urbanmuzings

Latest from IJburg

2010-04-09T15:17:00.002-04:00

Here's a quick update from the new master-planned suburb of Amsterdam known as IJburg:

TRUMP Chicago - completed and stunning...

2010-04-09T15:12:00.001-04:00

60 Richmond East, Toronto

2010-03-29T23:45:00.003-04:00

From www.canadianarchitect.com...

This project explores ideas for the future of urbanism in the North American city, and it seeks to understand and express the notion that urban form can simultaneously be environmental form. We believe that our culture has a fundamentally different view of our planet than in the past century. We do not imagine the world as a vast resource to be tapped at our will, but as limited, finite, and in the midst of a process of inevitable destruction. 60 Richmond seeks to imagine the city as an extension of the natural environment, rather than as a machine invented to modify and temper it. To this end, while its principal role is to define and animate the public space of the city, the architecture acts as a medium to cultivate greenery, cool and cleanse the air, and absorb storm water. The co-operative will house people from the hospitality field, and has a public restaurant and training kitchen on the ground floor, serving to animate Richmond Street. Gardens have been carved out of the building at various levels which will not only provide the restaurant with herbs and vegetables, but will create the principal social spaces of the building. At the same time, these gardens permit additional daylighting to reach further into the dwellings, providing natural light to multiple exposures of various units. Waste from the restaurant will be recycled or composted for the garden while roof rain water will be recycled to irrigate the garden, assisting the creation of a condition of urban permaculture. The building is viewed as a living, growing form that responds equally to the urban form of the city and the environmental condition of the site.

The primary objectives of the design are to define, animate, and bring new conceptual underpinnings to the public space of the city. An integrated design process involved the architectural team, an energy modelling consultant, an engineering team, the client, and the building's intended occupants. The very nature of its elevations derived from these energy concerns--its conception as a solid volume with a limited but appropriate glazed area. The building is designed with 60% solid and 40% glazed area, required to achieve the energy savings necessary for a LEED Gold rating. Unlike other residential building types, the entire structure is wrapped in a highly insulated rain-screen cladding that eliminates all thermal bridging. One particularly technical innovation of the project is the recycling of the foundation walls of the previously existing building as shoring for the new construction.

The fibreglass glazing frames act as extended thermal breaks which, in combination with Low-E, argon-filled glazing units with warm edge spacers, provide optimal performance of the glazing system. All roofs on the project are green surfaces, helping to further insulate the building, limiting the heat island effect in the downtown core, while also absorbing storm water. A cistern is provided such that any overflow can be utilized to water the garden. Natural ventilation is provided to all principal spaces of the building, and daylight reaches a large percentage of the rooms in the building. A sophisticated mechanical system is capable of transferring energy from the warm side to the cold side of the building, and in-suite heat recovery is provided throughout the project, resulting in an exceptionally energy-efficient residential building.

The client program--a housing co-op for hospitality workers--was a key inspiration for the design. This program generated the idea of the architecture as urban permaculture, as well as the need for social spaces focused on food and its production. A key client requirement was a durable building achieved with minimal funds, which informed every decision regarding materiality and building systems.

New stuff for Toronto

2010-03-29T23:34:00.008-04:00

Toronto-- known for the last ten years as a bastion of a very conservative neo-modernist, boxy, glass style of condominium tower. Though by no means a revolution, 2010 is ushering in some exciting new proposals for Toronto, which seem more than ever inspired by Dutch neo-modernism in many cases.

ONE BLOOR:

355 KING / 119 BLUE JAYS WAY:

199 RICHMOND:

8 MERCER:

European skyscraper update

2010-03-25T18:53:00.007-04:00

Though not built yesterday, these two fairly recent highrise projects in Europe are worthy of pointing out as very true to their respective nations' architectural styles and as very well-executed pieces of architecture.

THE RED APPLE, Rotterdam, The Netherlands:

OPERNTURM, Frankfurt, Germany:

Villa Libeskind

2010-03-21T13:35:00.002-04:00

Years after Le Corbusier's villas, Mies' Farnsworth House, the Philip Johnson Glass House, and other concepts in modern living, the concept of an idealized house design is still alive.

