The book Concrete Ideas: Material to Shape a City was launched in January, 2012.
Edited by Pina Petricone, the book considers new approaches to concrete architecture by exploring a variety of new technologies and possibilities for the material. First introduced by Pina’s article in Concrete Toronto, the book is a compilation of ideas, articles and interviews assembled over the past several years.

The volume includes exploratory design work by ERA’s Jessie Grebenc, as well as a pair of articles by Graeme Stewart focused on Tower Renewal; one examining the state of concrete tower blocks internationally and the other exploring their potential architectural and urban futures in the Toronto context.

Congratulations to Pina and the publication team on a wonderful and beautiful book.

Concrete Ideas: Material to Shape a City will be available for order online at Amazon.ca soon.

For more on concrete, Concrete Toronto can be found here.

On Tuesday, December 6th the National Film-Board is screening its collaborative documentary, One Millionth Tower. ERA will be at the event discussing its involvement in the documentary, along with representatives from the United Way, City of Toronto, NFB and the Mozilla Foundation.

All are welcome to attend the event, which will run from 6:00-8:00PM at the Gladstone Hotel.

One half of the adaptive reuse of the Gardens is now open! People even lined up over night to be first into the new flagship Loblaws store. Public interest has been at a frenzy, and there is a lot of press about the event; Globe and Mail, CityNews, National Post, etc. A more thorough collection of reactions to come in the next few days, but initial responses have been enthusiastic and positive.

The very public face of the on-going Maple Leaf Gardens adaptive reuse project was installed this morning. The restored marquee recreates the historic character of the iconic building signage, which was in place for decades. It was a recognized priority for both Loblaws and Ryerson to honour and evoke the rich and varied history of the former arena, which is also a National Historic Site.

Conn Smythe (fourth from left) in front of the historic marquee, 195-. Toronto Archives f1257_s1057_it7469.

The original canopy from 1931 did not include the lightbox above (which was added in the following decade), and the marquee has been subsequently modified numerous times over the life of the building. It was decided in consultation with municipal staff from Heritage Preservation Services to restore the signature element to it’s iconic, longest-running version; the one which is most clearly defined in the public consciousness. ERA is proud to have been so closely involved in the design and direction of the restoration process. More photographs after the break..

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Last week ERA’s Alec Ring and his collegue Karl Sarkis, who recently left ERA to complete his Masters, gave us an update on the construction progress of their inspiring design project for Oleleshwa Primary School in the village of Ewaso Ngiro, Kenya. Continue Reading This Post

This week Graeme Stewart discussed ERA’s ongoing work related to Tower Renewal and working with the NFB of their film documentary with the metro morning team. You can listen to his interview in full here.

For the past year, ERA has been working on the restoration of one of Brampton’s most cherished monuments – the War Memorial Cenotaph, which stands beside Brampton City Hall. Restoration was completed earlier this month, just in time for this year’s Remembrance Day service. Originally erected in 1928 to honour the sacrifice of Brampton’s fallen in the Great War (1914-1918), the monument has been an iconic part of the city’s Remembrance Day services ever since.

After 83 years however, the Cenotaph is showing its wrinkles. Last year ERA began a condition assessment on the monument and found several signs of deterioration – including rust staining, environmental staining, cracked/damaged pointing, unmatched and damaged sealant. This September the conservation of the Cenotaph began.

The City of Brampton held its Remembrance Day 2011 parade and service at the freshly restored Cenotaph site on Friday. ERA has worked with the city to develop a management plan for the continued preservation of the monument.

On July 4th, 1928, thousands of residents from the area gathered on the reclaimed land of the old Etobicoke Creek to witness the unveiling of the Cenotaph by Lord Willingdon, then Governor General of Canada. With the help of proper heritage conservation, 83 years from now the Brampton Cenotaph will continue to remind people of the symbols expressed in the granite monument’s roman ornamentation: Service, Sacrifice, and Victory.

The Millionth Tower web-based documentary has launched! This weekend the project was featured on the highly-respected Wired.com site, and is already making significant waves re-imagining the way emerging web-based technologies can help to tell highly personal stories in our increasingly connected world. We are all very proud to have been involved – please see the making-of mini-documentary embedded above, and be sure and go check out the interactive documentary..

ERA is featured in the summer edition of the International Journal for the Association for Preservation Technology (APT), in an article examining the Tower Neighbourhood Renewal initiative.

