Material Archive

Sweet Vacation: 7 Days in New York

MB and I had a wonderful time. The weather was mild and the sun even made a few appearences. 
In the next several posts, I'll cover off the restaurants and shops visited and our stay at the Ace Hotel.
 

Laurent Chehere: Flying Houses

See more here.

Pop Pilgrims New York: The Royal Tenenbaums house

 

Lost Toronto

 

I accidently stumbled across a really cool blog called Lost Toronto on the weekend that compares present day Toronto architecture to what existed in the late 1800s – early 1900s. I haven't shown any of the "afters" here in my post as I wanted to simply recreate my morning commute to work starting from Parkdale to Yonge Street and beyond with "befores".  Have a look at the site – if you love this sort of thing, you will get lost in it for hours.

 

Looking east on Queen towards the Dufferin underpass

The Gladstone looking east

 

North side of Queen just east of the Gladstone, 1931

 Queen & Lisgar

Queen West just east of Ossington c1919 – north side. Black Dog Video is here now.

 

Trinity College, 1913. The buildings, all except for St. Hilda's, were demolished in 1956.

 

 Queen & Manning

 
 

Queen & Bathurst, 1935

 

Queen & Bathurst (There's a Starbucks on that corner now)

 

South east corner of Queen & Bathurst where the Big Bop was.

 

Queen & Portland, 1958 – the Epicure Cafe is here now.

 

Queen & Spadina, 1910 - south east corner

 

Queen & Spadina – before the streetcar median was here, there were public bathrooms

 

 

North side of Queen east of Spadina – Le Chateau, the Rivoli and David's Tea are here now

 

Queen and Peter looking east

 

Looking south onto Peter from the north side of Queen. You can see "Peter Pan Lunch" to the left, which is still there today.

To the right under that hoarding, you can now find a GAP.

The CityTV building, which was originally constructed for the Methodist Church of Canada in 1913, was bought by CHUM in 1985.

 

Looking north on Beverly from Queen

 

 

University Ave looking south

 

University Ave looking north towards the Canada Life building.

 

Bay & Adelaide

Queen & Yonge

Yonge & Shuter – to the right is Eaton's

The first Loblaws in 1919

Yonge & Dundas 1922

Yonge & Dundas

Yonge & Dundas 1952

 

 Toronto Street & Adelaide

Dundas & Victoria Street 1923. That building is still there as "Hakim Optical".

 


This charming young butcher was photographed in front of his shop at Bloor & Brunswick in 1921.

Here's the link again: Lost Toronto

Enjoy!

 

Bonom's Street Art

See more here.

Lovely facade projection

From here.

PostCarden: A mini living garden

Very cute idea. Buy here.

Oh please, can I live here?

Oh jeez, this makes me weak in the knees. How beautiful is this house and it's gardens? Image via The World in Vogue.

Office Pod

I can't lie – I find this sort of idea very appealing. Working without being distracted can be so hard and if you have "grounds" to accommodate a little private pod like this, it could be quite effective.

I love paintings of buildings

By artist Carrie Bobo. As seen here.

Vertical Gardens by Patrick Blanc

Love this concept – wish it was everywhere. As seen on ELUXURY.

The Book on Prada

Here is an exerpt from the Wall Street Journal:

"This month, Prada moved dresses around its store to make room for a new arrival: the Prada book. Clocking in at over 700 pages, the new tome was designed by architecture firm 2×4 and retails for $125 at Prada stores and select bookshops. The book, which features a few words by enigmatic designer Miuccia Prada, makes its case via glossy photos and seductive graphic design. While that’s expected for what’s ostensibly a fashion book, the publication also flashes its architectural pedigree. Sections on past runway show spaces are illustrated with floor plans. A chapter entitled “Place” presents form development, zoning guidelines and photos of building models as well as circulation plans. It’s an intellectual approach to fashion, which is in keeping with Prada’s sensibilities. But the book also makes the case for a subtly immersive brand experience. The Prada brand is no longer limited to clothing and personal space. Branding, at least Prada’s take on it, assumes a place in the media ether, of course, but its extrapolation leads to an engagement with bigger and bigger public spheres. Where other labels might stop at a boutique, Prada has commissioned “epicenters” by Herzog & de Meuron in Tokyo and Rem Koolhaas’ OMA in Los Angeles.  In Tokyo, the epicenter includes a public gathering space, while LA’s store is notable for a facade that bears no logo or name on the building. These epicenters, Rem Koolhaas writes in the book, “function as a conceptual window - a medium to broadcast future directions that positively charges the larger mass of stores.”

Just reserved my copy. See more here.

Did I mention I live across the street from Charlie Pachter?

PROMENADE, 1986


MARGARET ATWOOD, acrylic & pencil on canvas 1980
What I especially like about this is how unfinished it looks.


TITANICAR, serigraph 1971
Love this!


PROCESSION THROUGH LANDSCAPE, acrylic on canvas board panels, 1972
This painting used to hang in The Spoke Club's dining room when I was a member. Not sure if it's there any longer though.



PIERRE BLANC, 1990


VAN GOGH'S BED
I remember thinking, when I first saw this, how clever it was that he had painted himself in to a place he wanted to be.



Every day, when I leave or come home, I get to admire Charlie Pachter's beautiful house dubbed the "Moose Factory" – which serves as the artist's iconic live/work space.. The building is such a tourist attraction that I often have to navigate around enthusiasts taking photos. For my part, it's just very neat to live near someone whose work I've admired since I was in high school.

I think there are few painters that have branded themselves as well as Charlie has – cornering the market on Canadiana subject matter – from mouse, streetcars, famous authors and politicians, to the Queen herself. In some ways, I think of him as our own Andy Warhol.

Above are a selection of my favourite works of his.

Wonderful Design Resource: Counter-Print

 

In their own words: "Counter-print.co.uk is dedicated to the promotion and sale of Art and Design related material. Often out of print or hard to find, we aim to celebrate both forgotten gems as well as those heralded designers that we all admire."

Store Front – The Disappearing Face of New York

I saw this incredible book a while ago at Magic Pony and fell in love – but as usual – I didn't buy it because it was too heavy! This happens all too frequently to me... I see a great book but can't cope with the idea of schlepping it all around the city for the rest of the afternoon and so I don't ever get it. I will have to make a trip especially for it  – along with the Lanvin and Valentino tomes on my list!

Anyhow, now that I have bored you with the logistics of my book shopping habits – can you believe how great these shots are? This collection of New York's beautiful, decaying old store front facades are like precious little windows in to the past. The signage design, lettering and materials are all eye-candy. Read more about the book from it's authors here.