Daniel Libeskind's Villa Libeskind is an enticing concept-- the starchitect's trademark jagged architecture translates much better into the form of a small house than it does in his bloated and awkward Royal Ontario Museum annex. Here, on a small floorplate, the striking sharp lines create a far more taut and dynamic effect.

See article below the posted photos:

http://archrecord.construction.com/n...6libeskind.asp

Who says Canada has no past?

2010-03-18T22:44:00.000-04:00

Time and time again Canadians can be heard claiming that we don't have history in this country; we don't have a past; we don't have enough old architecture.

Of course we aren't Europe, but this government building in Ottawa proves that-- if by smaller numbers of buildings-- we too have had our architectural moments.

Parkside, Toronto

2010-03-14T16:49:00.003-04:00

Canadian architect Moishe Safdie, best known as a proponent of 1980s-style ersatz postmodernism (PoMo) has been selected by developer Great Gulf to design one of the first phases of the East Bayfront waterfront neighbourhood in downtown Toronto.

The design has a unique system of terraces etched into the sides of the tower. Is the design a throwback to the 1980s or a welcome departure from the now-common "Toronto style" condo tower? You decide. Either way, Moshe Safdie is an icon.

Melbourne floods

2010-03-12T16:51:00.003-05:00

Here are some pictures from the recent flooding in Melbourne, Australia. Unbelievable! Always strange to see our man-made environment thrashed by natural forces in such a dramatic way:

University of Toronto - autumn light, spring weather

2010-03-10T16:51:00.004-05:00

These pictures are by my good friend Rebekka Gondosch-- beautiful shots that really do express the feel of University of Toronto in the early evening at this time of year.

The blog will be back shortly!

2010-02-09T21:02:00.002-05:00

The blog will continue to be updated with new postings as of next month!

Feeling like a doormat?

2010-01-29T01:13:00.001-05:00

From The Onion, www.theonion.com

The "Sometimes I Feel Like I'm The Only One Trying to Gentrify This Neighbourhood" doormat.

"Our new 19.5" x 29.5" outdoor mat is fade and weather resistant and has a vinyl backing. Perfect for your shithole apartment or your cookie-cutter mansion."

Price: $25.99

More Vancouver! - The Woodwards District

2010-01-27T15:54:00.009-05:00

From slum to new urban mix
from The Globe & Mail

Vancouver's long-awaited Woodward's project officially opens this month, gambling on a unique blend of uses in the Downtown Eastside

Frances Bula

Published on Monday, Jan. 04, 2010 6:38PM EST

For almost two decades, it was a black hole at the eastern entrance to Vancouver's downtown: a hulking empty building surrounded by vacant storefronts and drug dealers.

But now, the former Woodward's department store – once the centre of gravity on a bustling commercial street – is coming back to life, as one of the most complex urban-rehabilitation projects in Canada nears completion.

This fall more than 1,000 people moved into market condos that are part of the $500-million project, including Joe Lousa and his wife, part of the crowd that bought the idea of living in a unique experiment aimed at creating a socially mixed microcosm of the city.

“I had a hard time explaining to people why we decided to do this,” said Mr. Lousa, who works a few blocks away from his 16th-floor condo, which sits on the border of the Downtown Eastside. “But the more time you spend down here, the more you realize it's not bad at all.”

Soon, an additional 400 people, including 75 families and another 125 singles who suffer from a combination of mental illness, drug addiction and poverty, will also move in. It won't cure the area's notorious homelessness problems, but it should certainly make a dent.

A grocery and a drugstore opened in early December, bringing legal commercial activity to the block that hasn't been seen since Woodward's closed in 1993. Staff from Vancouver city hall and three federal departments, including the National Film Board and Health Canada, will move in this month, as will non-profit groups. And there's a rooftop daycare on top of the restored original department store.

In February, Simon Fraser University will open its massive Centre for the Performing Arts in the project. It includes half a dozen performance or cinema spaces, with a gala launch of theatre director Robert Lepage's The Blue Dragon.

All of that interlocking activity is what project developer Ian Gillespie, architect Gregory Henriquez and political advocate Jim Green say will make this project a success where so many urban-regeneration developments have failed.

“It's transformative,” says Mr. Gillespie, who, with business partner Ben Yeung, has spent six years fine-turning details on the building, from the enormous Stan Douglas photo mural in the central atrium to the sculpted “French fry” columns on one of the condo towers to the handmade benches on the rooftop garden. “And part of the reason for that is just the amount of body heat from all these people who will be using it. You need that mass and scale to make it work.”