From the introduction:

In 2008 the City of Toronto initiated its Tower Neighborhood Renewal program. The program looks at the significant impact of post–World War II construction in the city and proposes a plan for the rehabilitation of the many apartment towers that had been built during that period in the downtown core and inner suburbs. The scale and ambition of the project is large, and it represents an important departure from previous thinking that had placed little value on the conservation of buildings from this period. The intent of the program is to use the rehabilitation of this postwar building type as the catalyst for creating stronger, more sustainable communities. Recognizing that such a large-scale renewal amounts to a 20-year program, this paper provides an update on current progress.

The full article can be downloaded here.

The Toronto Standard discusses North York’s emergence as a modernist heritage hub.

Please also have a look at the full publication of ‘North York’s Modernist Architecture Revisited‘, produced by ERA last year.

Amy, one of ERA’s latest recruits, was recently featured in the Toronto Standard.  Her Master’s thesis (completed with Clint Langevin) was a large-scale, radical proposal to utilize toxic sites in North America for future ecologically-oriented development.  The full description of the project makes for a very interesting read.

Alana was featured in NOW Magazine this week, in the special career insert. She discussed her training, why she is excited to be working with ERA, and what it’s like to study and practice architecture in what is still a largely male dominated industry.

*photograph from NOW Magazine

Following the recent Toronto Heritage Awards, Bert Archer published an article in the Toronto Standard that questions the common usage of the word ‘heritage’, and pays tribute to the late Paul Oberman.

The kind of work Oberman did is known as adaptive reuse, and its widespread practice here sets Toronto apart from most cities in the world in its ability to not only incorporate old into new—most European cities do that fairly well—but have the new structurally, aesthetically influence the old without fundamentally compromising either. The Tate Modern is a gorgeous example of adaptive reuse in London, but it stands out in that city as an anomaly. In Toronto, it’s fast becoming the norm. It’s an approach to architecture and development that requires vision, dedication, patience, and a lot of money. Lucky for us, Oberman had all four in apparent abundance. Even luckier, so do a bunch of others.

This month a number of ERAers took a trip to Sweden, in order to kick off a neighbourhood rejuvenation project at Semlal Lagerlöfs Torg in Gothenberg. Following the extensive site tour and project brief, the team visited precedent projects in Stockholm, Malmo and Copenhagen to view the latest in housing design and neighbourhood renewal from our Nordic cousins. The following images illustrate the project’s existing context ‘as found’, and future blog posts will expand on both the trip and the on-going project.

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Community Design – Image courtesy of Expect Theatre / Spark Productions

The East Scarborough Storefront is a community agency offering multiple services in a tower neighbourhood in East Scarborough.  Containing a community kitchen and garden, market, resource centre and access point to over 50 different agencies such as job search support and literacy service, the East Scarbourough Storefront is a significant asset to Toronto. To expand its reach, the Storefront is currently undergoing a long term community lead expansion and revitalization strategy.

Over the past several years, ERA has been aiding the Storefront in this process,  in collaboration with  Sustainable.TO, ArchiTEXT, LoCALe, the Tower Renewal Office at the City of Toronto, and a group of vibrant and active community youth.

A recent article in the Summer 2011 issue of Sustainable Builder Magazine showcasing this ongoing work can be found here, or downloaded in PDF format here.

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Michael celebrated his 60th birthday at the Carlu last night, with a great party and in high style.  ERA assisted with the restoration of the heritage elements of the Carlu, and was awarded the Architectural Excellence by Ontario Association of Architects.

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ERA, in cooperation with Historic Restoration Inc., hosted one- and two-day workshops for Heritage Professionals and Masons, titled Lime Mortars for Traditionally Constructed Brickwork, lead by Dr. Gerard Lynch. The workshops, held at the Evergreen Brick Works, included both theoretical and practical components, and covered such topics as; binders in historic mortar, historic forms of joining and pointing, re-pointing historic brickwork including colour washing, and tuck pointing.

Dr. Lynch is an internationally acclaimed and highly respected historic brickwork consultant, master bricklayer, educator and author.  He is considered the world’s leading authority of gauge brickwork, and affectionately known by the historic term ‘The Red Mason.”

As quoted in a Toronto Star article covering the workshop, Dr. Lynch explained:

“We were taught to work in two worlds,” says Lynch, 56, whose five-year apprenticeship started at age 17. “We had to work reasonably fast to build modern houses and factories, so we could earn our boss money.

“But we were also taught how to do traditional craft skills. I am proud of doing what I can to pass on those skills. I hope that I will be a pebble in a pond that will radiate out.”

