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Contents

18 Rotman School of Management Expansion Project

9 News

Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects create an engaging and vertically oriented expansion to a business school on the University of Toronto’s downtown campus. TEXT Paige Magarrey

rank Gehry’s conceptual design for F Toronto’s Entertainment District is unveiled; Douglas Cardinal set to design Carleton University’s Aboriginal Centre.

36 Report

28 La Maison Symphonique de Montréal Diamond Schmitt Architects and Ædifica encounter significant challenges in designing a new home for the Montreal Symphony Orchestra on the Place des Arts site. TEXT Lev Bratishenko

48 Calendar

42 Blatchford Redevelopment Ken Borton

The 536-acre site of the former Edmonton City Centre Airport is being transformed into a showcase for sustainable living, making this prairie community a precedent for other cities around the world. TEXT Jacob Allderdice

november 2012, v.57 n.11

The National Review of Design and Practice/ The Journal of Record of Architecture Canada | RAIC

J ohanna Hurme of Migrating Landscapes Organizer provides a behind-the-scenes glimpse of preparing for the prestigious Venice Biennale in Architecture.

T he Lost Vanguard: Russian Modernist Architecture, 1922-32 at the Graham Foundation in Chicago; Construct Canada 2012 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

50 Backpage

orraine Johnson delves into PLANT L Architect’s outdoor installation entitled Channelled Buried Moved Lost: Where Did My Creek Go? commissioned by Cambridge Galleries.

COVER Rotman School of Management expansion at the University of Toronto by Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects. Photograph by Maris Mezulis.

11/12 canadian architect

Elsa lam

viEwpoint

Editor Elsa lam AssociAtE Editor lEsliE JEn, MRAIC EditoriAl Advisors ian Chodikoff, OAA, FRAIC John mCminn, AADIpl. marCo Polo, OAA, FRAIC contributing Editors Gavin afflECk, OAQ, MRAIC hErbErt Enns, MAA, MRAIC douGlas maClEod, nCARb rEgionAl corrEspondEnts Halifax ChristinE maCy, OAA Regina bErnard flaman, SAA MontReal david thEodorE CalgaRy david a. down, AAA Winnipeg hErbErt Enns, MAA VanCouVeR adElE wEdEr

Elsa lam CatChEs a rEflECtion of hErsElf and thE wEstErn Canadian landsCaPE whilE PhotoGraPhinG CraiGiE hall at thE univErsity of CalGary. AbovE

Almost a decade ago, I filed my first article as a freelance contributor to CanadianArchitect, with then-new editor Ian Chodikoff. Now, the desk has turned. Ian has signed off in pursuit of other professional adventures. And it is my privilege to accept the position of editor at CanadianArchitect. A few words of introduction. I attended architecture school at the University of Waterloo, then followed up with a post-professional degree in architectural history and theory at McGill. To round off my academic training, I completed a doctorate at Columbia University. During my schooling, I started a freelance writing business, authoring articles for architectural magazines and helping design firms put words to their ideas. I moved to Montreal after graduation to work as a curatorial coordinator at the Canadian Centre for Architecture. Although I was living in New York City during my doctorate, my dissertation kept me focused on Canada. Through analyzing the Canadian Pacific Railway’s properties in the Prairies and Rockies, I sought to understand how buildings and landscapes contributed to national identity. Along with its iconic château-style hotels, the railway company constructed rustic bungalow camps, orchestrated Indian Days festivals with tipi villages, and even planned farming communities complete with prefab houses and barns. Architecture played a key role in how our country was viewed by the world—and how we viewed ourselves. This vision of architecture is as pertinent today as it was in the 19th century. As a national architectural magazine, CanadianArchitect is uniquely positioned to explore, critique and advance our understanding of architecture in our nation. What, if anything, links a library in Halifax to a skyscraper in Vancouver? Or a cottage in the Saint Lawrence Valley to a mining 6 cAnAdiAn ArchitEct 11/12

community plan in Alberta? When an architect trained in Canada moves to Bogotá, do they carry some kind of Canadian architectural DNA through their work? How does architectural practice go beyond the building shell to address questions of site, region and national culture? My editorship will address these questions by building on the impressive legacy of the outgoing editor. As all who have met him will know, Ian has encouraged countless practitioners, students and writers across the country through his warm demeanour and unwaveringly practical advice. Under Ian’s leadership, the magazine has turned a wide-angled lens to architecture, bringing in new voices to present buildings as part of broader political and urban contexts. The magazine’s Insites, Practice and Technical sections have grown in step with professional practice, addressing the emergence of new construction technologies, the establishment of green environmental standards, and the proliferation of alternative business structures. Opportunities exist in the coming years for CanadianArchitect in the digital realm. The current website is built on a solid backbone and we look forward to developing deeper integration with social media, mobile readers and webenhanced content. Whether it is enhancements to our website, our electronic newsletter, or our digital version of the magazine, all will reinforce and complement the strengths of the print edition. CanadianArchitect is founded on the work of practicing architects, academics and other researchers. In this, I will depend daily on the community of Canadian architects—your projects, your photos, your observations, your writing. With your patience and help, I look forward to quickly gaining experience, and beginning to set new paths for CanadianArchitect. Elsa lam

ElAM@cAnAdiAnArchitEct.coM

publishEr tom arkEll 416-510-6806 AssociAtE publishEr GrEG Paliouras 416-510-6808 circulAtion MAnAgEr bEata olEChnowiCz 416-442-5600 ext. 3543 custoMEr sErvicE malkit Chana 416-442-5600 ext. 3539 production JEssiCa Jubb grAphic dEsign suE williamson vicE prEsidEnt of cAnAdiAn publishing alEx PaPanou prEsidEnt of businEss inforMAtion group bruCE CrEiGhton hEAd officE 80 vallEybrook drivE, toronto, on m3b 2s9 telepHone 416-510-6845 faCsiMile 416-510-5140 e-mail editors@canadianarchitect.com Web site www.canadianarchitect.com Canadian architect is published monthly by biG magazines lP, a div. of Glacier biG holdings Company ltd., a leading Canadian information company with interests in daily and community newspapers and business-tobusiness information services. the editors have made every reasonable effort to provide accurate and authoritative information, but they assume no liability for the accuracy or completeness of the text, or its fitness for any particular purpose. subscription Rates Canada: $54.95 plus applicable taxes for one year; $87.95 plus applicable taxes for two years (hst – #809751274rt0001). Price per single copy: $6.95. students (prepaid with student id, includes taxes): $34.97 for one year. usa: $105.95 us for one year. all other foreign: $125.95 us per year. single copy us and foreign: $10.00 us. return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Circulation dept., Canadian architect, 80 valleybrook dr, toronto, on Canada m3b 2s9. Postmaster: please forward forms 29b and 67b to 80 valleybrook dr, toronto, on Canada m3b 2s9. Printed in Canada. all rights reserved. the contents of this publication may not be reproduced either in part or in full without the consent of the copyright owner. from time to time we make our subscription list available to select companies and organizations whose product or service may interest you. if you do not wish your contact information to be made available, please contact us via one of the following methods: telephone 1-800-668-2374 facsimile 416-442-2191 e-mail privacyofficer@businessinformationgroup.ca Mail Privacy officer, business information Group, 80 valleybrook dr, toronto, on Canada m3b 2s9 MeMbeR of tHe Canadian business pRess MeMbeR of tHe audit buReau of CiRCulations publiCations Mail agReeMent #40069240 issn 1923-3353 (online) issn 0008-2872 (pRint)

We aCknoWledge tHe finanCial suppoRt of tHe goVeRnMent of Canada tHRougH tHe Canada peRiodiCal fund (Cpf) foR ouR publisHing aCtiVities.

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Projects Private residences at hotel Georgia a new addition to Vancouver’s skyline.

The Private Residences at the Hotel Georgia is a 158-metre-high, 50-storey mixed-use tower situated above eight levels of underground parking, making it the second-tallest tower in Vancouver. Comprised of hotel and commercial office space in the first 11 storeys, 156 residential units make up the remaining floors. Dramatically canting out on its south and east façades, the first 35 storeys provide passive solar shading and stunning views of the Vancouver Art Gallery and Robson Square; the top dozen floors lean back so that the southeast balconies have a view of Seymour and Grouse mountains to the north. The massing and expression of the new tower’s 11-storey podium is an architectural homage to the Hotel Georgia itself, using a similar material palette and scale of solids and voids close to the interface of the two structures. This hotel is one of the greener towers to be built in downtown Vancouver, incorporating several sustainable features: photovoltaic cells that provide energy to operate the motorized blinds in the building; geothermal wells that heat and cool the tower; low-flow water fixtures; efficient electrical features; and a rooftop water tank and lower-level swimming pool that double up to provide a back-up reservoir for the building’s fire suppression. This complex project honours its prominent downtown site, combining a sensitive renovation and restoration of the historic Hotel Georgia with the introduction of a sustainable tall building on the city’s ever-expanding skyline. IBI/HB Architects was the architect of record/prime consultant for the design of the residential and commercial tower adjacent to the historic Hotel Georgia in downtown Vancouver. The project was undertaken in collaboration with Endall Elliot Architects, who were responsible for the design and renovation of the existing hotel. Construction this integrated urban mixed-use development began in 2008 and is slated for completion by the end of 2012. david Mirvish and Frank Gehry unveil conceptual design to transform toronto’s entertainment district.

David Mirvish, founder of Mirvish Productions, and venerated architect Frank Gehry recently unveiled the conceptual design for a mixed-use project that will transform Toronto’s downtown arts and entertainment district and advance the area’s future as a thriving cultural centre. The multi-year, multi-phase project is the largest and most significant urban commission to date

for the Toronto-born architect, bringing new cultural, residential and retail spaces to a site immediately next to the Royal Alexandra Theatre and creating a new visual identity for the city’s premier arts district. Bordered by many of Toronto’s leading cultural institutions including the Royal Alexandra Theatre and Roy Thomson Hall to the east, the Toronto International Film Festival Bell Lightbox and the John Street Cultural Corridor to the west, culminating at the Art Gallery of Ontario to the north, the project will have at its centre the new Mirvish Collection museum and a new facility for OCAD University. Frank Gehry, whose other major Canadian project is the redesigned Art Gallery of Ontario (2008), said that “It is very special for me to be able to work in Toronto where I was born and to engage the neighbourhoods where I grew up.” The conceptual design, which will continue to evolve, consists of two six-storey stepped podiums, which relate in scale and articulation to the neighbouring buildings, topped by three iconic residential towers, rang ing in size from 80 to 85 storeys. Each tower has a complementary but distinctive design, which fits with the history and texture of the surrounding neighbourhood. The west block of the plan, oriented to King Street West, features a stepped podium with the Mirvish Collection in the atrium and planted terraces that create a green silhouette overlooking King Street and Metro Square. And the east block of the plan includes the preservation of the Royal Alexandra Theatre and another stepped podium housing the OCAD University facility that fronts onto King Street West. douglas cardinal to design carleton University’s aboriginal centre.

Carleton University’s Centre for Aboriginal Culture and Education (CACE) announced that renowned Canadian architect Douglas Cardinal is designing a new Aboriginal centre in Paterson Hall which will open next year. He is famous for flowing architecture marked with smooth lines, influenced by his Aboriginal heritage and by European Expressionist architecture. He designed the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington DC, as well as the Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, opposite Parliament Hill. He said: “I will use my extensive knowledge of traditional and contemporary Aboriginal culture as I seek to bring the university’s vision for the centre into reality. As much as possible, I will incorporate symbols and sculptural forms into the space that reflect the First Nations world view and, in the end, I hope to have a space that will create a better understanding and appreciation of Aboriginal culture

BoB maTheson

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aBoVe The hisToric hoTel GeorGia in downTown VancouVer welcomes a GleaminG new 50-sTorey Tower conTaininG hoTel rooms, condominiums, and commercial office space.

within the university setting.” Born in 1934 in Calgary, Cardinal began architectural studies at the University of British Columbia which he completed in Austin, Texas. He has received many national and international awards, including 14 honorary doctorates, an Officer of the Order of Canada, and Gold Medals of Architecture in Canada and Russia. He was also declared the “World Master of Contemporary Architecture” by the International Association of Architects.

awards architecture canada | raic call for submissions.

