World Town Planning Day – Toronto

With the premise “the best way to know your city is to walk it”, a ‘walkshop’ exploring Toronto was organized for the annual World Town Planning Day 2011, uniting young planners and urban thinkers alike.

The November 8^th event was hosted by members of the Canadian Association of Planning Students. A few dozen civic-minded people with varied backgrounds joined the guided walking tour that connected five significant local destinations where keynote speakers shared their insights on the city’s planning matters.

The tour teed-off at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) where Ceta Ramkhalawansingh, Manager of Diversity Management and Community Engagement at the City of Toronto, wowed the group with stories from her 40-year involvement in neighbourhood activities, for which she and others have championed an array of successful urban initiatives. Ramkhalawansingh described the planning undertaken for significant cultural buildings and how they were enriched as a result of community engaged processes, such as the AGO, which expanded its outreach programs; and OCAD University, whose ”building as a bridge” design addressed residents’ concerns of blocking views to the adjacent park and increased street access. Along the way, she pointed out various social housing projects that have been well integrated into the fabric of the built environment.

The second stop on the tour was Union Station, the central hub for all inter-city transit in Toronto. Armed with a steel railroad spike from back in the day, Glenn Miller, Vice President of Education and Research with the Canadian Urban Institute, enlightened the troops with the history of Union Station and its revolutionary role in the development of the city. An advocate for public transit and transit-oriented land use, Miller explained that the station’s multi-million dollar refurbishment in progress will increase its functionality, and stressed the need for more hubs of this scale in the city, in conjunction with, what else, good land use plans. (Fingers crossed!)

The tour continued onwards to St. Lawrence Market where Christopher Hume, notable architecture and urban critic for the Toronto Star, addressed the city’s ongoing waterfront revitalization project. Hume generally encourages planners to be more proactive, emphasizing that planning cannot be left to the private sector exclusively – it needs rules and clarity. “Planners should take back their profession from the lawyers”, said Hume. (Amen to that!) While discussions of the built landscape frequently centre on the predominance of high-rises, at least in this city, Hume stated that it’s the condition at street level that often makes for a great building project, and that “it’s not always about height.” Many can agree that the planning process of Toronto is flawed but the city is still growing at a massive rate – it’s one of the biggest condo booms in the world. “The future is not about houses anymore but about condos/apartments, social housing, tower renewal, co-ops, transit, suburbs and a focus on inner Toronto,” Hume remarked. He re-iterated the need for thoughtful city planning, emphasizing that is not an “abstract process” that the average person cannot understand or get involved with in a meaningful way. It requires a commitment and collaboration with members actively engaged in the community.

With 40 years of urban planning experience and the title of Toronto’s Chief City Planner (1996-2004), Paul Bedford has seen it all. The passionate advocate and public speaker continues to serve on various boards and advisory committees and is adjunct professor at the University of Toronto and Ryerson University. Bedford’s advice for the young planners in the group: 1) make a difference; 2) give the best professional opinion you can; 3) connect with people and constantly work at that relationship using effective media. (Get them behind your planning vision!); 4) have good priorities and principles and stick to them; and, 5) take calculated risks and be prepared to push the envelope. “Be both in tune with and ahead of where folks are in your city,” noted Bedford.

Bedford praised nearby Berczy Park as “a bold move that took political will and courage.” Once an asphalt parking lot adjacent to the historic Gooderham ‘Flatiron’ Building, the site was converted to a beautiful park, an oasis in a busy downtown environment. For him, the creation of this public space is an example of the design theory ‘urban acupuncture’ as it, in turn, lead to a broader restoration of the area, adding value and infusing new energy.

The tour marched onwards, convening next at planning and urban design firm Urban Strategies’ downtown office where associates Andrew Goodyear and Shonda Wang presented the Alexandra Park project, the revitalization of an existing site and what will be “the first public housing community in Toronto’s history without government funds.”

