Redroom Studios
Senior Member
I wouldnt mind seeing some large planters filled with greenery and colour lining the middle portion of that stair feature... anyone know if we should expect to see something like that?
Toronto Festival Tower and tiff Lightbox | 156.96m | 42s | Daniels | KPMB
Jasonzed
Senior Member
from today
Torontovibe
Senior Member
The lighting on the roof of lightbox.[video=youtube;tojs0UcDCds]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tojs0UcDCds[/video]
Redroom Studios
Senior Member
with those slowly pulsating lights, its like "Close Encounters"...
typezed
Active Member
When they were building this I expected the open space where the Canteen patio is now located to be the spot for grand entrances during the festival. Instead the sidewalk was roped off forcing pedestrians to use the other side of King St. No big deal, traffic patterns sometimes need to be changed to accommodate major events, but I wish they had somehow incorporated space for the beautiful people circus into the ground floor layout of the building. On the south side of the street walkers had to squeeze between the patios there and people lined along the curb watching the entrance in hope of seeing someone famous. The staircase up top isn't as prominent from the street during an event as I expected it to be. I liked the art piece showing along the top windows on the north side of the building. It's b&w video of curtains blowing, with a man and a woman slowly walking past. It has the look of a filmstrip.
faustian7
New Member
Love, love the inside. Great spaces, fantastic cinemas.
On Sunday, TIFF Bell Lightbox took centre-stage as thousands of film buffs, members of the press, TIFF organizers, politicos, assorted luminaries, and ordinary Torontonians descended on King St W and John St for its long-anticipated and historic grand opening. A huge street party was held as the doors to this internationally-unprecedented cultural facility devoted entirely to film were flung open to the general public for the first time. Never missing a beat, Urban Toronto was there to catch all the action.
Text by Doug Convoy Photos by Interchange42
Ribbon-cutting and press coverage.
The crush of media.
TIFF CEO and co-director Piers Handling cutting the ribbon. To his left are Michelle Maheux, TIFF Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer, and Noah Cowan, Artistic Director of TIFF BEll Lightbox. To Handling's immediate right is Joan Cohl, wife of the late Dusty Cohl, one of the founders of TIFF. To her right is filmmaker Jason Reitman and TIFF founder Bill Marshall. Also visible are Cllrs Kyle Rae and Adam Vaughan. Other notable ribbon-cutting participants include TIFF founder Henk van der Kolk, Susan Michaels of the Reitman Family, and federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.
Ontario Culture Minister Michael Chan is at the far left next to Cllr Kyle Rae.
CP24 reporter George Lagogianes interviews filmmaker Ivan Reitman. Agi Mandel of the Reitman family is visible to his immediate left and Cllr Kyle Rae to his right.
Piers Handling talks with Jason Reitman.
Doors open.
Cake-cutting ceremony inside TIFF Bell Lightbox.
The gift shop replete with cinema-related non-fiction books and TIFF-branded products.
A view toward one of two gallery spaces at TIFF Bell Lightbox, this one featuring the Essential Cinema exhibit.
‘Essential Cinema’ opens with ‘Hauntings I’ by Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin, which invokes the ghosts of cinema lost with eleven projections of cuttings from supposed-cinematic masterpieces never realized.
‘Essential Cinema’ continues with a celebration of realized cinematic masterpieces, with costumes, props, posters, music samples, film stills, and other artefacts from the top 100 films of all time as identified by Toronto filmgoers and TIFF programmers.
The Essential Cinema exhibit is on until October 23, 2010 to be replaced in November by The Burton Collection, a compilation of drawings, sculptures, and videos by filmmaker Tim Burton.
Street Party.
LUMA Restaurant on the second floor of TIFF Bell Lightbox, with outdoor terrace and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking King and John.
Night falls on TIFF Bell Lightbox.
No longer an aloof architectural object, TIFF Bell Lightbox now is fully animated as the beating heart of one of the world’s pre-eminent film festivals and film communities.
Luma above, Canteen below.
The sparkling beacon atop Festival Tower announces the arrival of TIFF Bell Lightbox.
Tomorrow, Urban Toronto’s red-carpet tour of this unique, hybrid cultural institution-movie house continues inside. So, stay tuned!
Text by Doug Convoy Photos by Interchange42
Ribbon-cutting and press coverage.
The crush of media.
TIFF CEO and co-director Piers Handling cutting the ribbon. To his left are Michelle Maheux, TIFF Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer, and Noah Cowan, Artistic Director of TIFF BEll Lightbox. To Handling's immediate right is Joan Cohl, wife of the late Dusty Cohl, one of the founders of TIFF. To her right is filmmaker Jason Reitman and TIFF founder Bill Marshall. Also visible are Cllrs Kyle Rae and Adam Vaughan. Other notable ribbon-cutting participants include TIFF founder Henk van der Kolk, Susan Michaels of the Reitman Family, and federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.
