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

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...

...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..."for Toronto to claim a unique role in the study of global affairs[.]"

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University of Toronto to reveal new School of Global Affairs

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Peter Munk outside the Munk Centre in April 2008.
Tibor Kolley/The Globe and Mail

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/university-of-toronto-to-reveal-new-school-of-global-affairs/article1532272/?cmpid=nl-news1

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.

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Munk Centre at U of T expands, gets $25 million more for global affairs research, will hire

http://www.yongestreetmedia.ca/innovationnews/munkcentre0505.aspx

Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Last month, a $35 million gift from philanthropist Peter Munk -- the largest in the history of the University of Toronto -- was added to $25 million from the province of Ontario to set up the Munk School of Global Affairs at U of T. This week Prime Minister announced that his government would be chipping in an additional $25 million to create a centre for global security at the school.

According to the federal government's website, Prime Minister Stephen Harper says, "This new Centre will help us develop deeper expertise in addressing global security concerns."

The new school is expected to employ top researchers from around the world at a newly constructed downtown facility to study issues around terrorism and global security. In a separate statement, school director Janice Gross Stein said the Munk School of Global Affairs is in an excellent position to tackle the mandate. "Issues of global security will be a defining framework for our country over the next decade and beyond, and Canada needs a strong publicly supported research centre to put the Canadian voice on the international stage," said Stein. "Given our strengths, the Munk School is the natural place to house this new Centre.

Although numbers were not immediately available, there are significant employment implications to the recent announcements, as the total of $85 million in funding will, according to University of Toronto representatives, construct new facilities and hire new faculty and administrators.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Sources: Janice Gross Stein, Munk School of Global Affairs; Office of the Prime Minister of Canada; University of Toronto Media Relations; Glob and Mail

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Further info:
http://www.globalaffairs.utoronto.ca/

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Google Street View:
http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=1+devonshire+place+toronto&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=1+Devonshire+Pl,+Toronto,+Toronto+Division,+Ontario+M5S+2E2&gl=ca&ei=QV05TNmHNIT6lwe7-KHVBw&ved=0CBkQ8gEwAA&ll=43.66728,-79.398091&spn=0.000964,0.003664&z=19&layer=c&cbll=43.66715,-79.398037&panoid=cax7QRfjIDAXZK2_oim2zg&cbp=12,305.19,,0,-3.76


Posted by Mongo on UT.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v455/mongo62aa/315BloorWest.jpg


Posted on April 19, 2010 by androiduk on UT.
http://andrewfare.com/UTB/mytoronto8/meteor1.jpg


By urbandreamer on UT.

2 May 2010 update

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By androiduk on UT.

http://andrewfare.com/UTB/mytoronto11/munkn1a.jpg

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By interchange42 on UT.

Here's what KPMB's plan for the building looks like... and there aren't too many changes coming for the Bloor Street frontage:

http://urbantoronto.ca/picoftheday/images/MunkSchoolKPMB1.jpg

http://urbantoronto.ca/picoftheday/images/MunkSchoolKPMB2.jpg

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http://urbantoronto.ca/picoftheday/images/MunkSchoolKPMB6.jpg

And here's what KPMB says about it:


Size: 23,153 sq.ft.
Completion: 2012
The Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto is one of the unique places in academia where world issues are studied and debated through a Canadian lens. Founded in 2000, as an interdisciplinary academic centre on global issues that integrates research with teaching and public education, it is now home to the Asian Institute, the Centre for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, the Canada Centre for Global Security Studies and 30 other centres, institutes, and programs. To accommodate the success and growth of its programs, the School will expand its facilities with the adaptive reuse of the heritage Dominion Meteorological Building (1908 to 1909) at 315 Bloor Street West into an interconnected hub for innovation and creative thinking.

The overall vision embraces the opportunity of its prime location on Bloor Street West to amplify Devonshire Place as one of the major portals into the University of Toronto campus. The architectural strategy respects the robust quality of the Romanesque Revival style and at the same time introduces thoughtful yet distinctively contemporary interventions

The original building is set back from back from the street and a landscaping concept with a lushly planted garden, terraced and paved lawns was developed to position the Munk School as a significant presence in the cadence of academic and cultural buildings that distinguish the stretch of Bloor Street West, from the ROM to the east and the Bata Shoe Museum to the West.

The project prioritizes the preservation of the historic elevation on Bloor. New interventions are limited. The circular tower that once housed the telescope of the original Meteorological building is reimagined with meeting spaces and a new glass clerestorey to create a viewing platform. At the south, students will access the building off Devonshire through a glass entrance pavilion which will also provide added vertical circulation. The design strategy for the new interventions are light glass and steel to act as a counterpoint to the mass and rough-hewn texture of the historic Miramichi sandstone exterior.

The program includes a Boardroom, a Library Reading Room, a Meeting Room, Public Reception and Administration offices on the main, public level, three Program Director’s Offices, Faculty Offices, a Meeting Room and Lounge space on the two upper levels and a Student Lounge and Student Study spaces on the lower level for Graduate students in Dynamics of Global Change Collaborative Doctoral Program (DGC) and Master of Global Affairs.

In contrast, interior renovations are extensive including a completely redesigned interior to maximize an open concept within the existing structure. Existing white finishes and details will be repaired and restored and a new oak floor will add visual warmth and be the dominant material that ties all the levels together.

The Gardens to the north and west are completely re-landscaped to include lush planting and to encourage casual gathering with outdoor seating and a water feature. The concept ultimately links into an adjacent Café Terrace to the west.



Project Facts and Credits
Site
315 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario

Client
University of Toronto

Project Team
Thomas Payne (design partner), Judy Taylor (associate-in-charge), Mark Jaffar (project architect), Clementine Chang,
Consultants
Crossey Engineering (mechanical, electrical, LEED); Blackwell Bowick Partnership Limited (structural); Suzanne Powadiuk Design Inc. (lighting design); Leber Rubes (code consulting); A. W. Hooker Associates Ltd. (cost consultant); ERA Architects Inc. (heritage preservation); Neil Turnbull Limited (landscape consultant); Soberman Engineering (elevator consultant); Engineering Harmonics Inc. (AV consultant); Aercoustics Engineering Inc. (acoustics consultant); Cole Engineering Group Ltd. (civil consultant)

By androiduk on UT.

Beginning of the rear addition

http://andrewfare.com/UTB/mytoronto11/munkn6.jpg