Toronto Forma | 308m | 84s | Great Gulf | Gehry Partners

The note may be obviously patronizing to people who either don't like the new development more than the old one, or people who don't like anyone messing with Gehry, but it's not obvious to me. You're projecting your own thoughts into Gehry's head, but you have no actual insight.

To my mind, to come up with your conclusion, you're doing two things. The first is underestimating Keesmaat in a serious way (for whatever reason), and the second is that you believe that Gehry (as well known as is for cranky behaviour at press conferences) would stoop so low as to spend the time to craft a nasty, patronizing, resoundingly unprofessional letter.

Please. That's the province of UrbanToronto, not the rarified air of best-in-the-world firms.
 
I'm sorry, Gehry is a world-renowned architect and has been at this for decades.

Keesmat was formerly a planner in some provincial backwater (and somehow became chief planner of Toronto).

His note defines being professionally patronizing.. Anyone with office experience knows this.
 
Filip said:
I'm sorry, Gehry is a world-renowned architect and has been at this for decades.

Keesmat was formerly a planner in some provincial backwater (and somehow became chief planner of Toronto).

His note defines being professionally patronizing.. Anyone with office experience knows this.
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Too bad your office experience means nothing in this case. A friend of mine was part of the Gehry working group and said Gehry was nothing but supportive of the changes they were recommending. At no point did he come across as patronizing or reluctant to the refining of the proposal. From everything I've heard during his time serving on the group, the letter to Keesmat does not sound patronizing at all. It is in line with what I heard was happening behind the scenes.
 
Filip said:
Keesmat was formerly a planner in some provincial backwater (and somehow became chief planner of Toronto).
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Way to cherry-pick her work experience.
Ms. Keesmaat is a partner at Dialog, and a founder of the Office for Urbanism, a planning and design firm that describes its work as specializing in “the integration of planning, design and consensus building processes.”
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An award-winning planner, she is a frequent public commentator on urban issues and is a columnist for the CBC Radio’s Toronto drive-home show. She has done work on master planning initiatives in Toronto, Vancouver, Mississauga, Vaughan, Regina, Saskatoon, Lethbridge, Moncton, London and Halifax. Outside of Canada, she has worked in United States, Ireland and Greece.
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Filip said:
somehow became chief planner of Toronto
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Can't help wondering how different the reaction would have been if our chief planner were a dude. Seriously, misogyny is gross and the way people have been going after Keesmaat in this thread is embarrassing. You're not fooling anyone.
 
smably said:
Can't help wondering how different the reaction would have been if our chief planner were a dude. Seriously, misogyny is gross and the way people have been going after Keesmaat in this thread is embarrassing. You're not fooling anyone.
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She was chief planner of Peterborough (?) and then became chief planner of a major city. I don't think she has the experience, she approaches each issue from a provincial mindset and refuses to 'think big'.

Her cocky, smug, attitude in that Toronto Life article proves this.. She has no experience and no tact. She is cocky and arrogant. Anyone with any experience can tell. She's a joke.

I'm also tired of people thinking that as soon as you criticize a woman, it's because she's a woman. How about she's just not right for the job?
Some people like to create issues where there are none.. Like those Star articles about women suffering in the summer in cold offices.. Because men set the thermostat too low... Umm maybe that's because men have to wear suits to the office and you get to come in with skirts and bare shoulders... LOL
 
Filip said:
Some people like to create issues where there are none.. Like those Star articles about women suffering in the summer in cold offices.. Because men set the thermostat too low... Umm maybe that's because men have to wear suits to the office and you get to come in with skirts and bare shoulders... LOL
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Check your gender privilege.

Keep digging and burying all your credibility.
 
greenleaf said:
Check your gender privilege.

Keep digging and burying all your credibility.
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My boss (a woman) insists on shirts, pants and ties for men - we are a business and I wholeheartedly agree with her.

Shirts, ties, pants, etc make men sweat - we get hot. I can't take my clothes off in the office to cool down, hence the thermostat.. That's gender privilege? Sorry, I guess it's gender privilege that I have a penis? Nature is so biased!
 
I think it's awesome our city has a female planner, and many other great women in important roles.
(Just to get that out there)

On the cold workplace thing... I have to say that where I work it is rather unfair because men have to wear pants and shirts, no shorts or tank tops. BUT women (who outnumber the men) are allowed to wear dresses skirts, tanks and even spaghetti string tops. We vote when to have the ac on, because the majority of the people at my work place are in tanks and skirts the vote to have the ac OFF on a hot day usually wins. The guys have to be covered and over heated.

Not really fair either. Personally I think it would be more fair to have it on the colder side and those cold wear a sweater. OR better yet let everyone wear what they are comfortable in regardless of gender.

To bring this back on topic. I really hope they get sales started by TIFF
 
wolfewood said:
The responses to Gehry's letter to Keesmaat really shine a light on how some UTers think about women...
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Was just about to post the same thing.

It's also interesting how the idea of Gehry's (or any male architect's) ego is celebrated, but Keesmaat is seen as some undeserving from a backwater whose opinions are irrelevant in the face of Gehry. This is very common in the industry and you see it a lot on UT and in the public at large.

(For the record, Gehry is not a planner, he has been retained by a private developer (as with most projects), and is backed by a team of architectural designers and interns who do the less-glamorous bulk of the work for projects that bear his name. I would also imagine (and hope) that plenty of those architectural designers and interns are women.)
 
Filip said:
My boss (a woman) insists on shirts, pants and ties for men - we are a business and I wholeheartedly agree with her.

Shirts, ties, pants, etc make men sweat - we get hot. I can't take my clothes off in the office to cool down, hence the thermostat.. That's gender privilege? Sorry, I guess it's gender privilege that I have a penis? Nature is so biased!
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I think it's the hot air you spout on this forum that's making you feel hot, not the air conditioner. You might want to turn it down a bit because you're starting to make me sweat too.
 
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