I'm good friends with Gabriel Fain (of Gabriel Fain Architects) and Francesco Valente-Gorjup and Aleris Rodgers (of Studio VAARO). Gabriel, Francesco, and I all went to architecture school together (undergrad). Gabriel is the architect behind Mackay Laneway House. And the three of us are really good about staying in touch, and taking group photos so we can document our aging.

Here's us circa 2013:

And here's us 10 years later at my 40th birthday:

Earlier this year, we were all hanging out when they told me that they were working on a research project with the Neptis Foundation called Impossible Toronto. They were authoring the project's inaugural publication and the goal was to explore a housing typology that could be suitable for the city — perhaps even highly desirable — but that is currently impossible to build.

As they were telling me about the project, they casually added, "Oh, and we volunteered you to help the team with development feasibility and financial modeling. We need you do a pro forma for the housing type we're proposing." If that's not true friendship, I don't know what is.

Well, that publication has landed from the printers. It's called Impossible Toronto: On the Courtyard — Learning from European Blocks. And it's beautiful (graphic design by Blok Design):

The full launch is set for October 3rd, 2025 here in Toronto (mark your calendars). At that point, hard copies will be available for sale and soft copies will be available as a free download. But even before then, I want to congratulate the team and everyone involved — there's a long list. This is important work for our great city.

I also very much enjoy the premise of the book and the series as a whole. Most bold ideas start out as impossible, until all of a sudden they're not. The best ideas, it has been said, are just on the right side of impossible.