Skip to Main Content
You are now in the main content area
Headshot of Colin Ripley talking to an audience

Colin Ripley

Chair, Professor
EducationPhD, European Graduate School M.Arch., Princeton MSc. (Physics), University of Toronto B.Eng., (McMaster)
Memberships/ServicesFRAIC; OAA; QuEAN

Colin Ripley is an internationally recognized and award-winning architect, researcher, educator and academic administrator. Along with his colleagues in the design-research firm RVTR, he has been the winner of a number of major awards, including the 2009 Professional Prix de Rome in Architecture. Dr. Ripley holds a Bachelor of Engineering from McMaster University, a Master of Science in theoretical physics from the University of Toronto, a Master of Architecture from Princeton University, and a PhD in Philosophy, Art and Critical Thought from the European Graduate School. He is author and editor of several books about architecture as well as journal papers on a wide range of topics, including megaregional urbanism, responsive envelope systems, sonic architecture, Canadian modern architecture, and the modern concept of the house as understood through the writings of Jean Genet.

www.rvtr.com (external link) 

  • Queer Architecture
  • Modern Canadian Architecture
  • Neurodiversity in design

Books Authored or Edited

  • Ripley, C. (2025, forthcoming). The house is (not) a prison: On the queerness of architecture. Concordia University Press.
  • Thün, G., Velikov, K., MacTavish, D. and Ripley, C. (RVTR) (2015). Infra-|Eco-|Logi-|Urbanism: The Great Lakes Megaregion. Zurich: Park Books.
  • Polo, M. and Ripley, C. (2014). Architecture and National Identity: The Centennial Projects 50 Years On / Architecture et identité nationale : les projets du Centenaire, 50 ans plus tard. Halifax: Dalhousie Architectural Press.
  • Ripley, C. with Polo, M. & Wrigglesworth, A., eds. (2007). In the place of sound: Architecture|music|acoustics. United Kingdom: Cambridge Scholars Press.

Exhibition Catalogs and Conference Proceedings

  • Shipman, E., Ripley, C., Thün, G. & Velikov, K. (2008). RVTR: Matters of Concern | Research Based Responsive Architecture and Urbanism. Cambridge, Ontario: Cambridge Galleries. Exhibition catalog.
  • Ripley, C. with Polo, M. & Wrigglesworth, A., eds. (2006). Architecture|music|acoustics: Proceedings of the 2006 conference. Toronto: Ryerson Embodied Architecture Lab.

Chapters in Books

  • Ripley, C. (2022). Taking Architecture from Behind. In Jobst, M. and Stead, N, eds., Queering Architecture. Routledge.
  • Polo, M. and Ripley, C. (2019). Architecture of the centennial. In Lam, E. and Livesey, G., eds., Northern Architecture: Canadian Architecture, 1967-2017. Princeton Architectural Press.
  • Calvelli, A.; Polo, M; Ripley, C. (2017). Architecture and National Identity: The Centennial Projects 50 Years On. In Baldisera, L. Utopia Factory. Contemporary Calgary, Calgary, Canada. pp. 45-56. Edited transcript of an interview with M. Polo and C. Ripley.
  • Ripley, C., Thün, G. & Velikov, K. (2013). Soft Goes Hard. Bracket 2: Bracket goes soft. eds. Neeraj Bhatia and Lola Sheppard (Barcelona: Actar): pp. 34-44.
  • Ripley, C., Thün, G. & Velikov, K. (2009). Acque alte. In Nechtel, J. ed., Water. Toronto and Cambridge, Mass.: Alphabet City/MIT Press.
  • RVTR (Ripley, Colin, Geoffrey Thün Kathy Velikov and Paul Raff) (2009). RVTR. In Heather Dubbeldam and Lola Sheppard, eds., Twenty + Change: Emerging Canadian Design Practices. Cambridge, Ontario: Riverside Press.
  • Ripley, C. (2007). Introduction: In the place of sound. In Ripley, C. with Polo, M. & Wrigglesworth, A., eds. (2007). In the place of sound: Architecure|music|acoustics. United Kingdom: Cambridge Scholars Press. (R)
  • Ripley, C. (2007). Hearing, places: sound in architectural thought and practice. In Ros Bandt, Dolly MacKinnon, and Michelle Duffy, eds. Hearing places. UK: Cambridge Scholars Press. (R)
  • Velikov, K., Raff, P., Ripley, C., & Thün, G. (2007). Eat the city to save the planet. In GreenTOpia. Toronto: Coach House Press. (R)