Mr. Henriquez says the project is unlike anything he's ever done or expects to do again in his lifetime.

“As a model of inclusivity, it's a really beautiful statement,” said Mr. Henriquez, who spent years figuring out such details as entrances that would suit each client group and common spaces they could share comfortably, such as the main civic plaza, which has entrances from three sides.

Mr. Gillespie and Mr. Henriquez are getting calls from people around North America who want to know more about the project. They expect to spend the 2010 Winter Olympics month giving tours to out-of-town visitors who have expressed interest and are looking at replicating the ideas in their own cities.

But as they and others say, this project demanded an unusual level of political will, blind faith and collaboration – something others would have to be prepared for if they wanted to undertake something similar.

“It involves a lot of people taking risks,” says Mr. Gillespie, who adds he won't know for several years whether he broke even, lost money, or made a profit on the project.

The block was a yawning pit of development demons six years ago.

The store was a designated heritage site, filled with asbestos and crumbling brick that hadn't been maintained for 15 years. Downtown Eastside groups had a passionate attachment to it, and it had been the site of a famous squat for a couple of months in 2002 with hundreds of people demanding that it be turned into social housing.

And it was unclear whether anyone would be willing to buy a condo, run a store, or establish an office in the rundown area – at any price.

The recovery started when Mr. Green, a long-time Downtown Eastside advocate for saving the building, was elected to council in 2002 and he pushed a deal for the provincial government to buy it for $5.5-million – a quarter of its assessed value.

But the project was far from a done deal, because of all the negatives. “I didn't have a single developer willing to take it on,” said Michael Flanigan, the city's director of real-estate services, the bureaucrat whom many credit with making the project a reality.

City planners ran lengthy consultations with the local community to get their ideas and find out what would make the project work for them. The city also appointed a community advisory committee – a crucial step, Mr. Green said. “This was a great victory for the people of that community who worked to save that building for years.”

But it did mean that anyone developing the site needed to do it in a way that was going to include the existing neighbourhood, the poorest in Canada, and not just prompt a wave of gentrification. The project also had to include homes for 125 of the neighbourhood's poorest people – those who had been homeless or close to it.

When Mr. Gillespie's group won the bid, it took years of negotiating with major local retailers – Jimmy Pattison's group for the Nesters Market grocery store, and Brandt Louie's drugstore chain, London Drugs, and the Toronto Dominion Bank – to ensure they would come in, something that Mr. Gillespie felt was essential.

To help convince them, “they got deals that you wouldn't typically find,” he admits.

In the end, says Mr. Gillespie, “they said, ‘We've had a fortunate business model and we want to give something back to the neighbourhood.' So they closed their eyes and went in.”

Which is, in a way, what happened with everyone in the project.

SOURCE

Looking pretty for the Olympics

2010-01-26T13:21:00.001-05:00

During the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver next month, all construction will shut down in the city to give a sense of order. Construction at "The Private Residences at Hotel Georgia" has already gotten their game on with this festive construction hoarding:

Micro-lofts promise Vancouver renters a break

2010-01-26T01:57:00.002-05:00

Can't afford Vancouver condo prices? Then look no further than the microloft concept-- where one has the opportunity to live in a space the size of two parking stalls.

The idea is becoming quite attractive, as this same day other news articles are speaking to the recent finding that Vancouver has the world's least affordable housing stock.

Link to news article:
CBC News - Consumer Life - Micro-lofts promise Vancouver renters a break

The urban living room

2010-01-21T02:34:00.002-05:00

This is a brilliant example of creating an architecturally integrated playspace and outdoor common area-- a "living room" of sorts. This "urban living room" is part of the Parkrand development in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The photos speak for themselves.

Office Tower Massing - Amsterdam Mahler Tower 4

2010-01-20T14:55:00.001-05:00

Completed around 2005, this Amsterdam office tower by Rafael Vinoly architects is a wonderful example of how to lighten up a bulky office building using creative massing, especially in its use of lit-up "gashes". The general lines of the tower are vertical, which stresses the height while the sliced portions create a building more sizeable for one's eyes. The tower is part of the Mahler area development.

