This is U of T: Architect and production designer Jay Pooley helps students build ideas from ground up

Jay Pooley, a lecturer at U of T's Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, emphasizes collaboration in his courses (photo by Veronica Zaretski)

Published: August 30, 2018

Jay Pooley has long had a passion for making things.

He was a construction worker and did welding and plumbing before attending architecture school. Now, among his many other hats – architect, production designer and art director – he is also a lecturer in the ��߲ݴ�ý's John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design.

He has plied his trade on elaborate sets for the SickKids VS Limits ad campaign and the Drake Hotel. At U of T, he co-ordinates first- and fourth-year design studio courses in which he encourages students to work as a team to bring their ideas to life.

“It's absolutely empowering for a student to tell them, to say, that thing you're drawing, you can build that,” he tells U of T News in a video by Lisa Lightbourn. “You can absolutely build that. Go make it.”