Alexandra Park is a residential area with a strong sense of community but suffers from an aging building stock and a fractured layout. Goodyear talked of the planning process and described the site-wide redevelopment, whose master plan will provide better housing options, improve community amenities, and increase open space and pedestrian priority areas. The presentation was followed by a walking tour of the nearby site, giving the group a hands-on experience of some of the challenges it currently faces. This innovative model introduces market housing (and some retail) as well as zero displacement, the housing component of which will generate sufficient reserves to cover the cost of the revitalization, giving the project near economic self-sufficiency.

The last stop of the tour was 401 Richmond St. W, a historic 200,000sf building in downtown Toronto that is home to anything and everything under the creative umbrella. Once a factory, the building was purchased in 1994 with the purpose of revitalizing, restoring and creating an arts-focused centre. The interior, with its exposed brick and original post and beam construction, lends itself beautifully to spaces for a varied tenant directory: galleries, studios, day care, micro-enterprises, and Swipe – one of the last independent bookstores in Toronto, and focusing exclusively on design.

There are plenty of examples of resourcefulness and inventiveness in keeping with the spirit of the building, like glass-filled passageways and an expanding roof garden. “We’re interested in things that really fit well with what’s already here … nothing too fancy … to keep things simple,” says Erin MacKeen, Director of Community Development and Communications for Urbanspace Property Group who owns and operates the facility.

Most fittingly, the tour wrapped up in front of a portrait of the legendary Jane Jacobs, who called Toronto ‘home’. 401 Richmond contributes to the vibrant culture in this city by hosting countless events and exhibits, by encouraging idea sharing and dialogue, and by promoting urban revitalization. Positive transformations in the city need sustained public engagement and transparency, and each begs the question, “What Would Jane Jacobs Do?”

[A panel discussion entitled "Staying the Course – What Have Planners Learned About Implementation?" was held later that evening at the University of Toronto. This public event was organized by the Canadian Urban Institute in collaboration with Association of Ontario Land Economists. It was a full house.]

Five steps to Teeple Architects’ design process

(cross-posted from Azure magazine)

A look at the process behind five projects – including 60 Richmond Street East housing, Langara College Library and River of Death and Discovery Dinosaur Museum – by the Toronto firm.

When Stephen Teeple, the principal of Toronto firm Teeple Architects, delivered a talk at the University of Toronto architecture school last month, he gave the audience a behind-the-scenes look at his studio’s design strategy through several buildings either completed or under development. For each project, the outcome from the outset is unknown, and while each begins with a different starting point, the firm’s open process leads to multiple possibilities. “We’re interested in how you can make boring realities inspirational,” the architect said. “You take those actual facts, needs, necessities and come up with solutions.” Ironically titled “Enough is never enough,” his presentation was organized under the five major themes – intriguing banalities, dislodging, fear condition, warped productions and measured space shaping – that guide the firm’s work.

60 Richmond St E Housing Co-op in Toronto, Ontario

Exploring the theme of “intriguing banalities, where everyday things can be inspirational,” Teeple described his firm’s approach to environmentally conscious design – a main feature in each project’s main architectural idea that’s also expressed in the completed work’s spatial experience.

Completed in 2010, the 60 Richmond Street East housing co-op was created for hospitality workers that had to relocate from Regent Park during its redevelopment. The architects took the simple starting point, “If you grow and prepare food, how would that inform the design?” What resulted is an almost self-sustaining community through an almost self-sufficient architecture: a solid cubic mass fronting the street is eroded at various levels to create openings and terraces; these become both social spaces for the residents as well as gardens for herbs and veggies that are used in the ground-floor restaurant. The process comes full circle when the resto’s organic waste becomes compost for those growing beds.