Engage me-- at street level

2010-01-19T14:54:00.004-05:00

The central cores of towns and cities in Europe have long been applauded for the way in which they strongly engage pedestrians. Retail shops and services seem to fill the ground level of every building, with apartments or offices above. This model, because of its convenience (shopping and services near to home), its social engagement factor (and therefore safety) and contribution to the vibrance of urban life, reigns superior.

Of course not always can retail be provided. And few city economies can support retail at the base of every single building. It is helpful (if rarely successful) to at least engage pedestrians-- on main streets (high streets)-- with art work or glass (to create the illusion of windows and openness, safety, welcomeness) at ground level if retail or services cannot be provided. On side streets, the interest and openness of successful residential housing is visually and socially engaging enough, especially with the use of townhouses.

One idea being employed by some restaurants, grocers, and cullinary schools, is to make the kitchen visible from the outside of the building. Everyone walking past on the sidewalk gets to experience the activity of a professional kitchen, if only for a brief glance. And if you're a patron, it's good to see where your food is coming from, after all.

Famed urban visionary Jane Jacobs had a fair bit to say about the uses and importance of sidewalks-- below is an excerpt from her book, "The Death and Life of Great American Cities"-- and click the link at the end if you want to read further.

The uses of sidewalks: safety

"If we are to maintain a city society that can diagnose and keep abreast of deeper social problems, the starting point must be, in any case, to strengthen whatever workable forces for maintaining safety and civilization do exist -- in the cities we do have. ... The first thing to understand is that the public peace -- the sidewalk and street peace -- of cities is not kept primarily by the police, necessary as police are. It is kept primarily by an intricate, almost unconscious, network of voluntary controls and standards among the people themselves, and enforced by the people themselves. .... No amount of policing can enforce civilization where the normal, casual enforcement of it has broken down." (32)

"A well-used city street is apt to be a safe street. A deserted city street is apt to be unsafe. But how does this work, really? And what makes a city street well used or shunned? ... A city street equipped to handle strangers, and to make a safety asset, in itself, out of the presence of strangers, as the streets of successful city neighborhoods always do, must have three main qualities:

"First, there must be a clear demarcation between what is public space and what is private space. Public space and private spaces cannot ooze into each other as they do typically in suburban settings or in projects.

"Second, there must be eyes upon the street, eyes belonging to those we might call the natural proprietors of the street. The buildings on a street equipped to handle strangers and to insure the safety of both residents and strangers, must be oriented to the street. They cannot turn their back or blank sides on it and leave it blind.

"And third, the sidewalk must have users on it fairly continuously, both to add to the number of effective eyes on the street and to induce the people in buildings along the street to watch the sidewalks in sufficient numbers. Nobody enjoys sitting on a stoop or looking out a window at an empty street. ... Large numbers of people entertain themselves, off and on, by watching street activity. (35)

"The basic requisite for such surveillance is a substantial quantity of stores and other public places sprinkled along the sidewalks of a district; enterprises and public places that are used by evening and night must be among them especially. Stores, bars and restaurants, as the chief examples, work in several different and complex ways to abet sidewalk safety.

"First, they give people -- both residents and strangers -- concrete reasons for using the sidewalks on which the enterprises face.

"Second, they draw people along the sidewalks past places which have no attractions to public use in themselves... Moreover, there should be many different kinds of enterprises, to give people reasons for crisscrossing paths.

"Third, storekeepers and other small businessmen are typically strong proponents of peace and order themselves; ... they are great street watchers and sidewalk guardians if present in sufficient numbers.

"Fourth, the activity generated by people on errands, or people aiming for food or drink, is itself an attraction to still other people. (36-37)

Click HERE for further excerpts from Jane Jacobs' The Death and Life of Great American Cities.

Scala Tower, Copenhagen (concept)

2010-01-15T15:01:00.002-05:00

Here's a fascinating concept for a tower in Copenhagen that is made up entirely of stairs and steps-- right down to a human scale. This is a great example of a building that is truly part of the landscape, not only in its mimicking of twisting cathedral spires that dot the Copenhagen skyline, but in its interactivity with pedestrians at ground-level.

A new look for urbanmuzings

2010-01-15T14:19:00.000-05:00

urbanmuzings is new-- already!

