Canadian Architect February 2016 by IQ Business Media

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HUMBER RIVER HUMBER RIVERHOSPITAL HOSPITAL Toronto, ON Toronto, ON

Humber River America’s ﬁrstﬁrst fullyfully digital hospital, and uses the most Humber RiverHospital HospitalisisNorth North America’s digital hospital, and uses the most modern technologies such as robots who administer medication and other supplies. This modern technologies such as robots who administer medication and other supplies. This and serves more than 1.8 million square foot facility opened its doors on October 18th, 2015, th 1.8 million square foot facility opened its doors on October 18 , 2015, and serves more than 850,000 people in the northwestern Greater Toronto Area. 850,000 people in the northwestern Greater Toronto Area. The hospital was designed and built to adhere to Leadership in Energy and Environmental

The hospital was designed andbuildings built to adhere tohealthy Leadership Energy and Environmental design (LEED) standards. LEED focus on indoorinenvironments, reduced design (LEED) LEED buildings on healthy indoor environments, greenhouse gasstandards. emissions and efﬁcient use offocus resources such as energy and water. reduced greenhouse gas emissions and efﬁcient use of resources such as energy and water. In conjunction with General Contractor PCL, The Flynn Group of Companies was

subcontracted provide Roofi ng, Green Roofi andFlynn SheetGroup Metal of Cap Flashing. Atwas its peak, In conjunction to with General Contractor PCL,ng The Companies more than 1,300toworkers on site daily. Roofing and Sheet Metal Cap Flashing. At its peak, subcontracted providewere Roofi ng, Green more than completed 1,300 workers were site Our crews 140,000 sq.on feet of daily. green roof spanning over 17 different levels. The green roof was compiled of 4 inchsq. livefeet roofoftray systems and platingover was17 designed bylevels. Terry The Our crews completed 140,000 green roof spanning different McGlade of the Flynn Group of Companies and Kees Govers of Live Roof Ontario. Planting green roof was compiled of 4 inch live roof tray systems and plating was designed was comprised of sedums and perennials specifically shade orientated perennials such by Terry McGlade theBergenias, Flynn Group Companies and for Kees of Live Roof as Hostasof and and of grasses and chives sunGovers areas intermixed with Ontario. sedum Planting was comprised ofwas sedums and to perennials specifically shade orientated perennials such varieties. Planting designed be as sustainable as possible to LEED Sites standards as Hostas and Bergenias, and grasses and chives for sun areas intermixed withwas sedum with no potable water to be used in future years. The total roof and plenum area that varieties. Planting was designed to 351,000 be as sustainable completed, including green roof, was square feet.as possible to LEED Sites standards with no potable water to be used in future years. The total roof and plenum area that was At Flynn, Safety is always ourroof, top priority. Crews were veryfeet. proud to receive an award in completed, including green was 351,000 square recognition of their safety excellence. They won an award for achieving 5 million hours

without lost time incident. At Flynn, Safety is always our top priority. Crews were very proud to receive an award in recognition of their safety excellence. They won an award for achieving 5 million hours This stunning project reinforces both the Province of Ontario’s, as well as Flynn’s position as without lost time incident. an innovation leader.

This stunning project reinforces both the Province of Ontario’s, as well as Flynn’s position as For more information on the Flynn Group of Companies, please visit: www.ﬂynncompanies.com an innovation leader. For more information on the Flynn Group of Companies, please visit: www.ﬂynncompanies.com

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FEBRUARY 2016

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9 NEWS

Canadian Canoe Museum design selected; Phyllis Lambert wins Wolf Prize; George Baird appointed to the Order of Canada.

27 INSITES

Tanya Southcott reviews The Other Architect at the Canadian Centre for Architecture.

30 REPORT

Andrew Jones shares highlights from the annual Cersaie tile show in Bologna.

33 CALENDAR

12 EDMONTON PARK PAVILIONS n open design competition has resulted in a series of formally inventive facilities A by gh3, the marc boutin architectural collaborative, Dub Architects, and RHAD Architects with Group2. TEXT Graham Livesey

Your Future Home exhibition in Vancouver; Winter Stations installations in Toronto; Jeanne Gang lectures at the National Gallery of Canada.

34 BACKPAGE

Lisa Landrum delights in Folly Forest, a low-cost landscape by Dietmar Straub and Anna Thurmayr.

19 ROBERT H. LEE ALUMNI CENTRE AND UBC STUDENT UNION BUILDING

Agency: Brickworks Communications Inc. 905-632-8772 LEHOUX Artist: Heidi Gemmill x112 Client: CT628 SilentFX QC ArchitectNICE-R1 Publication: CANADIAN ARCHITECT Full Page: 9 x 11.25 + bleed 4 colour, Thurs., Jan. 7, 2016

Two neighbouring buildings at the University of British Columbia—designed respectively by KPMB with HCMA and by DIALOG with B+H—offer a suite of amenities to students and alumni. TEXT Courtney Healey

COVER UBC Student Union Building by DIALOG and B+H Associated Architects. Photo by Ema Peters.

V.61 N.02 THE NATIONAL REVIEW OF DESIGN AND PRACTICE / THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE RAIC

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CANADIAN ARCHITECT 02/16

VIEWPOINT

LEFT The redesigned Queens Quay, with the WaveDecks visible at right, is a vibrant contribution to Toronto’s public realm.

