Professional Documents
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Rivista Di Architettura Canadese
Rivista Di Architettura Canadese
95 aug/10
v.55 n.08
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paul warChol
Shai Gil
20 shops at don Mills 9
news
ateral Office wins the Professional Prix
L
a new 21St-Century model oF the ShoppinG mall emerGeS in a poStwar Suburb oF
toronto. teXt John bentley mayS
de Rome in Architecture; campaign for
Hylozoic Ground at the Venice Biennale.
42 Backpage
Thomas-Bernard Kenniff provides an
update on the magnificently evocative
Borough Market in South London.
huGh robertSon/panda
Most Canadians will have experienced the me- abled people who receive welfare, given that Ca- production
JessICa Jubb
dia’s recent coverage of the intense anger ex- nadians with disabilities are more likely to be ei- graphic design
sue wILLIaMson
pressed over the Conservative government’s de- ther unemployed or low-income earners. As vice president of canadian publishing
cision to scrap the mandatory long-form census Susan Ruptash, a principal at Quadrangle Archi- aLex PaPanou
president of business inforMation group
and replace it with a voluntary one comprised of a tects and expert on barrier-free design noted at a bruCe CreIGhton
few basic questions. Unless the proposal is re- recent seminar, architects still have not fully ad- head office
12 ConCorde PLaCe, suIte 800,
versed or drastically altered by the end of August, dressed the needs of users who have physical or toronto, on M3C 4J2
telephone 416-510-6845
Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s stubbornness cognitive impairments. Clearly, if we no longer facsimile 416-510-5140
e-mail edItors@CanadIanarChIteCt.CoM
will yield a meaningless information-gathering track this segment of the population with accu- Web site www.CanadIanarChIteCt.CoM
exercise that will deny statisticians, economists, rate and complete data collection, then how can Canadian architect is published monthly by bIG Magazines LP, a div. of
Glacier bIG holdings Company Ltd., a leading Canadian information
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velopers, urban planners and architects a critical changes to building codes and by-laws so that our the editors have made every reasonable effort to provide accurate and
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job, vehicle or marital status. A recent article in our Prime Minister realizes that there are pre-
The Economist noted that these countries consider ferred alternatives to replacing the current form
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graphic structure at much shorter intervals. This Ian ChodIkoff ichodikoff@canadianarchitect.coM
800-332-NORA
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shai gil
PrOjects The h2Office in Winnipeg and The MOnTrOse culTural cenTre in grande
aBOVe, LeFt tO riGht
prairie, alberTa each received an aWard Of excellence in The 2010 prairie design
Kasian to design the largest rcMP aWards, unveiled aT The recenT raic fesTival Of archiTecTure held in saskaTOOn.
divisonal headquarters in canada.
Kasian Architecture Interior Design and Plan- awards strated exceptional artistic potential. Founded in
ning Ltd. will design the new Royal Canadian 2003, Lateral Office is an experimental design-
Mounted Police E Division Headquarters in Lateral Office wins the Professional Prix research studio that operates at the intersection
Surrey, British Columbia. This integrated, pur- de rome in architecture. of landscape, architecture and urbanism. Lateral
pose-built complex will provide consolidated Toronto architecture firm Lateral Office is the Office seeks direct engagement with the difficult
office and support space for 2,700 police per- winner of the $50,000 Professional Prix de Rome questions of contemporary urbanism, the public
sonnel, currently housed in 25 separate loca- in Architecture for 2010. Administered by the realm and infrastructures demonstrated through
tions throughout the BC Lower Mainland. Canada Council for the Arts, this award recogniz- design competitions, publications and exhib-
The new 76,162-square-metre facility will en- es excellent achievement in Canadian architec- itions. Born in Montreal and based in Toronto,
hance the RCMP’s ability to provide integrated, tural practice. Lateral Office’s founding partners, Lola Sheppard is an architect, writer, and educa-
intelligence-based policing, and will improve Lola Sheppard and Mason White, will use the tor as well as a member of the Ordre des archi-
overall communications and response times. prize funds to travel to the Arctic to pursue their tectes du Québec. She is Assistant Professor at
This landmark project is a public-private research proposal entitled Emergent North. The the University of Waterloo School of Architec-
partnership (P3) between the Government of travel research continues an ongoing investiga- ture. Mason White is an architect, writer, and
Canada and Green Timbers Accommodation tion and documentation of cold-climate settle- educator born in Washington, DC and based in
Partners, a consortium formed by Bouygues ment forms, issues, and vernacular innovations Toronto. He is Assistant Professor at the Univer-
Bâtiment International, HSBC Infrastructure, in the circumpolar region. Emergent North looks sity of Toronto Daniels Faculty of Architecture,
and ETDE FM Canada. Kasian was appointed at the challenges and opportunities of the public Landscape and Design.
by the design-and-build joint venture between realm, civic space, landscape, and infrastructure
Bouygues Building Canada and Bird Design- emerging from a unique geography. Sheppard design exchange awards 2010 call for
Build to lead the design of the facility. ETDE and White will conduct two travel routes through submissions.
