Seen...

...on Bremner Blvd. just west of Spadina, Thursday April 29th, 2010.

Evidence of life!

2010 Governor General’s Medals in Architecture

1. St-Germain Aqueducts & Sewers headquarters, St-Hubert, Quebec

We're not normally huge fans of awards- especially design awards, where the context of project delivery such as client, budget, etc. are next to impossible to factor into the adjudication of success. Nonetheless, awards are a powerful marketing tool, widely used by the creative industries to promote their product. The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada is no exception.
And we have to admit that this year's recipients of the Governor General's Medals in Architecture deliver great eye candy!

A dozen projects were honoured & from them we're sharing a few of the images, downloaded from the RAIC website, that really speak to us.

Please visit the website here for full coverage, including many more photos, the descriptive brief for each work, and the Jury's comments.

2.Photographer's Studio over a Boathouse, Stoney Lake, Ontario

A breath of fresh air in Cottage Country

3. Photographer's Studio over a Boathouse, Stoney Lake, Ontario

4. Photographer's Studio over a Boathouse, Stoney Lake, Ontario

5. Promenade Samuel- De Champlain, Quebec City, Quebec

Sophisticated public place-making

6. Promenade Samuel- De Champlain, Quebec City, Quebec

7. French River Visitor Centre, Ontario

A touch of Brutalism for a brutal environment

8. French River Visitor Centre, Ontario

9. Ravine Guest House, Toronto, Ontario

Lucky guests!

10. Ravine Guest House, Toronto, Ontario

11. Private Residence, Laurentians, Quebec

12. Private Residence, Laurentians, Quebec

An elegant stack of building blocks with a little taste of Mies

13. Private Residence, Laurentians, Quebec

The Ravine House shown in photos #9 & 10 is also discussed in this post from the Treehugger blog.

Piri- piri please!

OK, we were in the area of St. Lawrence Market today at lunch time, so how could we NOT drop in for a Churrasco sandwich to go?

Gee, do you think there might be Portuguese folks involved here?

ALWAYS with extra piri-piri! Our mouth is still on fire!

*******
Churrasco St. Lawrence
92 Front St. E.
Toronto

W Retreat and Spa- Vieques Island

The long anticipated "W Retreat & Spa- Vieques Island" recently opened, the day before we arrived on Vieques.

Because the facility had been under development for several years (after the owners took over the failed Wyndham Martineau Bay Resort & Spa) it became the subject of wild gossip as its projected completion date dragged on & on.

Below, aerial shot of the W pool area prior to opening:
The property, operated under license to Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, controllers of the W brand, is owned by REIG Capital of Spain, who also own the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Barcelona & who were early backers of Tyler Brulé (né a Winnipeg, reluctant resident of Toronto, former editor of Wallpaper* magazine) when he launched Monocle magazine.
REIG, who are apparently quite well versed in the high-end design scene, appear to have very deep pockets & we do not doubt that this project has longevity.
(By the way, all of the above comments are attributed to on-line research & are therefore as reliable as anything one finds on the internet)

The partnership between REIG & designer Patricia Urquiola is a winning one. These photographs of the Mandarin Barcelona demonstrate that together they do "SEXY" very, very well. They also demonstrate that the owners thoroughly understand their market & will spend the dollars (or euros) necessary to cultivate it.


(The chairs above might look familiar as you get to the Vieques photos)


The website for Mandarin Oriental Barcelona

So, back to Vieques:
The Press Release for the opening glowingly describes the new facility, but for those who know the island it reads in places like a bit of fiction, especially this about the restaurant & the inspiration taken by the star chef who is said to conceptually guide the food service:
"...an exciting epicurean experience at miX on [the] beach, inspired by Alain Ducasse, featuring organic, local ingredients handpicked from the island's growers..."

OK, that describes the chickens running around the streets, maybe, but not much else!
*****

Above is an old photo of the entry to the main building at the former Martineau Bay Resort.

Below a shot of the current entry to the W "Greathouse" which includes the reception area, lobby ("Living Room"), lounge, & dining room.

The bones were maintained & re-worked to give a much more modern look. The slatted wood cladding is a theme woven throughout the property and it allowed the designers to both disguise (somewhat) the faux plantation- style architecture of Martineau Bay while providing some natural texture.

Above, a north coast beach just to the west of the Greathouse. It would be a shame if guests never saw the south coast beaches; they would leave Vieques wondering what all the fuss over her spectacular beaches was all about.

The patios in front of the ground floor guest rooms utilize the wood slat motif for a little bit of privacy, and the gauzy curtains, which also flank the terraces of the Greathouse, provide further separation if needed. The custom daybeds are also a recurring element throughout the property.