A Better Boulevard I’ll often go out of my way to see a notable building, and sometimes even detour to glimpse a construction site. Recently, I’ve been swinging far south when I cross downtown Toronto by foot, bike or transit. Not for a building—but for a street. The new Queens Quay is perhaps one of Canada’s finest streetscapes. Not long ago, the waterfront road was a confusion of traffic lanes along both sides of streetcar tracks. Pedestrians were relegated to cramped and cracked sidewalks. Now, the streetcars have a separated rightof-way to the side of the cars, whose share of the road has been cut down to one lane in each direction. The extra room is used for a two-way bike trail and widened sidewalks. This emphasis on the pedestrian realm is transformative: in the warmer months, the boulevard is full of people strolling between the parks, galleries, theatres, concert venues, boat cruises, restaurants and shops that line this 1.7-kilometre stretch of Queens Quay. “When we reopened Queens Quay, it was just filled with pedestrians, on a scale the waterfront never was before that. There was pent-up demand for that space,” says Chris Glaisek, vice president of planning and design at Waterfront Toronto, the agency that commissioned the renewed street. Adds Glaisek, “When we first set out to do this, people said ‘you can’t do anything about Queens Quay—the street’s too small.’ That was the perception. It was really through design that we solved the problem and came up with a whole different idea [of how a street could work].” The inspiration for the ambitious streetscape is decidedly European, which stands to reason: Rotterdam studio West 8 designed the street with Toronto-based DTAH. Back in 2006, the firms won an international competition to rethink the street, along with its adjacent public realm. Beyond pedestrian-centric planning, the new boulevard is full of design touches that make it worth a return visit. Rather than standard-issue concrete slabs, the sidewalks boast a pattern of maple leaves in two-tone granite, continuing

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an underfoot motif started in an earlier Waterfront Toronto project to the east. (Pavers are used rather than cobbles, resulting in an even surface that passes muster with the mobilitychallenged.) Granite bicycle logos are also worked into the paving scheme. To prevent collisions, a strip of rough stones provides tactile separation between the bike and walking trails. They’re still at their teenaged twiggy stage, but a double row of London plane trees has been planted along the boulevard’s south side—a pollution-tolerant species that, when mature, will boast a magnificent canopy. Under the surface, a Silva Cell system of plastic crates protects root systems from soil compaction, giving these trees the potential for a longer lifespan compared to regular street plantings. Another project by West 8 and DTAH—the dock-inspired WaveDecks—provides bursts of fun alongside the street. Swooping up and down in curved lines, these wood structures multi-task as urban sculptures, benches, public amphitheatres and play spaces. “We needed to widen the sidewalks, and everyone assumed that we would create a flat plane. Instead, West 8 and DTAH created a landscape out of it,” says Glaisek. The stunning results haven’t been without pain. The street was under construction for three long years—and when it reopened, there was an awkward adjustment period, with cars turning into streetcar lanes and at least one physical altercation between a pedestrian and a cyclist. Signage and traffic signal adjustments helped, and ultimately, Torontonians quickly adapted to this new street type. Now that we have it, public demand for more streets like this is sure to follow. Toronto, like many Canadian cities, came of age in an automobilefocused era, and our car-centric streets reflect that. But as Queens Quay shows, streets can be transformed‚ through design, into strong contributors to the public realm. Elsa Lam

EDITOR ELSA LAM, MRAIC EDITORIAL ADVISOR IAN CHODIKOFF, OAA, FRAIC ART DIRECTOR ROY GAIOT CONTRIBUTING EDITORS ANNMARIE ADAMS, FRAIC ODILE HÉNAULT DOUGLAS MACLEOD, NCARB, MRAIC REGIONAL CORRESPONDENTS HALIFAX CHRISTINE MACY, OAA REGINA BERNARD FLAMAN, SAA MONTREAL DAVID THEODORE CALGARY GRAHAM LIVESEY, MRAIC WINNIPEG LISA LANDRUM, MAA, AIA, MRAIC VANCOUVER ADELE WEDER PUBLISHER TOM ARKELL 416-510-6806 ACCOUNT SALES MANAGER FARIA AHMED 416-510-6808 CIRCULATION MANAGER CIRCULATION@CANADIANARCHITECT.COM CUSTOMER SERVICE / PRODUCTION LAURA MOFFATT 416-510-6898 PRESIDENT OF IQ BUSINESS MEDIA INC. ALEX PAPANOU HEAD OFFICE 80 VALLEYBROOK DRIVE, TORONTO, ON M3B 2S9 TELEPHONE 416-510-6845 FACSIMILE 416-510-5140 E-MAIL elam@canadianarchitect.com WEBSITE www.canadianarchitect.com Canadian Architect is published monthly by iQ Business Media Inc.. The editors have made every reasonable effort to provide accurate and authoritative information, but they assume no liability for the accuracy or completeness of the text, or its fitness for any particular purpose. Subscription Rates Canada: $54.95 plus applicable taxes for one year; $87.95 plus applicable taxes for two years (HST – #81538 0985 RT0001). Price per single copy: $6.95. Students (prepaid with student ID, includes taxes): $27.00 for one year. USA: $105.95 US for one year. All other foreign: $125.95 US per year. Single copy US and foreign: $10.00 US. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Circulation Dept., Canadian Architect, 80 Valleybrook Drive, Toronto, ON Canada M3B 2S9. Postmaster: please forward forms 29B and 67B to 80 Valleybrook Drive, Toronto, ON Canada M3B 2S9. Printed in Canada. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced either in part or in full without the consent of the copyright owner. From time to time we make our subscription list available to select companies and organizations whose product or service may interest you. If you do not wish your contact information to be made available, please contact us via one of the following methods: Telephone 1-800-668-2374 Facsimile 416-442-2191 E-mail circulation@canadianarchitect.com Mail Privacy Officer, 80 Valleybrook Drive, Toronto, ON Canada M3B 2S9 MEMBER OF THE CANADIAN BUSINESS PRESS MEMBER OF THE ALLIANCE FOR AUDITED MEDIA PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT #43096012 ISSN 1923-3353 (ONLINE) ISSN 0008-2872 (PRINT)

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PROJECTS

Dublin-based heneghan peng architects and Toronto-based Kearns Mancini Architects have won a two-stage international competition for the new $45-million Canadian Canoe Museum. The museum, which will house the world’s largest collection of canoes and kayaks, is to be located at the site of the 1904 Peterborough Lift Lock National Historic Site. The design features an elegant serpentine glass pavilion graced by a two-acre rooftop garden. It boldly curves out from the drumlins beside the Trent-Severn waterway. Envisioned with and for the community, the museum embraces aboriginal wisdom to live and build lightly on the land. The design has inherently lower energy costs, with only the east and south glass walls exposed to the elements. Inside, the single-storey design offers a flexible floor plate, allowing the museum to reconfigure its experience and offerings by changing internal partitions. The volume is embedded within the site’s drumlins, protecting the museum’s light-sensitive collections of historic birch bark canoes and aboriginal artifacts within energy-passive, naturally dark spaces. The museum’s two-acre green roof will provide the community with the possibility of creating edible gardens, including aboriginal Three Sisters plantings and native flower pollinators, while facilitating efficient management of storm water and fantastic views to the Lift Lock. In accordance with the Memorandum of Agreement signed in 2015 between Parks Canada and the Canadian Canoe Museum, the design team will immediately move ahead with preparing a planning submission to the City of Peterborough and Parks Canada as the first step towards the construction of the new museum. www.canoemuseum.ca

Construction begins on Vancouver’s Polygon Gallery.