The new banner header is here to stay and the blog's role has expanded outside of simple architectural musings and into a more generalized urban lifestyle blog-- from the perspective of an architecture/sociology student. If you are fascinated by the life of the city (its many facets and associated obsessions) then this is a blog you must follow! Each post is at the very least a jumping-off point for an interesting topic-- one that readers can pursue researching on their own time if they are so inclined.

Thanks for checking out the blog-- enjoy!

Then & Now #6 - Freedom Tower

2010-01-14T22:18:00.006-05:00

After the mourning of September 11, 2001 had passed, the ethically fragile concept of a new World Trade Centre was already underway.

Daniel Libeskind stepped up to the plate during a massive design competition hosted by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. Initially adventurous designs were rejected by the public, but Libeskind's tower represented a fresh image for the site while still respectings its place in NYC-- an offset spire mimicked the Statue of Liberty, and wind turbines and greenery in the sky gave the new project an ethical, responsible edge.

Unfortunately, many challenging politics created friction against the initial scheme proposed by Libeskind. You can't please everyone. The final scheme which is under construction now (it currently stands at about 8 floors of its final 108) is largely the work of David Childs of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. The name-- now 1WTC-- isn't all that has changed. Evidently the project is culturally and politically sensitive to the extent that, unfortunately, it has become a victim of itself. The final design is much watered-down, so to speak, from its original conception and seems afraid to make any particular statement of any sort.

BELOW (from top to bottom, left to right): 2002 design; 2004 design; 2004 design; today's design; 1WTC under construction

Image credits: First four images are saved from the news domain; image of 1WTC under construction is by Graffhead on flickr.

Modernism and representation theory

2010-01-14T21:55:00.000-05:00

As human beings, we never experience things in their entirety; it would be impossible to do so; we instead experience different things we see in a fragmented way.

For example, when we look at a painting, it goes through many filters in our mind. Our values and ideas come before our visual processing. But we don't know what to do with what we see simply by looking at it; our mind is in fact looking beyond the painting in front of us and looking to the real, the ideal, or what we already know. Perhaps the painting is a painting of a mountain scene. Your mind is, in a sense, reflecting back to where you've seen such a thing before. Maybe you've been skiing, or maybe you've seen a movie that takes place in the mountains, or have seen photos a friend showed you from their holiday to the Alps. In most cases, our mind has an idea of something to harken back to. Abstract art is an exception, one could argue, because the image is simply a reflection of itself, without containing any representation.

Modernism poses us with a similar problem, even in 2010. It is a relatively young phenomenon, and has only been around in its purest forms since the 1920s. Most people have romantic ideals wrapped up in classical styles of architecture, and associate romantic representations with this- perhaps the columns make them think of Ancient Greece, or the arched windows and beautiful stone reminds them of Versailles. Modernism, on the other hand, does not give our mind much to work with-- what can our mind think back to? It is especially critical to consider what the answer to this question will be for people living fifty years from now, because at the moment, laypeople seem to associate modernist style with factories, hospitals, and social housing-- mainly depressing emotions are represented by modernism for many people who call it "drab". But is this an accurate picture?

I feel that modernism will break away from its negative connotations in the greater population as it ages. As a young movement spawned by mass production and industrialization, I think it will slowly disassociate from this past. In the future I imagine it will represent equality, healthy workplaces, uplifting living spaces, and other positive values, as postmodernism/faux-classicism seems to already do.

Only time will tell. My hope is that the fervent hope placed in modernism of the 1920s will not die.

Urban Music Recommendation - The Peter Malick Group feat. Norah Jones

2010-01-12T14:42:00.003-05:00

In the mood for some music that makes you feel like you're in the big city-- or reminds you that you already are?

Norah Jones-- always an unorthodox mix between Texas country and Manhattan jazz/pop meets rock in the form of The Peter Malick Group. All the great urban life topics are covered here-- social and personal problems, love, more love, and in the title track, one's proclaimed love-hate relationship with the big city life.

Start with the New York City album for a more traditional sound, and follow up with New York City - The Deluxe Edition for a more hip, urban sound with a bit of synth and remixed beats. Both are available on iTunes.

Top tracks:

Burj Khalifa - an 828m mirage

2010-01-11T23:37:00.005-05:00

The 162-floor Burj Khalifa (formerly Burj Dubai), the world's tallest tower, was officially completed on January 4th. Replacing Taipei 101 as the world's tallest, this tower is located in the controversial city of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. It was designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill.

