Buildings

Looking up John street towards the Grange and the AGO.

Urban shapes

Leafs fans.

Condoville

Places: Sugar Beach

One of the more interesting urban areas is the strip between the water and the Gardener Expressway. It is interesting because it may be an oportunity to "correct" some of the more dissapointing aspects of the downtown. That is to connect the city with the water and provide some human scale pathways. As its under construction its unfair to judge it yet. There are a couple of interesting places. The Harbourfront Center is a multi-use performace and gallery area and thats already attracting people. One of the completed project is called Sugar Beach, the name is a bit decieving and true to form our innitial reaction was dissapointment at this place, which was more of a landscaped park. However I actually stopped this morning and walked around. Taking it as a park and only a step to a larger development project, then I must say I found it quite enjoyable. It's a study in contrasts. As you can see, from the pictures, looking out towards the water it looks like a seaside resort. But then looking back towards the city you are reminded you are downtown and actually surrounded by more industrial functions.
The official speal
"Canada’s Sugar Beach is a whimsical new park that transformed a surface parking lot in a former industrial area into Toronto’s second urban beach at the water’s edge. Located at the foot of Lower Jarvis Street adjacent to the Redpath Sugar Factory, the 8500 square metre (2 acre) park is the first public space visitors see as they travel along Queens Quay from the central waterfront. The park’s brightly coloured pink beach umbrellas and iconic candy-striped rock outcroppings welcome visitors to the new waterfront neighbourhood of East Bayfront.

The design for Canada’s Sugar Beach, by Claude Cormier Architectes Paysagistes draws upon the industrial heritage of the area and its relationship to the neighbouring Redpath Sugar factory. The park features three distinct components: an urban beach; a plaza space; and a tree-lined promenade running diagonally through the park.
Canada’s Sugar Beach reminds us that Toronto’s waterfront is a playful destination. The beach allows visitors to while away the afternoon as they read, play in the sand or watch boats on the lake. A dynamic water feature embedded in a granite maple leaf beside the beach makes cooling off fun for adults and children."
So here are pictures from Sugar Beach (not a swimming beach, its quite the beach irony) designed by Claude Cormier.

Distillery

Now I know MP has been here and didn't think much of it.  This area is called the Distillery District, and perhaps its the name thats a bit decieving. It should probably just be called The Distillery. For one complex; its kind of fun.  But its a bit out of the way to go for what it offers. Conversely it you are a resident of TO, its kind of a nice place to visit and make a trip out to. Basically its a 19C red brick factory which was originally a distillery.

"The Distillery District is a national Historic Site with an incredibly rich history. The site was once The Gooderham and Worts Distillery, and represents the largest and best preserved collection of Victorian Industrial Architecture in North America.
In its time, The Gooderham and Worts Distillery played an important role in the growth and wealth of both the city and nation. In addition to various involvements in real estate and banking, the company at one time contributed more to Federal coffers than any other enterprise in the country."

The feeling of the place is similar to Lachine Canal at Atwater, 5 storey or so red industrial brick buildings. I enjoyed that they kept some of the adjunct structures like pipes and conveyors.
There are also several new appartment or condo buildings close by and that too can have its appeal. The sector definitely has a distinct feel and the building itself is sectioned into various retail and restaurant functions which can be attractive.  Its Torontos answer to Granville Island. I just hope that they continue the scale and feeling of these buildings in the development plans and that the area doen't get too swamped by condo buildings. A few are fine, but I have a sense that they may encroach the site and suffocate it (experience wise).

Lucky Moose Mart

Our local grocer has been in the news.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/101029/national/thief_catcher_charges_8

Yum!

2 weeks back Scott and I made our first Thanksgiving dinner (usually we just get treated our parents yummy cooking).
The turkey was seasoned with rosemary, orange, garlic and cinnamon. And it stayed very moist! Some pics from the evening.