The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) recently announced a call for submissions for its Awards of Excellence program in the following categories: RAIC Award of Excellence; Advocate for Architecture; Allied Arts Medal; Green Building; Innovation in Architecture; President’s Award for Media in Architecture; Emerging Architectural Practice Award; Architectural Firm Award; Prix du XXe Siècle; and the Young Architect Award. The deadline for all submissions is January 10, 2013 at 4:00pm EST. The Advocate for Architecture is an award that recognizes an individual who has contributed to the elevation of architecture in the public realm by means other than the prac11/12 canadian architect

tice of architecture—through a long-term commitment to and support for the profession of architecture in Canada, at the national, regional or local level. Established in 1953, the Allied Arts Medal is awarded to a Canadian artist/ resident for recognition of outstanding creative achievement in the arts in any medium which is allied to architecture; for example, mural paintings, sculpture, decoration, stained glass, industrial design, etc. The Green Building Award recognizes outstanding achievements of high-performance architecture in Canada for buildings that are environmentally responsible and healthy places to live, work and play. The award recognizes building designs and construction practices that significantly reduce or eliminate the negative impact of buildings on the environment and on occupants, or provide for regeneration, in five broad areas: sustainable site planning, safeguarding water and water efficiency, energy efficiency and renewable energy, conservation of materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality. This award is open to built works—either new construction or renovations—completed after January 1, 2006. The Innovation in Architecture Award recognizes excellence in architectural innovation, including the research, develop-

ment and the applied use of new technology; unique adaptation of existing technology; new project delivery methods; new design processes; new details; or the development of new methods related to the construction process. Innovations cover a wide range of architectural endeavours including, but not limited to management, project delivery, energy, or building envelope. The award is intended to recognize skill and innovation in technology and project delivery rather than the art of architecture. Architecture Canada | RAIC members value media coverage on architecture, architectural events and architectural milestones and as such, the President’s Award for Media in Architecture recognizes a book, a unique story, article, radio or television piece for its contribution to the widespread dissemination of architectural values and ideas. www.raic.org/honours_and_awards/awards_raic_ awards/2013call/index_e.htm david oleson wins Landmark award from the american society of Landscape architects.

Toronto architect David Oleson has been honoured for his work on an iconic mid-town park. The American Society of Landscape Architects has given the Landmark Award to the Village of

Yorkville Park, the beloved mid-town park located between Cumberland and Bloor Streets. Completed in 1994, the park is famous for its 650-tonne fragment of the Canadian Shield affectionately known as “the rock.” The Landmark Award recognizes a distinguished landscape architecture project completed between 15 and 50 years ago that retains its original design integrity and contributes significantly to the public realm of the community in which it is located. “Receiving the Landmark Award is a tremendous honour,” says Oleson. “It’s always been a privilege to be part of the design team that brought Toronto such a unique and engaging public space.” The Village of York ville Park was a collaboration between Oleson’s firm, Oleson Worland Architects, and landscape architecture firm Schwartz/Smith/Meyer, which was based in San Francisco at the time of the park’s design. The park features a series of gardens designed to encapsulate the varied Ontario landscape, including a marsh area with boardwalk, prairie grass, flower gardens and, of course, the iconic “rock.” Oleson has also designed several other iconic and award-winning Toronto projects, including the North Toronto Memorial Community Centre, which won the prestigious Governor General’s Medal for

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Architecture, the beloved Don Valley Brick Works and Sherbourne Lanes, Toronto’s first mid-rise infill housing project. Oleson Worland Architects is a well-established, award-winning firm founded in 1984 by partners David Oleson and Wilfrid Worland.

what’s new td centre tower first in toronto to achieve Leed Platinum certification.

The Cadillac Fairview Corporation Limited recently announced that its Toronto-Dominion Centre complex tower at 100 Wellington Street West is the first in Toronto to achieve LEED Platinum certification under the Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance program. TD Centre was also the first office complex in Canada to receive LEED EB Gold certification through the Canada Green Building Council for its tower at 77 King Street West in 2010. LEED Platinum certification is the latest in a growing list of accomplishments resulting from TD Centre’s green initiatives. In June 2012, TD Centre completed work on a living roof planted atop the TD Bank pavilion. It next announced the TDC Green Portal, an online hub of environmental facts and program details as-

sembled as a publicly accessible dashboard displaying transparent, real-time energy use by each building. According to Peter Halsall, Chairman of Halsall Associates, who have worked with TD Centre as green building consultants since 2008, “This first-of-its-kind certification in Toronto is a recognition of the interconnected thinking and occupant engagement at this iconic Toronto landmark.” To achieve LEED Platinum EB: O&M Certification, TD Centre had to meet strict, measurable benchmarks and earn credits in five categories—Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy & Atmosphere, Materials & Resources, and Indoor Environmental Quality. TD Centre is in close proximity to the King Street streetcar line and St. Andrew and Union subway stations, enabling more than 75 percent of the building occupants to arrive at the building by public transit. TD Centre has also partnered with Zipcar to encourage green transportation, in addition to providing public bike racks for more than 400 bicycles. Cadillac Fairview’s ongoing effort to reduce potable water consumption has led to an extensive washroom upgrade program including the replacement of faucets, toilets and urinals with new high-performance fixtures. The $250,000 in upgrades will reduce water use

by as much as 30 percent. The TD Centre has continuously reduced its overall energy use since 2008 by installing automatic lighting controls, state-of-the-art building automation controls, real-time energy monitoring and lighting retrofits. In addition to following a range of sustainable purchasing policies, the complex enforces strict waste diversion and sorting plans. At least 75 percent of the general waste produced at the building is diverted from landfills, and at least 70 percent of construction waste must also be diverted. Smoking is prohibited within 25 feet of any building entrance or air intake. Green cleaning policies mandate the use of environmentally friendly cleaning products and supplies. The building undergoes an annual air quality assessment and immediate action is taken on any potential sources of contaminants. Construction areas are isolated from the rest of the building and the space is flushed out with fresh air before it is reoccupied. The Toronto-Dominion Centre is one of North America’s largest business communities and home to 21,000 office employees, and consists of six buildings: Toronto Dominion Bank Tower, 77 King Street West, 100 Wellington Street West, TD Waterhouse Tower, Ernst & Young Tower and 95 Wellington Street West.

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I S S u E 3 4.4 AuTuMN/WINTER 2012

Architecture Canada | RAIC launches new award and revamps Awards of Excellence

2012 Board Members President David Craddock, FRAIC 1st Vice-President and President-Elect Paul E. Frank, FRAIC 2nd Vice-President and Treasurer Wayne De Angelis, FRAIC Immediate Past President Stuart Howard, PP/FRAIC Regional Directors Wayne De Angelis, FRAIC (British Columbia/Yukon) Samuel Oboh, MRAIC (Alberta/NWT) Michael Cox, MRAIC (Saskatchewan/Manitoba) Leslie Klein, FRAIC (Ontario South and West) Allan Teramura, MRAIC (Ontario North and East/ Nunavut)

Cascade House | Architect: Paul Raff Studio | Photo: Steve Tsai

The call for submission has gone out for the 2013 RAIC Awards of Excellence, as well as for a new recognition – the Emerging Architec tural Practice Award.

It is offered in addition to the traditional four Awards of Excellence categories: Allied Arts, Advocate in Architecture, Green Building, and Innovation in Architecture.

The Awards of Excellence are bestowed every two years recognizing the greatest achievement in the category identified. The winners are chosen by a series of juries corresponding to the various categories offered.

•  The Allied Arts award recognizes outstanding creative achievement in the arts in any medium allied to architecture.

The new annual Emerging Architectural Practice Award aims to recognize the principals of an emerging architectural practice that has consistently produced distinguished architec ture. The award recognizes the achievements of the principals for the quality of their built work, service to their clients, innovations in practice and public recognition. The President’s Award for Media in Archi tecture has been revamped to recognize that information about architecture, design and the built environment is generated in so many formats nowadays. Now open to members and the public, this award places value on a wide range of media coverage about Architecture, Architectural events and milestones.

•  The Advocate for Architecture category recognizes those who have demonstrated over a period of time support for architects and architecture. •  The Green Building Award, offered in part nership with the Canada Green Building Council, recognizes outstanding achievements in highperformance Canadian architecture for buildings. •  The Innovation in Architecture awards recognize research and development. RAIC is also accepting submissions for its Architectural Firm Award, Prix du XXe Siècle and Young Architect Award. All Awards submissions are due January 10, 2013.

Jean-Pierre Pelletier, FIRAC (Quebec) Edmond Koch, FRAIC (Atlantic) Chancellor of College of Fellows Barry Johns , FRAIC Council of Canadian University Schools of Architecture (CCUSA) Kendra Schank Smith, MRAIC Director Representing Interns and Intern Architects W. Steve Boulton, MRAIC Executive Director Jim McKee Editor Sylvie Powell Architecture Canada | RAIC 330-55 Murray St. Ottawa ON K1N 5M3 Tel.: 613-241-3600 Fax: 613-241-5750 E-mail: info@raic.org

www.raic.org MASThEAD PhoTo: LANguAgE TECHNOLOgIES RESEARCH CENTRE AT uNIvERSITy OF QuEBEC IN OuTAOuAIS | MENKèS SHOONER DAgENAIS LETOuRNEux ARCHITECTS / FORTIN CORRIvEAu SALvAIL ARCHITECTuRE + DESIgN | PHOTO: MICHEL BRuNELLE

N U M éR O 3 4.4 AUTOMNE/HIvER 2012 Conseil d’administration de 2012

Architecture Canada | IRAC lance un nouveau prix et remanie ses Prix d’excellence

Président David Craddock, FRAIC Premier vice-président et président élu Paul E. Frank, FRAIC Deuxième vice-président et trésorier Wayne De Angelis, FRAIC Président sortant de charge Stuart Howard, PP/FRAIC Administrateurs régionaux Wayne De Angelis, FRAIC (Colombie-Britannique/Yukon) Samuel Oboh, MRAIC (Alberta/T.N.-O.) Michael Cox, MRAIC (Saskatchewan/Manitoba) Leslie Klein, FRAIC (Sud et Ouest de l’Ontario) Allan Teramura, MRAIC (Est et Nord de l’Ontario/ Nunavut) Jean-Pierre Pelletier, FIRAC (Québec) Edmond Koch, FRAIC (Atlantique) Chancelier du Collège des fellows Barry Johns, FRAIC Conseil canadien des écoles universitaires d’architecture (CCÉUA) Kendra Schank Smith, MRAIC Conseiller représentant les stagiaires W. Steve Boulton, MRAIC Directeur général Jim McKee Rédactrice en chef Sylvie Powell Architecture Canada | IRAC 55, rue Murray, bureau 330 Ottawa (Ontario) K1N 5M3 Tél. : 613-241-3600 Téléc. : 613-241-5750 Courriel : info@raic.org

www.raic.org

Cascade House | Architecte : Paul Raff Studio | Photo : Steve Tsai

Les appels de candidatures pour les Prix d’excellence de l’IRAC 2013 et pour le tout nouveau Prix du cabinet d’architectes de la relève ont été lancés. Les Prix d’excellence sont attribués tous les deux ans aux meilleures réalisations dans certaines catégories établies.

•  La Médaille des Arts connexes est remise en reconnaissance d’une œuvre artistique excep tionnelle réalisée dans une discipline artistique connexe à l’architecture.

Le nouveau Prix du cabinet d’architectes de la relève sera quant à lui attribué chaque année. Il vise à récompenser les réalisations des associés d’un jeune cabinet d’architectes qui produit de façon constante une architecture de grande qualité et il accorde une importance particulière à la qua lité des projets construits, au service à la clientèle, au caractère innovateur et à la reconnaissance du public.