Journal Papers

  • Ripley, C. (2023). The Master’s Tools: Tearing down the goat-shed from inside. Journal of Interior Design Education.
  • Ripley, C. (2021). On Stained Sheets. Informa 14. https://informa.uprrp.edu/?page_id=17098.
  • Ripley, C. (2020). (Im)proper Subversion: Taking architecture from behind. In Abrahamson, M., & Fischer, O. W. (2020). Dialectic VIII. Subverting - unmaking architecture. Novato: Oro Editions: 68-73.
  • Ripley, C. (2018). Strategies for living in houses. In Gorny, R. & van den Heuvel, D. (Eds.), Trans-Bodies / Queering Spaces [Special issue]. Footprint ,21. pp. 95-108.
  • Ripley, C. (2015). Instrumental operations in the urban assemblage. Journal of Sonic Studies 11 - Recomposing the City: New Directions in Urban Sound Art. https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/234594/234595. (R)
  • Ripley, C. (2013). Digital distraction: Towards a technological criticism. Volume, Iss. 36: 38-40.
  • Thün, G., Velikov, K., O’Malley, M. & Ripley, C. (2011). Mass-customized net energy-positive housing for the great lakes region. Open House Int. 2013, 38, 15-24.
  • Thün, G., Velikov, K., Ripley, C., McGee, W., Sauvé, L. (2012). Soundspheres: Resonant Chamber. Leonardo: The Journal of the International Society of the Arts, Sciences and Technology, 45:4, 2012: 348-357. (R)
  • Ripley, C., Thün, G. & Velikov, K. (2012). Cultural and Touristic Infrastructures in the Context of Megaregions.
  • Spaces and Flows: An International Journal of Urban and ExtraUrban Studies, Volume 2, Issue 1, pp.105-120. (R)
  • Thün, G., Velikov, K., Ripley, C. (2012). Re-centering periphery: Regional geographies and infrastructural architectures. Volume, Iss. 34: 30-37.
  • Ripley, C., Thün, G. & Velikov, K. (2012). The Stratus Project: Responsive Interior Atmospheres. Interiors: Design, Architecture Culture. Volume 3, Iss. 1-2: 43-58. (R)
  • Ripley, C., Thün, G. & Velikov, K. (2012). Thick Air. Journal of Architectural Education (JAE), Vol. 65, No. 2: 69-79. (R) Velikov, K., Thün, G. & Ripley, C. (2011). Infra-/Eco-/Logi-/-Urbanism. In Monu #15: 101-112 (R)
  • Ripley, C., Thün, G. & Velikov, K. (2009). Matters of Concern: Problem Seeking and Complex Collaboration in a Post Information World. Journal of Architectural Education (JAE), Volume 62: Issue 4, May 2009. (R)
  • Ripley, C. (2006). Safe as houses: The Mettray Colony as seen by Jean Genet. Space and Culture vol. 9 no. 4: 400-417. (R)
  • Ripley, C. (2005). Emptiness and landscape: National identity in Canada’s centennial projects. Journal of the Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada vol. 30, no. 1 (2005): 37-45. (R)

