Tag Archives: concrete
20150323. The versatility and expression of concrete exemplified at University of Toronto Scarborough.
20150322. Sideways Stairwell and Sconces on a Concrete Campus. Minimal Aesthetic 50.
20150319. A modernist 55 Yonge is a cliff over the concrete canyon of Colborne St. Architect:a prolific Peter Dickinson, 1958.
20150316. Brutalism at The Grand Hotel and former RCMP Toronto Headquarters. 1972.
20150308. The unique 1971 modernist Building T pumping station in Toronto’s Pump House Park.
The attributes that make this building unique include the circular plan, the engaged inverted engaged catenary arches on the lower wall and the taller engaged catenary arches on the upper wall with fins that extend beyond the original roofline. Unfortunately, the recently added metal penthouse (or cap on top) obscures these fins from view and diminishes the brilliant original design that you can see at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pumping_station_in_Ashbridges_Bay_Toronto.jpg. This pumping station is officially known as the Mid-Toronto Interceptor Pumping Station but being a part of the Ashbridges Bay Treatment Plant, it goes by the name Building T.
20150301. The Brutalistic pre-cast concrete lines of Toronto’s TTC Kipling Station electrical substation.
20150220. The impressive main floor atrium inside Toronto’s new Ryerson Student Learning Centre opening Monday.
20150218. University of Toronto’s Brutalist Tartu College seems to lift off the ground as if supported only by its thin end walls.
Tampold Architects, 1969.
20150214. Lines and exposed concrete define the lower entrance to University of Toronto’s brutalist Robarts Library.
20150207. An unusual aerial view of the CN Tower without its main observation level.
20150202. The curved concrete modernism of Toronto’s TTC Wilson Station waiting area and wind barriers
20150201. University of Toronto’s Tartu College (c.1969) is brutalist but elegant with its thin precast cedar-board-formed concrete exterior walls.
20150128. At 129 metres in height, Toronto’s Leaside Towers in Thorncliffe Park scrape the sky.
20150123. Pre-cast canadiana concrete close-up under blue sky. Minimal Aesthetic 48.
20140105. Dirty vent covers and bright barriers in contrasting yellows at Lawrence West station. Minimal Aesthetic 46
20141230. Demolition of these landmark silos (c.1893) has commenced in Toronto’s Junction neighbourhood.
These silos have a long history. Once they were the Campbell Flour Mills and were most recently owned by St. Marys Cement. There is talk about the site being used for a “suburban style plaza with surface parking” probably not unlike the Stockyards Mall recently completed nearby.
20141227. 11:10pm at the top of the Manulife Centre at Bloor and Jarvis.
20141226. The world’s highest hydraulic lift lock resides in Peterborough, Ontario on the Trent-Severn Waterway.
The Peterborough Lift Lock lifts ships 19.8 metres (max 30.5 m long, max 7.3 m wide, max 99,000 kg). The 386 km waterway (with 45 locks and 39 swing bridges and 20 km of man-made channels), is a Canadian National Historic Site and takes 5-7 days to traverse. Construction begain in 1833 and by 1920 a ship could travel from Lake Ontario to Lake Huron. At the time it was built, it was the largest un-reinforced concrete structure on Earth.
20141025. Ramps bisect the open atrium of Rochester’s South Avenue Parking Garage.
20141021. Rochester’s impressive and unusual Andrews Terrace apartment building (Architects Bertin & O’Connell, c.1975).
20141020. Brutalism, flowers and concrete islands at University of Toronto’s Medical Sciences Building.
20141015. Concrete wall meets metal fence and void. Minimal Aesthetic 44.
20140926. The night lines and curves of Architect Viljo Revell’s Toronto City Hall.
20140917. Architect Viljo Revell’s concrete saucer at Toronto City Hall.