St-Lawrence Market and Yorkville

Well, on Saturday we went to check out St-Lawrence Market.
There is a north and south part to this market. The North is an indoor farmers market which is only open on Saturdays. The south it open during the week but its busiest on Saturdays too. Not having brought a shopping list or eaten breakfast was not the best way to enjoy either. If one lived close by this would be a good place to go to buy produce. 
This area also seems to have the biggest concentration of pre-20th century buildings. That being said there are only a few. Once again the character would be much improved if there was some homogeneityneity to the streets. There are a few beautiful buildings but they are lost in the mish mash. Even the St-James Cathedral, which I assume is one of the most importatn since the Queen had service there when she visited, is lost in bad design. Its kitty corner to a parking lot and surrounded by bad condo buildings.
From google streetview.

After that we went for a walk around the Yorkville shopping district. Actually the motive was to visit a few stores that C wanted to get some things from. Yorkville is about a 5min drive from us, just north of the UofT campus. Despite being only 5 mins away, it a completely different atmosphere than other neighborhoods. Talking about homogeniety, this is one of the few strips that has a big city character. There are large condo and office buildings with the lower levels high end retail (all the big fashion house brands), then in the streets just to the North, there are victorian tripexes that have been transformed into boutiques. I resisted going into Andy The-Ahn. I've been trying to buy more locally designed or from quirky little boutiques. This isn't really the place for that. But it was an experience.

Found it!

For now I'll name the ugliest building in Toronto to be Robarts Library.
Perhaps one day this brutalist building will seen in a different light, for now it can be valued for its expression of late modern architecture, campus building design and exposed concrete details. Simply put though its an eyesore.
Robarts is the big central social sciences library of UofT. It was the trend in campus buillding in the 1960s to build these exposed concrete buildings like this, starting with the Yale Art and Architecture Building. Unfortunatly they are very un-human.  

(Picture from Wiki)

From the street, you can't really appreciate the whole form, which is a giant triangle. Then inside its quite disorienting and there is very little natural light. To get to the bathrooms in the service core (in the center) is like going to the Mines of Moria.

Most surprising is how it looks like a prison complex and dominates the Northern Vista. This was the view from upper level of the Art Gallery of Ontario. 

Its equally interesting that Chicago has a very similar triangular brutalist building in the downtown sector.  (Pics here from the Web too)

However in Chicago their building is a PRISON, not a campus LIBRARY. And the small windows are to keep the inmates from not escaping.
We, in this household have dubbed the Robarts the Robarfs.

More about brutalism here.

Early Morning

The CN tower is probably the orienting tool in the city. Not that the city needs much, its pretty much a grid within a grid.

This view is from the south-west.

Funny Signs

The first was posted in the Architecture Library.
What do you librarians think?

This second sign (or gadget) I found just in front of the hospital on a parking garage. Any ideas?

Guelph And Surrounding

So as you know it was Lisa's wedding this weekend. So we took the long weekend to get out to Guelph and explore some of the area. Along with Guelph, Kitchiner and Waterloo we went to the small town of Elora.

Elora was our first stop on the lovely fall weekend outing. Its a small town on the edge of a river, which some historic limestone buildings. It had a European feel with the way the buildings related to each other and the river. Now most of the buildings have been recycled into restaurants and craft galleries.

Some interesting bits from Wikipedia

"Elora was founded in 1832 by Captain William Gilkison, a British officer recently returned from India. Originally called Irvine Settlement, the village was renamed Elora when the post office was established in 1839. Gilikson named the community after his brother's ship, which was itself inspired by the Ellora Caves near Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India.

The spectacular Elora Gorge is at the western edge of the village, adjacent to the Elora Gorge Conservation Area. At the eastern end of the village is the Elora Quarry Conservation Area, a scenic former limestone quarry, which is now a popular swimming area. The Elora Quarry was used to film a couple of scenes in the movie Angel Eyes. Both of these conservation areas are under the authority of the Grand River Conservation Authority.

Elora is also a noted tourist attraction, with a famous waterfall, called the Tooth of Time, overlooked by an old mill, numerous small shops and art galleries. The quaint old Gorge Cinema is Canada's oldest continuously running repertory theatre. The Elora Mill is Ontario's only remaining five-story mill and has been renovated as a prestigious inn and restaurant. The village is a terminus to Ontario's scenic 47-km Elora Cataract Trailway to its east, and is just 10 km from the Trans Canada Trail to its southwest. Elora is also famous for its unique shops and its quaint cafés and restaurants, which lie along the river's edge"

The Mill from upriver.