Ontario Culture Minister Michael Chan is at the far left next to Cllr Kyle Rae.
CP24 reporter George Lagogianes interviews filmmaker Ivan Reitman. Agi Mandel of the Reitman family is visible to his immediate left and Cllr Kyle Rae to his right.
Piers Handling talks with Jason Reitman.
Doors open.
Cake-cutting ceremony inside TIFF Bell Lightbox.
The gift shop replete with cinema-related non-fiction books and TIFF-branded products.
A view toward one of two gallery spaces at TIFF Bell Lightbox, this one featuring the Essential Cinema exhibit.
‘Essential Cinema’ opens with ‘Hauntings I’ by Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin, which invokes the ghosts of cinema lost with eleven projections of cuttings from supposed-cinematic masterpieces never realized.
‘Essential Cinema’ continues with a celebration of realized cinematic masterpieces, with costumes, props, posters, music samples, film stills, and other artefacts from the top 100 films of all time as identified by Toronto filmgoers and TIFF programmers.
The Essential Cinema exhibit is on until October 23, 2010 to be replaced in November by The Burton Collection, a compilation of drawings, sculptures, and videos by filmmaker Tim Burton.
Street Party.
LUMA Restaurant on the second floor of TIFF Bell Lightbox, with outdoor terrace and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking King and John.
Night falls on TIFF Bell Lightbox.
No longer an aloof architectural object, TIFF Bell Lightbox now is fully animated as the beating heart of one of the world’s pre-eminent film festivals and film communities.
Luma above, Canteen below.
The sparkling beacon atop Festival Tower announces the arrival of TIFF Bell Lightbox.
Tomorrow, Urban Toronto’s red-carpet tour of this unique, hybrid cultural institution-movie house continues inside. So, stay tuned!
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dt_toronto_geek
Superstar
I took in the block party today and toured the Bell Lightbox, including a behind the scenes tour thanks to a longtime friend working at the Lightbox.
I don't take in the King West area much, the last time I was near the Lightbox was when it was still a hole in the ground so my only impressions of the building from John Street and King Street are from photographs posted here. It's a huge building, there's no mistaking that and the scale of the building compared to it's surroundings are somewhat out of context but I can't say that I found it objectionable to any degree. I think it's a fine looking building (save for the north side which will greatly disappear from view in time) and I like the mix of materials used although I can't speak to the quality of the materials, they looked good to my eyes. The entrance is a clear misstep, it's very low key and uninspired - I'm holding hope that like much of the building, it's still not complete. Although Bell Lightbox will be holding regular special event screenings and film festivals throughout the year it's won't be hosting major galas such as the Elgin or Roy Thompson Hall so a super-glitzy entrance isn't necessary, but a more prominent entrance would have been very welcome.
Click on the thumbnail to enlarge, then click again on the image for full size.
Follow the yellow brick road to a few exterior shots...
The main floor lobby is spacious, brightly lit and easy to navigate. A restaurant joins the lobby to the east of the entrance, the TIFF.Shop to the west and beyond that a gallery space which they told me didn't allow photography, although I saw plenty of cameras once I got in there. A welcoming box office is pretty much dead ahead and then stairs and escalators or if you prefer two elevators, whisk movie lovers up to the levels above. An animated, projected spiral display above the box office area showcases the "Essential 100", a film program beginning in September of the top 100 films voted on by TIFF/Cinemateque patrons and TIFF Programmers. Some smart phones have an app. of some sort that let you pick one of the films of your choice and then displays an image from that film in a large format on the wall for about 10 seconds. How cool is that?
Up the escalator we go to the second level
When reaching the second level we're met with an illuminated wall listing major donors to TIFF, turn the corner to find spacious restrooms, The BlackBerry Lounge further along (with terrific views overlooking King Street) and as we approach the cinemas, sweeping views of the lobby below. Here's where I get a bit fuzzy (my head was spinning around now), I believe cinemas 1, 2 and 3 are on the second floor.
