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Schulich School of Business Receives
2006 Governor General’s Medal in Architecture
Jury Praises Building’s “Grandness and Sophistication”
2006 Governor General’s Medal in Architecture
Jury Praises Building’s “Grandness and Sophistication”
TORONTO, ON – Wednesday, September 20, 2006 – The Schulich School of Business at York University today received a 2006 Governor General’s Medal in Architecture. The medal was presented in Montreal by the Honourable Lise Thibault, Lieutenant Governor of Quebec.
The Governor General’s Medals in Architecture recognize and celebrate outstanding design in recently built projects by Canadian architects. The program is designed to increase public awareness of architecture as a vital cultural force in Canadian society. The awards program is administered jointly with the Canada Council for the Arts.
A joint venture between Hariri Pontarini Architects and Robbie/Young + Wright Architects, the state-of-the-art, $104-million Schulich School of Business opened in September 2003 and the adjoining Executive Learning Centre opened the following year. Siamak Hariri was the lead design architect.
In selecting the Schulich School as one of the 2006 recipients of the Governor General’s Medal in Architecture, the jury made the following comments:
“Filling a whole city block, this complex building projects the image of a super-luxury citadel. A combination of grandness and sophistication that is appropriate for a school of business. The stone and glass exterior refers to the best of 1950s corporate architecture, brought into the 21st century with a gently faceted geometry that accommodates the irregular site and with the exaggerated flatness of the beautifully detailed cladding, fitting like a well tailored suit. The carefully made concrete, glass and wood interiors, the generous terraces and gardens sustain this quality of institutional or corporate luxury throughout the project.”
In 2005, the Schulich education complex was rated one of the world’s eight “most noteworthy” new architectural projects by Identity, an interiors, design and property magazine based in the UAE.
“We are honoured to receive this prestigious national award,” said Schulich Dean Dezsö J. Horváth. “We believe that a dynamic, interactive and state-of-the-art learning environment is one of the key building blocks in creating a truly world-class business school.”
About Schulich
Known as Canada’s Global Business School™, the Schulich School of Business in Toronto is ranked 18th in the world by the Financial Times of London, and 27th in the world by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the business research and intelligence arm of The Economist magazine, in their most recent annual rankings of the world’s top 100 MBA programs. Schulich is also ranked 3rd in the world in the field of corporate social responsibility in the Beyond Grey Pinstripes ranking conducted by the World Resources Institute and the Aspen Institute, 15th in the world in The Wall Street Journal’s “Top International Schools” ranking, and 3rd in the world among non-US schools in the Forbes ranking. Schulich is ranked as one of the top ten schools in the world outside the US by Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist (EIU) and the Financial Times, and number one in Canada by the Financial Times, Forbes, The Economist (EIU), and the World Resources and Aspen Institutes.