The new "world's tallest" also grabs several other relevant titles:

Tallest structure ever built: 828 m (2,717 ft) (previously Warsaw radio mast – 646.38 m/2,121 ft)
Tallest freestanding structure: 828 m (2,717 ft) (previously CN Tower – 553.3 m/1,815 ft)
World's highest elevator installation
The first world's tallest structure in history to include residential space
Highest outdoor observation deck in the world (124th floor)
World's highest mosque (located on the 158th floor)
World's highest swimming pool (76th floor)

Kohn Shnier Laneway House - a better urban-detached way to live

2010-01-11T16:59:00.004-05:00

I, like many architects, still struggle with the inefficient faux-classical detached/semi-detached homes found in subdivisions across Canada. While it has become the accepted model, in no way is it inherently "superior". Rather, these homes are a poor use of space with little visibility onto the street and are often made of materials which are created more for their look than their function.

Kohn Shnier Architects created a brilliant alternative in Toronto-- one of many such "laneway houses" which serve as a brilliant reminder of how much better (densely built, ethical, environmental, efficient) our homes could be both on back laneways and on new streets in the suburbs. If only...

On a 26x40 lot, using inexpensive but functional and attractive materials and a brilliant use of space (Canadian Architect: "The complex three-dimensional puzzle is triumphantly resolved by the clever placement of the family bathroom at the half-level of the stair, hovering over the garage below and tucked in under the kitchen counter."), this family-sized "French Farmhouse" or upside-down residential house with bedrooms downstairs and living spaces upstairs is an answer to the problem of residential density, cost, and good use of space. Practicality can be surprisingly sexy.

Book Recommendation: "1000 Ideas by 100 Architects"

2010-01-10T21:56:00.005-05:00

1000 Ideas by 100 Architects

by Sergi Costa Duran and Mariana R. Eguaras Etchetto

Architecture is an art form that provides both function and beauty. Each architect brings something uniquely distinct to his or her work. Learning what makes an architectural work or the body of an architect's work unique is difficult to deconstruct. This book provides behind the scenes insight into the work of 100 top international designers through the deconstruction of 1000 architectural details and projects. An unrivaled sourcebook for ideas, this collection also provides details and information that are not available on this level through any other source. Sergi Costa Duran is the author of the architectural books Green Homes, New Prefab, High Density and Earth. He lectures frequently on environmental subjects for the Catalan Government (Generalitat de Catalunya) and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). He lives in Barcelona, Spain. Mariana R. Eguaras Etchetto is an architecture and interior design editor. She lives in Barcelona, Spain.

$49.99 Canadian / £24.99
Paperback
1000 photos/illustrations
320 Pages

Source: http://www.rockpub.com/description.asp?isbn=9781592535736

Then & Now #5 - The Reichstag

2010-01-10T19:01:00.001-05:00

ABOVE: The Reichstag (German Parliament in Berlin) today.
BELOW: The Reichstag at the end of WWII.

Then & Now #4 - Modernist glass facade

2010-01-10T18:49:00.006-05:00

ABOVE: Residential condominiums, Canada, 2009
BELOW: Fagus Factory, Walter Gropius/Adolf Meyer, 1913

"Another exceedingly important quality of Gropius's building is that, thanks to the large expanses of clear glass, the usual hard separation of exterior and interior is annihilated."

- Nikolaus Pevsner , Pioneers of Modern Design

Fun with stairs

2010-01-10T18:37:00.001-05:00

In a small space, the way stairs are laid out on the floorplan can make or break the flow and efficiency of the design.

Here's a charming design from the Netherlands in which there is a privatization of space in the second level by closing off the upper portion of the stairs. Not only does it ensure privacy for the room upstairs located at the front of the house, but it creates a whimsical design feature.

Multi-Unit Residential - balcony clutter

2010-01-08T23:03:00.011-05:00

Condominium buildings have become an art in large Canadian cities such as Vancouver and Toronto, as they have around the world. Developers promise (and often deliver) sleek designs that are to the eyes of a layperson an office building-- sleek, consisting of glass glazing almost entirely in most cases.