Each cinema at Bell Lightbox is unique in the colour of the fabrics used and vary in seating size from roughly 450 seats down to about 80 seats. Cinemas 1 & 2 have curtains, 35MM, DLP Digital projection which can play most any digital & tape format known to man and cinema #1 can also play 70MM film. Cinema 1 has a small balcony which is accessed via a glass staircase at the north end of the lobby (seen in the background where cinema #1 is shown above). The area suspended with red borders above the third floor lobby is the control room, what happens in there (and beyond) is quite simply a technological marvel, there's nothing as sophisticated in any cinema. In the control room HD monitors keep an eye on HD cameras installed throughout the complex. Beyond this room - every light, TV panel, projections around the building and such are all loaded, programmed and controlled from this area, a room full of servers that looks more like it belongs in a downtown bank's IT department than in a cinema. Powerful servers, media racks and miles of cables control everything electronic in the complex. No expense was spared in the projection suites. Cinemas 1-4 are basically one room with the exception of a staircase with state of the art digital sound systems, amplifiers, digital touch screens which control everything from curtains, cinema light programming (LED), masking, house lights, spotlights, sound formats, intermission music, on-screen multimedia, projector starts and stops and on & on. It's unlike anything I've ever seen anywhere. Cinemas 1 to 4 have 35MM, DLP Digital and one permanent 16MM projector. The cinema 5 projection suite is a separate room and has only digital projection although a mobile 16MM projector could be used in here (or any cinema) if needed. Cinemas 1 - 4 have two 35MM film projectors (dual 35MM/70MM in cinema #1) for those rare archival prints that the Bell Lightbox will play where the film cannot be cut. Film platters (where an entire feature is spliced together and run through one projector) are also available in these cinemas.
Tomorrow, up to level 3, inside a few of the cinemas and a few behind the scenes shots if I can get them cleared by then.
I don't take in the King West area much, the last time I was near the Lightbox was when it was still a hole in the ground so my only impressions of the building from John Street and King Street are from photographs posted here. It's a huge building, there's no mistaking that and the scale of the building compared to it's surroundings are somewhat out of context but I can't say that I found it objectionable to any degree. I think it's a fine looking building (save for the north side which will greatly disappear from view in time) and I like the mix of materials used although I can't speak to the quality of the materials, they looked good to my eyes. The entrance is a clear misstep, it's very low key and uninspired - I'm holding hope that like much of the building, it's still not complete. Although Bell Lightbox will be holding regular special event screenings and film festivals throughout the year it's won't be hosting major galas such as the Elgin or Roy Thompson Hall so a super-glitzy entrance isn't necessary, but a more prominent entrance would have been very welcome.
Click on the thumbnail to enlarge, then click again on the image for full size.
Follow the yellow brick road to a few exterior shots...
The main floor lobby is spacious, brightly lit and easy to navigate. A restaurant joins the lobby to the east of the entrance, the TIFF.Shop to the west and beyond that a gallery space which they told me didn't allow photography, although I saw plenty of cameras once I got in there. A welcoming box office is pretty much dead ahead and then stairs and escalators or if you prefer two elevators, whisk movie lovers up to the levels above. An animated, projected spiral display above the box office area showcases the "Essential 100", a film program beginning in September of the top 100 films voted on by TIFF/Cinemateque patrons and TIFF Programmers. Some smart phones have an app. of some sort that let you pick one of the films of your choice and then displays an image from that film in a large format on the wall for about 10 seconds. How cool is that?
Up the escalator we go to the second level
When reaching the second level we're met with an illuminated wall listing major donors to TIFF, turn the corner to find spacious restrooms, The BlackBerry Lounge further along (with terrific views overlooking King Street) and as we approach the cinemas, sweeping views of the lobby below. Here's where I get a bit fuzzy (my head was spinning around now), I believe cinemas 1, 2 and 3 are on the second floor.
Each cinema at Bell Lightbox is unique in the colour of the fabrics used and vary in seating size from roughly 450 seats down to about 80 seats. Cinemas 1 & 2 have curtains, 35MM, DLP Digital projection which can play most any digital & tape format known to man and cinema #1 can also play 70MM film. Cinema 1 has a small balcony which is accessed via a glass staircase at the north end of the lobby (seen in the background where cinema #1 is shown above). The area suspended with red borders above the third floor lobby is the control room, what happens in there (and beyond) is quite simply a technological marvel, there's nothing as sophisticated in any cinema. In the control room HD monitors keep an eye on HD cameras installed throughout the complex. Beyond this room - every light, TV panel, projections around the building and such are all loaded, programmed and controlled from this area, a room full of servers that looks more like it belongs in a downtown bank's IT department than in a cinema. Powerful servers, media racks and miles of cables control everything electronic in the complex. No expense was spared in the projection suites. Cinemas 1-4 are basically one room with the exception of a staircase with state of the art digital sound systems, amplifiers, digital touch screens which control everything from curtains, cinema light programming (LED), masking, house lights, spotlights, sound formats, intermission music, on-screen multimedia, projector starts and stops and on & on. It's unlike anything I've ever seen anywhere. Cinemas 1 to 4 have 35MM, DLP Digital and one permanent 16MM projector. The cinema 5 projection suite is a separate room and has only digital projection although a mobile 16MM projector could be used in here (or any cinema) if needed. Cinemas 1 - 4 have two 35MM film projectors (dual 35MM/70MM in cinema #1) for those rare archival prints that the Bell Lightbox will play where the film cannot be cut. Film platters (where an entire feature is spliced together and run through one projector) are also available in these cinemas.