Facility Management Canada will provide all Nunavut, Yukon, and the Northwest Territories, The Design Exchange Awards program promotes
management services. A fixed price of $966 as well as Alaska and Greenland, to gather first- Canadian design excellence and recognizes the
million has been agreed upon to design, build, hand knowledge and documentation of far critical role of design in all types of organizations
finance and maintain the new headquarters for northern settlements. This research will inform a including commercial entities (large and small
a term ending 25 years after construction. series of ongoing design projects responding to businesses), not-for-profit organizations, and the
Kasian Principal Michael McDonald will oversee social, political, economic and ecological issues public sector. These Awards are designed to: ex-
the design for the new headquarters. Full build- confronting the far north. The Professional Prix pand national understanding of design as an es-
ing construction on the RCMP E Division Head- de Rome in Architecture is awarded to a young sential resource; demonstrate that investment in
quarters began in July 2010, and the estimated architect or practitioner of architecture, an design impacts overall business success; celebrate
date of completion for the project is December architecture firm or an architectural design firm effectiveness in all design disciplines; highlight
2012. that has completed its first buildings and demon- the critical role of design in enhancing quality of
name of Project
name of firm
Visit www.eris.ca
hugh robertson/pAndA
A recent book produced by dominion modern entitled Peter “Dickinson was everywhere and was a big part of the whole picture in
Dickinson is both A colourful biogrAphy of An extrAordinAry Canada at that time,” notes Martins-Manteiga, who spent eight years pre-
mAn And An Awe-inspiring cAtAlogue of work documenting An
Ambitious period of cAnAdiAn ArchitecturAl history.
paring a superbly approachable book that is both a biography and a cata-
logue of work. Complete with interviews, along with a quasi-archaeological
approach to uncovering the life of such an iconic figure, the book paints a
teXt iAn chodikoff detailed picture of a charismatic and aspiring young architect flourishing in
a society that offered him an unprecedented opportunity unheard of by
In the 1950s, the stars aligned for a young architect by the name of Peter today’s standards. Having enjoyed an illustrious career that spanned the
Dickinson, and he eagerly seized the opportunity to engage in one of the 1950s and the early ’60s, Dickinson easily fits into the highly stylized aes-
most ambitious periods of city-building in Canada, designing countless thetic world of Mad Men, an award-winning television series based on a
projects that profoundly changed the direction of architecture in this coun- Madison Avenue advertising agency set in the 1960s. Had his life not been
try. From the time the 25-year-old Dickinson left Britain in 1950 to when cut short at the age of 35, Peter Dickinson Associates could very well have
he died of cancer in 1961, he had designed over 150 buildings and left an become the largest architectural practice in Canada, according to Martins-
indelible architectural legacy, receiving five Massey Medals as a testament Manteiga.
to his creative genius. A young man with a compelling personality and an Born in Suffolk, England, Dickinson graduated from the Architectural
appetite for the good life, Dickinson and his prodigious output have been Association in London and quickly entered private practice there. After
thoroughly researched, studied and documented in the aptly titled Peter marrying Vera Klausner, the young couple left Britain on a steamship bound
Dickinson, a recently published book by John Martins-Manteiga, founder of for Canada two months later. Four days after landing in Halifax, Dickinson
Dominion Modern and perhaps one of the most dedicated fans of Modern- began working for Page & Steele Architects in Toronto where he quickly
ism in Canada today. rose through the ranks, becoming a senior partner in 1953. At Page &
Steele, Dickinson designed such buildings as Great West Life (1952), photogrAphed in 1962, severAl months After peter
oPPosite toP
Toronto Teacher’s College (1954), Benvenuto Place Apartments (1955), dickinson’s deAth, the 43-storey windsor plAzA in montreAl is
Regent Park South Apartments (1956) and the Park Plaza Hotel (1957). considered to be one of dickinson’s greAtest ArchitecturAl
Shortly after the birth of his two sons—Trevor and Gregory —Dickinson left Achievements. aBoVe, Left to riGht photogrApher hugh robertson
Page & Steele to form Peter Dickinson Associates in 1958. His associates— cAptures A cAndid moment in front of windsor plAzA; Archi-
tect peter dickinson completed over 150 projects before his
Colin Vaughan, Dick Williams, Rod Robbie, and Fred Ashworth—quit two untimely deAth six dAys before his 36th birthdAy.