Again and again in urbanist & urban enthusiast circles in Toronto, when a new building is completed and has been anticipated and followed throughout its construction process and praised for its sleek modernist lines-- a new debate suddenly emerges. Residents have moved in. And the debate begins with, "Isn't that clutter on the balconies destroying the design? The building is ruined... it just looks so.... "lived in" now!".

I will argue that to say such a thing is entirely anti-urban. While condominium boards do indeed have some regulations which are in place to maintain the building's market value (such as rules that all window coverings in the units of a building must be white or off-white), I am thankful that a draconian rule-based system does not control the use of your balcony except for in extreme cases. It provides a challenge for modernist architecture and modernist residential development when the clean lines of so many buildings attain a sudden surplus of balcony clutter when residents move in. Perhaps in this way, a clean modernist architecture is simply something to strive toward, and a fantasy-- the equivalent of runway fashion which is not appropriate to be worn in most weather or in outdoor conditions.

Glass buildings open up other people's lives to the outer streetscape and skyline. Luckily, in most cases, balcony furniture (and whatever else a particular homeowner maintains on their balcony) is downplayed by the design of the building and is somewhat hidden by the tint in glass or the shapes and textures of the building. Randomized mullion/glass facades with alternating coloured blocks or solid sections look good because they in some ways add an uncalculated chaos to the exterior that mimics the organic placement of BBQ's, bikes, balcony and garden furniture and plants which eventually become a part of the building.

Vertical features (such as in the second photo below) that stand out due to their colour or pattern are a good way of stressing verticality against the horizontal uses on each balcony level.

The nature of urban living is that, without ridiculous exceptions (such as garbage storage), people have a right to use their balcony/living space (below the level of their balcony railing) however they please. This is just one part of the chaos that makes the big city such a beautiful place.

Then & Now #3 - Toronto collage

2009-12-23T17:34:00.003-05:00

An art project I'm currently working on...

Book Recommendation: "ENOUGH" by John Naish

2009-12-19T23:43:00.007-05:00

I am only finished the first chapter of this book, which is about how we all have more than "enough information," as the chapter is entitled, but if even for that first chapter, I must recommend the book.

Below is a quick synopsis by Brandon Robshaw of theindependent.co.uk.

John Naish's thesis is that we in the affluent West have more than enough of what we need, yet cannot stop gorging ourselves, both literally and metaphorically. Having evolved in a world where there was never quite enough food, we are hard-wired to grab it whenever we get the chance; now we live in the midst of plenty but the instinct is still there. The result: growing obesity and ill-health. We evolved to be curious about the world we live in; now, surrounded by information, we can't stop reading our emails, checking our texts, watching telly, surfing the net. The result: addled brains, short attention spans, and a great deal of wasted time. Our instinctive need to compete, useful in dragging us out of the Stone Age, now forces us to work ever harder and longer. Result: stress, addictive drudgery, burnout. Our need to accumulate possessions has created a wasteful, consumerist society with disastrous consequences both for our souls and for the environment. But, says, Naish, we can fight back. Our rational selves can overcome those lower-brain urges. If we follow the philosophy of "Enoughism", consciously limiting our consumption, there is hope for us yet.

Then & Now #2 - Apartment Living

2009-12-19T23:10:00.000-05:00

LEFT: Typical apartment tower from the 1960-70s

RIGHT: Typical Canadian condominium in the 2000s

The Implications of Walled Neighbourhoods in South African Post-Apartheid Residential Built Form

2009-12-19T23:05:00.003-05:00

ESSAY INTRO: When apartheid ended in South Africa, the floodgates opened. Indeed, South Africa, as a nation, is a place where one finds the most shocking examples of sudden, intense urban change steeped in new politics and complex social problems. Along with these social problems, however, came intensive and equally complex solutions. Enter the walled or gated neighbourhood; a neighbourhood of new detached homes and/or townhouses surrounded by walls and barbed wire (sometimes electric) fencing, as well as in many cases a CCTV camera system and a guard in a booth at the road entrance. This type of neighbourhood can also consist of an existing residential area which has been barricaded off with a boom or gate system and in some cases more drastic measures and are more commonly known as ‘enclosed neighbourhoods’ (Juergens, Gnad). With the uniquely planned apartheid city (which was actually zoned into areas for different ethnic groups) now disintegrating into a “grey area” where different ethnic groups had freedom to travel around the city and settle in previously whites-only areas, crime rates skyrocketed. The police force could no longer include protecting residential areas as part of their daily routine. Beginning in the 1980s, the security business became the fastest-growing sector of the country’s economy, and in the following decade, 150 000 South Africans worked in this field. The incidence of the gated neighbourhood in South Africa is high and unarguable. This only leaves questions as to what the implications of these walled neighbourhoods are, both directly to built form in South Africa as well as to the social realm. This essay will seek to respond to these questions both from an architectural as well as an archi-sociological perspective.