River of Death and Discovery Dinosaur Museum, Wembley, Alberta 

Discussing the idea, “Dislodging – design as a form of research,” Teeple explained that it’s important to keep the obvious in mind but also to be open to other possible outcomes. One example where this theme came into play was in this museum, which honours the famous Pipestone Creek Dinosaur Bonebed, one of the five most significant dinosaur bonebeds in the world. The museum’s circulation route follows the discovery and excavation of the bonebed, the paleontological reconstruction of the dinosaurs, and culminates with the re-creation of the experience of this prehistoric time.

In developing the flow through various schemes, a dynamic entry sequence takes visitors back in time through spaces that expand and compress, past viewing galleries where they can observe scientists at work in laboratories. Set to open in December 2012, this educational resource and learning centre, whose form recalls that of the dinosaur, will thrill researchers, dinosaur enthusiasts and the general public alike – especially kids.

 

Langara College Library in Vancouver, British Columbia

According to Teeple, the “fear condition” – heightened by our awareness of diminishing natural resources – is fertile ground for architectural and artistic expression.

With a sustainable, highly energy-efficient design that informs its strong aesthetic identity, the Langara College Library (featured in Azure‘s June 2008 issue) makes the most of the site’s renewable resources. The environmental forces acting on the building, most notably variable wind conditions, generate its form; the inflected roof gathers wind and directs it into atria that ventilate the building entirely through this natural “stack effect.” These wind towers also serve as iconic elements in the student quadrangle and orienting devices that organize pedestrian circulation. By replacing typical HVAC systems with geothermal heating and cooling, and by incorporating rainwater harvesting and internal courtyards that pull in daylight, the firm achieved a beautiful building that functions as a green machine.

Montrose Cultural Centre at Grande Prairie, Alberta            

Conflict avoidance is not the answer. Discussing the idea of “warped productions,” Teeple says that since architecture is financed and produced through complex systems of management, it’s in the architect’s best interest to engage in these modes of production, rather than pretend they don’t exist.

Teeple Architects approached the Montrose Cultural Centre, which opened in 2009, from a standpoint of cost effectiveness – using simple strategies and common building materials – asking, “how do you make that condition beautiful?” The key design focus was to capture the beauty of the northern prairie light, known for its dramatically long shadows. This building houses a library, art gallery, café, meeting and event spaces that look to the expansive skies and surrounding iconic prairie landscape. Its curtain wall, clerestory windows and colourful low trusses let in natural light and modulate and channel it deep inside the building. Its multi-textured palette of standing-seam zinc cladding, pitted brick and textured glazing, creates different light and shadow conditions as time of day and seasons change.

Sisters of St. Joseph Convent in Peterborough, Ontario

The main idea behind this convent, a comfortable, environmentally responsible home for the Sisters’ aging members, was “measured space shaping: shaping human experience and enhancing life.”

Nestled into a woodlot site, the building reads as two long arms that flow over the terrain and open out with views of the small town of Peterborough, Ontario. Its sculptural form and gleaming white panels contrast with the surrounding greenery, a landscape that the architects were careful to thread through the spatial experience of the whole. While the residential suites pick up the rectilinear rhythm of the street and neighbouring agricultural grid, the building curves toward the communal gathering spaces, converging in the double-height chapel – a flexible and welcoming space that looks onto nature. Completed in 2009, the building expresses its members’ ecological values and incorporates sustainable strategies, including a structure of fly-ash concrete and recycled steel, occupancy sensors and dimmers, and ample apertures that maximize daylight.

Architectural photography by Shai Gil

Art Battle :: AB9

Live competitive painting is not for the faint of heart. You don’t need nerves (nor abs) of steel but, you do have to perform under the watchful eye of the judging multitudes. Artists have 20 minutes to transform a canvas and beat their opponents in three rousing rounds.

The venue for Toronto’s Art Battle #9 was The Great Hall, more intimate than its name implies and a popular joint that hosts raves, weddings, and launch parties. An organizer asked me “Artist or Patron?” when I arrived – I had come to observe, not publicly discredit myself, ergo I responded “Patron.” White lights were strung along the balustrade of the mezzanine above while white fabric billowed from the ceiling, fanning out like a four-poster bed. Directly below, smack in the centre of the space, stood four easels and four bar tables, each kitted out with supplies: blobs of acrylic paint, pitchers of water, an assortment of brushes, and a mixing palette.