years later when Dickinson reneged on his offer of partnership. According
to Robbie in an interview with Martins-Manteiga, “So what he did [was
take] the next layer, which [consisted of] these guys known as Webb, Zerafa, Hotel, the KLM Royal Dutch Airline Ticket Office and the Windsor Plaza—
Menkes, Housden, Korbee and Tirion. Made a deal with them, made them which, at 43 storeys, was the tallest building in the Commonwealth when it
sign agreements...” These newly minted associates eventually went on to was completed in 1962.
form the Webb, Zerafa, Menkes, Housden Partnership (currently known as During the 1950s, there were a number of architects born and raised in
WZMH Architects). Such was the high-intensity world of Peter Dickinson in the UK who left at varying stages of their careers to seek their fortunes in
1950s Toronto that compelled and motivated Martins-Manteiga to produce Canada. Architects such as Peter Caspari, Welles Coates, John C. Parkin,
this book, one that is capable of reigniting the energy of the period—even Blanche Lemco van Ginkel and Rod Robbie were among them, along with
for the most casual reader. other British expatriates who helped develop Canada’s architectural culture
Despite the drama, tension and ego swirling around those who worked in at that time through their efforts in private practice, academia and public
Dickinson’s office from 1958 until his death in 1961, the firm produced a service. Dickinson may not have been the smartest of the British invasion,
dizzying array of prominent buildings, including the Inn on the Park, the but few were as charmingly persuasive and focused as he had been.
Workmen’s Compensation Rehabilitation Hospital, the Four Seasons Motor As described in Martins-Manteiga’s book, one of Dickinson’s legacies
thought that they wanted. When he would speak, he would draw the client
in. They were mesmerized by what he concocted. Clients like Leon Yolles—
who considered Dickinson to be like a son—and the Rotenbergs certainly
carried on with Dickinson’s vision. They understood his legacy,” states
Martins-Manteiga. Another developer, Isadore Sharp, became a good friend
of Dickinson, and had him design the recently destroyed Inn on the Park
while Dickinson was literally on his deathbed in 1961. It was one of the ar-
chitect’s most famous designs and the second Four Seasons for Sharp’s
fledgling hotel chain. “Certainly, the winds of change were coming in from
the US and Europe. There was an atmosphere. Dickinson picked up on
these currents. He was just so incredibly charming, and you believed in
him. And he could produce on budget as well,” notes Martins-Manteiga.
With no formal education in architecture, and a desire to impress upon
the general public a greater awareness of architecture, Martins-Manteiga
continues to be a tireless promoter of architecture, largely through Domin-
ion Modern, an institution that he founded in 2003. He has difficulty un-
derstanding why the general public continues to remain relatively ignorant
of architecture, and he is even more dismayed by the fact that “significant
architectural discourse is always kept in a locked safe by academia.”
Dominion Modern is a non-profit charitable museum and organization
whose mandate it is to “collect, catalogue, preserve and disseminate” 20th-
century Canadian architecture and design. As such, it has amassed over 200
recorded interviews with architects, engineers and designers, and has pro-
duced several publications and exhibitions. Peter Dickinson is Martins-Man-
teiga’s fourth book to be produced through Dominion Modern, and accord-
ing to the author, “If we had waited for academia to publish this book, I
don’t know if it would have [ever been done]. People have been talking
about publishing a book on Dickinson for 20 years.” A fifth publication on
the history of the Montreal Metro is nearing completion.
One of Martins-Manteiga’s regrets was that he wanted the book to come
Archives of ontArio
out before Dickinson’s wife passed away. He adds, “The book came out
three months after she died. Vera was the driver behind Peter. Many people
have told me that Peter would have been perfectly happy to draw in his cor-
ner at Page & Steele, but she drove him to succeed. I see them as one per-
son. Vera was certainly able to push people out of the way. Boris Zerafa was
terrified by her.”
“I think that given time, Dickinson would have become more of an archi-
tect-developer. I think that he would have become more of a John Portman.
He would have operated both here and in the UK, and his firm would have
become the largest architectural firm in Canada,” says Martins-Manteiga,
adding, “I think that we’ve regressed. I think we’ve lost our confidence and
the ability to think big when it comes to imagining ambitious projects in
Canada.”
