Our last L Tower construction update was in mid-November, and since then, we've shared tons about Daniel Libeskind but not enough about the progress of his latest Toronto building. So what's new at the L?
The highly anticipated building is currently built up to the 23rd floor and continuing at a pace of roughly one floor built per week.
Windows have been delivered with some initial installations on the 4th floor with more on the way.
We've received a delivery of windows up to the 9th floor so work will progress on installation in the coming weeks.
Plumbing, electrical, and water work will be starting in the next few weeks so our already busy site is about to get a whole lot busier.
The Sony Centre Back of House work has also been coming along nicely.
L Tower is one of our most exciting projects yet that screams "starchitect". We are beyond excited to see the final project and how it will effect the Sony Centre's revitalization.
For all of our latest construction photos for L Tower, see our Facebook album. Anything you'd like to see in the next construction update? Let us know!
Though it may not look luxurious now, Pier 27 will be screaming prestige at Yonge and Lakeshore in the future.
We visited the Toronto Waterfront site late last week and the progress made since our last visit this past November has been substantial to say the least!
Check out some of our photos below. For a full album of construction shots check out our Facebook album here.
With many different crews on site at the moment, things are going well, especially with the weather.
Work has progressed up to the 7th floor on buidling B1, and up to floor 4 in building B2.
Phase 3 of Pier 27 is currently undergoing approvals, and we hope to bring the project to market in the near future.
A view of the Pier 27 site from the 20th floor of L Tower.
A new model suite is coming to the sales centre, and we hope to have it ready for viewing this spring.
Stay tuned for the latest updates on Pier 27 and many more of our projects. Got a question? Tweet to us or catch us on Facebook.
Sam Crignano of Cityzen explains in forty seconds how donating to Migrating Landscapes can launch the careers of young, aspiring architectural designers living in Canada.
We were very privileged to speak with Pina Petricone, Principal Architect of Giannone Petricone and Professor of Architecture at University of Toronto.
A sponsor of Migrating Landscapes, Pina spoke on behalf of Giannone Petricone on why the architecture firm supports the group. The competition is essential for emerging Canadian architects and designers, where the winning designs will be part of the Canadian Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale this year.
In order for the winning team to get to Venice, Migrating Landscapes still needs donations. Only 75% of the total budget has been met. Please donate if you support young Canadian emerging talent in architectural design. A charitable tax receipt will be provided by the RAIC Foundation.
You can also contact Sara Crignano at saracrignano@cityzen.ca and 416-777-2489 ext 225 to donate.
Migrating Landscapes will be on display free to the public on February 6 until February 24 at Toronto's Brookfield Place.
Waterfronts around the world are undoubtedly undergoing massive change, especially in the Greater Toronto Area, and the potential to develop urban identity, tourism and diversity is enormous.
Recently, the redevelopment project Waterfront Toronto has gained both criticism and celebration, but we applaud it for its vision to improve public space with functionalism and flare. We want to see Toronto's waterfront connect to its people with great design and stay relevant to its multi-use communities.
So which city really hits the nail on the head when it comes to waterfront planning? Which city has stepped away from the industrial, disconnected waterfront to do some soulsearching? Whether it's sea, lake or river, we made a list of our top ten favourite urban waterfronts around the world to get us inspired. This is just the tip of the iceberg.
1. Stockholm, Sweden
earthphotography.com
2. Venice, Italy
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3. Sydney, Australia
yachtbooker.com
4. Chicago, Illinois
Photograph by Erin Pehlivan
5. Hamburg, Germany
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6. Granville Island, Vancouver
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7. River Walk, San Antonio, Texas
about.com
8. San Francisco, California
everytrail.com
9. Paris Plage, France
opencityprojects.com
10. Porto, Portugal
suzyguese.com
Other waterfronts we wouldn't mind visiting:
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Charleston, South Carolina Capetown, South Africa Helsinki, Finland Baltimore, Maryland Seattle, Washington Miami, Florida Nice, France
What's the most important thing to you in a waterfront?