The new Polygon Gallery is now under construction. The striking contemporary building is designed by Patkau Architects, and is destined to be a new landmark on the north shore of Vancouver’s waterfront. The project is supported by a lead gift of $4 million from Polygon Homes and the Audain Foundation as well as generous funding from the federal and provincial governments and the City of North Vancouver. With a mandate to exhibit and disseminate photography and media art, emphasizing contemporary practices in a context of historical and international art-making, the Gallery organizes national and international

LUXIGON

Design announced for the new Canadian Canoe Museum.

CANADIAN ARCHITECT 02/16

NEWS

A rendering of the winning design for the Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough by heneghan peng architects and Kearns Mancini Architects.

ABOVE

exhibitions, produces award-winning publications, and offers public events and art education programs. The move will more than double the gallery’s current exhibition space. Operating as Presentation House Gallery since 1981, the Gallery will take on its new name— which honours its lead donor—when the building opens in 2017. www.newhome.presentationhousegallery.org

Canadian Building Trades Monument winning design announced.

The design team for the Canadian Building Trades Monument, to be built in Major’s Hill Park in Ottawa, has been announced. The successful design team from Halifax, Nova Scotia consists of sculptor John Greer and architect Brian MacKay-Lyons, FRAIC. The Canadian Building Trades Monument will be located across from Parliament, overlooking the Ottawa River. Slated for installation in 2017, the monument will be built in Canada with Quebec-quarried Cambrian black granite. Its most prominent feature is a pair of oversized plumb bobs, which are amongst the oldest building tools known to humankind. It will also feature 14 other tools, to be chosen by the 14 trade unions sponsoring the monument. In describing their proposal, the design team said: “Building is the most optimistic of human acts. This monument celebrates and honours the Canadian building tradesmen and women who construct the world around us.” The monument is being built by Canada’s Building Trades Unions in partnership with their fair employers, and in collaboration with the Department of Canadian Heritage and the National Capital Commission. www.canadianbuildingtradesmonument.ca

AWARDS Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena receives the Pritzker Architecture Prize.

Alejandro Aravena has been selected as the 2016 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate. The formal award ceremony for what has come to be known internationally as architecture’s highest honour will be at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on April 4, 2016. The 48-year-old Aravena is an architect based in Santiago, Chile. Since 2001, he has been executive director of the Santiago firm ELEMENTAL, a “Do Tank” as opposed to a think tank, whose partners are Gonzalo Arteaga, Juan Cerda, Victor Oddó and Diego Torres. ELEMENTAL focuses on projects of public interest and social impact, including housing, public space, infrastructure and transportation. The firm has designed more than 2,500 units of social housing, and employs a participatory design process, working closely with the public and end users. Tom Pritzker, Chairman and CEO of the Pritzker Organization, said, “The jury has selected an architect who deepens our understanding of what is truly great design. Innovative and inspiring, he shows how architecture at its best can improve people’s lives.” www.pritzkerprize.com

Phyllis Lambert awarded Israel’s Wolf Prize for the Arts.

Phyllis Lambert, architect and CCA Founding Director Emeritus, is this year’s winner of Israel’s $100,000 US Wolf Prize for the Arts. She was cited for her six decades of championing innovation in building design and preservation of properties of heritage

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CANADIAN ARCHITECT 02/16

NEWS significance, as well as invigorating the profession and research into architecture. The decision to recognize Lambert was announced as follows: “Playing all possible roles of designer, planner, artist, writer, photographer, curator, museum director, patron and philanthropist, Lambert ultimately stands for professional rigour and aesthetic elegance, but also for intellectual doubt and political critique. From the mid-1950s to the present, she has been vigorously involved in the realization of seminal innovative buildings, exemplary urban preservation and regeneration projects, and leading architectural research institutes.” The Foundation will also honour five Americans and one Israeli scientist in the fields of agriculture, chemistry, physics and medicine. Wolf laureates are viewed as strong contenders for the Nobel prizes. Israel’s president Reuven Rivlin is to award the prizes. www.wolffund.org

George Baird named to the Order of Canada.

Architect George Baird, FRAIC, has been named to the Order of Canada, among 69 new appointments announced by His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada. The award cites

Baird for his contributions to architecture as a scholar, teacher, and practitioner. Baird is the former Dean of the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design, and is a partner in the Toronto-based architecture and urban design firm Baird Sampson Neuert Architects. Prior to becoming Dean at the University of Toronto, Baird was the G. Ware Travelstead Professor of Architecture at the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University. He has published and lectured widely throughout most parts of the world. www.gg.ca

Wood Design Awards winners announced.

Canadian firms featured prominently among the award recipients in the prestigious 2015/16 International and North American Wood Design Awards program. Winning recipients were selected from over 140 entries. Honour Awards were given to Stade de soccer de Montréal in Montreal, Quebec by Saucier + Perrotte architectes and Hughes Condon Marler Architects, as well as to Guildford Aquatic Centre in Surrey, British Columbia by Bing Thom Architects and Shape Architecture (Associate Architect). In the Merit category, the following Canadian projects were recognized: Roy-Lawrence Residence in Sut-

ton, Quebec by Chevalier Morales Architectes; Fort McMurray International Airport in Fort McMurray, Alberta by office of mcfarlane biggar architects + designers inc. (project commenced as predecessor firm mcfarlane green biggar Architecture + Design Inc.); Toronto Public Library Scarborough Civic Centre Branch in Toronto, Ontario by LGA Architectural Partners and Phillip H. Carter Architecture + Urban Planning in joint venture; and MEC Head Office in Vancouver, British Columbia by Proscenium Architecture + Interiors Inc. Citation Award winners included Old Main Academic Building Addition, Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia by Diamond Schmitt Architects and Stantec Architecture (Associate Architect); Bar Raval in Toronto, Ontario by PARTISANS Architects; and Mont-Laurier Multipurpose Performance Hall in MontLaurier, Quebec by Les architectes FABG. Canadian Wood Council Awards were given to the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum in Wembley, Alberta by Teeple Architects (Design Architect) and Architecture Tkalcic Bengert (Architect of Record) with Reich + Petch Design International (Museum Consultant), and to MAZAMA House in Mazama, Wisconsin by FINNE Architects. www.cwc.ca

