Queen Street West and John Street at sunset. 4:45pm.
Necessity of Architectural Agency
Importance of Advocacy - My Take-Away from the Port Lands:
As a design professional and downtown urbanite, I hold more than passing interest in the urban landscape and its developments, and often monitor them with fist-in-the-air frustrations. The drama unfolding at City Hall in the past month over Toronto’s waterfront advanced my growing anxiety that the value of architecture and urban design is not universally acknowledged or appreciated; and that it is certainly not a tacit understanding held by those in office. Why this is so troubling to my peers and our profession is that scant public knowledge complicitly makes thoughtful city-building all the more challenging.
P+C Tie the Knot (in Paris)
The best wedding we had the pleasure of not attending! Our friends Peter and Chen had a wedding for two in Paris, back in June. This video, made by P for C and featured on DesignSponge, beautifully sums up their special day and special love. Ah, love. Sweet, love.
Tofu Village Koreatown
We took this beautiful Saturday afternoon as opportunity to venture west to Koreatown in Toronto, where Korean retail businesses and restaurants have prominent presence on Bloor Street West, anchored between Bathurst Street and Christie Pitts Park.
While Helen has an excellent mastery of Asian cuisine in general; neither of us knows much about Korean food, that is, beyond Kimchi of course. We stumbled upon Tofu Village enticed by the promise of good tofu, and thought this would be a good jump off point to expand our palate. Was not disappointed.
Raw Egg Anyone?
Appetizers included kimchi, tofu, bean sprouts, and what we thought were apples (turns out to be potatoes in a sweet-savoury soy sauce). We curiously eyed the raw egg that accompanied the group, pushed it to the side, a little unsure of its function:
Strawberry pancakes - perfect antidote to a rainy Sunday morning.
I Love New York Pride. Congratulations NY!!! Marriage equality for all.
Toronto skyline as seen from our new digs, last Saturday evening. The ray of lights is MuchMusic setting up for this Sunday’s MMVAs.
Studio Gang’s Aqua Tower in Chicago.
Back in May, we saw these beautiful white blossoms overhanging on the sidewalk. Couldn’t resist. I was on the lookout while Helen swiftly de-branched a handful. Makes for an intimate, romantic table setting. Our dinner guests appreciated the gesture but right away questioned their origin.
Chicago
OMA, Studio Gang, Masonry Frank, Swoopy Frank, and (of course) ornamentation-adverse Mies, all conspire to make Chicago one of those fabled cities that architecture students, practitioners and aficionados alike dream of visiting. While elevated trains, mega infrastructure, self-contained density, and a rigourous urban grid also contribute to unique discourses in city planning.