Union Station is one of Backstage on the Esplanade’s biggest amenities, and Canada’s central hub for inter-city and national transit. At its widely recognized home at Front and Bay streets, Union Station was officially opened in 1927 by Edward, the Prince of Wales. Embarking on a journey from Toronto to Alberta, the first ticket ever issued cost Edward $71.20, which would cost around $1,000 today.
Since then, the station has vastly changed. Thousands of TTC and ViaRail customers ride into Union Station daily in addition to over 165,000 by GO train. It’s inevitable that Union Station will play a role in the development of Backstage on the Esplanade at Yonge Street.
Backstage will allow an underground PATH connection, consolidating the condo with Union, and even reaching out to St. Lawrence Market. The south side of Backstage is alongside the railway corridor, but residents will find it quieter than living on your average downtown street. Law require trains to enter at low speeds while residential units are built eighty feet above rail lines.
It only begins there. Union station is undergoing a $640-million revitalization project with expected completion by 2015.
What to expect from Union Station in the future
Union Station strives to be a beautiful entry point into the city for commuters and visitors. With strong levels of economic and urban growth, the city plans on accommodating the central core with the following improvements:
GO Station concourse and glass atrium
Increased number of exits and entrances
Reduced commuter congestion
Restoration of historical elements
Rail links to Pearson International Airport
Improved underground PATH connections and other weather-protected connections
Improved public space
Pedestrian priority zones at Front and Bay/York
Photo from thestar.com
A number of reports from the Master Plan in 2004, the District Study in 2005 and the Revitalization recommended approach in 2007 address significant issues for Union Station and provide as a blueprint for the future. Such issues include heritage conservation, efficient transit and urban design.
Are you moving to Backstage? For more, see our construction update on Backstage on the Esplanade.
Sam Crignano, president of Cityzen, has a new video out on Migrating Landscapes where he explains how Cityzen's design competition launched the career of Yansong Ma of Beijing's MAD Architects with Mississauga's Absolute Towers. Sam also describes why he personally supports Migrating Landscapes and where exactly the money is going.
Paul Golini, chairman of the Building Industry and Land Development Association, wrote a column in the Toronto Star on January 6th to spread awareness about Migrating Landscapes that we wanted to share. See below for the full post.
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Over the last few months, a Canada-wide architectural competition called Migrating Landscapes has been making its way across the country and on February 6, it will arrive in Toronto.
The competition and series of exhibitions all lead up to the world-renowned Venice Architecture Biennale (a.k.a. the Olympics of Architecture), where a select group of young architects and designers will form the official Team Canada entry.
Working with Cityzen Development Group, BILD has taken on the role of strategic partner because our industry believes that great communities are built on great design. There is an art to city building and this exhibit speaks to the creative side of the business, where design and architecture capture the imagination and emotion of future residents.
From the perspective of designing, planning and building communities that welcome hundreds, if not thousands, of Canadian immigrants every year in the GTA, the exhibition is sure to be intriguing to BILD members as well as members of the public. The best part is that you’ll get the chance to walk through and experience the exhibit for free.
So let me tell you what it’s all about. The project was inspired by the first-generation immigrant experiences of Johanna Hurme, who was born in Finland, Sasa Radulovic, born in the former Yugoslavia, and Jae-Sung Chon, born in South Korea. These three Winnipeg-based architects believe that most Canadians can relate to their experiences, each bringing diverse memories and ways of living from around the globe. Their idea is that settling into unfamiliar landscapes and architectural contexts modifies and transforms the meaning of house and home. This is fascinating to me and I’m sure there are many people living in homes built by BILD members who feel this way.
The competition has already seen exhibits in British Columbia and Alberta, and will land later this month in Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan and Quebec. The migrating exhibition wraps up in Manitoba in February.
