Insight and On Site

Produced under the editorial and art direction of Sara Angel

Part manifesto, part architectural monograph, one of the world’s leading architecture firms addresses today’s most pressing urban issues. Defiantly urban and socially responsible, the buildings of Diamond and Schmitt Architects—most recently, the Toronto Opera House—are celebrated internationally. The firm has won more than 140 awards, including six Governor General’s Awards and an AIA design award, and in 2004 and 2007, Business Week/Architectural Record named two of their projects on their list of the world’s ten best buildings. Today the firm is at the heart of a critical debate: how do we make cities livable and sustainable in the twenty-first century? Insight and On Site addresses such issues in twelve essays, including one by architecture critic Witold Rybczynski, and interweaves a veritable portfolio of the Diamond and Schmitt oeuvre, including Jerusalem City Hall, the York University Student Centre, the Earth Sciences Center at the University of Toronto and the Life Sciences Centre at the University of British Columbia

Praise for Insight and On Site

“Along with essays about the past, present and future of architecture, the coffee table volume shows how one company can revolutionize the world of architecture, with a philosophy of elegance and sophistication that has made this firm so in-demand worldwide.”
—Shelf Life

“The sustainability-minded designs of Toronto-based Diamond and Schmitt Architects get the glossy treatment in this exhaustive compilation. The book features dozens of plans, layouts and photographs, including the architects’ best-known works, as well as a series of essays on sustainable modern cities.”
—Winnipeg Free Press

“The Toronto firm of Diamond & Schmitt is responsible for some of the world’s most celebrated buildings… and is a champion of urbanism and social responsibility. The 12 essays in this book… discuss such topics as context, collectivity, beauty, sustainability, the reuse of old structures and building for the arts and education.”
—Globe and Mail

“The prose does not succumb to the doltish and grammatically suspect bafflegab of so many architectural treatises. The gifts of co-author Don Gillmor, one of Canada’s most talented magazine writers, have no doubt been well harnessed here, and Witold Rybczynski serves up some clear and straightforward interview questions. …Diamond & Schmitt is justifiably renowned for good urbanism, consistently high-quality background buildings and the occasional subdued feature building…”
—Canadian Architect

 “…this book is a must-read. Discussion is illustrated by their projects located both internationally and in Canada.”
—Edmonton Journal

“The book discusses the transformative power of architecture, its relationship to community building and its ability to affect civic mood. …With the global trend to urbanization and depletion of the planet’s resources, building compact cities with sustainable architecture is a matter of both quality of life and survival.”
—Calgary Herald