Martins-Manteiga continues his struggle to keep Dominion Modern
alive, and desperately needs a greater financial contribution from the
architectural profession—a profession that is surprisingly unsupportive of
an institution whose leadership is devoted to disseminating the value of
toPcompleted in 1961 And long since demolished, the Archi- architecture to as wide a public as possible. It is unfortunate that Martins-
tecture of dickinson’s four seAsons motel on jArvis street Manteiga’s efforts are neither understood nor appreciated by more archi-
cAptured the spirit And elegAnce of its time. aBoVe designed with tects, particularly those belonging to the firms whose history and reputation
legendAry engineer morden yolles, the benvenuto plAce ApArt-
ments (1955) remAins one of toronto’s most remArkAble mod-
were borne during the exciting cocktail-laden and anything-is-possible era
ernist ApArtment buildings. the building hAs only recently been of Peter Dickinson. ca
converted to A condominium.
Donations are critical to support projects and programming at Dominion Modern.
was his ability to link his design vision with the aspirations of the develop- To make a donation or to purchase a copy of Peter Dickinson, please visit
ment industry in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. He successfully and con- http://dominionmodern.ca. John Martins-Manteiga’s book on Dickinson is
vincingly imported Modernism to Canada through his associations with also available at SWIPE in Toronto and at the CCA in Montreal.
progressive developers like Leon Yolles and Harry Rotenberg. He would
continue to promote design excellence along with the efforts of their sons
who were his contemporaries—engineer Morden Yolles and developer Ken
Rotenberg. Dickinson “had the ability with clients to give them what they
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revamped as a lifestyle centre, the fangled retail development in the midst of a well-established community:
shops at don mills provide a dynamic “part Disney, part Distillery District” (a reference to a disappointing pedes-
new hub for one of canada’s most trian shopping enclave in downtown Toronto), one commentator has called
famous postwar suburbs. the Shops at Don Mills. I do not share this view. If still incomplete, and
marked by a new-suit shine that will probably be soon rubbed away by use,
the Shops is a serious instance of place-making in old suburbia, and a
proJectShopS at Don MillS, toronto, ontario
thoughtful retail scheme whose architects have discarded historicizing doo-
rUDY aDlaF For thE CaDillaC FairViEW Corporation ltD.
desiGn team
in CollaBoration With GiannonE pEtriConE aSSoCiatES inC. dadery—the curse of many a lifestyle centre in the US—in favour of a muted,
arChitECtS anD pElloW + aSSoCiatES arChitECtS inC. serene Modernism that belongs to our time and place.
teXt John BEntlEY MaYS The architecture of the Shops at Don Mills, which is owned by the Toron-
to-based Cadillac Fairview real-estate empire, was crafted by Rudy Adlaf,
the corporation’s senior vice president for architecture and design, in con-
In the 200 years since the great shopping gallerias and arcades of Europe cert with Ralph Giannone, principal in Giannone Petricone Associates, and
started to appear, the designers of consumerism have been on a quest for with Harry Pellow, principal in pellow + associates architects. Steered by
utopia. They first banished the haggling and jostle of the souk and market highly detailed urban design guidelines assembled several years ago by
square. They invented the fixed-price department store, the strip mall, then Adlaf and Pellow, this team has been responsible for the open-air, lifestyle-
the covered mall, all in pursuit of a shopping context that promised safety, centre configuration of the plaza’s 11 large, low buildings (one of which, the
comfort and predictability to consumers in the new civil society. But even Metro store, has survived from the mall’s former incarnations), arrayed
the North American enclosed mall, that commercial marvel of the postwar along an internal system of meandering streets cut into the 41.1-acre site.
era, has recently proven an inadequate vessel for the ideal of shopping per- The other pre-existing buildings include an office tower slated for overhaul
fection. Enter, circa 1990 in the US, the lifestyle centre, of which Toronto’s into a residential block, a Royal Bank office building and a city-operated
recently opened $225-million Shops at Don Mills is one of only two Cana- hockey rink that will eventually be acquired by Cadillac Fairview and moved
dian examples: a mall with the protective roof lifted away, the interior elsewhere.
streets exposed to the Canadian elements, and with some 100 mid- to high- These streets are furnished intensively—almost to the point of clutter—
end shops on streetscapes that mimic the popular shopping avenues of the with stainless steel rings for bicycle parking, benches, permanent and por-
Model-T era. table planters, trees, light standards, bollards that emphasize intersections
There is considerable cynicism in architectural circles about such new- and pedestrian crosswalks, and other features. The street naming, which
road
4 popularity when Don Mills was young, but Hancock believed that the devel-
opment’s residential districts, as well as its shopping centre, should be
don mills
8
2 8
1
8 easily walkable. And so it was that centralized shopping at Don Mills be-
10 8
6 came something conducted in the open air, a communal place for strolling
and browsing and socializing and relaxing.
