The Globe and Mail

Driving along York Mills Road a few weeks ago, it was difficult practising my Simon Cowell scowl in the tiny rear view mirror, but I did my best. I'd been invited by the Ontario Association of Architects to spend the day judging the province's brightest and best new architecture at their large, airy building on Moatfield Drive in Don Mills. (The building is a competition winner like the group's former headquarters on Park Road.) As I walked up the stairs to the reception area, I flirted briefly with the idea of calling my fellow judges "dog," like Randy Jackson, but quickly dismissed the idea when I reminded myself of their calibre. Our non-voting architectural adviser for the day was Peter Burton, partner in charge of the Toronto office of Ventin Group Architects (and son of Pierre Burton, no less). The voting members, besides myself, were University of New York (Buffalo) dean of architecture Brian Carter, Joe Berridge of Urban Strategies Inc., and Hilary Smyth, deputy editor of Canadian House and Home magazine.