 The "entrepot" stores along the riverside.

Honest Eds

Honest Eds is like a crazy fun house Giant Tigre that makes Zellers look exclusive.

From Wikipedia
"Honest Ed's is a landmark discount store located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is named for its proprietor, Ed Mirvish, who opened the store in 1948 and oversaw its operations for almost sixty years, until his death in 2007.

Honest Ed's gained fame for its marketing stunts, including loss leader specials and free turkey giveaways before Christmas and Thanksgiving Day holidays. Mirvish is also famous in Toronto for the birthday parties he threw for himself from 1988 until his death, continued since then as anniversary parties for the store itself. At the street parties, there are free cakes, meals, hot dogs, candy, and giveaways. Crowds of Torontonians turn up with their children, and stand in long lines to receive these handouts. The happening is accompanied by live bands and balloons."

It is intense. Inside its a bit disorienting. The block was not conceive all as one shop, and as the store grew they took over more and more areas. So to get around you kind of have to know where you are going. There is an east and west building with a walkway to connect them. Inside the walls are covered with signs, posters and painted words. So its a bit of stimulus overload. That being said, we got a 1$ bread knife and scott bought 10 pairs of socks for 10$.

It was raining but here are my pictures from the shop and the surrounding streets in Little Italy

Baby its cold (17)

Well its getting colder outside and warmer in here.
I think after 2 weeks I'm warming up a little to TO.
I found a few quirky and unique things this weekened.

The first is the Beaches or the Beach, the neighborhood goes by both. This is the prettiest part of TO that I've seen. Still quite dense but cute New Englandy cottages line the streets, there is an actual beach on lake Ontario, and a nice collection of shops on Queen street, one block up from the beach. Of course a nice boardwalk and historic lifeguard station add to it.
Now Saturday was quite cold so... by the beach was even colder.

Social Week

So after 2 years and 4 bug exams, Owen finally wrote his last one (hopefully) on Monday. So instead of going to the library in the evenings we ... did other stuff!!! Can you believe it?

Monday, Scott met me at a Second Cup on Queen. It was pooring rain and I was people watching. This second cup is accross the street from Much Music and those E talk people.
(from Google Streetview)

Then we went to browse at the big Chapters close by. It was pooring rain and cold. So we stayed there for a bit browsing. I bought the Macleans with the Bonhomme and his cash bag. Poor Bonhomme!
(Google streetview)

Tuesday we went to see Scott Pilgrim Vs The World. Which takes places in TO, has a TO actor and was filmed in the city.
I had seen it already with M in Montreal. But Owen was waiting for me. I like the film, its fun and light so seeing it twice was easy. Surprisingly the crowd was more enthousiastic when I saw it with M, but I guess it was newer.

Wednesday we met up with Scotts closest collegues for drinks. They are Australian and Irish and very friendly. Then we went to a concert at the Horseshoe Tavern. Its a pretty undiscript place with a big history. The building was originally a blacksmith shop, then became a saloon. Then in the 60s it became a more traditional music venue. The Rolling Stones played there, Etta James, The Ramones. Its also features in the song Bobcaygeon by the Tragically Hip. I was 18 when that song came out and remember driving around the townships listening to it with a certain Country Dave.
Anyway, we saw some grassroots girl bands, Lead to Sea, the Watson Twins and Laura Viers.  They were all excellent. Very talented and they played with heart.
Its nice that this Horseshoe Tavern is just down the street from us and tickets ere $15!
(Pic from Wikipedia)

 Yesterday we went for drinks with Vanessa, who was in town from Montreal for some interviews. We went to a place also down the street which was fine. It was surprisingly quiet though. I'm not quite sure about the drinking/going out habbits of Torontonians yet. Melise recommended it but said its a popular after work place, so maybe we were just too late. I'm not really comlaining, its nice to be able to go out to a spot and find a table to sit at and not have to be squised in to talk or have to scream.

And tonight the plan is to walk up to this tiny independant video store and rent a movie, we are a bit tired and planning an early morning tomorow so that should do the trick.