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RAYMOND CHOW

ABOVE Clad with one-way mirrored glass, Borden Park Pavilion plays with the fragmented reflections of its verdant surroundings. BELOW The circular pavilion recalls earlier park structures, including a carousel and a bandshell. OPPOSITE Distorted reflections also feature in the Castle Downs Park Pavilion, which sits between a parking lot on one side and a sports field on the other. An all-blue interior adds to the surreal atmosphere.

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FIVE EDMONTON PAVILIONS

RAYMOND CHOW

RESULTING FROM AN OPEN DESIGN COMPETITION, AN INVENTIVE SERIES OF WASHROOM PAVILIONS AND CHANGE FACILITIES NOW GRACES PARKS AND SPORTS FIELDS ACROSS EDMONTON.

TEXT

Graham Livesey

Open design competitions can be game-changing for a young firm. But major architectural clients in Canada are reluctant to hold them, as they prefer procurement processes that control the end results more narrowly. Architects in English Canada often look with envy to Quebec, where provincial competitions have raised the quality of design and established a generation of innovative, award-winning studios. However, even the Quebec system has become burdened with pre-qualification requirements, and emerging firms struggle to compete for both public- and private-sector work against well-established practices.

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Amongst these closed doors, there is at least one open threshold. In 2011, as part of its ambitious architectural overhaul, the City of Edmonton held a national design competition for five park pavilions. The competition, juried by Steve McFarlane, Janet Rosenberg and Pierre Thibault, drew 139 submissions from 95 architecture firms across the country, mainly less-established practices. The five winning schemes were by gh3 (Borden Park and Castle Downs District Park), the marc boutin architectural collaborative inc. (John Fry Sport Park), Dub Architects (Mill Woods Sport Park), and Rayleen Hill Architecture + Design (Victoria Park). The completed pavilions are now open. Each graces a major green space in the city. This includes older parksâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;like the recently revitalized

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BRUCE EDWARD/YELLOW CAMERA

CANADIAN ARCHITECT 02/16

ABOVE Topped by a boxy volume that doubles as a billboard-like sign, John Fry Pavilion includes six team changerooms. OPPOSITE TOP On the long side of the pavilion, full-height panels flip up to create a canopy entrance to a public courtyard with a concession and public washrooms. OPPOSITE RIGHT Exterior walls made from translucent Kalwall panels allow for daylit changerooms that remain private and secure.

Borden park, an inner-city pleasure ground founded in 1906, and Victoria Park, an urban river valley green space established on land acquired in 1912 and named for the enduring queen. The other three parks are newer and further from the downtown core, with the pavilions providing support facilities for sports fields. Toronto-based firm gh3, founded in 2005 by Pat Hanson, FRAIC, and Diana Gerrard, secured two of the pavilions with their striking entries. Combining expertise in landscape architecture and architecture, the practice has developed a body of work characterized by minimalism and precision. Their Borden Park scheme was particularly evocative in the competition rendering. A circular glass-clad structure supported by an elegant wooden frame, the design presented both an element in the landscape reminiscent of a bygone carousel, and an object with an elusively transparent and reflective character. Some of the qualities inherent in the original design have been lost in translation: a value-engineering process (seemingly inevitable in all projects, however procured) effected the final height, structure, glazing and organization. The end result, clad in mirrored glass, lacks the proportion, coherence and delicacy of the original scheme, while remaining a photogenic addition to Borden Park. On the other hand, gh3’s project for Castle Downs District Park is a very successful realization of the scheme depicted in the competition submission. Located in north Edmonton adjacent to a recreation centre, the pavilion serves various sports fields and acts as home base for the Edmonton Seahawks Football Club and the Edmonton and District Cricket Club. Beyond washrooms, the facility provides meeting space, a snack bar and sports equipment storage. The pavilion is carefully sited to add spatial structure to a vast suburban context. Organized in a slightly

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bent bar, the design originally evoked the signature green, red, yellow and blue of the Hudson’s Bay Company; in the final building, the colour scheme has been changed to a consistent deep blue. The strongest feature of the design is the use of polished stainless-steel cladding arranged on undulating panels. These are intentionally installed to create the distorted reflections found in amusement arcade funhouses. From up close, as well as from afar, the effect is significant and surprising, boosting the presence of the longish pavilion. Inside, materials are durable and the pervasive use of blue enhances the surreal experience. The marc boutin architectural collaborative, based in Calgary, won the commission for the facility in John Fry Sport Park, named after a former alderman and mayor. Located amidst a half-dozen ball fields, the pavilion includes public washrooms and changing facilities for use by various baseball and softball leagues in south Edmonton. Led by Marc Boutin, FRAIC, the practice is relatively young, yet has won many awards regionally and nationally for their carefully considered building and public space designs. The original competition entry— which was concerned with creating a sense of place by defining edges, scale and a public space—underwent significant change during the process of realization. These transformations resulted in a more tightly arranged and coherent design. The final pavilion is well-sited, and uses a galvanized steel structure and translucent Kalwall panels very effectively to create a skin-and-bones expression. The interiors are bathed by natural light during the day, and the pavilion glows like a lantern at night. Large panels on the south side of the building f lip up when the building is in use, creating a canopy over a public court that gives access to washrooms and the concession.

