Monthly Archives: November 2014
20141129. Toronto’s bleak Alexandra Park where units with wooden windows await demolition.
20141128. Toronto’s new wayfinding sign prototype at Queen and Bay is direction-specific!
These impressive signs are oriented to the direction you are facing when reading the sign.They also feature a circle showing where you can walk to within 5 and 10 minutes.
20141127. Walking the empty laneways of Toronto’s old (brutalist?) Alexandra Park before redevelopment.
20141126. Gawking at Delta Toronto’s stunning hotel lobby from the second floor on opening day.
20141125. Billboards as big as buildings: Gotham versus Atrium on Bay.
20141124. Waiting for the bus on Mississauga’s brand new Central Parkway BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) Station platform.
20141123. Inside Mississauga’s brand new Tomken Transitway (bus rapid transit system) Station.
20141122. Reflections in the Aga Khan Museum’s courtyard.
20141121. A 1940s 40’x100’ Quonset Hut on Canvarco Rd in the Leaside neighbourhood is a wartime remnant of Toronto’s military past.
From Wikipedia: “A Quonset hut is a lightweight prefabricated structure of corrugated galvanized steel having a semicircular cross-section. The design was based on the Nissen hut developed by the British during World War I. Hundreds of thousands were produced during World War II and military surplus was sold to the public, making “Quonset hut” a household word.”
20141120. Toronto’s beautiful Art Deco apartments at 1477 Bayview (c.1941). Despite being heritage listed, they face development pressure.
This Garden Court Apartment complex has 10 buildings beautifully arranged around an interior court. It is one of the nicest places in Toronto and will be featured on this Saturdays Urban Exploration Walk.
There is a development proposal sign in front but a more recent city report recommends refusing the proposal and corresponding zoning plan amendment. The proposal called for the demolition of the complex to make way for, you guessed it, more condominiums.
20141119. The intriguing St. Mary’s Cement building in Leaside, Toronto was originally 2 storeys when built in 1976.
20141118. The brand new Mississauga Transitway (bus rapid transit system) Cawthra Station.
20141117. Mississauga’s Transitway (bus rapid transit system) and its Dixie Station opened today.
20141116. The Toronto west-facing skyline – still dominated by the CN Tower but more crowded and greener than ever.
20141115.The Telus Laird Data Centre north elevation at dusk (Leaside, Toronto) – concrete-free post modern brutalism?
20141114. A bi-level rear view of the Nathan Phillips Square Skate Pavilion and Food Concession Building in Toronto (Architect Perkins + Will).
20141113. This strange, small facade conceals a much larger building that pre-dates the road (1947 Dundas W, Toronto).
20141112. The 1984-heritage-listed art deco Mayfair Mansions in South Hill, Toronto (Architect HC Roberts, c.1931).
20141111. The entrance to Bloor Station on Toronto’s future downtown-to-airport express train is taking shape.
20141110. A pedestrian bridge leads to the 1948 modernist 1,007,000 SF Kodak Building 205 in Rochester, NY.
20141109. The 1913 neo-gothic terra-cotta-clad 299 Queen St W, Toronto.
20141108. Rochester’s Beebe Station Switch House. The historic power plant faces demolition.
20141107. The tall, narrow and not-so-blue CrystalBlu condos (21 Balmuto) offer a clear view down Toronto’s Hayden Street.
20141106. The Bank of America’s modernist tower with pavilion reflecting the building’s stilts. Rochester, c.1962.
