RAIC Award winner Set Pieces reviewed by Lisa Landrum in Canadian Architect
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Andrea Chin, Communications Director
Email: [email protected]
Don Schmitt, Principal
Email: [email protected]
As the winner of the RAIC Journalism and Media Award, Set Pieces is featured in Canadian Architect’s May issue, spotlighted with a review by Lisa Landrum.
“Performance spaces are among the most rewarding to design and enjoy. They are invigorating catalysts of democracy and culture; creative hubs of spectacle and catharsis; and critical forums of reflection, empathy and imagination. They induce personal reveries and social revolutions. Possibilities thrive!” Landrum writes, reflecting on the significance of designing spaces for performance.
She describes Set Pieces as “celebrating architecture’s capacity to intensify the intimacy, immensity, and diversity of theatrical and musical experience.”
“[…] Set Pieces presents architecture as a harmonic coalescence of sonic, spectral, spatial and social elements, together striving to inspire, fulfill and delight society as a whole. Encore!” She concludes.
On awarding Set Pieces with the 2025 RAIC Architectural Journalism and Media Award, the jury commented:
“Set Pieces is a beautifully crafted exploration of performance space architecture that bridges technical expertise with human experience. Through clear language and compelling imagery, it engages both architects and the public. Particularly relevant post-pandemic, it offers valuable insights into the cultural role of performance spaces while sharing practical design solutions. The thoughtful integration of sensory elements, geometry, and materiality creates an illuminating resource.”
The jury for this award included Jessie Andjelic, Chris Cornelius, Camille Mitchell (FRAIC), Maya Przybylski, and Terrence Smith-Lamothe (MRAIC).
Contributors:
Don Schmitt, Diamond Schmitt
Matthew Lella, Diamond Schmitt
Gary McCluskie, Diamond Schmitt
Justin Davidson, Music & Architecture Critic for New York Magazine and Curbed
Kate Wagner, Architecture Critic for The Nation & Journalist
Robert Lepage, Playwright, Actor and Director
Mimi Lien, Set Designer
Robert Gerard Pietrusko, Designer & Composer, Associate Professor at University of Pennsylvania
Credits:
Concept: Paddy Harrington and Jennifer Sigler
Executive Editors: Brian Sholis and Jennifer Sigler
Managing Editor: Javier Zeller
Graphic Design: Cristian Ordóñez for Frontier, Toronto
Copyediting: Brian Sholis
Proofreading: Keonaona Peterson
Project management for Birkhäuser: Ria Stein
Production: Anja Haering, Amelie Solbrig
Read the full feature in Canadian Architect.