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BRUCE EDWARD/YELLOW CAMERA

The Mill Woods Sport Park pavilion, by Edmonton firm Dub Architects, is also embedded within a group of sports fields in south Edmonton; developed since 1982, the park is framed by two high schools and a large recreation centre. Dub Architects, the most established of the practices here, is one of Alberta’s leading design firms, with provocative new projects adding to a robust portfolio of heritage preservation and development work. Their pavilion houses a meeting space, change facilities, and storage for baseball, football and soccer equipment. The winning proposal featured a simple building with a green roof, united with an earth berm and a sculptural armature supporting a large array of photovoltaic modules. Unfortunately, in the final scheme, both the berm and the sculptural array had to be cut from the project—perhaps due to over-optimistic preliminary costing undertaken during the jury phase. The result is nevertheless an elegantly resolved pavilion executed in glass, black masonry and steel. Rayleen Hill Architecture + Design of Halifax, founded in 2010, developed the winning scheme for the Victoria Park facility. Rayleen Hill, MRAIC, has developed a compelling body of work in a short period of time, focusing on a range of small-scale projects. Victoria Park supports hiking, sports fields, golf, tobogganing, and a large outdoor speed-skating oval in the winter. Hill’s original design called for a two-storey building adjacent to the oval and supporting a floating observation level. The constructed building is one storey, yet still curves and tilts to follow the shape of the oval. A well-integrated response to its context and program, the structure is supported by glulam beams and exposed wood decking, and isclad mainly in black-finished corrugated metal siding. It provides a changing area for skaters, public washrooms, and houses the

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JIM DOBIE

CANADIAN ARCHITECT 02/16

Zamboni; landscaped swales and a rain garden drain water onsite during the warmer months, as the site has no storm-water sewer access. There is no doubt that open design competitions are healthy for a nation’s design culture, and that Canada does not hold enough of them. Edmonton should be commended for hosting a national competition that allows younger firms to access public work, which can be notoriously difficult to obtain. The success of any competition is enhanced by engaging a distinguished jury, such as the one assembled here. It is also evident that between the competition and the executed work, a lot can happen. Among the five Edmonton pavilions, two of the projects were substantially redesigned (John Fry Sport Park and Victoria Park), and two were compromised by budget cuts (Borden Park and Mill Woods Sport Park). Nevertheless, the results are a testimony to the City of Edmonton’s commitment to the competition process. A tour of the pavilions, guided by Carol Bélanger, Edmonton’s enthusiastic and tireless City architect, provides insight into the City’s ambitions for the projects. A process that took four years to complete has resulted in a series of well-considered structures. Each pavilion enhances its context, both functionally and symbolically. Bélanger hopes that there can be a second round of pavilions, also developed from a national competition. If there is, it will undoubtedly attract an even larger number of submissions than the first, as architects from across the country— especially younger firms—vie to both secure a public commission and to be part of Edmonton’s architectural renaissance. Graham Livesey is a Professor and the Associate Dean (Academic-Architecture) in the Faculty of Environmental Design at the University of Calgary.

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BORDEN PARK PAVILION | ARCHITECT GH3 | CLIENT CITY OF EDMONTON | ARCHITECT TEAM PAT

HANSON, DIANA GERRARD, LOUISE CLAVIN | STRUCTURAL CHERNENKO ENGINEERING LTD. | MECH-

ANICAL VITAL ENGINEERING CORPORATION | ELECTRICAL A.B. ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING INC. LANDSCAPE GH3 | CONTRACTOR JEN-COL CONSTRUCTION LTD.| AREA 245 M2 | BUDGET $2.1 M

COMPLETION MARCH 2014

CASTLE DOWNS PARK PAVILION | ARCHITECT GH3 | CLIENT CITY OF EDMONTON | ARCHITECT TEAM

PAT HANSON, DIANA GERRARD, JOHN MCKENNA | STRUCTURAL CHERNENKO ENGINEERING LTD. |

MECHANICAL VITAL ENGINEERING CORPORATION | ELECTRICAL A.B. ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING INC. LANDSCAPE GH3 | CONTRACTOR KRAWFORD CONSTRUCTION | AREA 547 M2 | BUDGET $4.53 M

COMPLETION MARCH 2015

JOHN FRY SPORT PARK PAVILION | ARCHITECT THE MARC BOUTIN ARCHITECTURAL COLLABORATIVE

MILL WOODS SPORT PARK PAVILION | ARCHITECT DUB ARCHITECTS LTD. | CLIENT CITY OF EDMON-

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The minimalist Mill Woods Sport Park Pavilion is a strongly horizontal presence within a group of ball fields in south Edmonton; careful detailing characterizes the metal-and-glass structure; a lobby-like entrance provides sufficient room for teams to organize their gear. ABOVE Designed around existing site features, the Victoria Park Pavilion follows the curve of a skating rink. Only three trees needed to be removed for construction. BELOW Glulam primary and secondary structures give the interior the warm character of a cabin in a forest.

JIM DOBIE

OPPOSITE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP

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ALMA MATER AND ALUMNI MATTERS

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TWO RECENT BUILDINGS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA COMPETE TO PROVIDE A HOME AWAY FROM HOME FOR CURRENT STUDENTS AND GRADUATES.

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PROJECTS Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre and UBC Student Union Building, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia ARCHITECTS Alumni Centre— KPMB Architects | HCMA Architecture + Design Architects in Joint Venture; Student Union Building— DIALOG and B+H Associated Architects TEXT Courtney Healey PHOTOS Nic Lehoux (Alumni Centre) and Ema Peters (UBC Student Union Building)

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SITE PLAN 1 ROBERT H. LEE ALUMNI CENTRE 2 UBC STUDENT UNION BUILDING (AMS NEST) 3 EXISTING STUDENT UNION BUILDING 4 NEW UNIVERSITY SQUARE 5 NEW PLAYFIELD 0

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50M

Eight thousand first-year students arrive at the University of British Columbia’s Vancouver campus each September. Nervous and eager, they take their first steps into adult life. Over the next four years, their alma mater will work hard to mould them into contributing members of society—and, the university also hopes, into future contributors to UBC’s coffers. This transition from tuition-paying undergrad to donation-making alumnus is big business at universities across North America. At UBC, the distance between the two states can be precisely measured in the 10-metre-wide slot between two new buildings: the AMS Nest student centre designed by DIALOG in partnership with B+H, and the Richard H. Lee Alumni Centre by KPMB with HCMA. UBC has been in the midst of a building boom over the past decade, developing at a rate unseen since the 1960s. Unique among the university’s current projects, the AMS Nest’s and Alumni Centre’s clients are indepen dent not-for-profit societies led by current and former students respectively—the Alma Mater Society (AMS) and the Alumni Association. Both societies originated with the founding of the University a century ago. The AMS has a long history of spearheading and funding the construction of student amenity buildings—including UBC’s first gyms, stadiums and all three student centres to date. The Alumni Association,