•  Le Prix du Défenseur ou bienfaiteur de l’architecture rend hommage à une personne qui a apporté un soutien de longue date aux architectes et à l’architecture.

Le Prix de la présidence pour les médias en architecture a été remanié pour tenir compte du fait que la couverture médiatique sur l’architecture, le design et le cadre bâti prend aujourd’hui bien des formes. Il est maintenant ouvert aux membres et au grand public qui traitent d’architecture et des activités et autres événements importants reliés à l’architecture.

•  Le Prix Innovation en architecture récompense  l’excellence en recherche et développement.

Ces prix sont remis en même temps que les prix d’excellence traditionnels dans les quatre caté Photo en CARtoUChe De tItRe : CENTRE DE RECHERCHE EN TECHNOLOgIES LANgAgIèRES DE L’UNIvERSITé DU qUéBEC EN OUTAOUAIS | MENKèS SHOONER DAgENAIS LETOURNEUx ARCHITECTES / FORTIN CORRIvEAU SALvAIL ARCHITECTURE + DESIgN | PHOTO : MICHEL BRUNELLE

gories suivantes : arts connexes, défenseur ou bienfaiteur de l’architecture, bâtiment écolo gique et innovation en architecture.

•  Le Prix du bâtiment écologique, offert en parte nariat avec le Conseil du bâtiment durable du Canada, reconnaît des projets d’architecture exceptionnels de bâtiments à haute performance au Canada.

L’IRAC accepte également les candidatures pour le Prix du cabinet d’architectes de l’année, le Prix du XXe siècle et le Prix du jeune architecte. Toutes les candidatures doivent être soumises au plus tard le 10 janvier 2013.

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12-03-13 4:33 PM

Managerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s special

Tom ArbAn

tom aRban

a vertically oriented expansion to a business school on a bustling urban caMpus nevertheless engages the surrounding city context through skillful Massing, transparency and light. Rotman School of management expanSion pRoject, toRonto, ontaRio KuwabaRa payne mcKenna blumbeRg aRchitectS text paige magaRRey photos tom aRban and maRiS mezuliS proJect

architect

20 canadian architect 11/12

Standing in the lobby of the newly expanded Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, there isn’t a classroom in sight. But there is something else—students. Reading quietly by the fireplace, working in pairs in the café, busily standing over laptops in the glassenclosed study rooms. And that might be the most compelling detail of Toronto architecture firm Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects’ 15,000-square-metre addition, though there are many: every inch of the space is designed for the students. It’s a simple enough concept, but not one that you’ll see at every university.

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site plan 1 Rotman School 2 RobaRtS libRaRy 3 maSSey college 4 inniS college 5 St. hilda’S college

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opening pages a view of the pRoject fRom St. geoRge StReet Showing the SuRRounding context of hiStoRic bRicK StRuctuReS. the waRm glow of the Second-flooR event Space iS a beacon to paSSeRSby. left anotheR view fRom St. geoRge StReet RevealS the welcoming tRanSpaRency of the appRopRiately Scaled loweR flooRS and the nineStoRey veRtical campuS behind.

Then again, Rotman’s program isn’t something you’d see at every university either. Since it developed its new model of business education in 2000, the Rotman School of Management has zoned in on concepts of integrative thinking and business design, with undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students developing innovative approaches to the creative problem-solving side of business. In 2008, Rotman announced an invited architectural competition to double the size of its facilities without dwarfing the existing five-storey Joseph L. Rotman Centre for Management that was completed in 1995 by Eb Zeidler. The brief

called for more classrooms—the number of first-year students is fast approaching 400—as well as a flexible event room and space for two research institutes, the Desautels Centre for Integrative Thinking and the Lloyd and Delphine Martin Prosperity Institute, not to mention ample study space for the bustling student body. “How do you add on to a building and double its size, preserve the identity of the original, and establish a new identity for the whole thing?” asks KPMB principal Bruce Kuwabara. His answer was simple: “We broke some rules.” For one thing, they raised the building up higher then the client was originally comfort-

able with. While they wanted it lower, the team at KPMB was very concerned about the scale of St. George Street and its surrounding buildings—Robarts Library and Massey, Innis and St. Hilda’s Colleges—buildings of various vintages with a very specific interconnected aesthetic that has been established for years. Also, while the brief required the firm to conserve two heritage buildings on the site—a red brick house and an old white brick building near the corner of St. George Street and Hoskin Avenue that housed the university’s CIUT radio station—KPMB only kept the red brick structure, now the home of Rotman’s PhD program, 11/12 canadian architect

maRiS mezuliS

tom aRban above, left to right a view of the Rotman School fRom the hulKing bRutaliSt maSS of the RobaRtS libRaRy acRoSS the StReet; hot pinK and blacK aRe uSed aS StRiKing accent colouRS on the inteRioR of the expanSion, demaRcating the dynamic fluidity of the StaiRcaSeS. bottoM, left to right a biRd’S-eye-view of the efficient oRganically foRmed StaiR favouRed by the StudentS; the geneRouS new entRy foyeR offeRS plenty of Seating foR lounging, Studying and eating; the Second-flooR event Space can eaSily accommodate the gRowing numbeRS of StudentS waiting to be tRanSfoRmed into futuRe captainS of induStRy.

most edge of the site, not only interacts with its surrounding structures, but highlights them from angles and heights never experienced before. A glazed skin encasing the second-floor event space, for example, offers views of the detailing on the exterior of the adjacent red brick historic building. And the vantage point of Robarts Library from the fifth-floor terrace enables occupants to view the Brutalist concrete structure in a whole new light. The new entrance leads into a fully glazed café area that pushes right out to the edge of St. George Street to connect working students with the rest of the campus and passersby. A sunken courtyard between the glass façade and the sidewalk creates a layered effect for the main floor and provides a bit of a buffer for students hard at work. In the middle of the lobby, a dramatic, sculptural staircase provides an anchor for the building and moves the focus away from the tower’s elevators. Because there are two entrances—the new one on the building’s south end and the original one in

tom aRban

and pitched the demolition of the white brick one to create a proportional footprint for the new building. “You know you have to break a rule to win, but it’s a risk. If [the client] doesn’t get that idea, then they won’t let you break that rule,” says partner Marianne McKenna, referring to the challenges inherent in deviating from the project brief in order to achieve a better result in the end. The extremely fragile task of working with heritage buildings is something KPMB is well-versed in; with projects such as the Royal Conservatory TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning and the glass-encased addition to the Canadian Museum of Nature under its belt, the firm has learned through experience that sometimes you have to “take pieces of heritage fabric down,” says McKenna, to make for a more dramatic presentation of other historic elements. And in this case, the result is worth it. The building, an elevated glass box with soaring ceilings and ample natural light augmented by a nine-storey tower set back at the northern-

22 canadian architect 11/12

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StandaRd office non-StandaRd office meeting Room ReSeaRch office phd (3) buSineSS centRe lounge/Kitchenette

8 StRategy admin 9 lobby 10 mechanical 11 communication Room 12 men’S waShRoom 13 women’S waShRoom 14 janitoR’S cloSet

second floor

the Fleck Atrium next door—the team branched the staircase in both directions, each with a “different cadence” as Kuwabara calls it. The stairs from the new entrance are designed for efficiency, aimed at getting students up to the second-floor event space or down to the basement as fast as possible. But the staircase closer to the Fleck Atrium encourages a more relaxed and meandering gait with its generous width, deep treads and shallow rise—geared for patrons moving, wine glass in hand, from a prefunction up to the event space. The result is an organic, flowing form that both Kuwabara and McKenna point to as their favourite part of the whole expansion. The stair’s hot pink accents were taken directly from the original colour palette of Rotman Magazine, whose visual identity was crafted by design guru Bruce Mau. Plus, it didn’t hurt that KPMB’s initial presentation of the design took place on Valentine’s Day in 2008. “It was cold and we wanted a hot colour,” says Kuwabara. “We wanted to jolt them.” The glass-encased double-height event space at the top of the stairs overlooks St. George Street. Built big enough to accommodate the entire first-year class and then some, the room can be parcelled into smaller spaces, or even opened up through sliding partition walls to the generous foyer at the top of the stairs. The decision to put the event space on the second floor was a logical one; the KPMB team didn’t want to put it underground, like so many light-locked conference rooms in hotels around the city, and putting it on the main floor would have monopolized too much of the floor space. “So that left one more choice, which was up in the air,” says Kuwabara. “Our mantra to ourselves was that the building had been looking inward for so many years and its success had earned it the right to express itself and connect itself to the city.” The basement houses the school’s seven classrooms and more lounge space for students. To put the classrooms below grade, the design team had to prove to the client that the conditions would not only be safe but also comfortable. “For the same reason we didn’t want to put the event space down below, the client wasn’t sure about putting classrooms there,”

1 2 3 4

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Study Room men’S waShRoom electRical mechanical

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ground floor 1 Study Room 2 70-Seat claSSRoom 3 women’S waShRoom 4 men’S waShRoom 5 cuStodial change Room 6 cuStodial lunch Room 7 Receiving aRea 8 janitoR’S cloSet 9 diShwaShing 10 dRy StoRage

11 fReezeR 12 RefRigeRatoR 13 foyeR 14 dining 15 café Kitchen 16 café SeRveRy 17 gaRbage compactoR 18 deliveRy Room 19 Recycling binS 20 gaRbage Room

tom aRban

21 mechanical Space 22 dining 23 open Study tableS 24 exteRioR couRtyaRd 25 adminiStRation 26 lounge 27 office 28 entRy veStibule

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70-Seat claSSRoom lounge mba lounge exteRioR couRtyaRd Study Room multi-puRpoSe media teaching effectiveneSS centRe 7 media complex contRol Room

8 it Staff & claSSRoom contRolS m 9 av Suite 10 Small lab 11 medium lab 12 laRge lab 13 communication Room 14 centRal aRchival StoRage 15 women’S ShoweRS

10M

16 women’S waShRoom 17 men’S ShoweRS 18 men’S waShRoom 19 boileR Room 20 StoRage Room 21 open to above

11/12 canadian architect

maRiS mezuliS

an amply glazed coRneR office in the nine-StoRey toweR oveRlooKS the campuS below and the city beyond. bottoM open Study tableS on the main flooR benefit fRom natuRal daylight and calming viewS of the exteRioR gReen landScape and collegiate life.

above

maRiS mezuliS

says Kuwabara. But the well-placed sunken exterior courtyard captures light from above and provides natural views to these lower spaces. “You can see the sky,” he says. “It makes all the difference.” The classrooms incorporate the cutting edge of education technology: interactive smart boards, TV and projection screens, adjustable lecterns and full tech support. Each classroom also features a custom-made acous-

24 canadian architect 11/12

tic panel that features an abstract representation of one of the seven economic driver cities of 2011, including London, Singapore, Mumbai and New York. In between the classrooms are comfortable lounge and study spaces filled with students that are a far cry from the sterile library environments one might associate with universities. And to cut down on sound in these open spaces, KPMB lined the 800 minimalist

lockers they had to integrate into the three floors with perforated wood to provide acoustic insulation. Though certainly present among these floors, it’s the nine-storey tower that truly exemplifies one of Kuwabara and McKenna’s driving forces behind the project: the concept of the vertical campus, a vertically oriented plan that encourages collaboration and integration

tom aRban

between the floors, and allows for future growth and expansion—such as in previous KPMB projects like the Engineering, Computer Science and Visual Arts building at Concordia University and Canada’s National Ballet School. In the case of Rotman, it allows for inspired design details that would otherwise be impossible, like the expansive outdoor terrace on the fifth floor, near the Desautels Centre for Integrative Thinking. “You intensify and increase the amount of space as you grow the university vertically,” says Kuwabara, standing on the terrace. “We kept calling this the sweet spot. You’re just at the peaks of the Victorian houses and the details of Massey College. This allowed us to scale the entire building on St. George.” Even up on the ninth floor, in the Lloyd and Delphine Martin Prosperity Institute, a semi-enclosed outdoor space features vertically striped fenestration that matches the surrounding landscape and Toronto’s overall skyline. “They’re all

framed. You really feel the vertical elements of the context,” says Kuwa bara. “This is part of the vertical campus, that you could be on the ninth floor of the building and still step outside and be in touch with the rest of the campus.” Keeping in touch with the rest of the campus—and visa versa. It’s a key component of the entire expansion, right down to the view from the sidewalk, where the lantern-like floating event space beckons onlookers and engages passersby. “You’re part of the animation. Part of the activity,” says McKenna. “It’s a different kind of facility—a model for a more interactive and immersive education within the city. Not every department can do that, but Rotman can. It becomes quite rich. And people should see it and think about the way they teach and the way they accommodate their students.” ca Paige Magarrey is a Toronto-based architecture and design writer.