A number of ERAers were able to attend the course, and spoke very highly of the inspiring, practical training.

As part of the Culture of Outports project, ERA taught an intensive two-week design/build course in the small outport of Burlington, Newfoundland. The course was run through Dalhousie, and began with a lengthy road-trip from St. John’s, where students had the opportunity to study and immerse themselves in the local and material culture. Then, working with the full support of the Burlington community and assisted by a range of craftspeople, ERA led the six architecture students in the design and construction of a small-scale intervention bred from site-specific conditions, drawing upon vernacular building techniques and traditional craft practices, and making use of local materials.

More photos from the project are included below, after the jump. To follow the research, design, and construction of the community installation as it took shape, please see the Culture of Outports blog.  Further information on the project will be added to the CUG+R site shortly.

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In July, ERA got into the building spirit as part of the Tower Renewal project at the Kipling Towers in North Etobicoke.

Kipling Towers is one of the City’s great apartment neighbourhoods, with a cluster of nineteen towers perched along the western bank of the Humber River. Previous posts with more information about the neighbourhood can be found here.

ERA has been involved in the neighborhood since 2007 in partnership with the City of Toronto, Jane’s Walk , the National Film Board and the United Way; working with residents to plan a vision for the future.

During this period, several workshops have been held with the community, hosted by ERA, the City of Toronto, Jane’s Walk and an ongoing collaborative process with the National Film Board as part of their remarkable HIGHRISE documentary initiative. A recently published report of one such workshop hosted by the City and DIAC in late 2010 can be downloaded here.

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ERA celebrated the summer season with grilled food and cold drinks at the firm’s annual BBQ yesterday. Once again Andrew generously provided his back yard for the festivities, which always seem to take place on the hottest day of the summer. All the new ERA-babies made for a really wonderful family atmosphere this year.

More photos after the jump..

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New Orleans is emerging from a long process of rebuilding following the devastation brought on by the hurricanes of 2005.  And while much of this gorgeous city has regained its vitality, 6 years later some families have still fallen between the cracks of of insurance payments and official funding, struggling to repair or rebuild their homes.  The non-profit community based St. Bernard Project was started in 2006 to organize volunteer labour under skilled supervision to undertake the reconstruction of individual houses and whole neighbourhoods.

On his vacation last month in New Orleans, Scott W and his partner Ron Reaman volunteered with St. Bernard Project and installed drywall as part of the reconstruction of what had been a badly damaged house.  Because of its location in Gentilly, a low lying neighbourhood, the bungalow was raised one storey to allow any possible future flooding to leave the main floor of the house untouched, much like the 19th century pattern of building in this region.  Scott and Ron were part of a volunteer team from the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association (CRFA) organized by President and CEO of White Spot Hospitality, and Chairman of the Board of CRFA Warren Erhart and his wife Marie.

Scott also managed to eat a great deal of fabulous Louisiana seafood while he was there, which has recently been declared safe by the FDA following intensive testing related to last year’s oil spill and cleanup.

With any exercise in mapping there are a whole series of interesting Borges-like adventures that reveal themselves.  There is the story or stories the map-writer wishes to tell, but to the map-reader there are countless other stories which may appear as unpredictable discoveries beyond the intentional.

As a child, playing the game of ‘connect the dots’ is an early exploration in map reading.   One carefully draws the lines from dot to dot until the little rhinoceros reveals itself, and there is a moment of discovery, recognition and pleasure.   With every map this same moment of discovery lies in wait – and the more complex the map, the greater the pleasure there is in reading it.

In reading any map there are the representational issues between the map and the place on the ground; the real place to which the map corresponds.   The map is a selective recording of some specific data.  The reader must connect the dots between the data, and find the correspondence that tells her more about that place.  Beyond the simplest of storylines the reader’s own experience and knowledge of the place and knowledge of the data can provide a rich, nuanced, synergistic reading.

A map can also be like an architectural drawing – which is a series of visual instructions, or a map for action – in that it can be a delineation of something that does not yet exist.  And in this case, can the reader visualize the impact and understand the potential should this mapped fictional place slip into the real world?

Mapping of places is an act of the imagination, both for the map-maker and the map-reader.  Wellbeing Toronto presents new and different data from what we have seen before and has the potential to reveal patterns of the city that had previously been unreadable.  With this mapping tool the City of Toronto are opening up room for discussion leading to multiple readings, multiple interpretations, and the potential for action.