Papers in Refereed Conference Proceedings

  • Ripley, C. (2017). New resonances: Sound in contemporary architectural thought. In Iazzetta, F., Campesato, L. & Chaves, R. (Eds.), Sonologia 2016 – Out of Phase. Sao Paulo: Nusom, 33-44. http://www2.eca.usp.br/ sonologia/proceedings/. (R)
  • Ripley, C. (2016). Cross-disciplinary collaborative entrepreneurial education: zone learning and architecture. JIDA (Jornades d’innovació docent en arquitectura). http://upcommons.upc.edu/ handle/2117/81774. (R)
  • Velikov, K., Thün, G., Ripley, C. (2015). Matters of Air: Atmospheric Explorations in the Pursuit of Responsive Architectures. In M. Voyatzaki (Ed.), What’s the Matter? Materiality and Materialism at the Age of Computation. Barcelona:ENHSA, 627-642
  • Ripley, C. (2012). Ceci Tuera Cela: Architectural Practice in the Age of Ubiquitous Software. In Costa, X. and Thorne, M., Change, Architecture, Education, Practice. ACSA international Conference, 2012, Barcelona. Washington, DC: ACSA Press, pp. 95-98. ISBN 978-0-935502-83-1.(R)
  • Velikov, K., Thün, G., O’Malley, M. & Ripley, C. (2011). Toward Responsive Atmospheres: Prototype Exploration Through Material and Computational Systems. In ACADIA 2011 Proceedings.
  • Ripley, C., Thün, G. & Velikov, K. (2011). The experience landscape. In A. Cormier, A. Pedret and A. Perez-Gomez, eds., Where do you stand? Poster Proceedings from the 99th ACSA Annual Meeting. Washington, D.C.: ACSA Press, p.8. (R)
  • Ripley, C., Thün, G. & Velikov, K. (2010). Territorialization of Renewable Energy and Mobility in the Great Lakes Region. In ISES RE2010 Renewable Energy 2010 Proceedings: OP-5-4
  • Ripley, C., Thün, G. & Velikov, K. (2009). Matters of Concern: Projects and Process. In M. Gillem, P. Crisman, eds., The Value of Design: Proceedings of the 2009 ACSA National Conference. Washington, DC: ACSA Press, pp. 808-811. (R)
  • Ripley, C. & Thün, G. (2007). Interdisciplinary translation: Sonic practices as pedagogical tools in the architecture design studio.” In Fresh Air: Proceedings of the 2007 ACSA Annual Meeting. March 2007. (R)
  • Ripley, C. (2005). Computers, sound, and architecture. In Sonic Interventions: Proceedings. University of Amsterdam Institute for Cultural Analysis, pp. 130-138. (R)
  • Ripley, C. (2005). Hearing buildings: A program for aural representation of architectural space. In Proceedings of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture 2005 Annual Meeting. ACSA Press, pp. 206-12. (R)
  • Ripley, C. (2005). Assisted Listening: Computers, Sound, and Architecture. Architecture, Engineering and Construction of Built Environments: proceedings of the Special Focus Symposium on Systems Research in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) of Built Environments, eds. Yew-Thong Leong and George Lasker, Baden-Baden. pp. 25-29.
  • Ripley, C. (2004). Sound architecture: Spatial practices in contemporary music. In Changing Territories, New Cartographies: Proceedings of the 2004 Northeast Regional ACSA Conference. pp. 439-449. (R)
  • Ripley, C. (2004). Stealing home: Three scenes towards a theory. In Gonzalez, R. A. & Nepomechie, M. R. (Eds.), Archipelagos: outposts of the Americas. Enclaves amidst technology. Proceedings of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture 2004 Annual Meeting. Washington, DC: ACSA Press. pp. 301-5.