a fabulouS view of the city affoRded fRom the expanSive fifth-flooR teRRace iS miRRoRed in the building’S SubStantial amount of glazing.

above

client univeRSity of toRonto architect teaM bRuce KuwabaRa, maRianne mcKenna, luigi laRocca, paulo Rocha, dave Smythe, myRiam tawadRoS, bRuno webeR, john peteRSon, janice wong, RichaRd wong, victoR gaRzon, lilly liauKuS, bRyn maRleR, Rachel StecKeR, maRyam KaRimi, caRolyn lee, danielle SucheR, lauRa caRwaRdine structural halcRow yolleS Mechanical/electrical Smith & andeRSen civil cole engineeRing landscape janet RoSenbeRg and aSSociateS interiors KuwabaRa payne mcKenna blumbeRg aRchitectS contractor eaSteRn conStRuction company ltd. building envelope bvda gRoup energy tRanSSolaR + halSall leed halSall aSSociateS ltd. cost consulting tuRneR & townSend cm2R inc. heritage e.R.a. aRchitectS inc. life safety lebeR RubeS av engineeRing haRmonicS elevators acSi acoustic aeRcouSticS engineeRing ltd. kitchen Kaizen specification bRian ballantyne SpecificationS signage entRo/g+a area 15,000 m2 budget $65.6 m coMpletion june 2012

section looking north

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section looking east

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11/12 canadian architect

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acoustic interference

despite the acoustic superiority of a recently completed concert hall in montreal, its overall success as a prominent cultural institution is compromised by the frustratingly constrictive p3 process. La Maison syMphonique de MontréaL, MontreaL, quebec diaMond schMitt + Ædifica, architects in Joint Venture teXt LeV bratishenko photos toM arban unLess otherwise noted proJect

architects

Montreal has a new room. The latest home of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra (MSO), La Maison Symphonique is a 1,900-seat addition to the grey, four-chambered stomach of the city’s institutional performing arts, Place des Arts. The new building occupies a narrow site on the northeast corner of the complex where Boulevard de Maisonneuve and rue SaintUrbain meet, adjacent to the orchestra’s old home, the 49-year-old concrete beast known as the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier. It has been open since September 2011 while still under construction, and it is finally complete. 28 canadian architect 11/12

La Maison is the first Public-Private Partnership (P3) cultural project in North America, and perhaps the world. A new hall for the MSO has been in the air for decades and the previous iteration was more ambitious; a multi-stage $280-million building won in a competition by de architekten, Ædifica, and Tétreault Parent Languedoc. It died with the election of the Charest government in 2003, which immediately pushed for pilot projects to be structured in accordance with the P3 process. These—in this case a design-build-finance-manage—reduce the government’s upfront costs dramatically. They select and pay the builder-owner a lease after which ownership reverts back to the government, but it is up to the bidder to find the capital to finance construction, operate, and design the hall. Jean Roy, Project Director of La Maison for the Ministère de la Culture, des Communications et de la Condition féminine, when asked if he was happy with the outcome, admitted that “[In 2006] the first thing we wanted to do is a concert hall for music, not a building. And [the concert hall] is a very big success.” The Ministry worked with MSO conductor Kent Nagano to shortlist acousticians, selecting New York-based Artec, at the time represented by its founder Russell Johnson, who had been involved in the previous itera-

opposite the new hoMe of the MontreaL syMphony orchestra at pLace des arts, seen froM rue saint-urbain. Views of the stacked interior Lobbies are eVident. above three iMages depict the proJect’s interior Merits. bLonde wood, stainLess steeL, gLass and poLished concrete conVey a feeLing of expansiVeness and weLcoMe in the Mezzanine Lobby.

tion of the project. He died in 2007 and Tateo Nakajima, a musician and conductor, took over the project. Acoustics were the priority from the beginning. Explaining the P3 process, Nakajima told me that “this whole structure that we’ve put in place was, to a large extent, our proposal.” He was the only one who did not complain to me about it. The Ministry modified the P3 to retain responsibility for acoustics and theatre design. With this responsibility came risks, since they would have nobody else to blame if the hall sounded subpar. The model, again according to Nakajima, was Tanglewood in Massachusetts, where “they designed the shell and then Eero Saarinen was brought in to work with them and make it look like something.”1 Artec developed design requirements in conversation with the MSO, producing a book with detailed drawings that Nakajima called “a basic design” at “construction document level.” This document was sent to the three consortia that had passed the P3 agency’s vetting process in 2007. These included Saucier + Perrotte and Provencher Roy, two of Montreal’s blue chip firms, as well as Toronto-based Diamond Schmitt, who even retained their own acoustician, London’s Bob Essert, for additional clout in the acoustical debates.

Four workshops were then held in 2008 for the bidders to develop their proposals. Questions were translated between two languages and filtered through Artec to the Ministry and the MSO, or to some intermediate as needed, and back. The bidders could submit written questions between workshops, but these had to be shared with the other competitors. No direct communication with the MSO was permitted. In a province as traumatized by construction corruption as Quebec, this almost makes sense. The intention was, Nakajima said, “that at the end of the P3 selection process you actually had three separate rooms, three separate contracts that were deemed to be equal in cost and complexity and performance, but integrated in an architectural vision that was different.” When the bids were made in 2009, they were ostensibly equal in performance but obviously different in cost. Groupe Immobilier Ovation (GIO), with Diamond Schmitt and Ædifica, underbid and won. GIO is owned by SNC-Lavalin, a hefty corporate entity that helped them arrange favourable financing in 2008, according to Roy. The architects also managed to cleverly eliminate a three-metre acoustically insulating gap between the underground garage and the new hall. Replacing this with, among other things, a system of rubber pads, reduced construction costs and put the loading dock level with the stage, in turn significantly re11/12 canadian architect

ducing operating costs. The P3 agency was compelled to select the lowest bid, though as project architect Matthew Lella put it, “quality got you a rebate” since jury comments became a dollar value representing architecture. “That was the best price, and we didn’t have a choice,” said Roy, explaining how decisionmaking power transferred to the private partner; after that it was “Groupe Immobilier Ovation who called the shots.” The interests of the private partner are to maximize profit with an eye towards maintenance costs. “They want to have the most cost-effective Rolls Royce. So they don’t want any trouble,” according to Jack Diamond, Principal of Diamond Schmitt. Naturally, GIO were insensitive to concerns without financial rationale unless required by the contract, and with Diamond Schmitt working as subcontractors to GIO it was “probably much more constrictive for the architects than usual,” Nakajima admitted. Everybody—with the exception of Ædifica’s tremendously affable Michel Languedoc—mentioned the architects’ “frustration,” and nobody took responsibility for it or imagined it would manifest in the design. It may be only one symptom of the weaknesses inherent in the P3 process, which we have to thank for La Maison’s lurches from constipation to carelessness. From the “playful” pattern of narrow windows ineptly disguising the loss of glass curtain wall to grey limestone cladding, to the distracting organ pipe bling (the only place where nobody said no, because the money came from a private donor)—the building bears the marks of a bad childhood. Because La Maison is best understood as a parenting disaster. A misconception that led to the division of the room from the building and the creation of two projects—twins. From the 30 canadian architect 11/12

above the southwest corner of La Maison syMphonique Viewed froM the windswept pLaza of the pLace des arts coMpLex.

street, we see the starved carcass of one of them while inside, a fat happy baby gurgles away. The west façade forms a desolate grey alley alongside the equally frigid east façade of the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier. The north and east elevations are even worse. This is Kondo Kladding Korner, a heartbreakingly cheaplooking triangle with the stage entrance at its apex. The stone veneer is punctuated by mean windows of pointless sadness, and it sheathes a tower of dressing and warmup rooms that leaves you wanting. It was not, admittedly, an easy corner to work with. Across the considerable expanse of bicycle-lane-widened Boulevard de Maisonneuve (and the closely adjacent and parallel Avenue du Président-Kennedy) is the 19th-century Church of Saint John the Baptist, an awkward lump of grey stone capped with a red sheet-metal roof. A weak urban corner is established with the site’s bermed edge condition in addition to the church’s considerable setback. And to the east across rue Saint-Urbain is a new plaza, part of a dull rebranding of the area. Between the two, La Maison seems as exposed on the northeast as it is confined on the southwest. Formally, it is not coherent enough to take the strain. You can enter from rue Saint-Urbain, a Pyrrhic victory for the architects against the centralized entrance to the arts complex on rue SainteCatherine, but this doorway just leads to a hallway inflamed by LED branding. On your left is the gaudiest bar in a city known for its strip clubs, and on the right, a glass wall: La Maison at last. Passing through a vestibule, you finally enter the building after a limp handshake with an-

boul. de maisonneuve

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8 Loading dock 9 backstage circuLation and serVices 10 entrance to pLace des arts 11 saLLe wiLfrid-peLLetier 12 Musée d’art conteMporain de MontréaL 13 théâtre MaisonneuVe

other generic glass door. But most concertgoers will come from the complex’s underground parking and the metro. They may miss the sadness of the façades, but not the dinginess of the first lobby; hospital white, low-ceilinged, its most prominent feature is a bank advertisement. The contrast with the heavyhanded marble lobby and stodgy staircase of the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier suggests that either the MSO or La Maison is not here to stay. Perhaps you can shake these worrying thoughts as you walk up the staircase with glass balustrades, a grey steel handrail, and surprisingly worn treads2 until you meet a beechwood wall on your left. This is the first encounter with warmth, the lovely blonde wood skin of the interior hall. It is visible on every lobby floor except the first, where it is most needed, and you enter through its corners to the hall proper, next to the corridors leading to the wings that curve invitingly away. The performance hall itself is a revelation after the starkness of the overlit lobbies and the brittle exterior, a blinding eruption of wood in horizontals below a canopy of adjustable matte white sound reflectors. High above this Lee Bontecou layer is a black metal ceiling, the underside of the top of this box that protrudes above the building’s façade.3 All around the hall, the balconies curve and overlap like planks, and on the topmost level, strips of white undulating plaster break out amongst the wood. At first, the orchestra seems unnervingly close—black-suited musicians against the white seat cushions and the gleaming organ pipes behind, but this jarring intimacy becomes pleasant as they play, for the warmth of sound and the level of detail are remarkable. Along with other music critics, I have come to appreciate its astonishing clarity. But it is not an easy room;

an artists’ coLLectiVe caLLed bgL won the coMMission to design three suspended scuLptures that hang in the doubLeheight Lobby at the corbeiLLe LeVeL. a series of concentric rings creates a pLeasing Vortex forM in each piece, and together they coMpLeMent and aniMate the Light-fiLLed space.