The body count was 200 that night and, mixed within the crowd, artists eagerly waited to learn whether they’d be participating or not. It was decided on the spot with a draw: a total of eight painters would display their painterly prowess, four in round 1, and four in round 2. The winner of each would meet in a final face off, the evening’s main event.

When the challenges got rolling, the competitors immersed themselves in their work; some toiled slowly and deliberately while others exercised much brush-to-canvas contact. Onlookers, mostly art-inclined 20-30 somethings, surrounded the artists, beer in hand, while the DJ spun ‘dirty electro.’

The host announced milestones: “15 minutes left”, “5 minutes left”, “45 seconds to go…Brushes down, people!” At intermissions, women with black staff t-shirts replenished the materials and spectators swarmed the artwork to take pictures with their iPhones and cast their votes for a winner. At the evening’s end, the pieces were auctioned off.

I liked the energy of the showdown, the friendly competition, and the randomness of the selection process – equal opportunity! You can take part in the underground art scene of Toronto: whether a renegade painter yourself or part of the audience, everyone engages in events in some manner. Have a go!

Discovering the Best Of

If you’ve ever picked up and started life elsewhere, you can probably relate to some of my experiences. Incomunicada for the past couple of months, I’ve (re) surfaced. I moved to Toronto from Boston this summer but only started ‘living’ here in September and it’s been a whirlwind ever since. Big changes all round, more than just geographical.

‘Joining stuff’ was priority numero uno. I knew a total of two people when I arrived. Actually, a few more than that but hadn’t connected with them since heading to the States in ‘98. Determined to build a network, I started filling up my calendar: besides three evening classes, the first week alone I went to four Meet-Up gatherings. Realistically, that’s not a momentum I can maintain but there’s no excuse to find oneself alone for long in a metropolitan city. There’s tons of stuff here (free too) to tap into, to attend: exhibitions, symposiums, and cultural festivals up the yin-yang and Blog TO has Best Of city guide lists to help us newbies: best barber shop, jerk chicken, microbrewery, pet grooming, and splurge sushi – whatever your fancy. Toronto is a city that’s building, a city that’s booming and one of its best photoblogs, a daily dose of imagery, is a great source of inspiration for me.

Azure Publishing is where I work now. Azure is a Canadian magazine that covers international architecture and design projects and products and I have been a fan for ages. Working in the writing and editing industry is indeed a shift from my background in architecture firms but it’s something I’ve wanted to explore for some time. I may not have a clear picture yet but at least I’m thinking about what I wanna be when I grow up. You can see a little of what I’ve been up to here. (below is the view from my desk)

I’m happy and lucky to be busy during this transitional time. Actually, I’ve been busting a hump, which hasn’t left much time for writing in my personal blog so this weekend will be one of decompression.

I left a wonderful bunch of friends in Boston and I’m hoping I can entice them to visit. Nudge nudge wink wink… Form an orderly queue, people!



My exploratory trip to the Tdot (a.k.a. Toronto)

A taste of Toronto, soon-to-be my new home.  So as not to be utterly overwhelmed by the novelty, I kept a mission list to a minimum in this, my first exploratory trip.  Leaving my adopted city of Boston is going to be tough – roots have grown deep over these past 11 years.  I came very close (within inches, really) to moving to the ‘Tdot’ 4 years ago but it didn’t pan out because I was not ready to separate myself from the likes of ‘Beantown’.  Over the course of my life, I have resided in and made a couple dozen trips to Europe and yet, scandalously, I have rarely visited Toronto, a major pulsing city a measly 4 hours away from where I grew up:  Ottawa.  I cannot complain, though….hello, Europe?! But unbeknownst to me, a megapolis was growing, evolving, and drawing people from all corners of the world.