8 8
In 1988, the shops were enclosed. Covered malls were flourishing, and
the owners of Don Mills Centre (now Cadillac Fairview) were feeling the
10 pinch of competition from nearby Fairview Mall and other regional centres.
“We wanted Don Mills to be something different,” Adlaf said. “Don Mills
10 10 10 was the first suburban department store location in Canada, with Eaton’s.
Fairview Mall had the Bay and Simpson’s. We enclosed Don Mills, struggled
along for a few more years until we lost Eaton’s, when it started going
11
slightly downhill. The demographic we wanted wasn’t being attracted by the
13
old Don Mills.”
10 10
t
the donway wes a rEaSonaBlE aMoUnt oF VariEtY iS prESEnt in
below, left to riGht
1.800.871.8876
www.hambro.ws/architects
CirCle reply Card 21
Owning the POdium
the latest examPle Of James cheng’s aPPrOach tO the
tOwer-POdium building tyPe demOnstrates the
architect’s ability tO reshaPe dOwntOwn VancOuVer.
With every success, the career of Vancouver’s vine. It is worth noting that James Cheng’s first and a paradigm of architecture that ignores city-build-
James K.M. Cheng becomes an ever-greater chal- only GG winner was Willow Court in 1983, a clever- ing, diminishes social engagement, and rejects a
lenge to the conservatism of Canada’s contempo- ly planned and accented Fairview Slopes housing priori anything built by a developer. Moreover, this
rary architectural culture. A protégé of Richard complex. Clearly, Cheng occupies an alternate ar- is no Vancouver versus Toronto debate, which has
Meier during his studies at Harvard, for a quarter chitectural universe from the one currently validat- been a common but shallow reading of this year’s
century Cheng has been a key intellectual engine ed by the GG awards jury and its sister gatekeepers prize list. When leading lights of Vancouver’s de-
for Vancouver’s highly regarded accomplishments of professional and academic recognition. sign scene were recently asked by an urban weekly
in city-building. Rather than the city planners and In my view, the two finest 2010 GG medal de- what contemporary building they admired most,
politicians who usually take credit for these inno- signs premiated—the Grande Bibliothèque du Qué- the most praised turned out to be Bill Pechet’s 1993
vations, it is Cheng who has surest claim on the bec in Montreal by Patkau Architects and the Telus Woods Columbaria at Capilano View Cemetery.
status as principal author of the tower-podium Centre for Performance and Learning in Toronto, Cottages in the east, architecture for the dead in the
typology, the best-known symbol of “Vancouver- designed by Marianne McKenna of KPMB Archi- west—are we not all missing what matters? Ameri-
ism.” Cheng was subsequently amongst the first to tects—are two significant acts of city-building by can and European architecture organizations man-
push for alternatives to tower-podium, once it had any standard, but depressingly, both were actually age more balanced national design prizes—surely
been reduced (by others) into a dull developer’s designed in the 1990s. The odd project out is the Canadian ones can too.
formula. One of the first of these—the waterfront St. Germain Aqueducts and Sewers building out- Of course, there are very good reasons why our
Shaw Tower—places elegant condos on top of one side Montreal, a modest project that would be hard best designers and ambitious young academics aim
of few substantive creations of new office space to imagine getting a major design award anytime or so low—these tiny projects are the only ones where
built on Vancouver’s downtown peninsula in the anywhere else than Canada right now, where tasty outcomes can be controlled, and perhaps more im-
past decade. and self-consciously detailed but otherwise ambi- portantly, where the artful detailing and photo-
With the just-opened Fairmont Pacific Rim tionless miniatures of Neo-Modernism rule the friendly compositions can be devised for an era
hotel-condo hybrid next door to the Shaw Tower, land. The nine remaining modest but beautifully when a disempowered profession turns to aestheti-
James Cheng has produced his most sophisticated crafted 2010 GG prizewinners tend to the art his- cism for its identity. Recent awards and exhibitions
and nuanced work to date. This is also the largest torical in their revival of the small moments of tend to reify architecture towards status as isolated
building in the city’s history—at 813,000 square Modernism—either deft, as in Shim-Sutcliffe works of fine art, and away from its social, techni-
feet, it is larger in floor area than the new Vancou- Architects’ extensions from Aalto and Scarpa, or cal and programmatic complexity.