above

it is so sensitive that any looseness is impossible to miss and mistakes do not gently wash away. It has a naughty preference for bass sounds that can make large orchestras seem suddenly bottom-heavy. It has character. Furthermore, the room is highly adjustable—at fabulous expense, from the height of individual ceiling panels to hidden curtains in the walls. It can be played like an instrument, and is a tremendous acoustic accomplishment that would be difficult to criticize were it buried underground. Diamond Schmitt’s original concept was very simple: the curved wooden walls of the interior hall continue through the roof, a pierced-envelope effect enhanced by a glass wrapper. Unfortunately, the effect is compromised because the treated composite wood-covered fins that appear to extrude through the roof do not match the colour of the interior beech, while inside, the scalloping shifts horizontally with each lobby level and confuses the verticality of the walls. Unlike the traditional palace of culture, this building was intended to be transparent and draw pedestrians from the Place des Arts esplanade and rue Saint-Urbain into its wooden interior with views of peopled balconies. A nice idea, this “democratic” gesture stumbles on the reality of a VIP room poking out of the curtain wall, with privacy glass on the inside lest ordinary concertgoers get any ideas. Visually, it succeeds on the south side, but the esplanade it faces is an unpopular mess of skylights, entrances and confusing ramps. But why wrap an acoustically hypersensitive space in glass to begin with? To make it work, even the curtain wall that Diamond Schmitt were allowed to build had to be thickened with huge interior cavities. The result is a thick and gluey envelope at odds with the concept. The firm’s earlier Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto is more 11/12 canadian architect

the interior of the perforMance haLL enVeLops the audience in its warM expressiVe eMbrace and superior acoustics; the distracting fLourish of the MassiVe and gLeaMing organ pipes adorning the north waLL; scaLLoped Loges proVide additionaL seating and contribute curViLinear eLeMents to the interior of the perforMance haLL.

above, left to right

reasonable, comprised of mostly brick with a glazed façade of structural glass—a more expensive and more effective implementation that had “an extremely involved client,” according to acoustician Bob Essert. So what about “I got it built?” After all, we do have something and for only $259 million over 30 years. This is cheap when acoustically inferior halls go up for three times that in construction costs alone. True, but we essentially only got a room for the price. The additional money in other cities is rarely added value, but for some of them, like the renovated Alice Tully Hall in New York (whose designers returned to the original travertine quarry for the sublime stone), rare materials and an investment in design were public statements about the importance and durability of the arts in that city. La Maison calls these values into question. This is a serious failure.4 In the political climate of today, let alone 2006 to 2008 when the project

was developed, an obsession with risk is understandable. But Montreal went too far. The P3 that got it built was impossible for younger, more innovative firms to navigate; it was rigged in favour of a safe bet. A conceptual competition could have avoided this; something Roy told me he would like to do if he were to repeat the project. The process was also insensitive to the integrated nature of a concert hall, where even small decisions have acoustical implications, and it reduced the possibility of compromise to accountancy. The Ministry should have accepted the risk of being a real client. Its P3 was a cowardly way of creating a building in the gut of the city, in the centre of a huge arts-focused master plan—the Quartier des Spectacles— that involves hundreds of venues. La Maison is a building that millions will encounter. Knowing that its urban abdication is merely a symptom and that the architects did as well as they could does not mitigate the dis-

longitudinal section through centre line

32 canadian architect 11/12

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appointment over what has been built. But it does raise the question of what architects, who do not currently shape the processes, can do about them. The story of La Maison should be a call for the profession to engage with these greater forces—to design the systems of procurement as well as the buildings they produce. ca Lev Bratishenko is the Montreal Gazette’s classical music critic. He also writes on architecture and technology, and was the curator of 404 ERROR: The object is not online at the Canadian Centre for Architecture.

mezzanine level 1 Mezzanine seating 0m 5m 10 m 2 Mezzanine Loges 3 organ consoLe

4 organ niche 5 Mezzanine Lobby 6 side Lobbies

1An acoustic canopy over the orchestra was added to Tanglewood in 1959 to improve the

sound. 2 A painful detail since the wear is a sign of success (MSO receipts are up) but it does not look like the staircase or the floors were designed for it. 3 A coupled volume is like a battery of sound that can be used to prolong the response of a room. 4The Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships announced on November 22, 2011 that the project had won their Gold Award, citing “$46.8 million in cost savings.”

7 choir rehearsaL 8 dressing rooMs 9 Musicians’ Lounge

6 3

corbeille level 1 2 3 4

cross section showing stage and organ 0m

10m

0m 5m 10 m choir Loft corbeiLLe seating corbeiLLe Loges organ niche

5 piano nobiLe 6 saLon d’honneur 7 side Lobbies

10m

8 rehearsaL rooMs 9 soLoist’s quarters 10 conductor’s suite

client Ministry of cuLture, coMMunications and the status of woMen in quebec architect team fLorin baLdea, hrant boghossian, JuLie boissonneauLt, steVe bondar, earL briggs, cynthia carbonneau, cLaudiu casapu, norMan chan, queenie chau, Jack diaMond, MicheL dubuc, JaMie duncan, Matthew feLLows, pauL french, karyne gagnon, syLVain gauthier, kayathri kaMaLanathan, oLiVia keung, MichaeL LaM, MicheL Languedoc, Matthew c. LeLLa, Lingfei Liu, eric Lucassen, Jean-Louis Léger, eugénie March, françois Massicotte, gary MccLuskie, breck McfarLane, trong tuan nguyen, anne-Marie petter, Veronique roy, chafik saLhi, don schMitt, thoMas schweitzer, andreas sokoLowski, Marcin sztaba, Magda teLenga, MichaeL J. treacy, Marie-cLaude turcotte, Jean-Luc Vadeboncoeur, gary watson, Jessica wease, June hong yuan structural/mechanical/electrical snc-LaVaLin interiors diaMond schMitt + Ædifica, architects in Joint Venture contractor snc-LaVaLin construction acoustical artec (for the Ministry), sound space design Ltd. (for the architect) theatrical artec (for the Ministry), fisher dachs associates (for the architect) lighting ecLairage pubLic area 100,000 ft2 budget $260 M totaL design-buiLd-finance-Manage ppp contract suM; construction budget undiscLosed completion deceMber 2011

10 m

11/12 canadian architect

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Ken borTon

Migrating to Venice

The excruciaTing amounT of blood, sweaT and Tears ThaT go inTo exhibiTing aT The presTigious Venice biennale in archiTecTure is offseT by The exTraordinary experiences gained on The global sTage. teXt

aBoVe a shoT of The crowds gaThered aT The inauguraTion of The Migrating Landscapes exhibiTion aT The canadian paVilion on The grounds of The Venice biennale’s giardini de casTello. sporTing The bold and pulsaTing Theme colour of Team canada’s Migrating Landscapes proJecT, parTicipanTs and supporTers formed a sea of hoT pinK.

Johanna hurme

As the Biennale in Venice wraps up at the end of November, almost two years of our lives have been committed to living and breathing Migrating Landscapes, Canada’s official entry to the 13th Inter national Architecture Exhibition, titled Common Ground and curated by David Chipperfield. Canada is one of the most culturally rich countries in the world and it could be assumed that it is specifically because of its diversity that a strong national architectural identity has been difficult to define and establish in the global context. Migrating Landscapes represents our attempt to rediscover this cultural richness as a strength and uncover its potential in shaping the expression of Canadian architecture. The Venice Biennale became a platform through 36 canadian architect 11/12

which we were able to not only draw the architectural community together, but also to engage a singular and relevant conversation, that of a bolder—and perhaps more independent—approach to architectural thinking in Canada. The project has certainly expanded the horizons of what we do as architects on a day-to-day basis. From fundraising, processing close to thirty 20’ x 4’ x 4’ lifts of raw lumber in 30-plusdegree heat with 100% humidity and getting supplies to site in a city that prohibits vehicles, to negotiating with other countries for rights to the public grounds of the Biennale’s Giardini di Castello, all while weeding through the international permitting process—the project included every possible challenge you could imagine, yet was equally filled with extraordinary experiences.

Our curatorial team of 5468796 Architecture Inc. and Jae-Sung Chon first entered into an agreement with the Canada Council for the Arts in the early spring of 2011, a few months after our initial proposal was submitted. The Canada Council had begun discussions with Architecture Canada | Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) about a partnership, with the hope that for future Architecture Biennales the RAIC would act as a Commissioner and handle some of the logistics and fundraising for Canadian representatives. During these early meetings, we were warned not only by the Canada Council itself, but also by the still hesitant RAIC and our Canadian predecessors about the massive task ahead of us—one that seemed to have left past organizers bitter about the honour of

representing Canada in light of the incurred financial debt and the general lack of support from the architecture community. While testing a new model for Canada’s participation at the Biennale resulted in the invaluable support of the RAIC during the fundraising campaign, the Commissioner role was not yet transferred, and the hard fact remained that in addition to our own countless volunteer hours, we became solely responsible for about $820,000 of the project’s ±$1,000,000 budget, with the Canada Council initially contributing the remaining $184,000. The commitment of so much time and resources is a scary prospect for any small business owner. It was always our intention to bring the Biennale to Canada in addition to organizing the required Venice show. This resulted in the creation of the Migrating Landscapes competition and a cross-country exhibition tour, increasing the number of shows from one to nine in total. Looking back at this decision, even I am amazed at the optimism that propelled the travelling exhibition forward, before we even knew how the project might be received or whether we would be able to find supporters. However, it was our collective desire to create an inclusive process that could advance the appreciation of architecture in this country and give other young practitioners and students the opportunity to exhibit their work. Perhaps it was the eight trial runs in Canada or the fact that we were fully prepared for something to go wrong, but in the end the Venice portion of the project seemed almost easy by comparison. It was clear from the beginning that we would not be able to contract the Venice exhibit installation out due to the high costs of local labour and the anticipated “extras” that are typically charged to Biennale participants. In order to keep the budget in check, we assembled a committed crew of friends and family to participate in the build. At the end of July, just four weeks before the opening and armed with a very detailed work plan, a lot of personal ambition, and the backing of an impressive list of supporters— ranging from developers, contractors and architectural firms to financial institutions and various individuals—we set off for Venice to take part in the mayhem of international logistics, tight schedules, people working on top of one another, and the excitement of the opening days ahead. Our 12-hour daily site schedule moved progressively from acquiring resources and tools, to building specific model bases for the entrants’ maquettes, to processing the massive

amounts of raw lumber for what was to become the landscape/infrastructure for the display. These initial steps were followed by cutting, sanding and positioning over 9,600 wood floor tiles and 16,200 pieces of wood before installing the AV equipment, models and didactics. A shoestring budget for the set-up period dictated that we cook at our rental apartment or with an on-site barbecue. Fortunately, we discovered that while food could be pricey, wine and Aperol at our local grocer were certainly affordable! One of the more triumphant moments during the construction process was the erection of the so-called “totems” in front of our Canada Pavilion. In part, these five- to seven-metre-tall 12” x 12” posts and the surrounding wooden landscape were conceived as a method of drawing the project out into an informal public forecourt shared with our German neighbours, and bringing greater visibility to our much smaller and more modest building. Having the totemic elements extend beyond the physical confines of the pavilion’s walls was also intended to signify that the migration of people and the exchange of ideas are not confined by national borders. Since the entire Giardini is designated as an archaeological site and access is limited, prohibiting the use of cranes or forklifts, our amazing crew was forced to lift some of these thousand-pound posts by hand. Despite the overwhelming amount of construction and logistical work we had to accomplish in a short period of time, we were also determined to enjoy ourselves in this amazing city. The work plan even included a pre-scheduled break for a 24-hour-long 40th birthday party for Sasa Radulovic that ended memorably with an impromptu swim in the Grand Canal. In town, the hot-pink colour theme of Migrating Landscapes—which was intended to be a contemporary twist on the iconic Canadian red—became a recognizable brand worn with pride by the high-spirited Canadian crew. The installation team’s carpenters and chop-saw operators, or the self-named “outside crew” kept things light on site, constantly taking jabs at the “inside crew” who benefited from the Pavilion’s air conditioning. The competitive spirit within the team spread to good-natured heckling with other nations too, leading in one case to a basketball challenge against Britain; our heroic victory will be remembered as one of our better moments on the international front. During the construction process it was curious to observe how the Giardini grounds were transformed into a community of foreigners operating

