Janna Levitt

Partner at LGA Architectural Partners

Speaker

Janna Levitt co-founded LGA Architectural Partners with Dean Goodman in 1993 with a vision to help diverse and often under-resourced clients to realize places that spark positive cultural and environmental change. Through research, public consultation, and design, Janna aims to improve lives: creating places that advance equity, wellness, and community, educating and mentoring the next generation of designers, and collaborating with artists, scientists, and others to draw attention to pressing issues impacting our world.

Janna has earned wide respect for her inquisitive, thoughtful, and imaginative approaches, which demonstrate fresh possibilities for everyday living. Her diverse initiatives – such as community hubs that foster arts and culture, public spaces that connect citizens with ecology, and residences that contribute to equitable cities -- underscore the expansive role that architects play in redesigning our world.

Her noteworthy recent projects include the MABELLE arts Pavilion and Park that uplifts a historically underserved, high density neighbourhood populated by newcomers to Canada with a dynamic hub for creativity and community; EvergreenBrickworks’ Kiln Building 16, that sensitively arrested the deterioration of a historic Toronto landmark and expanded its purpose from artifact to a carbon-neutral event and education centre; Stackt, that transformed a pending development site into an ever-evolving shipping-container retail market and cultural hub; and Rehousing – an online resource that she developed with members of the Daniels Faculty of Architecture, and Design at University of Toronto to empower citizen developers to convert single-family homes into multi-unit housing.

Janna’s love of architecture extends to teaching, mentoring and community causes. She has held teaching appointments at the University of Waterloo, the University of Toronto, and Dalhousie University. She regularly lectures and serves on award juries across North America and abroad. She presently sits on Toronto’s Waterfront Toronto Design Review Panel. In 2015, she led the creation of an annual scholarship fund for an Indigenous student entering Laurentian University's McEwen School of Architecture. Janna was made a Fellow of the RAIC in 2009. She received the 2018 G. Randy Roberts Service Award from the Ontario Association of Architects. In 2019 she was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Green Building Council, and she was named as one of the top 30 “Essential Women in Architecture and Design” by Azure Magazine.

Janna attended Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD) in Halifax and The Museum School of Fine Arts in Boston before finalizing her Honors Bachelor of Arts in Political Science at the University of Toronto. She graduated from the Master in Architecture Program at University of Toronto.