Toronto: The Latest Architecture and News

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'Astrocyte' is a living piece of architecture that could easily be mistaken for a piece of science fiction. Engaging with the senses for an immersive experience, artist and architect Philip Beesley’s aerial structure combines chemistry, artificial intelligence, and a responsive soundscape. ‘Astrocyte’, translates from Greek to the literal meaning of star and cell, appropriate for such a complex structure that can react with the viewers' movements with patterns of light, vibrations and surround sound.

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Videos

The old adage "writing about music is like dancing about architecture" (it's stupid etc.), loses some of its impact when architecture becomes the backdrop for both music, and dancing. Ever since video killed the radio star, famous houses, quirky spaces, and history's great buildings have provided beautiful, unique and dramatic settings for music videos of all types. So which of 2017s music videos have capitalized on the wonderful world of architecture? 

Thespaces.com have compiled a list of the best music videos for architecture lovers for 2017. Here are a few of our favorites and a few additional videos we think deserve a mention.

Danish firm 3XN has been selected as the winner of a competition to design a new mixed-use waterfront building in Toronto’s East Bayfront district that will be located on the edge of Google/Sidewalk Labs’ new smart community, Quayside.

Inspired by the reflection of the waves of Lake Ontario, ‘The Waves at Bayside’ will feature a undulating facade of metal balconies with views out to the water and a podium filled with public program including a rowing club and assortment of restaurants and cafes.

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Sidewalk Labs and Waterfront Toronto have revealed plans for a brand new community on Toronto’s Eastern Waterfront that will bring together “forward-thinking urban design and new digital technology to create people-centred neighbourhoods that achieve precedent-setting levels of sustainability, affordability, mobility, and economic opportunity.”

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Hariri Pontarini Architects and Pinnacle International have unveiled the design of three glassy skyscrapers that will make up a new development on the Toronto waterfront.

Known as One Yonge, the complex will consist of over 4 million square feet of mixed-use space spread across five new buildings and a total renovation of the existing Toronto Star building.

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Canada’s future tallest building, The One, has broken ground in downtown Toronto. Designed by Foster + Partners, the 85-story building will become the country’s first supertall skyscraper (commonly defined as taller than 300 meters/980 feet), rising to a peak of 306 meters (1,004 feet). The tower will also take over the title of Canada’s second tallest manmade structure, behind only the CN Tower.

Located at the corner of Bloor Street and Yonge Street on the border between downtown and Yorkville, the residential tower will respond to its unique context, embodying the neighborhood character of Yorkville, the bustling commercial life of Bloor Street and the local heritage of Yonge Street.

Videos

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Since the site was acquired in 2016, New York-based architects CetraRuddy, known for the iconic Manhattan tower One Madison, have been working on what is likely to be an icon of its own, 64 Prince Arthur. The point where The Annex and Yorkville neighborhoods meet in Toronto marks Adi Development Group and Forgestone Capital’s newest project, as well as Adi's first in Toronto. The initial renderings of the project show the commitment by the development team and CetraRuddy to making a statement on the skyline, “an iconic legacy project."

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This modular design developed by the students of the Department of Architecture Sciences at Ryerson University proposes a public space to sit and relax that works as an extension of the walkway, appropriating and giving a new meaning to the parking spaces in the streets of Toronto.

The project, with a natural wave form, is built by a series of Accoya wood modules, which allow easy storage, reuse, and reconfiguration.

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Penda, collaborating with wood consultants from CLT-brand Tmber, has unveiled the design of ‘Tree Tower Toronto,’ an 18-story timber-framed mixed-use residential skyscraper for Canada’s largest city. Drawing inspiration from the distinctly Canadian traditional modular construction, including Moshe Safdie’s iconic Habitat 67, the tower is envisioned as a new model of sustainable high-rise architecture that can establish a reconnect urban areas to nature and natural materials.

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Videos

Ground has been broken on a key component of Canada’s largest urban development undertaking, in the form of a 236,000 square foot mixed-use tower in the City of Vaughan, designed by Toronto-based firm Diamond Schmitt Architects. Situated at the core of SmartCentres Place with easy access to nearby retail and commercial spots, the tower will serve as the new home of PwC Canada, in combination with a 100,000-square-foot YMCA, a 20,000-square-foot public library, 10,000-square-foot community space and 3000 square feet of retail.

The PwC-YMCA Tower further illustrates the architectural quality and urban design excellence that is a hallmark of this smart, pedestrian-friendly precinct, explained Donald Schmitt, principal at Diamond Schmitt Architects.