READ THE FULL DOCUMENT HERE.

Found in Toronto!

2009-12-19T19:31:00.003-05:00

This photo was taken in Toronto, in a typical downtown neighbourhood. It speaks to the liberal attitudes of the big city and how diversity in population are the "norm". Very refreshing.

IMAGE CREDIT: torontovibe (at skyscrapercity.com, imageshack.us)

Then & Now #1 - The Transparent Skyscraper

2009-12-19T19:17:00.002-05:00

LEFT: "Glass Skyscraper", (concept) Mies Van Der Rohe, 1921
RIGHT: "RBC Dexia Tower", Toronto, 2008

If only Mies could see into the future, he would see that indeed, many skyscrapers today are almost entirely transparent, especially along their edges and before furniture and partitions are added inside. New, ultra-refined glass with few impurities creates high transparency in some projects, but above all the "see-through" effect is thanks to load-bearing pillars which stand in rows and at corners between each slab/floor, as opposed to the use of concrete load-bearing walls. The modern example of a transparent skyscraper used above is just one of many.

Creating an urban culture in the winter

2009-12-18T13:20:00.004-05:00

Time and time again, winter rolls into cities such as Toronto and the entire heartbeat of the city seems to stop-- or at least internalize somewhere which is harder to find. Without a doubt, the city has a cultural "party" vibe all year round, as do many cities with extreme climates or harsh winters, but in the winter one must look harder to find the same energy. Most people want to, admittedly, stay inside. All winter.

Enter the "urban winter party". It's a concept that some cities (in Canada, notably Quebec City, and in European countries such as Sweden) has been executed on a festival-sized scale. But outside of a winter festival in the city, with its ice sculptures, ice bars and other winter activities, it is hard to find the same street life that one finds in summer. Christmas lighting down major streets creates a festive atmosphere-- but I feel we can do much better than this. It's time that we stop celebrating summer only and actually celebrate winter's charm-- outside where it actually looks like winter. It's all about getting urbanites closer to the outdoor beauty of the winter, while staying warm and comfortable. Looking out one's window isn't being close enough for many people, especially those who live high above ground level or in a quieter part of the city. However, being immersed in a winter street party, feet on the sidewalk, wearing gloves and a coat, enjoying a refreshing drink-- all the while being kept warm by a heat lamp-- is as close as one can get to winter in an urban context. Both comfortably and stylishly.

After working for a street event in Toronto that approached winter with such a mindset, the formula seemed clear: allow people to be immersed in winter and its unique beauty within the city, while being comfortable and warm at the same time.

Imagine a major street (one that would have wider sidewalks) with white tents out front, heat lamps, and areas for people to shop outside amidst the lights, areas with chic outdoor club furniture where pedestrians can stop and sip wine (ice wine, perhaps?) from a bar made of ice. Beautiful lighting and outdoor stage acts (fire) mix with other elements (ice).

An urban "winter fest" culture along major sidewalks in urban centres would be a wonderful departure from the typical winter model of the city shutting down entirely, and where the only way to enjoy the beauty of the city is on the way to a destination, walking up from the subway before running inside again, or by looking out the windows at home. Even on a small level, one must appreciate that more of these street events could be highly successful.

Perhaps Toronto will be a very different place in the future during winter time. The warmth doesn't have to stop after summer, and nor does the exciting urban party atmosphere.

IMAGE CREDIT: Downtown Yonge BIA, Toronto

Welcome to the blog!

2009-12-17T15:33:00.001-05:00

Welcome to urbanmuzings - a blog on architectural thought.

My name is Andrew Harvey and I've created this blog as a way to record architectural ideas-- shaped by both found text and images as well as concepts from my own experience and filters-- which I can put in practise both as an architecture student and eventually as a practising architect.

Please stand by while the blog design is finalized. Postings will begin soon!