Results tagged “designexchange”

After a building boom altered the Toronto skyline over the course of the late 1920s, construction ground to a standstill during the Great Depression. Annual spending on construction, which had peaked at $51.5 million in 1928, dropped to a mere $4.5 million in 1933. The few projects that weren't cancelled or disrupted were initiated mostly by banks and insurance companies seeking symbolic structures that emphasized institutional stability through turbulent times and faith in an economic turnaround.

AWARDS: It was December of 1978 when the first ever Dora Mavor Moore Awards were handed out to deserving theatre artists and plays. After thirty-one years (and twenty-nine more award shows) they are still honouring some of Toronto's best art on a stage, with more than two hundred theatre, dance, and opera productions up for consideration. Tonight, the CBC's Jian Ghomeshi will host the thirtieth Dora Awards, handing out statues within five major divisions: General Theatre, Independent Theatre, Theatre for Young Audience, Dance, and Opera. If you're looking to learn more about the history behind the Dora Awards, the Doras have created a book to be handed out during a pre-party at the Rosewater Supper Club. Following its launch tonight, The Doras: 30 Years of Theatre, Dance, and Opera in Toronto will be for sale at TheatreBooks. Look for Torontoist's coverage of the winners within the next week. Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre Centre (189 Yonge Street), 8 p.m., $60.

The next time somebody tells us that Toronto is in the midst of a war on cars we are going to buy them a plane ticket to Copenhagen. Or possibly Bogotá. New York if they want something closer to home. We will send them to one of the growing number of cities that are actually demonstrating the nerve to redefine their planning priorities in favour of liveability and environmental sustainability and dare the auto-obsessed malcontents to say that they aren't all the better for it. For all the recent controversies over Toronto's Bike Plan and Walking Strategy, over our notions of just talking about taking down one portion of one disastrous highway, and converting one traffic lane on a road that is not used to capacity [PDF] to allow five times the number of people to use it on their bikes, Toronto's initiatives are piddling, tentative, nibbling-around-the-edges sorts of things when compared with what is happening elsewhere in the world.

It is easy to misplace the essence of architecture in an imperious world of pretentious jargon, perpetuating a growing disparity between buildings and their users. The spaces and environments in which people work and live—the spaces in which individuals spend the majority of their time—have become disconnected from the kind of Architecture that is spelled with a capital “A.” Looking at the context of the built world with its users is an incredibly valuable discussion, and there can never be enough opportunities for engaging the public on issues related to the built environment.

Here's a good question: what are two prominent local companies devoted to design and architecture—the Design Exchange and archiTEXT—doing stenciling teaser ads on Toronto's sidewalks? The stencils are simple, vague, and identical: they say "ON APRIL 15TH, NED IS COMING," with a cross below the text, all in pink. And they're everywhere: outside of subway stations, and at intersections throughout downtown, like Augusta and Nassau, Queen and Spadina, and Bay and Bloor. The lattermost intersection is where reader John Matheson snagged the above photo and sent it to tips@torontoist.com late last week, with an e-mail that read: "On my way to work this morning I noticed pink plus signs/crosses spray painted outside some ttc stations downtown. I've heard they are all over the city. Do you know what they mean?"

Urban agriculture is the new green. Now that we've got trash reduction, active transportation, and energy conservation well-entrenched in our collective consciousness it's time for the next frontier in city-based environmentalism, and our relationship to food is it. "Carrot City," an exhibit showing at the Design Exchange until April 30, is trumpeting the latest and greatest developments in urban agriculture. Torontoist was at the opening party Tuesday night, and got the scoop on everything from a highrise tower built especially for pigs to a plan that would have us install greenhouses under the Gardiner.

Every weekday morning, bright and early, we feature a photo (or two) from a photographer in the Torontoist Flickr Pool. It's our way of giving the many excellent photographers in our pool the attention that they deserve.

It's tough to get excited about Kikkoman soy sauce bottles. They've been around since 1961, and you find them at every sushi dive in the city. But, at one time, they were the height of tableware innovation, and for that reason, they're included in a new show at the Design Exchange: Japanese Design Today 100.

With Labour Day having come and gone, and autumn's chill making too many appearances, Toronto's waterfront is now just a memory of a summer fling. Who are we kidding... even during the summer the waterfront leaves much to be desired.

If you want to find Japan’s cutting edge fashion, hit the streets. For years now, teenagers in Japan’s cities have been borrowing, improving and experimenting on any number of cultural influences: everything from Hip Hop and Goth culture to Japan’s own formidable design aesthetic. No Kimono, an exhibit of fashion inspired by Japanese street fashion, tries to bring this energy to Toronto.