These bathtubs, named Vieques, were designed by Patricia Urquiola for Agape. We understand they were intended for W but we're not sure if they made it into the final design. (There are room photos on Trip Advisor which show tubs other than these.)

The pool is a multi-tiered affair. These loungers are floating in a black stone basin between the two swimming levels. (see picture 2 at the top of the post for better orientation)

Between the pool & the Greathouse is a large outdoor dining/ lounge space

Above is a concept rendering of miX restaurant (still used on the W website) and below is the actual as seen from the exterior terrace. It appears the interior spaces had a final re-think which saw them become darker & funkier. It seems that the conception at some point in the design was for a crisp & airy Caribbean room. In the end, that idea migrated to a darker & edgier look, still a cool respite from the hot sun, but more cave-like. No question, definitely geared to a younger demographic. (see also the "living room" design below)

The continuous terrace along the north face of the Greathouse. Dining at the east end, lounging at the west. Do the chairs below look familiar? (see picture 5 of the outdoor terrace in Barcelona)

Below, kicking back on a 'punctuation piece' where the continuous outdoor terrace meets the main aisle connecting the lobby of the Greathouse with the outdoor firepit.

View of the bar with those awesome Tom Dixon light fixtures ('beat' series) in the center of the lounge space.

Below, view through the lounge to the outdoor terrace. We LOVE the web strap seating in the jewel-tone jelly bean colours! In the above & below shots you can see how the darker, edgier, more industrial aesthetic has been employed.

Above is the 'view' of the lobby space known as 'Living Room'- it's actually a computer rendering that appears on the W website. Below is a portion of the actual space. As in the miX dining room, the space as built is much moodier than the rendering. The way it's turned out is, we think, more appropriate to the setting & clientèle, more the kind of place you'd feel comfortable wandering into barefoot from the beach. The 'mural' wall is exceptional & the high level rope 'curtains' (shown better in the rendering than in the photo) really soften the 'garage-chic' bones of the space. There are dozens of different patterns & textures, all woven together with a very sophisticated colour palette that successfully walks the line between neutral & vibrant.

Below, the outdoor fire pit. An extravagantly indulgent primal gesture. The setting is spectacular, with the sea grapes having been pruned in a very sculpted, almost Japanese manner. We don't doubt that there are evenings when the warmth of the flames would be welcome.
Unfortunately one must sit upwind of the fire because, whatever the fuel is that is being burned, it gives off a noxious exhaust smell.

All in all, we liked W very much, but on its own terms. It's probably well out of our snack bracket. For an early evening cocktail, though, it can be a fun place to go feel the buzz of the "see & be seen scene". In addition to the obvious target market of winter-weary, time challenged, hipster Northeasterners and Euro jet-setters, it should find a following in the trend-loving San Juan bourgeoisie and even the local over-wintering ex-pats who are desperate for a little blast of sophistication from stateside.

Having said all that, we couldn't escape the feeling when we were there that we've left Vieques & ended up somewhere much less exotic.

*******

(Check here for More photos taken by guests from Trip Advisor's hotel review pages)

Magnolia Stroll

Sunday was a dull & damp day so we decided to have a look-see at a couple of the garden centres near us. To get to Jay's on Gerrard St E we wandered through Cabbagetown. This spectacular show of cherry blossoms is on Carlton St. just east of Parliament.

These are early days for gardening, so there wasn't yet much to see at Jay's:

A stroll up Sackville took us past this spectacular Magnolia (above) and its much smaller neighbour across the street (below)

Meanwhile, a few blocks away on Rose Av. north of Winchester, this show stopper had the last word!

We feel a disturbance in The Force...

Hot on the heels of the spectacular activities of Eyjafjallajokull, we've been suddenly buried under the sweet musical ash of Jónsi, AKA Jón Thor Birgisson, singer/ guitarist for Iceland's Sigur Rós.

We suggest you immediately have a look at these videos:

The new solo album is called 'GO', and the video above is for the song 'Go Do'

Although we know the name, which invariably pops up in discussions of the quirky Icelandic music scene, we are not familiar with the work of Sigur Rós. Perhaps that is about to change.

This is not Jónsi's first foray outside the band. In 2009 he & fellow bandmate Alex Somers, who is also his life partner, released Riceboy Sleeps after working on the project for 6 years. Read more about it here.

Below is from Jónsi's Myspace page

Have a listen to them all. We can't recommend this album highly enough. If you like it & want to download it, please purchase it legitimately through Jón's Myspace page or at iTunes.

Jónsi will be appearing at The Sound Academy here in Toronto next Friday & Saturday evenings (April 30 & May 1)