Naama Blonder and Misha Bereznyak founded Smart Density in 2016 with a strong and simple vision: create more density where needed, while improving the urban environment. Now, with an eight-person team and a growing number of commissions, they are making significant headway into changing the urban environment through their urban-design and advocacy efforts.
From an early stage, the firm identified the concern among policy makers and the public about Missing Middle housing, typologies that fall between the two extremes of detached houses and tall towers. By concentrating their practice-building efforts on this housing typology deficit, Smart Density has established itself as a leader for meeting new housing demands while harnessing a growing market.
Discussions about increased density are frequently antagonistic, especially in large metropolitan centres like Toronto. NIMBYism from home-owners fuels public opposition to policy revision. Developers are limited by outdated zoning, which leads them to prioritize luxury over diversity in housing type and unit size.
Smart Density embarked on a mission to foster a new type of creative collaboration, but the resources they were looking for just didn’t exist. In response, the firm has created webinars, newsletters, and online educational content to inform both industry professionals and the public about the context and prospective solutions to the Missing Middle problem. They have also produced five case studies for addressing the housing crisis: one of them, their Mini Mid-rise, was an OAA SHIFT Challenge Selection in 2021.
To address the need of developers, they invented the Mid-Rise Building Calculator and Townhouse Modeler, two interactive tools available for purchase that determine a prospective site’s logistical feasibility by methodically applying municipal design guidelines to site-specific property characteristics.
The Smart Density team bring an international perspective to the conversation: Blonder and Bereznyak both studied at the Israel Institute of Technology, with Bereznak later receiving a master’s degree from the University of Toronto. They have travelled extensively, lived in many cities and explored a wide range of urban environments. Aligning closely with the City’s vision for future development, their work also reflects proven concepts from the international community.
Through intelligent urban design, education, media publications, and entrepreneurship, Smart Density is emerging as a powerful advocate for communities revitalized by higher-density living, walkable neighbourhoods, a beautiful public realm, and family-friendly housing. Their passion, extensive experience, and wide-ranging portfolios have led to impressive achievements for an emerging firm.
Publish Date : 2022/Jul/18