ver Convention Centre addition located just across else clumsy, as in gh3’s take on the glass house. Is Since I am deeply admiring of nearly all the de-
the street. Cheng was an early supporter of Van- nothing but Modernist villas being taught in our signers on this year’s GG list, I am forced to opine
couver’s design review panel system that has architecture schools? that most have more substantive recent work than
subsequently been adopted in various forms by This tendency has increased over the years. Of got premiated here. My problem is less with them
Victoria, Edmonton, Calgary and Toronto. Not in- the 45 projects given GGs over the past decade, vir- than this jury’s choices and the overall evolution of
cidentally, he has major projects underway in all of tually all have been either private residences or in- the awards, where designers as talented as Cheng
these cities, in large part because of an excellent stitutional and government works, and the scale no longer submit entries. Most 2010 winners
reputation with developers and approving authori- gets smaller with every round of prizes. As an en- maintain deep commitments to bettering housing
ties for crafting superior designs with significant tire category of work—multi-family housing—is all and urban spaces, but most are not given—or do not
public benefits. but missing from this list, with only one social- take—opportunities to build at a larger scale.
Contrast the nature and scale of these successes housing project by Gregory Henriquez, and two Heightening the dichotomy, Canadian architecture
with our best recent indicator of the state of Cana- private apartment buildings by LWPAC and Atelier is increasingly dominated by bloated corporate
da’s architectural culture, the winners of the 2010 Big City. The only entirely private-sector project practices where the source of architectural ideas is
Governor General’s Medals. With three exceptions, amongst the 45 is the offices for Winnipeg’s Smith overpaid marketers. What is worse, building com-
all of the dozen prizes this year went to extraordi- Carter, an architecture firm whose main design missioning has become ever more conservative in
narily small-scale projects—cottages, additions, spa work is in the public sector. Modernist in their sty- Canada, where even mid-career designers bristling
or gallery renovations, and park pavilions. Unprec- listic quotations but not in their commitment to with awards face a dismal choice between arty little
edented in the history of Canada’s top design tectonic innovation or engagement with social is- essays like these, or slots as drones in design-by-
award, Brigitte Shim and Howard Sutcliffe’s firm sues, have leading-edge Canadian architects given rote juggernauts. Except in Quebec, Canadians sel-
won three medals: the conversion of a heritage up on the creation of new forms and details, aban- dom mount the design competitions that are the
building into an art gallery; a workspace addition to doned the transformation of cities, and moved out standard means for small practices to break into
a 1997 medal-winner; and a guest house in a ra- to the cottage? I worry that we have come to accept larger commissions in Europe.
Paul warchol
tum without the more typical bricky romanticism.
Elegantly thin towers anchor each end, made high-
er by the inclusion of public art, gardens, and heri-
tage conservation acknowledged under the now
codified Vancouver bonus density program. The
façade along Alberni Street is modelled and the
townhouse proportions are deft—the proposition of
urban houses melded with towers is rendered
complete for the 234 apartments at The Residences
on Georgia.
Tower with podium townhouses was never an
option for the block occupied by the new Fairmont
Pacific Rim. Here, the synergy between Cheng’s
work as urban designer and as composer of build-
ings comes to the fore. He played a key role in set-
ting massing guidelines, new street elevations, and
land uses for this entire precinct, former railway
lands controlled by Canadian Pacific-owned Mara-
thon Realty. Included in this framework plan is the
newly improved Vancouver Convention Centre
(VCC), the recently completed Fairmont Pacific
Rim, the Shaw Tower for Westbank, and two more
towers to the west, also designed by Cheng for
Aspac Development’s Harbour Green. A landward
view of the new Convention Centre is not possible
clOcKwise frOm tOP left the residences on georgia (1998) is a successFul adaPtation oF
to create visual interest in a zone not needing fen-
ground-oriented townhouses deFining the street edge with high-rise residences
estration.
adroitly BooKending the site; cheng’s 888 Beach aVenue set a ’90s VancouVer Preced-
Dramatically punctuating the poolside raised ent oF glassy residential towers caPturing exPansiVe Views while integrating the
deck facing the VCC is the cantilevered black box of architecture to adJacent PuBlic amenities; the stacKed townhouses For 888 Beach
the Chairman’s Suite, the flashiest lodging avail- aVenue add Both density and human-scaled architecture to the city; the aesthetic oF
able in Canada’s highest-end new hotel. This bold 888 Beach aVenue is somewhat dated By today’s standards, But its urBan design
intentions are nonetheless successFul; comPleted in 1998, townhouses at the Base
touch does much to complete the design: it con-
oF the residences on georgia attest to cheng’s aBility to uPdate the eFFectiVeness oF
trasts with the trapezoidal Convention Centre with neighBourhood-Friendly Podiums.
its green roof; it turns the corner and creates inter-
st.
st.
d
ar
w
lO
rr
ur
Architecture critic Trevor Boddy is the curator of the exhibition Vancouverism:
bu
th
hastings st.
