On the Courtyard: Learning from European Blocks
On the Courtyard: Learning from European Blocks
On the Courtyard: Learning from European Blocks
On the Courtyard: Learning from European Blocks
On the Courtyard: Learning from European Blocks
On the Courtyard: Learning from European Blocks
On the Courtyard: Learning from European Blocks
On the Courtyard: Learning from European Blocks
A 167-page publication and design proposal by Toronto’s Studio VAARO, in collaboration with Gabriel Fain Architects and 10 expert contributors, On the Courtyard asks a deceptively simple question: Why can’t Toronto build courtyard blocks? Produced as the inaugural project in the Neptis Foundation’s Impossible Toronto program, it documents courtyard housing across Basel, Paris, Berlin, Vienna and Copenhagen, then translates those findings into a master plan and schematic design for a downtown Toronto site — demonstrating that two European-style courtyard blocks can fit on a single city block while housing as many residents as a 37-storey tower. The work identifies 14 regulatory barriers, distilled into a “matrix of impossibilities,” with setback requirements, egress duplication and over-specified building systems as the primary obstacles. The first print run almost sold out upon release, and the project has since drawn interest from all three levels of Canadian government.