Selected Conference Presentations

  • Ripley, C. (2023, May). Of Walls and Flowers. Colonies of Benevolence Symposium, Veenhuisen, The Netherlands.
  • Ripley, C. (2020, March). On the Erotics of Architecture. Kink and the Erotics Conference. Prague. Ripley, C. (2019, June). The House of the Thief. Modernism in the Home. Birmingham, UK.
  • Ripley, C. (2018, April). La maison ce n’est pas un prison. Queer Modernisms 2: Intersectional Identities, Oxford, UK.
    Ripley, C. (2016, November). New Resonances. Sonologia conference, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
  • Ripley, C. (2012, June). Ceci Tuera Cela: On the future of the architectural profession. Paper presented at ACSA International Conference, Barcelona.
  • Ripley, C. and Polo, M. (2012, June). The Centennial Projects: Architecture and National Identity. Paper presented at RAIC Festival of Architecture, St. John’s.
  • Ripley, C., Thün, G. & Velikov, K. (2011, November). Culture and Tourist Infrastructures in the contex of Megaregions. Paper presented at Spaces and Flows, Prato, Italy.
  • Thün, G., Velikov, K., O’Malley, M. & Ripley, C. (2011, March). Responsive Envelopes and Air Design: The Stratus Project. Paper presented at Adaptive Architecture Conference, London, UK.
  • Thün, G., Velikov, K. & Ripley, C. (2011, March). The Future of Responsive Envelope Design: How User-Centered Solutions are Transforming the Design of Sustainable Domains. Paper presented at 7th International Conference on Technology, Knowledge and Society, Bilbao, Spain.
  • Ripley, C., Thün, G. & Velikov, K. (2010, July). Territorialization of Renewable Energy and Mobility in the Great Lakes Megaregion. Paper presented at Renewable Energy 2010, July 2010.
  • Ripley, C., Thün, G. & Velikov, K. (2009, March). Matters of Concern. Paper presented at ACSA Annual Meeting, Portland OR.
  • Ripley, C. (2007, November). Design for Design. Paper presented at First Annual DGRAD conference, Toronto. Ripley, C. (2007, May). Gay Toronto: Maple Leaf Gardens as urban catalyst. Paper presented at 2007 SSAC Annual
    Meeting, Montreal.
  • Ripley, C. (2005, April). Safe as Houses: The Mettray Colony as seen by Jean Genet. Paper presented at SAH 2005 Annual Meeting, Vancouver.
  • Ripley, C. (2004, October). Sound Architecture: Spatial Practices in Contemporary Music. Paper presented at Changing Territories, New Cartographies: 2004 Northeast Regional ACSA Conference, Syracuse NY.
  • Ripley, C. (2004, March). Stealing Home: Three Scenes Towards a Theory. Paper presented at ACSA 2004 Annual Meeting, Miami Beach, FL.
    Exhibitions
  • Ripley, C. (2023). The House of the Thief. Hallway Gallery, Toronto Metropolitan University.
  • Ripley, C. (2020). The House of the Thief. Paul Cocker Gallery, Ryerson University. Virtual Exhibition. Belanger, P., OPSYS and RVTR (2016). EXTRACTION. Canadian Pavilion, 15th International Architecture
    Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia.
  • Polo, M. and Ripley, C. (2014). Architecture and National Identity: The Centennial Projects 50 Years On / Architecture et identité nationale : les projets du Centenaire, 50 ans plus tard. Confederation Centre of the Arts Gallery, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.
  • (2015). National Arts Centre, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
  • (2017). Grenfell Campus Art Gallery, Corner Brook, Newfoundland, Canada
  • (2017). Contemporary Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
  • (2017). Paul H. Cocker Gallery, Ryerson University, Toronto.
  • RVTR (2013). Infra-/Eco-/Logi-/-Urbanism. Solo exhibition. Centre de Design, UQAM, Montreal.
  • (2014). Paul H. Cocker Gallery, Ryerson University, Toronto
  • (2014). Yale University School of Architecture, New Haven.
  • (2015). Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan.
  • (2015). Ewing Gallery for Art and Architecture, University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
  • Ryerson Department of Architectural Science (2013). Cover and Spread: Photos from the Canadian Architect
  • Archives. Paul H. Cocker Gallery, Ryerson University. Curatorial/Design Advisor.
    Future City Lab (2012). Future City Lab. Exhibition of research group.
  • Arkitecture Forum Aedes, Berlin. Shipman, E. & RVTR (2008). rvtr: matters of concern. Solo exhibition. Cambridge, ON: Cambridge Galleries at Riverside. October 2008 to January 2009. Design and research work.
  • RVTR (2008). Matters of Concern: Young Architects Forum Award 2008. Group Exhibition, Architectural League of New York. (R)