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formerly headquartered in a heritage house on the edge of campus, has traditionally focused on organizing class reunions, homecoming events and alumni newsletters. In recent years, following decades of government disinvestment in higher education, it has evolved to become a key agent in UBC’s marketing and development strategies. The new Alumni Centre is located at the intersection of East Mall and University Boulevard, the main gateway to campus, where the 1913 Neoclassical plan locks into the city grid. KPMB partner Shirley Blumberg, FRAIC, and HCMA partner Karen Marler, FRAIC (whose firms authored the current University Boulevard Neighbourhood master plan) view the Alumni Centre as one small piece in UBC’s overall shift from a suburban to a more urban campus, contributing to the mixed-use intensification of student services. The idea for the Alumni Centre began 10 years ago, when a survey revealed that campus visits were the primary form of connection for alums, but that they didn’t feel welcome when they came. The Alumni Association subsequently petitioned the University for a new 42,000square-foot “home for life” in the heart of campus. Funded entirely by alumni, the building is a monument to their individual and collective success. Beyond providing a home base for alums, the building functions as a general welcome centre and outreach facility, hosting a continuous program of scholarly and social events highlighting faculty research and industry achievements. KPMB and HCMA worked closely with the various stakeholder groups (including UBC ’s Board of Governors, who also chose to make the new building their home) to create a cohesive pavilion accommodating flexible spaces for multiple uses. KPMB is known for delivering quality contemporary buildings that unify large architectural moves with carefully conceived details and material choices. The Alumni Centre is no exception. The tightly controlled

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A wood-wrapped stair is an architectural highlight of the building. OPPOSITE The north façade of the alumni centre faces a pedestrian square shared with the newly expanded student centre. ABOVE Fritted with a fine pattern of white lines, the façade protects against glare while showcasing the alumni centre’s evening lectures and networking events. OPENING PAGE

program is arranged in an immediately legible rectangular plan bisected by circulation; a triangular grand stair volume is appended to the south elevation. The west side of the building contains the public spaces—café and library on the main level, large hall on the second, meeting and board rooms on the third. The east side is populated with smaller offices and back-of-house functions. The whole is wrapped in finely fritted curtain wall. Entering the lobby feels like arriving at a luxury hotel—impressive considering the tight construction budget of just over $300 per square foot. The small building is well served by the architecture team’s straightforward approach. Floors in public areas are finished in largescale units of beige stone, hewn on the main level and smooth on upper levels. Ceilings and soffits are rough-sawn cedar. The library is f lanked by white millwork and an oversized fireplace clad in millfinished steel plate. White brick clads the service core, inside and out. But the main architectural event is the stair: enormous steel trusses are buried inside its meticulously detailed wood cladding, with rough cedar used again on the outer surfaces and smooth Douglas fir on the inner. The stair is massive, but it appears light as it dances back and forth through the sun-filled volume, culminating in a cantilevered lounge on the top f loor. On the lower level, the architects provided minimally designed office and meeting spaces. The area has since become home to UBC’s fledgling

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ABOVE A generous lounge space invites students and alumni to mix and mingle throughout the day and provides ample room for gathering before official functions upstairs. OPPOSITE Next door, the sawtoothed roof of the AMS Nest student centre rises above a grassy knoll. A central element in the design, the knoll was preserved from the existing site as a longstanding symbol of student protest at UBC.

3 3 3

3 2

LOWER LEVEL 1 MECHANICAL/ ELECTRICAL 2 MEETING ROOM 3 FLEX OFFICES 4 BICYCLE STORAGE 5 E@UBC SECURE OFFICE 6 FLEXIBLE COLLABORATION SPACE 7 E@UBC EVENT SPACE/ LOUNGE 8 E@UBC RECEPTION

FIRST FLOOR 1 MEETING ROOM 2 CAFÉ KITCHEN 3 CAFÉ 4 LIBRARY 5 FLEXIBLE LOBBY/ PRE-EVENT SPACE 6 RECEPTION 7 LOADING/STAGING

SECOND FLOOR 1 CELEBRATION SPACE (SUB-DIVIDABLE) 2 CLASSROOM (24 PERSONS) 3 CLASSROOM (34 PERSONS)/ CATERING STAGING 4 CATERING KITCHEN 5 ATRIUM

THIRD FLOOR 1 LOUNGE 2 FLEX WORK ROOM 3 BOARD ROOM 4 ALUMNI OPEN OFFICE 5 PHONE ROOM 6 TERRACE 7 RECEPTION 8 MEETING ROOM

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entrepreneurship programs. On most days, there is a steady stream of students, staff and faculty flowing through the main level café and meeting quietly in the adjacent library and lounge spaces. Events take place at all times and the building is designed to allow for overlapping functions, primarily through the provision of pocket and sliding doors to close off individual spaces, as well as moveable walls to divide the large hall. Exiting the lobby on the north side delivers you onto a slim paved walkway between the two buildings and, though it overlooks a large plaza, this space remains perpetually in shadow and defined by the looming presence of the AMS Nest rising to the north and east. This addition to the existing student centre is six times the size of the Alumni Centre. It houses a similar program (in greater quantities) of bookable rooms, large event spaces, cafés, council chambers and offices, as well as many more uses such as a daycare, radio station, newspaper, theatre, art gallery, climbing wall and space for over 300 clubs. The AMS Nest is the product of an intense student-led campaign to renovate and expand the 1968 Student Union Building (known as the SUB) by adding 50% more space to accommodate the needs of a growing campus population. The student-led Alma Mater Society successfully lobbied the University for an unprecedented amount of control over the selection of the architects and a primary voice throughout the design process. Students will also pay most of the $107-million project cost over the coming decades, through a mandatory student fee and increased revenue streams from restaurants and room rentals. The University selected an initial pool of seven firms that were narrowed down to three by a campuswide student vote, with the final selection resting primarily with the AMS. The shortlisted firms delivered presentations, set up dedicated websites for student engagement, and mounted exhaustive social media campaigns,

