Ecology is urbanization and urbanization is ecology.….. Michael Hough, 2009
The breadth of Michael Hough’s influence on today’s landscape architects is a true testament to the game-changing importance of his work.
Michael was born in Nice, then trained as an architect and landscape architect at the Ecole des Beaux Art in Geneva, the Edinburgh College of Art, and the University of Pennsylvania where he earned his MLA. He immigrated to Toronto in 1959. By 1963, he had founded Michael Hough and Associates, where for more than half a century, he and an evolving team of partners* broke new ground in urban design, by fundamentally linking ecological science to site planning and design.
As an author, professor, community advocate and practitioner, Michael had a unique ability to bridge professional disciplines, and he rapidly became a pioneer of the Canadian profession. By the early 70s, he had initiated the School of Landscape Architecture at the University of Toronto (1965), and created such landmark U or T landscapes as Philosopher’s Walk and Scarborough College campus. In 1971, he taught environmental design for the Environmental Studies program at York University, and he designed such acclaimed landscapes as Ontario Court House (McMurtry Garden of Justice) and the international award-winning Ontario Place.
He was a prolific author, publishing The Urban Landscape (1971) and documenting his advocacy for integrating natural systems and regeneration into the planning of cities in such key books as City Form and Natural Processes (1984) and Out of Place: Restoring Identity to the Regional Landscape (1990). He argued that by nurturing natural environments in urban settings and public places, landscape architects can maintain the critical sense of place so often lost in generic site design.
Hough lectured in universities across Canada, the United States, Europe, China and Korea, taught at York University (1970-2005) and at Harvard, and served such professional organizations as the Canadian Institute of Planners, the Royal Academy of the Arts, and the CSLA (President, 1985-86). His influence broadened through extensive work for the National Capital Commission, and the Environmental Working Group for the Royal Commission for the Future of the Toronto Waterfront (Chair, Environment Work Group, 1989). By directing such iconic studies as the Task Force to Bring Back the Don and the Master Plan for the Brickworks (1990), he left a significant footprint, which promoted landscape regeneration within Toronto’s waterfront and ravines, as well as community renewal.
His many awards included the CSLA Lifetime Achievement Award (2009), Toronto’s Conservation Pioneer Award (2007), City of Toronto Design Award (2001), Lieutenant Governor’s Conservation Award (1993), The Toronto Arts Award for Architecture and Design (1991), and the ASLA Bradford Williams Medal for Journalistic Excellence (1989).
Michael and his partners’ work was often considered “before its time”. Michael Hough died at 84 (2013), but his theories evolved to become the foundation of today’s urban agenda.
*NOTE: Over the decades, the company which Michael Hough founded changed its name to reflect its evolution: Michael Hough & Associates; Hough Stansbury & Associates; Hough Stansbury & Michalski Limited; Hough Stansbury Woodland Limited; Hough Woodland Naylor Dance Leinster; The Hough Group – Envision
SOURCES
The CSLA recommends the Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) for further information about Michael Hough's work.
FOR SHORT PROFILES OF KEY PROJECTS, CLICK HERE
IMAGES + RESOURCES
“Man on a Mission,” by Kaari Kitawi. GROUND magazine.
On Planning, Preservation, Pedagogy And Public Works, Pierre Bélanger Speaks With Michael Hough. Landscapes Paysages, Autumn, 2009.
1 -3 Ontario Place: A re-creation of natural landscapes that transformed access to the waterfront, with 45 acres of islands, beaches, a 300-boat marina, circa 1970. Archival photos City of Toronto Archives, Series 1465
4 Hough’s Glade in Trillium Park. Courtesy Walter Kehm
5 Planning Scarborough Campus: Head Architect John Andrews (centre) Michael Hough (left) and Michael Hugo-Brunt (architect planner). City of Toronto Archives.
6 Scarborough Campus. City of Toronto Archives.
7 AWARD magazine, featuring Hough Woodland Naylor Dance Leinster (HWNDL)
8 Philosopher’s Walk. Photo by SimonP - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,
9 Gazing at the Don River
10 Weston Family Quarry Garden, part of the Don Valley Brickworks Park. Hough was the lead author of the Don Valley Brick Works master plan, completed in 1990. Photo: Vito Riccio
11 Michael at his happiest, with a spade. Photo: Fiona Hough (Facebook photo)