MIGRATING LANDSCAPES TIMELINE Sept 21, 2010 – Ottawa, ON – Call for submissions by the Canada Council for the Arts for the 2012 Venice Biennale in Architecture. Dec 6, 2010 – Winnipeg, MB – Jae-Sung Chon and 5468796 Architecture Inc. submit the proposal Migrating Landscapes to the Canada Council for the Arts. Feb 8, 2011 – Winnipeg, MB – The phone rings: “Congratulations!” We are Canada’s official selection for the 2012 Biennale. Cheers! May 9, 2011 – Ottawa, ON – Migrating Landscapes is announced as Canada’s official entry to the 2012 Venice Biennale in Architecture. May 24-27, 2011 – Vancouver, BC – 2011 RAIC Festival of Architecture...and the fundraising begins! MLO presents the project at a lunch event, and distributes sponsorship packages far and wide. June 15, 2011 – Toronto, ON – Bruce Kuwabara tells us that long ago he has committed to supporting architecture: he is an architect, and if he does not support the profession, who will? Woohoo! June 15, 2011 – Toronto, ON – One response to our fundraising pitch: “The project premise has no merit. What matters in architecture is prevailing winds, not your background.” We are glad this wasn’t our first meeting. Moving on. July 1, 2011 – Winnipeg, MB – The Migrating Landscapes National Competition is officially launched! Oct 1, 2011 – Winnipeg, MB – Submission deadline for the preselection of the Migrating Landscapes National Competition. In total, we had 222 registrants, and received 119 submissions. On to the regional exhibition process! Oct 15, 2011 – Winnipeg, MB – MLO meets to pre-select the regional exhibitors who will in turn be adjudicated by the regional juries throughout the regional exhibition process. 86 submissions are chosen to proceed to the regional stage. Oct 25, 2011 – Vancouver, BC – Problem-solving on site at the Museum of Vancouver – how to get the wood shipment into a building with no loading area? Solution: hand-bombing it. Dec 3, 2011 – Calgary, AB – The truck with the wood is stuck in the snowbank. How are we going to get it on site in time??? Jan 4, 2012 – Halifax, NS – And SUPER-January begins. Thankfully, volunteers appear in abundance for this installation. Jan 12, 2012 – Montreal, QC – Staff at Parisian Laundry comprehend the amount of wood intended to be taken to the second-floor gallery; modifications to the exhibition “landscape” ensue. Jan 15, 2012 – Saskatoon, SK – Blizzard on the outside, a dozen volunteers on the inside of the Mendel Art Gallery. Hallelujah! Jan 25, 2012 – Winnipeg, MB – Building landscape “plots” in a heated underground parking garage at The Forks, before they’re transported to the exhibition location. Feb 3, 2012 – Toronto, ON – The observation is made that the wood is “too smelly” – an unanticipated problem. Plan of action? Spray deodorizer. March 14, 2012 – Winnipeg, MB – National Jury Forum: Reflecting on Migration and Identity. Jury session held over two days, with Eleanor Bond, Anne Cormier, Ian Chodikoff, Bruce Kuwabara and John Patkau. The finalists are selected from 26 regional winning entries. March 15, 2012 – Winnipeg, MB – Sasa and Johanna return from Mexico and arrive on site. Consequently, the landscape tiled floor is revised, mere hours before the opening...(*%*$#*# seriously?) March 15, 2012 – Winnipeg, MB – Opening night of the national exhibition at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Over 400 people joined us as the 18 teams (representing 38 individuals) were announced for the Venice exhibition! May 23, 2012 – Winnipeg, MB – The Italian Job fundraiser dinner in support of Migrating Landscapes is held at a local restaurant. June 14, 2012 – St. John’s, NL – 2012 RAIC Festival of Architecture: we collect $28,000 in ten minutes for the Sponsor a Winner campaign from a room of 250. Amazing! July 9, 2012 – Winnipeg, MB – The shipment of models is sent to Venice, packed into 18 crates. Bon voyage! July 27, 2012 – Venice, Italy – Johanna, Sasa and Jae-Sung arrive in Venice; over the next two weeks more install crew will arrive. Aug 7, 2012 – Venice, Italy – The first of 5 “totems” is erected outside the Canada Pavilion. Go Canada! Aug 16, 2012 – Venice, Italy – 24-hour scheduled break in the work schedule for Sasa’s 40th birthday celebrations. Outcome: 4:50am return train tickets to Venice from Padova and impromptu swim in the Grand Canal. Aug 15-22, 2012 – Venice, Italy – Negotiations with the German curators and relocation of one of our totems. Aug 18, 2012 – Venice, Italy – Heroic win over Britain in basketball. Aug 25, 2012 – Venice, Italy – End of install! Ready for friends, family, VIPs, partners, sponsors and press... Aug 26-28, 2012 – Venice, Italy – Jury review + Press + VIP Days [highlights include touring Steven Holl, Toyo Ito and Peter Zumthor through Migrating Landscapes] Aug 27, 2012 – Venice, Italy – Our official pavilion inauguration took place in the afternoon. It was a sea of pink! Sept 3, 2012 – Winnipeg, MB – The MLO crew returns to Winnipeg. Fielding calls from museum curators to keep the show travelling.

11/12 canadian architect

sascha hasTings

Johanna hurme

co-curaTor sasa raduloVic TaKes oVer chef duTies; a canadian parTicipanT accessorizes wiTh a cloud of whiTe balloons; “sTarchiTecTs” Toyo iTo and Jean nouVel pose for phoTos while Touring The canadian paVilion. BottoM, LeFt to right sasa raduloVic wheeling TrunKs of Tools around car-free Venice; Variably cuT lumber forms The aromaTic wooden landscape/infrasTrucTure for The models displayed in The canadian paVilion; Team canada parTicipanTs proudly march Through Venice sporTing The iconic hoT-pinK T-shirTs idenTifying The Theme colour of The Migrating Landscapes exhibiTion; a poeTic View of Venice en rouTe To The afTerparTy. aBoVe, LeFt to right

stallation compromised his country’s intentionally sparse representation. Regardless of our peace offerings, the situation escalated and the curator threatened to take us to the Biennale tribunal. In light of discussions about the Biennale’s Common Ground theme and our attempt to invite people to take part in the landscape, the territorial aggression was rather startling when juxtaposed against our own themes of tolerance and acceptance of differences. In the end, after heated negotiations and through dispute resolution with the Biennale, our original offer to pull back the front totem by a couple of metres was accepted. The modification was completed in a matter of hours in the name of international diplomacy, and we were sharing a few glasses of Aperol with our German counterparts the next evening. The press and jury days before the official opening on August 29th were filled with a great

Johanna hurme

lisa sTinner-Kun

Johanna hurme

in a rather primitive survival mode, with bartering and trading as the main modus operandi. Perhaps it was the bond created by scarce resources, but swapping tools, materials and services among national teams was common. In this new “global economy” it was important to have something to offer. Needless to say, we quickly became known as the team that had lumber. Despite the general goodwill among nations, there were also some less co-operative moments. With one week of construction left and after most of the exterior installation was already complete, we received an angry e-mail from our German neighbours. The curator, who had completed his work in July and left Venice for the month of August, now demanded that the exterior landscape be removed before his return to site. Even though we had signed a mutual agreement for exterior permits back in April, the German curator was convinced that our in-

sense of anticipation; the whole city was swarming with architectural celebrities and representatives of every important architectural publication in the world. In addition to the national pavilions’ representatives who are typically chosen via national selection panels or juries, the overall Biennale curator also invites a number of “starchitects” to participate in a curated show at the central Biennale Pavilion. This twotier system of national pavilions and a showcase of elite global architects is further complemented by a collection of exhibitions at the Arsenale, a former shipyard and armoury just north of the Giardini. The Venice Biennale has always been more about scene and spectacle than architecture in the traditional sense. At the same time, it holds undeniable allure for practitioners at the beginning of their careers who welcome the opportunity to exhibit alongside the elite of the profession. During press days we had a chance to tour some of the world’s most famous architects through the Canadian exhibit, like Steven Holl, Toyo Ito—who later went on to win the Golden Lion for Japan, awarded by the Biennale jury for the best national representation—and my personal idol, Peter Zumthor. Our intention for the Migrating Landscapes competition was to view the wooden infra-

38 canadian architect 11/12

darcie waTson

naomi Kriss Johanna hurme

structure not as a physical setting or backdrop but rather as a more malleable cultural and social context that entrants were allowed and encouraged to modify. We thought that by intentionally teasing out the personal cultural nuances that do not typically enter the design arena, the competition had the potential to uncover a uniquely rich Canadian architecture scene. (Re)introducing personal bias as a powerful design agent served as a reminder that Canada’s architectural identity is comprised of many voices which, when mixed together, should not blend into a sea of beige but instead become collectively unique and potent. It was our hypothesis that in addition to the usual reference points of physical, social and cultural contexts in the production of architecture, perhaps there is a real value in knowing ourselves and what we are truly about before being able participate in the common collective. We have concluded that the competition results and the work exhibited at the Biennale reflect something new and raw—not the glossy images we see in the pages of architectural magazines, but something that is highly personal and just under the surface in all of us as designers. To us this suggests that tapping into someone’s particular cultural baggage can act as a driver for an era of design

co-curaTor Johanna hurme in deep discussion wiTh her personal idol, priTzKer prize-winning swiss archiTecT peTer zumThor; migraTing landscapes organizer’s sasa raduloVic, Johanna hurme and Jae-sung chon head To The afTerparTy, looKing suiTably sharp and euro-chic. aBoVe, LeFt to right

that demands more independent thinking about architecture. We are hopeful that the results of the competition speak to a larger trend of architects in Canada breaking away from polite responses, and that a new dialect is emerging that approaches the intuitive, bold and gutsy. While Migrating Landscapes garnered a lot of excitement and attention in a number of media outlets—and was complimented not only for what Peter Zumthor described as a “wonderful aroma” but also for a multi-tiered approach in its conceptualization that allowed the project to be grasped on a number of different levels depending on time commitments—unsurprisingly the international press focused largely on the global design stars. I suppose one could argue that this is simply elitist journalism, but it serves as a reminder to future curators that the exhibition must have enough impact to counteract and compete with the celebrity factor, and that visually simplistic, iconic exhibits tend to gain the most coverage. In the end, one of the most important measures of success for us was that we managed to run the project in its expanded format and come out feeling entirely satisfied and happy with the experience. In fact, the fundraising and project management aspect of the project has been nothing short of an exhilarating process, one through which we have had the opportunity to meet so many talented and influential people both in Canada and abroad. I am convinced that these connections will open doors for us in the future and that they have more than made up for our time and risk investment. It is also difficult

to imagine feeling like we accomplished anything particularly important without the pan-Canadian component of the exhibition. We are filled with optimism for the future of architecture culture in Canada; who knew that in a year it would be possible to raise nearly $550,000 in cash plus in-kind donations for architecture within the confines of our nation? I hope that the RAIC’s role as a Commissioner of future Biennales will be solidified so that creative talent in our country can be nurtured to its full potential without the massive financial and organizational burden. Consequently, more proponents will be encouraged to take on the challenge and can benefit from the corporate memory carried forward by the RAIC. As a whole, I also hope that Canada will sustain the vision to continue investing in its next generation of architects, which—like investing in internationallevel sports—is bound to produce results, and perhaps a Golden Lion someday as well. ca Johanna Hurme is a project manager and co-curator of Migrating Landscapes, and a founding partner of 5468796 Architecture Inc. in Winnipeg. MLo 5468796 archiTecTure + Jae-sung chon; 5468796 is mandy aldcorn, Ken borTon, Jordy craddocK, aynslee hurdal, Johanna hurme, eVa Kiss, Jayne miles, colin neufeld, zach pauls, sasa raduloVic, shannon wiebe regionaL coordinatorS linus lam (bc), KaTe Thompson (alberTa), daniel reeVes (sasKaTchewan), Jayne miles + Jacqueline young (maniToba), darcie waTson + nicole marion (onTario), KaTrine riVard + Karolina JasTrzebsKa (quebec), brian lilley (mariTimes) paViLion attendantS lindsey KoepKe, finlay macleod Venice VoLUnteerS emily fiTzpaTricK, glenn Jones, luKe marVin, Jordan pauls, marK penner, cameron penner, rasa raduloVic partnerS canada council for The arTs, archiTecTure canada | raic, The naTional gallery of canada

11/12 canadian architect

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1/20/12 3:09 PM

city in Flight in a province not traditionally known For its environmental advances, the development oF a sustainable community on the Former edmonton city centre airport lands will set a new standard.