Invited Lectures, Publications and Panel Discussions

  • Ripley, C. (2023). The House of the Thief. Royal College of Art, London. Ripley, C. (2023). The House of the Thief. Middlesex University, London.
  • Ripley, C. (2020). The Thief in the House of Architecture. KU Leuven, Brussels, February 23.
  • Ripley, C. and Polo, M. (2017). Architecture and National Identity: The Centennial Projects. Contemporary Calgary, May 2017.
  • Ripley, C. (2017). Architecture and National Identity: The Centennial Projects. Keynote address: National Identit(ies) symposium, Grenfell Campus, Memorial University of Newfoundland, February 2017.
  • Invited Panelist. Progeny. Exhibition opening, University of Central Florida, August 2016.
  • Ripley, C. and Polo, M. (2015). The Centennial Projects. Public Lecture, National Art Centre, Ottawa. July 1 (Canada Day).
  • Ripley, C. (2015). Living in Complexity. Public Lecture, University of Manitoba Faculty of Architecture, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
  • Ripley, C. (2014). Architecture|Music|Acoustics: Resonant Chamber. Keynote address, Recomposing the City Symposium, Queen’s University, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
  • Ripley, C. (2014). [ ]. Public Lecture, Tel Aviv University School of Architecture, Tel Aviv, Israel.
  • Polo, M. and Ripley, C. (2013, October 4). Fathering the centennial: The Confederation Centre for the Arts.
  • Inaugural Henessey Lecture, Charlottetown, P.E.I. Invited participant, World Holcim Forum, April 2013, Mumbai.
  • Moderator. Peri-Urbanism. Roundtable discussion, Arkitecture Forum Aedes, Berlin, May 2012. Invited Panelist. Folding: Ryerson symposium on urbanism, February 2012.
  • Invited Panelist. AIM-MIA conference, October 2011, UT Austin.
  • Invited Panelist. Association for Interior Design Educators, Humber College, September 2011.
  • Ripley, C. (2011, August 5). Homo Ludens. Keynote Presentation, Building Technology Educators Society Annual Meeting, Toronto.
  • Ripley, C. (2011, June). The Great Lakes Megaregion. Inaugural session, Future City Lab, Olbia, Italy. Ripley, C. (2011, January 18). Breathe. Visiting Lecture Series, M.Des. Program, York University, Toronto.
  • Thün, G, Velikov, K. and Ripley, C. (2010, August 28). RVTR: Recent Work. Visiting Lecture Series, Department of Design and Architecture, Iceland Academy of the Arts (IAA), Reykjavík, Iceland.
  • Thün, G, Velikov, K. and Ripley, C. (2010, August 23). RVTR: matters of concern. bareKRAFTIGarkitektur Summer Lecture Series, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway.
  • Ripley, C. (2010, June). Design Research and Architectural Education. Invited presentation, Bond University, Gold Coast, Australia.
  • Thün, G, Velikov, K. and Ripley, C. (2010, May). High Performance Buildings and the Integrated Design Process.
  • Invited Presentation and IDP Workshop to the Canadian National Capital Commission, Ottawa, Canada.
  • Ripley, C. (2009, June). Towards an Architecture of Sonic Distraction. Invited presentation, Architectones 2009, Arc-et-Senans, France.
  • Invited Panelist. GreenTOpia. Panel discussion member. Planet in Focus film festival, October 27, 2007. Ripley, C. (2005). Sound Architectures. Invited lecture, Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Philadelphia.

