Festival of Architecture & Design and Doors Open 2008

[smuncky]

Just as a reminder...

DOORS OPEN TORONTO KICK-OFF AT THE ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM

May 23, 2008
4:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queen's Park
FREE

Tafelmusik and the Toronto Consort perform, and Pecha Kucha Toronto Vol. 2 returns with 10 of Toronto's sacred spaces.

 

[MetroMan]

I was certain I saw somewhere that the Royal York was open but I can't seem to find it in any of the official lists.

 

[drum118]

I saw The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan from the GO RHC-SQ One bus on 427 Thursday night and it was outstanding. I should had taken a shot of it, but caught up staring at it.

I had already made plans for Sat months ago and forgot about the event. I'm cutting the event off at 1230 and try to take in a few before 430. Sunday is still up in the air and the the ones I would like to see are not open.

It great to see some of these in the past.

 

[smuncky]

I saw The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan from the GO RHC-SQ One bus on 427 Thursday night and it was outstanding. I should had taken a shot of it, but caught up staring at it.

I had already made plans for Sat months ago and forgot about the event. I'm cutting the event off at 1230 and try to take in a few before 430. Sunday is still up in the air and the the ones I would like to see are not open.

It great to see some of these in the past.

Here are some pics of it from last year when i went.

 

[Urban Shocker]

I hope to go to the three Distillery District sites if I can tear myself away from the garden.

 

[jn_12]

Managed to check out a bunch of awesome sites...

St Lawrence Hall, St James Cathedral (which was quite stunning), The Canada Life Building, Old City Hall and Osgoode Hall.

I wish they still built buildings the way they used to. The attention to detail was simply amazing in every building.

 

[smuncky]

i viisited all the sites i wanted today. the weather was amazing and i really enjoyed the walks and views i had. i'm looking forward to tomorrow as well.

 

[MetroMan]

I invited some DoorsOpen-Newbies so I had to repeat many of the must see sites that I had been to in previous years but it turned out to be a great day.

I did Mountain Co-Op and Bay Lower for the first time this year.
Mountain Co-Op's green roof, nor their view was as impressive as I had imagined. It was the interior of the store and the information given during the tour that impressed me. They have a new customer in me when I finally decide to buy a kayak this summer.
Bay Lower was completely unimpressive at all. The only thing that stood out different than any other Bloor line station was the old wooden benches. I'm hoping that they do the Nuit Blanche thing again at Bay Lower. The dim lights and eerie sounds would make it a worthwhile experience worthy of its "Ghost Station" status.

Other than that, I wasn't much attracted to the idea of visiting churches. I was surprised by – can't remember the name – the one on King and Simcoe and the choir at Trinity Church behind the Eaton Centre.

City Hall is a must stop every year and this year I finally bit the bullet and waited in line to see the mayor's office. It's quite large, certainly an upgrade from Miller's previous cupboard as councillor for High-Park. I liked looking through his memorabilia, book collection and photos.

I also did Queen's Park, Old City Hall, Trinity Square Labyrinth, Union Station and – not part of Doors Open – the ROM. I still wonder why they close the ROM at 5:30pm on Saturdays. It makes no sense whatsoever. It should be open until 8pm at least on weekends.

Tomorrow I'm going to go on a more mellow pace – couldn't feel my legs at the end of today's Doors Open. I'll check out the Four Seasons Centre, CBC, TD Tower and maybe head over to the Distillery.

As for my impression on the over all event, I got the feeling that it was much less popular this year. There weren't nearly as many people in the streets or lining up as I remember from last year when it really hit mainstream.

 

[Urban Shocker]

Rack House 'D' in the Distillery District was interesting - the wooden structure is in much better condition than that of Rack House 'M' where the roof gave in - some of 'D' has already been recycled, with more to come. The booze barrel vaults in Building 36 were worth a look, too.

 

[smuncky]

Rack House 'D' in the Distillery District was interesting - the wooden structure is in much better condition than that of Rack House 'M' where the roof gave in - some of 'D' has already been recycled, with more to come. The booze barrel vaults in Building 36 were worth a look, too.

