building"? There's a random construction stuff storage site immediately south of the observatory, and between this site and Trinity's tennis courts is a parking lot due east of Woodsworth College. One or both of these sites will become the home of the Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport, so the options for expanding the square footage at this site are extremely limited. I've heard that Trinity has a long term wish to build a residence tower on the parking lot between Varsity and Larkin, and they could always build something where the tennis courts now lie and then add new courts on the roof, but who knows what'll happen. U of T is really running out of cheap and easy sites to build on and the various departments and faculties already need to play musical chairs due to space constraints. The underlined sentence also suggests that the university is willing to build new facilities, and not just take over floors in nearby existing buildings (such as the Jackman nee Medical Arts Building or the Social Work building). Maybe the tacky ticker tower will be their prestige Bloor frontage and the actual school will exist in random spots away from Bloor, which would give them vastly more flexibility.
 
Had a feeling something was about to happen here. The buildings been vacant for a few months now, and the whole back half of the property has been cleared. Just earlier today I noticed one of those yellow signs in a front window proposing an easement of some sort or other, but the front gate of the property is locked and chained, so nobody can really get close up very easily.
Definitely would be a shame to have a concrete "plaza" here. There's already enough of that surrounding the stadium. There are some nice trees, a great lawn, and a very historic looking fence surrounding the front of the property (and an interesting tree that has molded itself into the fence too).
 
U of T Law was considering this site for their new home years ago, prior to the decision to go in their present direction. What were they planning on doing to expand the space of the site?
 

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