Architecture Builds the City, which features the work of James Cheng along with ha
sti
ng
ss
many others. t.
canada Place
eet
str
rd
rar
bu
2009 Canadian
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a toronto commUnity hoUsing initiative introdUces an drawing from the union model, the building
Uplifting and environmentally sUstainable bUilding would be self-administered as a co-op, and
into the downtown core. would cater to residents employed in the hospi-
tality and restaurant industries.
The downtown location was a perfect fit. “It’s a
proJect 60 Richmond housing co-op, ToRonTo, onTaRio
fabulous site for Unite Here [members], because
architectTeeple aRchiTecTs inc.
teXt elsa lam
it’s close to all the hotels where they work,” says
photos shai gil Gash. Other program elements reflect the collab-
oration of Unite Here from the early planning
Chalk up one more for Toronto’s architectural stands on the site, commissioned by Toronto stages. The sidewalk is bordered by a double-
renaissance tally. The latest addition to the Community Housing, offers the modern equiva- height glass-walled storefront planned to open as
downtown core, a social housing co-operative, lent: a mix of subsidized and affordable units for a restaurant and training facility this fall. The
defies Hogtown’s conservative reputation. De- low- to moderate-income residents, including street-level space will put future bartenders,
signed by Teeple Architects, 60 Richmond East is new immigrants. baristas, cooks and servers in the limelight. By
a boldly contemporary highrise with sculpted At the outset, over half of the apartments— training residents along with other union mem-
lines and splashes of colour, as well as a compel- which range all the way up to family-sized three-, bers, the public face of 60 Richmond is poised to
ling blend of social, environmental, and urban four-, and five-bedroom units—were reserved become a community hub.
aspirations. for relocated tenants from the Regent Park revi- Inspired by the theme of food, Teeple Archi-
One block east of the historic Hudson’s Bay talization project. The City of Toronto team, in- tects incorporated a series of kitchen gardens
Company building, the city-donated lot once cluding project manager Leslie Gash, realized into the core of the structure. A generous outdoor
housed a land registry building—the place where that many prospective tenants were members of terrace on the sixth floor includes two elevated
newcomers in another era would have laid stake the hospitality workers’ union Unite Here. As a garden plots that will be irrigated by storm water
to a homestead. The 11-storey structure that now result, they refined 60 Richmond’s mandate: from the roofs and nourished with composted
3 1
4
4 1 1
1 1 1 1
1
1 1
1
1
2
1 1 1 7
6
1
1 5
second floor
QUeen st. e.
13
13
12
13 13 13
chUrch st.
berti st.
11 9
richmond st. e.
9
10
PA
ASSIVE
PASSIVE
VENTILAT
VENTILATION
CISTERN
EVAPORATIVE IRRIGATION
C
COOLING
GROW-WALL
GARDEN
N
PRODUCE
PRODU
UCE
PASSIVE
VENTILATION
COMPOST
RESTAURANT
Elsa Lam is a PhD candidate in the Architectural History and Theory program at
Columbia University.
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Bent Out of Shape: Canadian The Original Copy: Photog- architecture for humanity are the result of field research car-
Industrial Design 1945-Present raphy of Sculpture, 1839 to toronto lecture ried out by the artist in 2009 in
July 16-October 10, 2010 This exhibi- Today August 30, 2010 Join Architecture for Mali, whose architecture is seen as a
tion celebrates the Design Ex- August 1-November 1, 2010 This ex- Humanity from 6:30pm to 8:30pm perfect example of the rationality of
change’s rich industrial design col- hibition at the Museum of Modern on the Trading Floor of the Design vernacular architecture.