The shelving was quite impressive indeed.

I also went to check out Building 7 since it was the first time they opened it. Pretty neat as well. However, I must say that the Distillery was the low point out of all my picks for Doors Open.

The highlights for me this year was Harvey Shops, St. Gabriels church, and the Moriyama and Teshima office.

 

[MetroMan]

I did a very lean second day of Doors Open. My plan was to go to Fort York and then walk Queens Quay at a leisurely pace.

...I could barely leave Fort York. What an amazing place! I can't believe I've lived near it for almost a decade and had never visited. I'm definitely going back with friends this summer.

I spent some time in the Musical Garden and admiring the Spadina head of slip. This is going to turn out real nice! Can't wait for it to be replicated at all the other slips.

I made my way to the Toronto Police Unit. I somehow saw it online as part of Doors Open but when I got there, the cop at the desk had no clue. He was nice enough to tell me a little about the place but most of his spiel was about the horrors that go on in the station. He said it would be too difficult to organize a tour there because criminals are handcuffed to benches, some in the cells and it's usually a pretty ugly thing to experience according to him. He was a strange cop... I was beginning to feel afraid of talking to him..lol.. quite creepy...

... curiously enough, I checked the Doors Open site again when I got home: it was a part of Doors Open... in 2007.

I walked up to The Four Seasons Centre and decided to end my Doors open weekend there and just do an extended personal tour at my own pace. Jack Diamond is indeed a competent architect.. the interior of the place is something else. The attention to detail is admirable... but the exterior continues to get me scratching my head: "Why did he screw up the exterior so badly when the interior is an instant Toronto gem?"

The beautiful curves of some of the walls, the excellent materials used, the interweaving of the "platforms" of the city room... it's a beautiful interior.

I noticed that the patio overlooking Osgoode Hall is accessible to become the café patio that it was meant to be:

I guess all they need is the money to finish it.

Doors Open Sunday again got me noticing that it was far from as popular as the previous year. Even on this forum... Doors Open is the Main Event, the Wrestlemania, the SuperBowl of Urban Toronto – yet nobody is discussing it.. strange.

Hopefully we'll have some new buildings in 2009 and a more popular theme.

 

[drum118]

We were ones of the first to get to the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan on Sunday and as we were leaving, there was a mass of people waiting to get in.

Very impressed.

We took in the Brick Works and enjoy it The shuttle was full. Took the Union tour that had a large crowd also. Saw parts of Union that we have not seen before considering I have been most place the public does not see in the first place.

At the Round House, we took the rail ride onto the turntable. They were fixing the table, so we could not go for a ride. Nice to see real work taking place here now. Understand there will be a figure 8 train ride there by 2010 compare what was there this weekend.

I only took in Hillcrest on Sat as I was at an event for MS and did some photo shooting after Hillcrest that included the Spadina Slip. A good crowd for Hillcrest.

Both days were get for weather.

I found this year listing of places odd for some unknown reason.

Seen a fair number of building over the years, but I'm not into church compare to the other haft.

 

[adma]

Doors Open Sunday again got me noticing that it was far from as popular as the previous year. Even on this forum... Doors Open is the Main Event, the Wrestlemania, the SuperBowl of Urban Toronto – yet nobody is discussing it.. strange.

After a decade, methinks dyed-in-the-wool Torontonians are jaded, i.e. they've seen most of it before.

And yes, maybe our secular-society phobia t/w religious structures may play a part this year...

 

[Urban Shocker]

I'd never been in Little Trinity before - the main stained glass is quite plain, but has a nice colour transition to it.

 

[Towered]

After a decade, methinks dyed-in-the-wool Torontonians are jaded, i.e. they've seen most of it before.

And yes, maybe our secular-society phobia t/w religious structures may play a part this year...

That's pretty much it I think. This year was the first time I didn't bother in the last 5 years, and it's not because I had a bunch of other things to do. I've seen a bunch of the buildings that were on the list this year, and religious places are open all the time anyway.