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including creating YouTube videos that formed the basis for the student vote. DIALOG Principal Joost Bakker, FRAIC, says their firm has never worked so hard to secure a project. He believes that DIALOG and B+H were ultimately chosen because they listened closely and asked a lot of questions, turning their shortlist interview into a collaborative workshop rather than telling students what was best for them. That initial strategy of workshops and collaborative discovery would continue for the next five years. As a new AMS student president and council was elected each year, the client group constantly changed. But the principles established at the beginning of the project—notions of advocacy, sustainability, and fostering interaction amongst a diverse community— remained touchstones. For the architects, a core move towards supporting these goals involved thinking of the building as a vertical village, and organizing its varied program along a main street—a central circulation spine that extended the SUB’s lower-level corridor. Early on, the architects also decided to support a student-led campaign to save a grassy knoll along the eastern site boundary. This provided the central organizing figure of the plan. The knoll is bisected with a glazed wall, preserving an exterior portion for sunny barbecues and creating an interior portion for terraced seating. A huge five-storey atrium ringed with open walkways encapsulates the knoll, bringing light deep into the building and creating the kind of visual connection across diverse program elements that always seemed lacking in the old SUB. A suspended ovoid form punctuates the centre of the atrium: clad in acoustic batt and curved wood slats, it is the “nest” from which the entire building eventually received its name. Inside, it houses a black-box presentation venue, while an informal beanbag-strewn lounge rests on top.

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The bulk of the building is arranged in a C-shape around the nest and atrium, with a mix of student-run and commercial food enterprises on the lower levels. Bookable rooms, offices and club spaces form the majority of the program on upper levels. The top floor contains the most sedate program: the student council chamber, a daycare and a rooftop garden to the south, along with the grad student society offices and a high-end restaurant to the north. The sawtoothed timber-and-glass atrium roof bridges between the two. The lobed forms and swooping asymmetry of the lower level and ground-floor plans create the sense of always entering the building from a side entrance and progressing through the space slightly off-kilter, somewhat akin to being shot through a pinball machine. But the geometry also creates small eddies of pause where people gather, like the mini-amphitheatre created outside a newly visible campus radio station. These layouts attest to a complex and, at times, unwieldy studentdriven decision-making process. Putting official boosterism aside, when the University talks about engagement, it often boils down to donations. But genu inely engaging students in shaping their campus requires relinquishing control and embracing the happenstance that inevitably arises along the way. Following a series of early charrettes with the stakeholder groups, the architects presented five different building concepts to the campus-wide community. Throughout the project, DIALOG operated a satellite office or “design cube” inside the old SUB to invite even more input and student-generated ideas. At various points, the design team was juggling

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ABOVE, CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT Low seating creates a living room-like environment atop the sculptural nest element; rooftop terraces provide room for outdoor study and socializing; a massive canopy announces the building on University Boulevard. OPPOSITE The eponymous nest, containing a presentation space, features prominently in the main atrium alongside terraced seating that extends outdoors.

both a giant slide through the atrium and a potential homeless shelter to serve the transient population that accesses SUB facilities each day. Keeping more balls in the air, the architects supported students again as they lobbied to amend the campus design guidelines. The AMS felt strongly that the Nest should stand out from its white-brick surroundings and advocated for the textured brown panels that now clad the north and south volumes. The brown boxes are separated by a large swath of glazing along the west elevation and a curved zinc figure along the east. As the campus continues to densify, it has become popular to think of it as a small city—when, in reality, it functions more like a feudal state with each group vying for its own piece of the pie. In the end, was it really necessary to create two separate buildings with arguably redundant programs? Forced into an awkward physical and psychological relationship, the space between them seems a symbol of the age-old wedge between students and administration. An alternate reality might have imagined the two as a single building—where alumni donated to a new student centre that they viewed as their “home for life” amongst (and not apart from) the current student body.

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1 A

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THIRD FLOOR 7 BRIDGE LOUNGE 8 OPEN OFFICE 9 AMS OFFICES 10 GREAT HALL 11 MULTI-USE LOUNGE

1 NEST LOUNGE 2 AMS ARCHIVE 3 LEASE SERVICES 4 CLUB ROOMS 5 CLUB LOUNGE 6 CLIMBING WALL

10 6

5 A

11 S

SECOND FLOOR

1 THE NEST 2 CONCOURSE 3 ART GALLERY 4 RESOURCE GROUPS 5 BOOKABLE ROOMS 6 MOVEMENT STUDIO

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20 M

ABOVE Projected seating nooks invite students to linger along the sunny eastern side of the third floor.

L2 CORES

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7 CLIMBING WALL 8 UBYSSEY NEWSPAPER 9 EAST LOUNGE 10 GREAT HALL 11 MULTI-USE LOUNGE

What if the Board of Governors and the AMS shared a chamber? What if the entrepreneurship hub coexisted alongside student-run businesses, to their mutual benefit? As they stand, the AMS Nest and Alumni Centre each presents a model of the client it serves. The Nest’s spatial and material heterogeneity evokes its potential to be all things to all people, inviting every one of the university’s 50,000 students to forge his or her own identity amongst the crowd. The Alumni Centre is poised and serene, displaying an image of distinguished success—a pinstriped gentleman who gestures to the dreadlocked undergrad behind him in a way that says, “play your cards right, kid, and this could be you someday.”

6 A

Writer and intern architect Courtney Healey is an alumnus of the University of British

GROUND FLOOR 1 UPPER AGORA 2 SUSHI 3 KNOLL STEPS 4 PIZZA

5 SOUP/SALAD/WRAPS 6 COMMERCIAL RETAIL UNIT 7 UPPERCASE CAFÉ

Columbia and Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.

20 M

L1 CORES ROBERT H. LEE ALUMNI CENTRE | ARCHITECTS KPMB ARCHITECTS | HCMA ARCHITECTURE + DESIGN

ELEC

CHGE.

