I'm Zac.

An architect, educator and maker who works with trees, my work integrates digital methods alongside craft and material knowledge in pursuit of better ways to build.

We need to be better at working with what's around, and to work towards rediversifying the ways that we build with low energy and locality as priorities. This view guides both my teaching and consulting work.

Known for projects that demonstrate ways to put together non-linear bits of tree, I've started to apply the same set of tools for close observation to a broader range of building materials and sources.

At work, I'm an assistant professor at the University of Toronto's Daniels Faculty, after receiving the inaugural Emerging Architect Fellowship Award. Previously, I lived in and led Hooke Park, a 350-acre working forest that hosts architecture students from around the world.

Outside of school, I make drawings by 3D scanning objects and environments around me. I also consult on projects for groups wanting to use these same tools.

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BACKSTORY

Variety of experience is my strongest trait.

Family involved me in building work from an early age. Before architecture school I studied liberal arts and physics, and after undergraduate studies worked for cultural and design practices in Amsterdam, Lunenburg, Toronto and Vancouver.

Along the way, I learned a bit of programming to build the first version of this website, and found my way into a host of projects for organizations big and small.

Then I landed in Hooke Park – a forested site that blends camping, hi-tech workshop and design studio. Arriving in 2014 as a postgraduate student of AA School's MArch Design + Make program, four years later I was tasked with leading this unconventional site, its staff and students.

My time in the forest was transformative. As a student I led the development of the Tree Fork Truss project. Deploying 3D scanning and robotics, it gained international recognition for demonstrating a different way to work with trees. Staying on as a tutor allowed me to continue working with students to produce a series of ambitious builds in the years to follow.

From 2018, I led Hooke Park in a new role as Warden. This included strategic and operational leadership, development of new programs, the launch of a wood-focused research lab and lots more. Through COVID, our dedicated team leveraged the site's unique facilities to keep students on the tools, working in person as a community in the woods.

Lots more ahead.