Rob Ford, the Toronto Mayor famous for making enemies of "urban thinkers, designers and practitioners," has been ousted from office for violating a conflict-of-interest act (he spoke and voted on a matter which allowed his own Football Foundation to financially benefit).
Architects: rzlbd Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Project Team: Reza Aliabadi, Ladan Niknam, Lailee Soleimani Project Manager: Amin Sheivari Project Year: 2012 Photographs: Courtesy of Atelier rzlbd
Andrew McGregor, Robert Miller, Raymond Bourraine, and Teresa Cacho were recently named as the second prize winner in the Sukkahville Design Competition in Toronto. Organized by the Kehilla Residential Programme, five finalists were given the opportunity to build their designs for an exhibition with the challenge to design a temporary structure constructed for use annually during the week-long Jewish festival of Sukkot. Representing many conceptual themes surrounding the essential nature of dwelling, this proposal for an innovative Sukkah design delicately balances the inherent dichotomies of new/old, open/closed, and temporary/permanent. More images can be viewed after the break.
David Mirvish, founder of Mirvish Productions, and Toronto-born starchitect Frank Gehry have officially unveiled a massive, mixed-use project that will transform Toronto’s downtown arts and entertainment district. The multi-phase project will significantly alter the city’s skyline with three, “sculptural” residential towers perched atop two, six story podiums.
Mirvish describes, “I am not building three towers, I am building three sculptures that people can live in.”
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Internationally acclaimed artist and architect Paul Raff just unveiled a permanent sculpture at the opening of the Waterfront Toronto Underpass Park on August 2. Suspended overhead of pedestrians, large scale mirror-like surfaces create an illusory appearance, which bends light rays to produce a displaced image much like a mirage. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Opening September 12, the Design Exchange in Downtown Toronto will be the site of the newest exhibit titled “Considering the Quake | Seismic Design on the Edge,” curated by Dr. Effie Bouras, postdoctoral fellow and Professor Ghyslaine McClure, P.Eng of the McGill University Department of Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics. The exhibit, which runs through to November 9, will feature recent cutting edge building projects from some of the most innovative architects and engineers, as seen through the lens of earthquake engineering. More information on the exhibition after the break.
