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In a part of Toronto that seems to have be created overnight, another structure has taken to the sky here. While it's much shorter than its towering neighbours, Dream House nonetheless now stands proud in the future front courtyard of Lanterra's Ïce Condominiums.
Provisionally titled Urban Firefly when it was unveiled, Dream House was raised on its legs today, and it now 'peaks-out' at 16 metres above ground level. If you're stuck in traffic on the Gardiner and can look north between the 57 and 67-storey architectsAlliance-designed Ïce towers, you should see it from there: Dream House now pokes through a great skylight cut into the Ïce podium roof and 'peeks-out' above it.
A result of Toronto's One Percent for Public Art Programme that has become a proud component of every large development in Toronto, Dream House is the work of London-based artists Vong Phaophanit and Claire Oboussier. The little hut on stilts with the warm yellow glow is meant to remind residents of these sky-scraping towers that despite all the glass, steel, and concrete, this place is still home.
The area will feel more like home once the courtyard is landscaped mid-2015. Originally conceived as a pick-up and drop-off zone for the Ïce towers, the courtyard will be one of Toronto's Privately Owned, Publicly accessible Spaces, or one if its POPS, given over entirely to pedestrians, and available to be enjoyed as park space.
The plan for the courtyard by landscape architect NAK Design Strategies calls for a ground plane punctuated by variously paved or planted circles, mirroring both the podium roof elements and the distinctive "Swiss cheese" visors prominent on Ïce's skyline profile. The garage slab is a full 3 metres below the surface here so that canopy trees planted in the courtyard will be able to grow to maturity. Café terrace seating will overlook the scene, while a rectilinear water feature will cut through the centre. Dream House rises above it all.
Dream House, which will glow softly by night, was fabricated at the Etobicoke workshop of renowned Sohiel Mosun Ltd. The art selection and implementation process for Ïce Condominiums was overseen by Public Art Management Ltd.
Want to know more about Ïce Condominiums? You will find our rendering-filled dataBase file linked below, along with previous stories and associated Forum threads. Want to talk about it? You can join in on the conversation in one of the threads, or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