The image above overlays the 1894 and 2010 built-form maps of Toronto, produced by ERA.

The City of Toronto has just launched ‘Wellbeing Toronto‘, which, in their own words, is:

a new web-based measurement and visualization tool that helps evaluate community wellbeing across the city’s 140 neighbourhoods. Using geographic information software, Wellbeing Toronto allows you to select, combine and weight the significance of a number of indicators that monitor neighbourhood wellness. The results appear instantly on easy to read maps, tables and graphs. This free tool supports decision making and seeks to engage citizens and businesses in understanding the challenges and opportunities of creating and maintaining healthy neighbourhoods.

What an incredibly powerful tool. The City should be roundly and loudly celebrated for making this data available, which will allow residents to draw powerful associations and build convincing arguments for targeted change.

DSAI held their annual Solstice party at the Evergreen Brickworks last night. The weather on the longest day of the year was beautiful, and the venue was perfect. The party gets bonus points for a Jeanne Beker appearance.

Over the past several years, the Tower Renewal team at ERA and CUG+R have conducted a series of study tours throughout the European Union, visiting numerous cities and neighbourhoods, and meeting with local experts to learn about best practices in tower refurbishment and neighbourhood revitalization. Many of these findings have been compiled in the report Tower Neighbourhood Renewal in the Greater Golden Horseshoe, and its accompanying International Best Practice Research Highlight.

This past weekend, The Toronto Star featured highlights of this research as part of an ongoing series looking into the future opportunities of Toronto Community Housing. Featured in the article are selected best practices found throughout the EU related to social housing. These include:

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Marcus Gee has an article in the Globe today discussing the public realm improvements to the ‘Mink Mile’ along Bloor:

The sidewalks have been widened by four feet to accommodate the bustling street life of Canada’s ritziest retail strip. The tired concrete of the old sidewalks has been replaced by Quebec-quarried granite paving stones of dark “Atlantic grey.” The 134 new London Plane trees are planted in specially designed soil cells to ease them through the stresses of urban life. Stone benches and specially designed new bike rings punctuate the avenue. On a late spring afternoon, shoppers and gawkers stream along the street, passing the gilded storefronts of Hermès, Tiffany and Holt Renfrew. Despite all the bad press, the project is an unmistakable success – proof that some city-building exercises are worth the wait.

A huge congratulations to our neighbours Brown + Storey, who are responsible for the design.  The attention to detail in all elements of the project is remarkable – we love the weathering steel tree-ring and service covers, all aligned with the joints in the pavers.

The exterior masonry restoration work at MLG is progressing well, and will be complete by the end of the summer. Work has begun on the restoration of the historic Carlton marquee, which will be a wonderful public face to this adaptive reuse project.

Inside, the floor slabs are almost all poured, and the internal spaces are really starting to shape up… Loblaws is set to open late this year, and the Ryerson spaces on the new floor levels above will open early spring 2012.

Since 2006, ERA has been engaged in a series of conservation and repair projects at Auchmar Estate in Hamilton, Ontario.  Most recently we have been examining and recording the finishes on both the exterior of the house and on the interior walls of the main front hall.

Working with specialist paint analysts, we have identified two main decorative schemes on the interior plaster.  The oldest scheme is a faux ashlar stone finish dated to the building’s origin in the 1850s.  The second scheme is a golden-coloured marbling application probably dating from the 1880s.  Uncovering these schemes gives us a better understanding of the historic timeline of the house and gives insight into the lives and values of the people who once lived there.

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Philip and Will recently took a trip out to Halifax, to give a public lecture at the Dalhousie School of Architecture and to introduce the Culture of Outports Free Lab project to the students and faculty.

ERA has coordinated and will be leading an intensive two-week design/build studio in the outport community of Burlington, Newfoundland.  Plugging into larger provicinal cultural planning and cultural resource mapping initiatives currently underway in the office, this studio class is an exciting opportunity for six students to participate in a larger cultural initiative. Working with the support of the local community and assisted by a range of design professionals and craftspeople, students will design and produce a small-scale intervention bred from site-specific conditions, drawing upon vernacular building techniques and traditional craft practices.  We will also be touring neighbouring outport communities, giving presentations on our research to a number of towns, and visiting both an active ship-yard and an archeological site.  Check back soon for more details on the project!

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RAW Design held their annual party at the Polish Ontario Bread Company, in a back alley off of Ossington. Despite the torrential downpour, there was a strong turnout to this unique venue, which RAW is hoping to develop into a complex of town houses.

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