Practice

Formalist and experimental, research-based and context-driven, we are unflagging in our pursuit of uncommon design solutions that both engage and endure. Our work aspires to create order and ease, incite wonder, and gently unseat expectations of what architecture can do and be.

Context kindles our research and grounds our design approach. Whether designing a house, multi-unit building, commercial space, or custom piece of furniture, we adhere to a process that is rigorously iterative and investigative. We study local vernaculars and steep ourselves in a site’s history and conditions to develop a cogent and conscientious concept that drives a responsive architectural vision.

We pursue clear formal ideas that foster continuity and coherence, connecting everything from large-scale massing to the most intricate details. We sculpt space using light and shadow, volume and void, to evoke moments of beauty that elevate both function and experience. And we embrace natural materials and tactile finishes that reinforce the broader spatial objectives of the work.

Each project is an opportunity for new discoveries and constructive collaboration that advance the best interests of the design as well as our clients’ aspirations. Our commitment to strategic problem-solving, clear communication, and skillful project management is unwavering. We are dedicated to delivering projects that meet our clients’ objectives, fulfilling programmatic, timeline, and budgetary requirements.

We founded Studio VAARO after more than a decade of working at firms in Los Angeles, Switzerland, and Hong Kong on a variety of large-scale projects, including museums, cultural institutions, and residential towers. Now based in Toronto, we seek opportunities to apply our diverse experience to rethinking typologies and challenging conventional approaches, whether that’s in the rapidly evolving city we call home, elsewhere in Canada, or abroad.

Studio VAARO is a registered practice in Ontario, Canada (OAA) and in New York State, USA.

People

Aleris Rodgers

ARCHITECT (NY), NCARB

Partner & CO-FOUNDER

Photo Credit: Genevieve Caron

Aleris has worked in award-winning architecture offices across Los Angeles, Switzerland, and Hong Kong—including Johnston Marklee, HHF, and the Pritzker Prize-winning firm Herzog & de Meuron, where she focused on Hong Kong’s M+ museum—before settling in Toronto and co-founding Studio VAARO.

Aleris graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and earned a Master of Architecture at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Aleris is Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, at the University of Toronto John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design and a licensed architect in New York State.

Francesco Valente-Gorjup

ARCHITECT, OAA

Partner & CO-FOUNDER

Photo Credit: Genevieve Caron

Francesco has worked in award-winning architecture offices across Los Angeles, Switzerland, Hong Kong, and Toronto, including Herzog & de Meuron, Johnston Marklee, Renzo Piano Building Workshop, and KPMB. During his six years at Herzog & de Meuron, he contributed to a range of international residential and cultural projects—including Hong Kong's M+ Museum—with a particular focus on façade design.

Francesco graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture and English Literature and earned a Master of Architecture at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Francesco is a Sessional Lecturer at the University of Toronto John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design and a licensed architect in Ontario.

 

Team

Present: Caleigh MacDonald & Julia Miclaus

Past: Mo Bayati, Tanner Field, Muskan Goel, Liam Hall, Alexander Lamarche, Negar Mashoof, Anvi Nagpal, Chris Qiu, Shengjie Qiu, Nathan Shakura

Collaborators

Cornecelli, Gabriel Fain Architects, Studio C.S. Lunde, Studio Guma