Some short years ago, Alissa (Puhm) North scampered in the halls of Toronto Estonian House, attended the Estonian Supplementary School and participated in many of the activities germane to the Estonian community in Canada.
Since then, after completing a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture, with Honour Standing, at the University of Toronto (1998), and a Masters, With Distinction, at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design (2003), her career has been accompanied by peer recognition and professional prestige.
One can say it was inevitable: in June 2006, Alissa North was appointed Assistant Professor of Landscape Design, tenure stream, at the U of T.
This past summer Alissa and her professional colleague and husband, Peter, won second prize in “Envisioning Gateway: A Public Design Competition for Gateway National Park”. As an open call for ideas to transform Gateway into an iconic national park in the USA, the competition generated submissions from major players in the field. Situated in the New York City area, Gateway stretches from Queens, across part of Brooklyn and Staten Island to the northern tip of New Jersey. It’s one of the largest urban national parks in the USA.
For her talent and ability Alissa has gained recognition through numerous other awards. She has won: in 2003, the prestigious Jacob Weidenman Prize for outstanding design ability at Harvard; in 2002, the Janet Darling Weber Prize, special achievement in design; in 1998, the Lieutenant Governor’s Silver Medal, outstanding graduating student; in 1998, the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects, high academic record, school contribution, ingenuity in design; in 1997, the University of Toronto Scholar designation; etc.
While her faculty appointment was announced in 2006, her association with university teaching extends back several years. Alissa has been both a critic and lecturer at U of T and a teaching fellow at Harvard.
While she and her husband Peter (also assistant professor on the same U of T faculty) are co-owners of the landscape architecture firm of North Design Office, Alissa’s professional affiliations reach back to her days as a student when she worked as a junior landscape architect with Envision The Hough Group. Thereafter she practiced with Urban Strategies, Hargreaves Associates in the USA, and PMA Landscape Architects.
Her notable projects have included the Tree City Team on the Parc Downsview Park Master Plan, the Clinton Presidential Center, the University of Cincinnati Master Plan, and the University of Toronto Master Plan.
Alissa’s list of publications include articles in Canadian Architect, Topos European Landscape Magazine and Studioworks. She has been involved with the editing and publishing of LA River Studio: Book, Fueling the Vienna Prater and Succession: The Bachelor of Landscape Architecture Programme at the University of Toronto.
ESTONIAN CONSULATE GENERAL, TORONTO
