2016 National Urban Design Awards - Jury Members | Royal Architectural Institute of Canada

2016 National Urban Design Awards - Jury Members

Carl A Knipfel, B.Arch MRAIC OAA RPP

Carl is a registered architect and planner focused on creation, recognition and promotion of excellence in urban design.

Carl has drafted award-winning municipal urban design guidelines as well as official plan policies and initiated one of the first urban design award competitions in Ontario. He is a member and past Chairman of the Ontario Association of Architects' (OAA) Honours and Awards Committee tasked with annually  identifying and judging the best work by Ontario architects.

Carl has served as municipal Urban Design Director as well as Brand and Marketing Manager , positions that reinforced his commitment to excellent urban design as a major competitive business advantage. As Manager of Design Research for OCAD University he facilitated partnerships between the university and creative innovators to tackle a wide range of urban challenges.

In addition to numerous urban design  and marketing awards  Carl is the recipient  of the President’s Award from both the Economic Developers Association of Canada (EDAC)  and the Economic Developers Council of Ontario (EDCO).


Franc D’Ambrosio, Architect MAIBC MRAIC LEED A/P LAI

D’Ambrosio leads a 15-person studio in the research and design of buildings and cities, for public and private- sector clients. The firm takes a humanistic approach to the work and collaborates with, and often leads, multi-disciplinary design teams. The architecture and urban design work of the practice has been widely published and recognized with awards from Architecture Canada/ RAIC, including the 2006 Urban Architecture Medal; the 2013 National Green Building Award, and the 2014 National Urban Design Award, as well as awards from the Planning Institute of BC; the International Waterfront Centre; the Canadian Urban Institute; Smart-Growth BC; and the Canadian Wood Council, in addition to numerous municipal and building industry honours.

D’Ambrosio’s academic activities include studio instructor, RAIC and UBC mentor, critic, and speaker on urban design and sustainable architecture. He has served on advisory panels and juries for public art, architectural design and planning. Franc was on the Board of Smart- Growth BC and has served on Council and volunteer committees of the AIBC and the RAIC. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the UBC School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA) and is an Affiliate for the UBC Masters of Urban Design (MUD) program.

The Da+u practice focuses on the phenomenology of the built environment. The work reflects a passion for the history, patterns and performance of urban life. Projects of all scales include exploration of the co-dependence of public and private realms, and a search for the hidden potential for positive relationships between ecology, community, art, architecture and urbanism.


Joanne Moran, OALA CSLA

Joanne has worked in the Municipal Public sector for 28 years as a Senior Project Manager in Landscape Architecture and is currently working at the City of Ottawa, though she has also previously worked in the private sector of the landscape industry since 1977. She believes in the importance of volunteering and has contributed significant time to many groups, most pertinently, governance with professional associations including the OALA and most recently the CSLA. She also chairs the OALA Honours Awards and Protocol Committee and most recently is pleased to serve both as a juror for the CSLA Awards and on the roster for the Landscape Architecture Accreditation Council.