Blatchford redevelopment, edmonton, alBerta perkins+Will canada (prime consultant) in collaBoration With perkins+Will san francisco, civitas, Group 2 and phillips farevaaG smallenBerG teXt JacoB allderdice proJect

urban designers/architects

It can be said that contemporary Edmonton is a world leader in sustainable urbanism. The Blatchford Redevelopment (formerly known as Connecticity), the Perkins+Will master plan for the shuttered 536-acre Edmonton City Centre Airport (ECCA) north of downtown, is proof that Edmontonians are very serious about bringing their city into the 21st century with a renewed focus on environmental sustainability. For many, the mere mention of Edmonton conjures up the endless monoculture of tract housing portrayed in Gregory Greene’s 2004 documentary The End of Suburbia which used Edmonton as a stand-in for 42 canadian architect 11/12

above formerly knoWn as the edmonton city centre airport (ecca), this 536-acre site north of edmonton’s doWntoWn is set to Be transformed into Blatchford— a redevelopment that Will Become a shoWcase for sustainaBle livinG and forWardthinkinG urBanism.

Anytown, USA, and featured New Urbanism polemicist James Howard Kunstler on petroleum-addicted lifestyles. “We’ve invested all of our postWorld War II wealth in an infrastructure for daily life that has no future,” noted Kunstler. Then there’s Edmonton’s moniker, Gateway to the North— a nickname that conjures up images of behemoth dump trucks with wheels the height of city buses driving across the Athabasca bitumen fields. And finally, there’s Alberta’s brash former Premier Ralph Klein, who still haunts Canada many years after he quit politics. His description of Edmonton as “A fine city with too many socialists and mosquitoes

(at least you can spray the mosquitoes)” denotes a time when real Albertans wore Stetson hats, and cowboy boots were paired with expensive suits. Those lingering stereotypes remain, but the province has changed. Today, Alberta has Ralph Klein Park, a 385-acre constructed stormwater treatment wetland on the fringes of Calgary with a LEED Gold-certified Environmental Education and Ethics Centre. The project is the largest and most ambitious of its kind in Canada. Klein’s former nemesis, environmental activist and former Edmonton city councillor Tooker Gom berg was a champion of urban cycling, worm composting and frontyard gardening. If he were alive today, Gomberg would be proud of how his beloved city has evolved. The fact is, the Edmonton Capital Region, comprising 25 municipalities with a population of just over a million people (and forecast to grow by another 700,000 over the next 25 years) is as large and diverse as any Canadian city. Vancouver-based Perkins+Will Canada’s Joyce Drohan, lead architect on Blatchford, states: “Coming from Vancouver, we were impressed at the deep concern Edmontonians expressed for the environment and their genuine interest in a truly sustainable community.” Barry Johns, of Edmonton’s Group 2 Architecture Interior Design, was the local architect for Blatchford. Born in Montreal, Johns notes: “Alberta has as many LEED buildings and municipal regulations about touching upon the planet gently, but they have not done a very good job in broadcasting their achievements.” The Blatchford Redevelopment was a design competition that was held in 2010 after the culmination of several years’ work on the part of the City of Edmonton to replace the outdated ECCA. The competition drew 33 submissions from around the world. Outdated? Well before 2010, the ECCA was in need of drastic repurposing. Founded in 1929 as Blatchford Field (the first licensed airstrip in Canada), ECCA was once on the fringe of the city. By the 1990s, with urban development surrounding and leapfrogging it to the north, in addition to competition from the nearby Edmonton International Airport, ECCA’s future was limited. While it had once served as a vital link to the north, with bush pilots like the great Wilfrid “Wop” May flying daring rescue missions for the Mounties, by 1995 airport passenger service stopped. Ten years later, the airport saw its busiest days during the Edmonton Indy car race when its empty runways served as a temporary racecourse. By 2009, the City made the decision for a phased closure of the airport, and sought new uses for the increasingly valuable land. The airport lands RFP proposed “a home for 30,000 Edmontonians, living, working and learning in a sustainable community that uses 100% renewable energy, is carbon-neutral, significantly reduces its ecological footprint, and empowers residents to pursue a range of sustainable lifestyle choices.” It specified “state-of-the-art approaches to achieving a sustainable community…with innovative and viable ideas that will shape the future development of the ECCA lands as an ecologically sustainable, family-focused, transit-oriented community.” The RFP further called for a “celebration of the history of this airport” and stipulated that the site development must work with the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT). “NAIT has expressed an interest in significantly expanding their campus onto the ECCA lands to coincide with their emerging educational programs and research activities in sustainability.” According to Drohan, “It’s a tribute to Edmonton’s well-orchestrated RFP process that several Canadian cities including Montreal and Saskatoon have looked to the project for lessons in developing their own brownfield sites.” From the 33 competitors, five finalist teams were chosen. Drohan’s team beat out the competition: BNIM (Kansas City, working with Edmonton’s Manasc Isaac Architects and Norway’s Snøhetta); Foster & Partners (London); KCAP (Rotterdam); and Sweco International AB (Stockholm). The jury comprised four members: Peter Hackett, a Fellow of the National

Bush pilot runWay Becomes a maJor pedestrian and transit access; Wop may central plaza provides a Busy urBan huB for the site; the leGacy of the site’s aviation history Will Be proGrammed and desiGned into the redevelopment.

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Blatchford

CBD

WEM

Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Alberta; Todd Latham, cofounder of the Canadian Brownfields Network and publisher of an industry infrastructure renewal magazine; Christopher Henderson, CEO of the Delphi Group, which consults in the environment and clean energy sectors; and Lars Franne, Head of Planning for the City of Stockholm (and the project manager for Hammarby Sjöstad, an eco-friendly development of some 10,000 homes in Stockholm). Of particular interest was the BNIM/Manasc Isaac/Snøhetta project which proposed a Landscape Urbanist approach to the site, effectively creating a “prairie” roofscape that would undulate across most of the 536 acres at four to 12 storeys above grade. By contrast, Blatchford adopted a more New Urbanist approach. Its “connection” is divided into four elements: History, Community, Nature and Growth. The proposal envisioned the preservation of the runways, turning them into main streets with a central Wop May Plaza as a gathering place for the neighbourhood. Its streets are narrower and its blocks smaller than the standard dimensions currently seen in Edmonton. The buildings on the site often feature front-yard gardens for urban agriculture and its transportation planning includes a new light rail with “complete streets” that accommodate plenty of cycling while discouraging car dependency. Blatchford incorporates new apartments and research facilities for NAIT, and at its centre—a grand new triangular Flyway Park with a hill rising to the north for wind protection and a spectacular view of the downtown skyline beyond. The park contains a series of waterways including an artificial lake and marsh land to clean and treat greywater. Barry Johns stresses the importance given to wind protection on the site. “We learned long ago on the Prairies that if you don’t build in harmony with nature, you lose.” For example, the new street along the northwest-angled former runway is staggered, not straight: a runway wants wind, a street doesn’t. The site will have a district energy heat system and, in its most compelling technological feature, heat-mining. According to Johns, Edmonton is number two after Iceland for geothermal potential, adding that “Drilling about five kilometres below the surface, the temperatures come close to 160° Celsius, enough to enable constant and relatively cost-effective and renewable heat generation. Ironically, thanks to the petroleum industry, it is arguably viable to develop heating and power generation as a new industry. Our engineers have calculated that a district energy system 44 canadian architect 11/12

above, leFt to right an aerial photo illustrates the location of Blatchford relative to edmonton’s doWntoWn core; skaters take advantaGe of the northern liGhts Winter festival.

designed to support a population of 30,000 through both biomass and geothermal energy could generate enough surplus renewable energy to share beyond the boundaries of this site and take this master plan beyond carbon-neutral. It would be an exciting story for Alberta.” But it was not just sustainability that won the day—the winning proposal also offers that elusive element known as “liveability.” At public workshops held after her team was chosen for the redevelopment, Drohan remarked, “Young singles looking to move from downtown bachelor apartments, and couples with babies seeking family-friendly neighbourhoods were thrilled with the diversity of housing, the broad range of amenities—from schools and daycares to grocery stores and restaurants, access to transit and the ability to grow food outside their front door.” Summing up the response to Blatchford, Drohan notes: “Interest came from across several age groups. One workshop attendee recognized the similarity in the fine-grained urban pattern of the proposal to Edmonton’s downtown of the early 1960s, before the razing of blocks erased an inherently rich walking, shopping and social experience.” Of course, parts of Edmonton, such as Old Strathcona, still offer the dense, walkable, liveable neighbourhood that some folks remember as normal for the whole city core. Historically, Edmonton encouraged density through Georgist tax policies. As James Howard Kunstler writes in his 1996 book Home from Nowhere, the revolutionary tax proposals of 19th-century economist Henry George state that if you tax the value of the land, but not land development itself, you will encourage dense development. The Georgist philosophy saw that land parcels would be developed to their fullest potential, provided that the tax remain unchanged whether the land sat vacant or saw the development of a 12-storey building. Kunstler refers to Edmonton as being “the city with the purest Georgist tax system” worldwide. “Consequently,” Kunstler remarks, “Edmonton quickly developed a dense downtown core, considered by many to be an exemplary exercise in civic design.” However, this pattern ended in crisis in 1918: “To mitigate the expense of fighting World War One, the city slapped a 60% tax on the value of buildings, instead of simply increasing the tax on site value.”

What happened in the 1960s and ’70s—and continuing through to present-day Edmonton—is not so different from the development pattern of mature cities around the world. Entire blocks were bought, razed, and then rebuilt in a way that saw a once-vital downtown empyting out into a zone of nightly desolation while prime agricultural land was developed into car-dependent single-family tract housing. It’s the work of “impatient capital,” in the words of Edmonton’s Aaron Bourgoin, a former associate at Manasc Isaac. With today’s investors seeking profits within five years, Bourgoin observes that “Edmonton looks the way it does because capital is impatient. The airport development is going to need patient money.” With a build-out projected over 25 to 30 years, the budget is a “moving target,” according to Barry Johns. “We are exploring the idea of a separate development corporation that can be mandated the responsibility for implementation, and structured to survive the vagaries of changing municipal councils and administrations.” Adding to Johns’s strategic foresight, Drohan remarks, “In delivering similar projects—Dockside Green in Victoria, Plan Abu Dhabi 2030 and others—we’ve learned that champions are essential for long-term success. As a public project, ours will rely on City Council’s advocacy throughout the process, requiring the support of the development community as well as the larger Edmonton community.” The larger Edmonton community supports Blatchford. The call to go “beyond carbon-neutral,” and in Barry Johns’s words, to build “a park you can live in,” and a city sector where “you can choose to be car-free,” warms the heart of a growing segment of the population appealing to the likes of old Tooker Gomberg. Back in the day, with his worm composter in his city council office, his bicycle advocacy work, and his opposition to the oil economy, his views were the radical fringe. “Why does Old Strathcona work while our city centre doesn’t? The major difference between the two districts is that people live in Old Strathcona,” Gomberg once observed. “We must vigorously encourage more people to reside downtown.” Today, with the Blatchford Redevelopmet destined to become reality, the radical fringe has gone mainstream. ca Jacob Allderdice is the coordinator of the Bachelor of Interior Design program at the Academy of Design at RCC Institute of Technology.