lection dating from 1945 to the Art in New York presents a critical Exchange in Toronto, and hear An-
present, and showcases it through examination of the intersections drew Levitt speak about where ar- iideX/neocon canada
the lens of material, method, tech- between photography and sculp- chitecture begins, from concept to September 22-25, 2010 Canada’s larg-
nology, identity and transformation, ture, exploring how one medium design to design process. This is a est national exposition and confer-
illustrating rapid changes following informs the analysis and creative pay-what-you-can event; the sug- ence for the design, construction
World War II towards modernity. redefinition of the other. The gested donation is $10. and management of the built envi-
www.dx.org exhibition brings together over ronment welcomes the return of the
300 photographs, magazines, Taller: Objet-Vêtement: When Green Building Festival and Light
Atelier Hitoshi Abe: len-tic-u- and journals by more than 100 Architecture Meets Clothing Canada, along with many new prod-
lar-is artists. September 9-October 2, 2010 Located at ucts and exhibitors, expanded fea-
July 30-September 12, 2010 This exhi- www.moma.org the crossroads of two disciplines— ture areas, special events, tours,
bition at the SCI-Arc Gallery at the fashion design and architecture— awards ceremonies and the ever
Southern California Institute of Ar- FABRICation: Studio Production this exhibition at the Maison de la popular international keynote lec-
chitecture features the work of Los Textiles for Interiors Culture Maisonneuve in Montreal ture series which this year features
Angeles- and Sendai-based archi- August 24-October 17, 2010 This ex- features the work of Professor Craig Dykers, Arik Levy, Jeremy
tecture firm Atelier Hitoshi Abe hibition at Cambridge Galleries Maryla Sobek of the Université du Rifkin and Avi Flombaum.
(AHA). One of AHA’s projects in Design at Riverside features prod- Québec à Montréal’s École de www.iidexneocon.com
Los Angeles is the design of a new ucts and collections by 10 estab- design and the École supérieure de
large-scale roof over the Japanese lished Canadian textile designer- mode de Montréal. It consists of For more inFormation about
American Cultural & Community
anArcAug2010_Canadia Architect 6/25/10 9:31 PMentrepreneurs
Page 1 whose work bridges five “objets-vêtements” designed in these, and additional list-
Center (JACCC) Plaza, designed by the worlds of art and commercial the manner of an architectural ings oF Canadian and inter-
national events, please visit
Isamu Noguchi. fabrication. drawing. Inspired by Dogon archi-
www.canadianarchitect.com
www.sciarc.edu www.cambridgegalleries.ca tecture, these “objets-vêtements”
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lines and openings amongst the structures that have focused on the loss of character to the place,
teXt + PhOtO thomaS-Bernard kenniff reveal yet further fleeting structures. Reminis- the planned demolition of about 20 heritage-
cent of what Eisenstein identified as the ecstatic listed buildings, and the potential threat to mar-
Near the south end of London Bridge, across space of Piranesi’s carcere etchings, the space of ket activities themselves. The project, designed
from where the 310-metre-tall Shard designed Borough Market seems to reach beyond itself. by architects Jestico + Whiles and scheduled to be
by Renzo Piano is being erected, Borough Mar- This is a place that is neither subterranean nor completed in 2012, will see new glass-and-steel
ket, one of London’s most distinctive places, is overground, a place that can never be experi- structures erected where buildings and canopies
undergoing yet another transformation. The enced as a whole from a distant vantage point. had to be demolished.
wholesale and retail food market, which falls Borough Market is, simply put, one of the single Even in the face of seemingly inevitable infra-
within a heritage conservation area, is now sub- most thrilling spatial experiences of London. structure, the demolition of heritage is a tragedy
ject to a controversial project for a new rail The most recent modifications occurred here that deserves vehement opposition. Yet, one may
viaduct running through its heart. The contro- between 1995 and 2005 with a widely acclaimed wonder when—if at all—such evolved, hetero-
versy raises the issue of whether such an entity revitalization project by architects Greig & Steph- geneous places should be fixed. Borough Market
should be exempt from the very alterations that enson. The gentle and clever architectural trans- is a strong reminder that these spaces are less the
have turned it over the years into one of the most formations, at once both contemporary and in product of a single, homogeneous regeneration
inherently successful heterogeneous places in keeping with the Victorian fabric, maintain and project than the result of a juxtaposition of dis-
London. embrace the overall controlled disorder of the tinctive elements over time. The success of indi-
Built over the last 250 years, the area of the place that so perfectly defines its uniqueness in vidual projects depends, therefore, on the respect
market has become a hodgepodge of architectural the city of London. they owe to the orderly chaos that is in many ways
elements and styles with a chaotic yet oddly co- The train viaduct currently being constructed the heritage of the site. ca
herent juxtaposition of contemporary architec- through the market is the result of growing pres-
ture, Victorian brick buildings, skeletal wrought sure on the commuter train network at London An architectural graduate of the University of Water-
iron and glass canopies, and rail viaducts. From Bridge. Since it was first evoked in the late 1980s, loo, Thomas-Bernard Kenniff is currently a PhD
any point within the area, the eye follows mul- the project has met with persistent opposition candidate at the Bartlett School of Architecture,
tiple vanishing points between criss-crossing from local residents and local authorities who University College London.
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