Cover of one of Colin Ripley publications titled: "The house is (Not) a Prison: on the Queerness of Architecture"  (external link, opens in new window) 

Where is sexuality, especially queer sexuality, in architecture? The House Is (Not) a Prison approaches this question from a radically new position, looking not for a theory of queer architecture, but rather for a queer theory of architecture. Starting from a reconsideration of the foundational principles of architecture, Colin Ripley demonstrates how the division of space steals land from the commons and forces separations and categories. In the process, queerness is created as an indispensable outside to architecture’s disciplinary interior.

Tracing the evolution of architecture from the late Enlightenment to the postwar twentieth century, Ripley shows how distinctions between the prison and the domestic home began to collapse in nineteenth-century initiatives to rehabilitate the criminalized, and blurred even further with the popularization of glass and concrete in the modernist cell. He examines sites such as Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon, Guillaume-Abel Blouet’s Mettray penal colony, Fontevrault prison, Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye, Philip Johnson’s Glass House, and the architecture of North American suburbs to better understand how structures both facilitate and regulate queer sexuality.

A parallel text in the endnotes connects Jean Genet’s prison-set writings to buttress the relationship between architectural features and queerness. With a foreword by Slavoj Žižek, The House Is (Not) a Prison is a provocative and surprising work that advances understandings of queer space.

  • 2017 AZ Awards Program: Winner. EXTRACTION. Award Category: Social Good. Pierre Belanger / OPSYS.
  • Canadian Society of Landscape Architects (CSLA/AAPC), National Award of Excellence EXTRACTION. Award Category: Design Communication, Risk and Resilience Pierre Belanger: Curator, RVTR: Design Research and Exhibition Design
  • 2013 Architizer Jury Award and Architizer Peoples Choice Award. Resonant Chamber. (RVTR) 2012-13 Journal of Architectural Education
    Best Design as Scholarship Article Award. (Ripley, C., Thün, G. & Velikov, K.)
  • 2009 Canada Council for the Arts. Professional Prix de Rome in Architecture (RVTR).
  • Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture. Faculty Design Awards: Selected to present design work, ACSA Conference, Portland Oregon (RVTR).
  • 2008 American Institute of Architects Honor Award: Thomas L. Wells Public School (Baird Sampson Neuert Architects; Colin Ripley and Geoffrey Thün: Project Architects).
  • 2006 Governor-General’s Medal in Architecture: Erindale Hall, University of Toronto at Mississauga (Baird Sampson Neuert Architects; Colin Ripley: Project Architect).
  • 2004 OAA Award of Excellence: Erindale Hall, University of Toronto at Mississauga (Baird Sampson Neuert Architects; Colin Ripley: Project Architect).
  • 2003 Toronto Architecture and Urban Design Award: St. Clair Mausoleum at Prospect Cemetery (Baird Sampson Neuert Architects; Colin Ripley: Project Architect).
  • 2002 Canadian Architect Award of Excellence: Erindale Hall, University of Toronto at Mississauga (Baird Sampson Neuert Architects; Colin Ripley: Project Architect).
  • 2001 OAA Award of Excellence, Ideas and Presentations: St. Clair Mausoleum Drawings (Colin Ripley). OAA Award of Excellence: University of Toronto at Mississauga Phase VI Student Residence (Baird Sampson Neuert Architects; Colin Ripley: Senior Designer).
  • 2000 Canadian Architect Award of Excellence: St. Clair Mausoleum at Prospect Cemetery (Baird Sampson Neuert Architects; Colin Ripley: Project Architect).
  • 1998 Canadian Architect Award of Excellence: University of Toronto at Mississauga Phase VI Student Residence (Baird Sampson Neuert Architects; Colin Ripley: Senior Designer).
  • 1998 Canadian Architect Award of Merit: McKinsey and Company (Taylor Hariri Pontarini Architects; Colin Ripley: Design Team Member).