Whilst hitting the streets during my 5-day stay and polling friends and strangers that live there, I discovered that Toronto is indeed a wonderful and liveable city.  Naïvely, I thought it was solely a field of skyscrapers.  Of those glass high-rises there are aplenty, many having sprouted in the past few years to meet the burgeoning condo demand of downtowners.  But there are so many plays of scale there.  I was pleasantly surprised to find numerous neighbourhoods or, dare I say, arrondissements, with different qualities, some with a small village feel:  you’ve got your industrial-turned-art district, hipster, bohemian, trendy, and posh areas, the financial and entertainment zones, the beaches and so on.

As the world’s most ethnically diverse city, Toronto also has distinctive shopping districts and markets that offer a wide range of unique experiences: vibrant retail areas that’ll disorient you and make you think you’re elsewhere.  Ok, perhaps that’s a bit of a stretch to say but the Greek, Portuguese, Italian, Indian, Chinese communities, to name but a few, are each a ‘country’ in itself.  I came across scores of teenagers seamlessly flipping back and forth between English and foreign languages, presumably their family’s native tongue – something I can relate to.  And it is no surprise to see many business owners from Europe setting up shop there, benefitting from opportunities that they cannot get on the other side of the pond.  Toronto is home to heaps of independent shops, galleries and restaurants, suave Internet cafés sandwiched between tattoo parlours and Shawarma eateries.  Personally, I was all over the mid-century modern venues stocked with Scandinavian furniture and décor.  Put me in front of anything with the ‘Design within Reach’ label (a knockoff of a classic, rather) and look out!  I’ll covet it like a treasure trove.  The highly acclaimed Toronto International Film Festival may have helped put this city on the cultural map but it goes far beyond that – it has become one of North America’s most dynamic arts and design communities.

People in Toronto have a sense of humour. You can do what you want here (generally speaking) and be whomever you want.  (And frankly, coming from Boston, it’s refreshing). You can find everything and anything here.  And in my walks I encountered distressingly attractive and stylish people… another bonus to relocating.   Like anything, there will be pluses and minuses, I’ll give up some things and gain others.  But I’m ready for the new adventures a metropolis affords.  Word on the street is that initiatives are in place to make Toronto into a New York.  I can believe that.  With neighbourhoods on the upswing, a booming real estate market (almost as if there was no recession), and an established major banking center:  these all bring serious cashola to the once ‘Big Smoke’.  It may not have a reputation of being the prettiest of cities (note aforementioned nickname ‘Big Smoke’) but it’s getting better at creatively filling in the blanks.  Concrete Toronto is in a form of continuous development.

I woke up with the sun rising over Lake Ontario, a body of water so enormous it might as well be a sea.  And as if there wasn’t already enough happening, there is also a massive ongoing revitalization of Toronto’s harbour front.  Development plans to strengthen the ‘blue edge’ are still much in the works but I saw various projects already constructed:  flexible public spaces and facilities, wave decks, bridges, parks, and beaches, all contributing to create a destination that connects people to the water.  The open/green space encourages year-round use so I strolled the waterfront, sans dog, liking the wind-catching willows that create a soft buffer and scoping out informal beach furniture scattered across the south end of the site that transforms it from an urban park to an urban beach.  Naturally, being mid-winter, it wasn’t particularly animated (i.e. dogs few and far between) so I’m psyched to see it come spring.  While we’re on the topic, let me take this opportunity to clear up the common misconception of foreigners that Torontonians are trudging through snowdrifts in a barren northern climate.  They aren’t.  If the cityslickers are wearing fur-lined parkas, it’s for stylin’ reasons because those jackets are all the rage!

I saw but a fraction of the city on this short trip, but enough to already come to some conclusions.  Toronto is ‘the new black’, at least for me.  So stay tuned.   In the meantime, be sure to check out what’s happening in Vancouver, a Canadian city with international attention because it is hosting the winter Olympics in just 2 short weeks…