2 minute read
One Voice
PREPARE TO BE INSPIRED
When architects have the opportunity to spread their wings, it can knock your socks off
AS LEONARDO DA VINCI once observed, “Beauty perishes in life, but is immortal in art.”
What we do as builders and contractors is to provide a high-quality living environment for Ontario residents— an abode that caters to their needs, but one that hopefully also inspires all who interact with it.
Budgets, building codes, skills, space and time constraints all have varying impacts on the final product. But when all the variables line up, something amazing can be created.
That’s what this issue of Ontario Home Builder is dedicated to—10 examples of truly creative architecture. And that doesn’t mean starting with a blank canvas and blank cheque. “The enemy of art is the absence of limitations,” observed Orson Welles. In other words, for any decent artist, creative answers often emerge from difficult questions. How did Urbanscape Architects overcome the issue of building against a ravine? How did Hariri Pontarini make the most of a confined footprint in Toronto? How did Kariouk Architects build a home in the trees? All the innovative answers are in the pages that follow.
Reality, of course, can get in the way of best intentions. We don’t always have the luxury of accommodating a design. But it’s important that we try, and that we attempt to set ourselves apart.
This issue of OHB traditionally showcases OHBA’s annual Awards of Distinction—that unrelenting pursuit to not merely one-up the competition, but to outdo yourself, whether you’re a builder, renovator, designer, marketer or architect. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic intervened, forcing us to wait one more year before celebrating the AOD’s 30th edition.
But that hasn’t stopped us from admiring what others have crafted in recent years. And sticking out doesn’t mean like a sore thumb. It’s being distinctive without being obnoxious. Great architecture embraces and adapts to its environment.
Regardless of your vocation, we’ve had to do a lot of that lately—adapting—thanks to rising product and service costs, longer wait times, staff working from home and COVID protocols. It doesn’t mean we’ve been forced to settle; just that we’ve had to innovate a lot quicker than normal to keep up.
We’re going to celebrate the fruits of all those labours at OHBA’s AOD and Annual Conference in Niagara Falls next September. You have no idea how much I’m looking forward to being part of that in-person tradition again.
It reminds me of another da Vinci expression: “Ostinato rigore.” It translates to “stubborn rigour”—a relentless pursuit of your passion.
I’m proud to say OHBA members have that down to an art form.
BOB SCHICKEDANZ IS THE PRESIDENT OF THE ONTARIO HOME BUILDERS’ ASSOCIATION