Here in Ontario, about 25 architects and designers, age 45 and under, have been chosen to build models of original residential designs that reflect their diverse stories of migration and immigration. The exhibition takes place Feb. 6-24 at Toronto’s Brookfield Place.
Anyone can visit and experience the exhibit, which will be judged by a prestigious jury made up of industry experts: Michael Moxam, principal at Stantec Architecture; Brigitte Shim, co-Founder of Shim-Sutcliffe Architects; Chris Pommer, founding partner of PLANT Architect Inc.; An te Liu, associate professor at the University of Toronto; and Lisa Rochon, architecture critic for The Globe and Mail.
The Ontario winners will be announced in Toronto on Feb. 22, and the young architects and designers will advance to a national competition where a select team will be chosen to represent Canada in Venice.
I hope I’ve piqued your interest. For more information about the project and the exhibition visitwww.migratinglandscapes.ca. Hope to see you there!
For more updates, visit both BILD and Cityzen's twitter accounts.
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In order for the winning team to get to Venice, Migrating Landscapes needs donations. Please donate if you support young Canadian emerging talent in architectural design. A charitable tax receipt will be provided by the RAIC Foundation.
You can also contact Sara Crignano at saracrignano@cityzen.ca and 416-777-2489 ext 225 to donate.
Sam Crignano, president of Cityzen, shares his story of Italian migration for Migrating Landscapes, a competition for emerging Canadian talent from different cultural backgrounds to go to the Venice Architecture Biennale in summer 2012.
In recent news, the Alberta winners were announced mid-December. Congratulations to Tania Ursomarzo and Tiffany Shaw-Collinge, as well as people's choice winners Joshua Taron, Era Pogoson, Richard Cotter and Adam Onulov.
See our Facebook album here of all Calgary images, including the winners at the bottom of the page. You won't be disappointed.
For the winning Canadian team to get to the Venice Architecture Biennale 2012, Migrating Landscapes needs donations today. Please donate if you support young emerging talent in architectural design. A charitable tax receipt will be provided by the RAIC Foundation.
You can also contact Sara Crignano at saracrignano@cityzen.ca and 416-777-2489 ext 225 to donate.
There has been a lot of development lately with Waterfront Toronto (just check their website for evidence) but we wanted to get the scoop behind the man in charge of it all. Waterfront Toronto CEO of John Campbell sits down with us and explains why Toronto's waterfront specifically needs to be revitalized.
Monumental in size, Waterfront Toronto has received worldwide recognition for leading waterfront development in the right track, engaging the public and industry and producing visionary waterfront neighbourhoods. Despite rendering upon rendering, we cannot envision the wonderful result of this project, and we'll be following it every step of the way.
For more images of the Queens Quay Boulevard projects, click here (Queens Quay West) and here (Queens Quay East).
There is tons of news about Migrating Landscapes coming up as they travel east from their first exhibition in British Columbia. Tomorrow is actually their last day in Calgary at ACAD before a pause for the holidays, then it's off to Dalhousie University School of Architecture in Halifax in January.
Here is a five-second time lapse video of the Calgary exhibition really showing what it's all about:
For more photos, check out the following:
Museum of Vancouver launch photos, which you can see here
Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary with exhibition photos here
We also have a list of winners from the British Columbia exhibition. Linked in their names and contestant numbers are their video submissions.
Regional Winners will advance to the National Finals at the Winnipeg Art Gallery in March, where a high-profile jury (Eleanor Bond, Ian Chodikoff, Anne Cormier, Bruce Kuwabara and John Patkau) will select the young architectural "Team Canada" that goes to the Venice Architecture Biennale in August 2012.
In order for the winning team to get to Venice, though, we need donations today. Please donate if you support Canadian architecture! A charitable tax receipt will be provided by the RAIC Foundation.
You can also contact Sara Crignano at saracrignano@cityzen.ca and 416-777-2489 ext 225 to donate.
