!ROFL

more at xkcd

how space affects the way we live

I’ve always been skeptical about the extent to which architecture and city planning affect our lives, but from my experiences living in a few cities, I’m becoming more convinced of the strong influences the type of housing spaces can have on our lives.

toronto promotional videos

spacing.ca held a contest for video ads for toronto. one of my favourites tells toronto like it is, without the flashy corporate-tized videos and music, and perfect shots of the city that make it look like any other city in the world.

place Emilie-Gamelin’s evolution

View of Place Emilie Gamelin from the Bibliotheque Nationale

Place Emilie-Gamelin, otherwise known as Berri Square, is a crossroads, hub, node, and point of entry for Montreal. With the crossover of two major subway lines, the bus terminus, and the intersection of St-Catherine and Berri Streets, this square serves as an urban gateway.

There are a myriad of uses around the square, ranging from the Archambault music store and fast food restaurants, to the hotel des gouverneurs at place dupuis, to the grande bibliotheque nationale. The development of this range of activity is closely related to the square’s role as a transportation hub, a condition that allows for a wide social mix to interact in one place.

Map Showing Various Usages of Buildings on Site

guggenheim museum cracks

The computer simulation model of the cracks in the nyc guggenheim look like a work of art in itself. it should be a temporary installation to highlight all the cracks once the repair work is completed.

from ene + uno via cityskip

gas stations a new building of interest?

Moricetown Gas Bar and Retail Store, Canada

The gas station as an urban form, and it’s effect on the cityscape is one of those things that’s been ignored by academia. As it turns out, there’s just one book in the library dedicated to the ubiquitous form that appears everywhere in North America. Urbanphoto has written a great article on the gas station’s creeping influence on Montreal - there is a lament for great architectural design that is possible, as evidenced by Mies Van Der Rohe’s design on Nun’s Island.

Mies Van Der Rohe Gas Station, Nun’s Island, Montreal, Canada

colour. like no other

Director: Frank Budgen

The Sony Bravia ads capture a moment in time. They film something that is out of this world, almost like a form of art, put in a public setting: claymation bunnies in New York, paint fireworks in Glasgow, bouncy balls in San Francisco! They inspire because of the sheer amount of effort required: the claymation took 40 animators 3 weeks to create the 100,000 still images. Or they inspire because of the simplicity of idea: the colours produced by exploding paint fireworks. These ads are a form of art for the masses, financed by a corporation that controls so much of our lives today.

will alsop: homes?

Will Alsop is expanding into residence design. He is bringing into this field his penchant for strong colours and daring design, a la flying OCAD tabletop (aka Sharp Centre for Design). This is a project that dared to think boldly and tell Torontonians to dream big and strange.

The KingTowns residences in King West Village are a bit less satisfying, however. It may just be the first renderings, but the colouring and proportions of the exterior tiles don’t pack the same punch as the OCAD.

Housing the Masses in the Highrise

The Burj Dubai, to be the tallest building in the world, is now finished construction of its 152 storey. At its current 564.9m, it has surpassed Toronto’s CN Tower, and will eventually reach 818m high.

Both the tower and the city have been lambasted by architects and urban planners as an unsustainable model of development, and a process of transformation happening at too quick a pace. The Toronto Star’s Christopher Hume decried that the building was “yet another nasty-looking petro-money monster in the United Arab Emirates”. Its too bad North America, much less Toronto, has nothing like this to compare to.

tre di una chairs

Hunn Wai’s “tre di una” chairs and “wood x plastic” shelf are interesting for their focus on the jointing and connection between materials, giving the furniture has an organic sensitivity.