Doublespace Photography
Houses WOrth
Presented as part of AZURE’s Human/Nature conference at the Evergreen Brick Works, the Building Value(s) exhibition examined the hidden costs of large-scale building demolition. Among its featured installations was Houses Worth, developed as part of our ongoing research into demolition, its effects, and alternatives.
The installation translated the immense waste and carbon impact of demolition into the familiar unit of “houses”, prompting a clearer public understanding. By framing demolition waste in this manner, the installation revealed how differently society values various building types while encouraging discussion around more sustainable alternatives to demolition.
Location
Evergreen Brick Works
Completion Date
2025
Status
Complete
Type
Exhibit, Temporary Installation
Team
Giaimo
TMU Masters of Architecture
Image Credits
Doublespace Photography
Giaimo
TMU Masters of Architecture
Doublespace Photography
Process
In 2025, it is widely acknowledged that the construction sector is responsible for approximately 38% global carbon emissions. Yet the persistence of this statistic underscores how deeply questions of climate responsibility are entangled with decisions about what we build, demolish, and preserve. In Toronto, proposals to demolish mid- and large-scale residential buildings have accelerated, putting substantial material, energy, and embodied carbon at risk.
Doublespace Photography
By reframing demolition through the lens of embodied carbon, the project reveals how differently value is assigned across building types. This comparison exposes a central paradox in Toronto’s development culture: mid- to late-twentieth-century high-density housing is routinely framed as obsolete and primed for redevelopment, even as low-density neighbourhoods are preserved as the default urban condition. In a city still dominated by single-family forms, this imbalance raises critical questions about urban priorities and calls for a reassessment of the assumptions shaping land-use policy and growth.
Design
Focusing on three towers slated for demolition, the installation translates each tower’s embodied carbon into a familiar and easily understood unit: the single-family house. Through a series of scale models, the carbon impact of each high-rise is expressed as the equivalent of thousands of houses. This visual translation renders demolition tangible, revealing the magnitude of wasted material and energy while challenging prevailing assumptions about redevelopment. In doing so, the project critiques demolition-driven patterns of North American city-building and raises concerns about the premature loss of mid- to late-twentieth-century architecture before it can be meaningfully evaluated as heritage.
Building on our ongoing research project, Toronto Tower Demo: High Carbon Sites, Houses Worth was developed to make the environmental costs of tower demolition legible. The installation was designed, modelled, and exhibited in collaboration with graduate students from Toronto Metropolitan University’s Department of Architectural Science.
TMU Master of Architecture students involved: Samanta Ayala, Anahita Kawale, Stenzo Martin, Elaine Nahli, Dean Roumanis, Shanali Tewarapperuma
Doublespace Photography