rundle park

victoria park

william hawrelak park

top leFt a proposed puBlic space connection adJacent to neW hospital facilities. top right desiGninG for the prairie context must acknoWledGe the effects of the prevailinG Winds, as expressed in this diaGram. above the competition team identified the opportunity to reserve a larGe portion of the site for a neW destination park that Would form a river-to-river loop system linkinG the neW park to the city’s primary park netWork. this Would appeal to edmonton’s passionate yearround cyclists.

client city of edmonton, city centre redevelopment (mark hall, phil sande) urban design, architecture and sustainability perkins+Will vancouver—prime consultant (Joyce drohan—proJect lead, peter BusBy, achim charisius, catarina Gomes, martin nielsen, yonG sun); perkins+Will san francisco (noah friedman, prakash pinto, Geeti silWal, patrick vaucheret) community planning civitas (dan daszkoWski, Joe hruda, sok nG) local architecture and urban design Group 2 architecture enGineerinG ltd. (Barry Johns, Joylyn teskey) landscape architecture phillips farevaaG smallenBerG (nathan BriGhtBill, martha farevaaG, chris phillips) transportation nelson\nyGaard (Jason schrieBer, Jeffrey tumlin) engineering and sustainable inFrastructure perkins+Will (Blair mccarry), archineers (trevor Butler), coBalt enGineerinG (Geoff mcdonell) geotechnical and environmental Golder associates (arthur cole) local municipal planning isl enGineerinG and land services (connie Gourley, shauna kuiper, david schoor) land economics pro forma advisors (Gene krekorian) public consultation soles and co (katie soles) heritage consultant alBerta Western heritaGe (terrance GiBson) completion construction start 2014

11/12 canadian architect

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11/12 CANADIAN ARCHITECT

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September 14-November 25, 2012 This exhibition at Toronto’s Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery features Christian Marclay’s The Clock, a critically acclaimed, 24-hour montage of film and television. www.thepowerplant.org BREATHTAKING: Constructed Landscapes

September 29-December 23, 2012 This exhibition at Harbourfront Centre in Toronto appraises the role of architecture in our experience of the natural world and its place within nature, and features the work of Baird Sampson Neuert Architects, Idea Tank Design Collective and PLANT Architect Inc. www.harbourfrontcentre.com/visualarts/2012/architecture-exhibitionfall-2012/ The Lost Vanguard: Russian Modernist Architecture, 1922-32

October 11, 2012-February 16, 2013 The Graham Foundation in Chicago presents this exhibition documenting the work of Modernist architects in the Soviet Union in the years following the 1917 revolution and the period of instability during the subsequent civil war. http://grahamfoundation.org Splice: At the Intersection of Art & Medicine

October 24-December 1, 2012 This exhibition at the Blackwood Gallery at the University of Toronto Mississauga investigates the relationship between art and science, presenting archival anatomical art from the 20th century challenged by contemporary works. www.blackwoodgallery.ca alexander eisenschmidt lecture

November 15, 2012 Alexander Eisenschmidt of the UIC School of Architecture in Chicago delivers a midday talk at 1:00pm in Room 106 at the Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design at the University of Toronto. www.daniels.utoronto.ca 48 canadian architect 11/12

Sustainable drainage: the intersection of Performance and experience in the landscape

November 15, 2012 Laura Solano of MVVA in New York delivers a B.E.S.T. lecture at 6:00pm in Room 103 at the Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design at the University of Toronto. www.daniels.utoronto.ca the Virtues of earth

November 15, 2012 David Easton of Rammed Earth Works in Napa, California delivers a lecture at 6:30pm in the HR MacMillan Space Centre Auditorium in Vancouver. www.sala.ubc.ca dX: intersection

November 16, 2012 Experience the relaunch of the Design Exchange, Canada’s Design Museum with the Intersection party, running from 8:00pm until late. Interactive design installations, unexpected interventions, creative culture, live music, DJs and celebrity chefs await your presence. www.dx.org in Praise of ambiguity

November 18, 2012 Leslie Van Duzer of the University of British Columbia School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture delivers a lecture at 2:00pm at the Museum of Vancouver. www.sala.ubc.ca in Praise of Mowing

November 19, 2012 Peter Osler of the College of Architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology delivers a lecture at 6:30pm in the HR MacMillan Space Centre Auditorium in Vancouver. www.sala.ubc.ca 2012 Wood Solutions Fair toronto

November 20, 2012 Visit the Allstream Centre at Exhibition Place to learn about the latest developments in wood design and construction, as ongoing technical innovations have resulted in stronger, smarter, and more versa-

calendar tile wood products and systems that are being enthusiastically embraced by building and design communities around the globe. www.wood-works.org Michael Green lecture

November 21, 2012 Michael Green of Michael Green Architecture Inc. (formerly of McFarlane | Green | Biggar Architects) in Vancouver delivers a lecture at 6:30pm at Ryerson University’s Department of Architectural Science in Toronto. www.arch.ryerson.ca/?page_id=12 architect as developer: Building the infill house alternative

November 22, 2012 Kyra Clarkson of MODERNest in Toronto delivers a lecture at 6:45pm in the Lawrence Cummings Lecture Hall at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture in Cambridge, Ontario. www.architecture.uwaterloo.ca

One of a Kind christmas Show & Sale

November 22-December 2, 2012 The ever popular One of a Kind Christmas Show & Sale returns to Toronto’s Direct Energy Centre for 10 days. Choose from the work of over 800 artisans—furniture, art, home decor, jewelry, fashion, toys and more. www.oneofakindshow.com/toronto children in the city

November 25, 2012 Susan Herrington of the University of British Columbia School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture delivers a lecture at 2:00pm at the Museum of Vancouver. www.sala.ubc.ca construct canada 2012

November 28-30, 2012 Taking place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, this is the country’s largest building design and construction show, offering over 1,050 exhibits,

special features and networking opportunities. www.constructcanada.com Prairie Wood Solutions Fair 2012

December 13, 2012 Taking place at the Coast Plaza Hotel and Conference Centre in Calgary, this is an annual free event for members of the design community, and features international speakers, award-winning structures, and manufacturers showcasing what’s new in wood design and construction. www.wood-works.org/alberta/ Manuel aires Mateus lecture

January 15, 2013 Manuel Aires Mateus of Aires Mateus in Lisbon, Portugal delivers a Bulthaup lecture at 6:30pm in Room 103 at the Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design at the University of Toronto. www.daniels.utoronto.ca

Kevin Roche: Architecture as Environment

January 15-March 23, 2013 This exhibition takes place at the Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design at the University of Toronto. www.daniels.utoronto.ca toronto intensification: Policy, Politics and design

January 17, 2013 Peter Clewes of Toronto-based architectsAlliance delivers a lecture at 6:45pm in the Lawrence Cummings Lecture Hall at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture in Cambridge, Ontario. www.architecture.uwaterloo.ca/ news+events/lectures/lectures.html

For more inFormation about these, and additional listings oF Canadian and international events, please visit www.canadianarchitect.com

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BacKPaGe

Flow oF MeMory

An outdoor instAllAtion by PlAnt Architect inc. ensures thAt the mysterious mill creek is reinserted into the imAginAtion of A smAll ontArio city. teXt

lorrAine Johnson PlAnt Architect inc.

PhotoS

The Grand River flowed through my childhood. This wide, steady watercourse moving through the centre of Galt, Ontario was ever-present for me: something to stare at, wade through, fish in, canoe on, explore. To an eight-year-old, the Grand was an event, a river offering alluring opportunity, mutable invitation. The city of Galt, however, seemed to turn its back on the Grand. In the 1960s and ’70s, there were no landscaped walkways adorning its banks. The old factories and warehouses, built tight to the water’s edge, presented solid stone walls. It was as if there had been a collective agreement to ignore the Grand. Of course, some rivers are too big to ignore. For the past few decades, the city of Galt has been engaged in official recuperation, celebrating the Grand with trails, signage and waterfront renovation. The river is now central to the city, not just in literal configuration, but imaginatively as well. Galt finally feels like a river city. Even so, there are still hidden water secrets to discover about the place, one of which—Mill 50 canadian architect 11/12

Creek—is enigmatically explored by Torontobased PLANT Architect Inc. in a project commissioned by Cambridge Galleries called Channelled Buried Moved Lost: Where Did My Creek Go? PLANT’s outdoor installation ensures that Mill Creek, buried and hidden for much of its route, is reinserted into the city’s imagination. There is a large (10’ by 20’) culvert built into the retaining wall along the Grand, just a few hundred feet from the intersection of Main and Water Streets. Outflow pours over the culvert’s algae-covered concrete and into the Grand. Recently, I stood watching a gull play a game with the current. The gull braced itself on the slippery concrete, then lifted its feet and let itself be propelled into the river; after drifting, it swam back to the culvert, and launched itself for another rushed float. The water that sent this gull into the Grand is the culverted flow of Mill Creek. More than 40 years ago, I played my own version of that gull’s watery game, also on Mill Creek, but about two miles upstream, at Soper Park. I sat on algae-covered rocks, staining my swimsuit green, and let the water’s force push me off the rocks. I didn’t know the name of the creek—nobody ever graced it with a name in those days. Mill Creek, which disappears at Main Street, channelled underground, hidden below city streets, has long been a phantom. To find Mill Creek requires an act of tracery, a

aBoVe two imAges dePict PlAnt Architect’s interventions in the community of gAlt to reveAl the existence of the enigmAtic And hidden mill creek And to celebrAte its Profound visuAl And culturAl history.

scavenger hunt for hints and clues: the sound of water under a trap door in the floor of the old Galt Knitting factory; stone remnants of what looks like a bridge; a blue-stencilled word, stating “Buried” on the sidewalk. Guided by PLANT’s project, you can go on a scavenger hunt in Galt to find blue-stencilled words and phrases, traced onto sidewalks, roads, culverts and walls for 10 downtown sites that follow the path of this hidden creek. PLANT’s declarative, detective act of remembering the creek breaches a collective urban amnesia, reminding us that what is below should not be forgotten. ca Please visit www.millcreekgalt.ca for locations of PLANT Architect Inc.’s installation entitled Channelled Buried Moved Lost. Lorraine Johnson is the editor of Ground: Landscape Architect Quarterly, and the author of the recently published book City Farmer: Adventures in Urban Food Growing.

COLOR TRANSFORMATION

Helping to make children feel better, inside and out. UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh is not just a world-class health care facility and LEED® silver certified. It’s also a vivid example of how designers, architects, and contractors can use color to create a physical and emotional transformation. After extensive research with children and their families, the hospital’s architect chose PPG CORAFLON® and DURANAR® fluoropolymer coatings for the exterior colors, to communicate a facility that is dynamic and alive. Interior walls and trim are coated with PPG PURE PERFORMANCE®, among the world’s first premiumquality zero-VOC* latex paint, in shades designed to promote healing. SUNGATE® 500 glass allows high levels of natural sunlight, while our Atlantica glass supplies the spectacular emerald-green hue. With more than 100,000 custom-created Duranar colors and a wide array of energy-saving tinted glass, no company offers more color choices for your next project. So visit ppg.com to contact an architectural specialist.

Bringing innovation to the surface.™ PAINTS - COATINGS - OPTICAL PRODUCTS - SILICAS - CHEMICALS - GLASS - FIBER GLASS The PPG logo, Coraflon, Duranar, Pure Performance, Sungate and “Bringing innovation to the surface.” are registered trademarks of PPG Industries Ohio, Inc. LEED is a registered trademark of the U.S. Green Building Council *Colorants added to this base paint may increase VOC levels significantly, depending on color choice.

T:9” S:8”

KOHLER: As I See It, #98 in a series “Harness the power of KOHLER.” WATER-SAVING TOILETS: Saile TM, Gabrielle TM and Tresham TM ARTIST: Zach Gold 1- 800 - 4 - KOHLER kohler.com/watersavingtoilets

T:11.25”

S:10.25”