Tomorrow, up to level 3, inside a few of the cinemas and a few behind the scenes shots if I can get them cleared by then.
SP!RE
°°°°°°
Great shots guys! WOW!
Before I get into commenting on what I see above, question-- what kind of restaurant is LUMA? Is it expensive? The second floor view down to King Street intrigues me so I want to go and (as cheaply as possible) take that in!
Before I get into commenting on what I see above, question-- what kind of restaurant is LUMA? Is it expensive? The second floor view down to King Street intrigues me so I want to go and (as cheaply as possible) take that in!
taal
Senior Member
I'll chime in with my thoughts / questions.
Like many others yesterday way my first time seeing the building from up close.
While I doubted the quality of materials used on the outside based on some earlier pictures they actually look great in person, that is the south (fronting king) and west side - the east side (fronting John) is a disappointment (i.e. the precast used). The black fronting actually looks a lot better in person - really all of it does.
I can definitely understand arguments against the entrance but I didn't find it overly disappointing - a lot of the other buildings cited above as comparison don't front the street with so little sidewalk space. In terms of the overall massing I love how it overwhelms the area but, again I can see people complaining about this.
On to the inside - one thing was clear, they were in a darn rush to complete this - there are still a lot of unfinished touches throughout. The main lobby space is quite spectacular - the colours and glass used are quite vivid - I love the little details everywhere (i.e. the glass finishes). There was a little disappointment but I think it can be remedied over time - particularly the purple paint, I love the colour but it was a terrible paint job, it looks like one layer of paint was applied and a lot of it was rubbing off / had dirt on it. The ceilings in some of the gallery space seemed quite cheep (just the smaller rooms) i.e. the cheep textured roof tiles that can be removed - looked like an old office building - maybe this is needed to add ceiling space but either way ...
My question though is the roof was unfortunately closed and I was looking forward to this the most - any idea if this will be open to the public year round?
Restaurants looked great (not commenting on the food but I've heard good things) - I think overall this was a great success and while there were a lot of complaints regarding the grandeur on the outside, this is no for seasons center - it is quite unique, not specular but the inside is where it's at.
Like many others yesterday way my first time seeing the building from up close.
While I doubted the quality of materials used on the outside based on some earlier pictures they actually look great in person, that is the south (fronting king) and west side - the east side (fronting John) is a disappointment (i.e. the precast used). The black fronting actually looks a lot better in person - really all of it does.
I can definitely understand arguments against the entrance but I didn't find it overly disappointing - a lot of the other buildings cited above as comparison don't front the street with so little sidewalk space. In terms of the overall massing I love how it overwhelms the area but, again I can see people complaining about this.
On to the inside - one thing was clear, they were in a darn rush to complete this - there are still a lot of unfinished touches throughout. The main lobby space is quite spectacular - the colours and glass used are quite vivid - I love the little details everywhere (i.e. the glass finishes). There was a little disappointment but I think it can be remedied over time - particularly the purple paint, I love the colour but it was a terrible paint job, it looks like one layer of paint was applied and a lot of it was rubbing off / had dirt on it. The ceilings in some of the gallery space seemed quite cheep (just the smaller rooms) i.e. the cheep textured roof tiles that can be removed - looked like an old office building - maybe this is needed to add ceiling space but either way ...
My question though is the roof was unfortunately closed and I was looking forward to this the most - any idea if this will be open to the public year round?
Restaurants looked great (not commenting on the food but I've heard good things) - I think overall this was a great success and while there were a lot of complaints regarding the grandeur on the outside, this is no for seasons center - it is quite unique, not specular but the inside is where it's at.
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Torontovibe
Senior Member
Here is my video inside of Lightbox, for those who can't get enough. [video=youtube;_aow1RZ7aS8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aow1RZ7aS8[/video]
khris
Senior Member
The lighting of the roof really disappoints me! The larger white portion should at least be glowing like the renders promised.
skyscan
New Member
Thanks for the great tour Torontovibe.
dt_toronto_geek
Superstar
I can't get enough! Fantastic video tour Torontovibe, thanks!!
Great shots guys! WOW!
Before I get into commenting on what I see above, question-- what kind of restaurant is LUMA? Is it expensive? The second floor view down to King Street intrigues me so I want to go and (as cheaply as possible) take that in!
Hi Spire,
Yup, Luma is expensive. West of it is the Blackberry Lounge where you can sit, have a drink and some nibbles, for quite a bit less. Neither are you required to have a Blackberry!
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