11 S

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150

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2 UBC STUDENT UNION BUILDING | ARCHITECTS DIALOG AND B+H ASSOCIATED ARCHITECTS

CLIENT UBC ALMA MATER SOCIETY | ARCHITECT TEAM DIALOG—JOOST BAKKER, BRUCE HADEN,

LOWER LEVEL 1 LOWER AGORA 2 PIT PUB 3 SUSTAINABILITY CENTRE 4 BURGER BAR 5 PAN-ASIAN RESTAURANT 6 VARSITY OUTDOOR CLUB

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7 COMMERCIAL RETAIL UNIT 8 THE DELLY 9 LOWERCASE CAFÉ 10 CITR RADIO 11 WATER CISTERN

10M

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INSITES

THE OTHER ARCHITECT TEXT

Tanya Southcott CCA Montreal unless otherwise noted

PHOTOS

AN EXHIBITION AT THE CCA ASKS: WHAT IF ARCHITECTURE IS THE QUESTION, RATHER THAN THE ANSWER?

The Other Architect, the current exhibition at the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA), points to a truth long upheld by the profession— that architectural practice involves much more than the realization of buildings. The artifacts displayed instead invite us to contemplate the work of architects in producing ideas. This other side of architecture, the exhibition argues, plays a central role in setting contemporary cultural agendas. The exhibition is organized around 23 case studies—works by interna tional and multidisciplinary groups dating from the 1960s to the present that challenge the methods, tools and organization of traditional design practice. The diverse material presented across the CCA’s main galleries shares a commitment to architectural research as a project in its own right. At every stage, the exhibition challenges the idea that buildings are the ultimate architectural object. This is most notable at the entry, where an oversized presentation model by Office for Metropolitan Architecture literally blocks direct access. Too large for this foyer, the model squeezes visitors to the periphery, a bodily experience that reminds us how difficult seeing beyond the architect as builder of buildings can be. Entering The Other Architect reveals architecture through its alternative tools of communication. Some are mundane—like e-mail correspondence and project-staffing diagrams. Others are extraordinary—like paper hats folded in the shape of buildings and notebooks filled with hand-drawn

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ABOVE Twenty-three alternative practices involving architects—whose work focuses on creating ideas rather than buildings—are showcased in the CCA’s current exhibition.

sketches of threatened structures. Many are not unfamiliar to architects but are often disregarded when describing their work to the public. Each of the case studies is represented by an oversized wall graphic designed by COCCU of Munich, and accompanied by a collection of artifacts displayed on a series of large tables. MOS Architects of New York designed the elegant tables, each made of a glass top supported by three black sawhorses. This furniture bears the brunt of presenting over 700 objects, from letters, books, drawings and photographs to manifestos, surveys, meeting minutes and diagrams. Their clean detailing makes the artifact-heavy space feel light and airy. As a key motif of the exhibition, the tables echo the typical environment of the architectural workspace, be it the studio, the office, or a hybrid of the two. The hybrid approach is evident in an oversized photograph of the Urban Innovations Group, an off-campus design and research laboratory that brought together students and professors in Los Angeles to work on real commissions such as the public space and fountain of the Piazza d’Italia in New Orleans, Louisiana. The tables also suggest a space for gathering to engage in conversation and to share ideas. This is appropriate to the CCA’s intention—not to present a chronology of alternative practices, but to create a space where alternate ideas are given equal weight. Canadians will recognize the work of Montreal-born artist and architect Melvin Charney in the descriptions of Corridart, a large-scale

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AD/AA/POLYARK; CEDRIC PRICE FONDS, CCA © PETER MURRAY

YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY © CENTERBROOK ARCHITECTS AND PLANNERS

CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES © ESTATE OF MELVIN CHARNEY / SODRAC

GLOBAL TOOLS / ARCHIVIO PIERO BROMBIN E VALERIO TRIDENTI © ALESSANDRO MENDINI

GLOBAL TOOLS / CCA

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INSITES

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The Any Corporation was established as a think tank and conference series to foster debate on architecture; a double pair of shoes made by Alessandro Mendini, Davide Mosconi, Nazareno Noia and Franco Raggi at the first Body group workshop in 1974; an improvised drawing from the 1974 Sambuca Seminar; a proposed bus tour circuit connecting architecture schools from England and Scotland in 1973; an architect from Moore Grover Harper at work while on display in the window of the Riverdesign Dayton storefront office in 1976; the Corridart installations on Sherbrooke Street layered historical and wayfinding information. RIGHT, TOP TO BOTTOM A diagram showing OMA and AMO’s relationships within real and virtual spheres; founded by Brian Anson and students of the Architectural Association, the Architects’ Revolutionary Council was an activist group critical of the profession and of the education of architects.

outdoor exhibition staged and controversially dismantled as part of the 1976 Summer Olympics’ cultural program. Incorporating the work of local artists, Charney’s proposal used the street as a public space to address economic and social problems aggravated by urban development. Beyond its presentation as an outdoor museum, Corridart became a much-needed platform for public debate over the evolution of the city. According to curator Giovanna Borasi, the exhibition recognizes a shift occurring internationally in the contemporary architectural scene, as it moves away from individual authorship towards a more collective idea of practice. 2015 Turner Prize recipients Assemble, a Londonbased collaborative, is a prime example, with their work challenging divisions between art, architecture and design. Assemble and such groups as SITU and Rotor have been invited to participate in a lecture series accompanying the exhibition, bringing contemporary voices to the ongoing research project that the exhibition hopes to spur. Beyond the gallery walls, The Other Architect also takes form as a sourcebook edited by Borasi and designed by Jonathan Hares, as well as a series of weekly tours focused on exploring individual cases in more depth. Borasi plans to invite a panel of experts to criticize the show by suggesting groups overlooked by the current selection. After several months on display, the exhibition is not without its challenges. Acronyms abound and wayfinding has proven difficult; visitors are often confused or overwhelmed by the amount of material and lack of guidance on how to approach it. Heavy-handed descriptions compounded by the CCA’s scholarly approach—which typically demands much work of its audience—make The Other Architect anything but a passive experience. Soldiering through these challenges, however, has its rewards: this is a high-level conversation about the idea of architecture, one in which the non-architect, too, plays a significant role. Without privileging buildings, the exhibition makes clear that the buildings we do build are better for such investigations, especially when they provoke intimate exchanges across the perceived boundaries of the profession. Despite its shortcomings, The Other Architect remains optimistic. It celebrates hopeful beginnings; each case study is marked by its manifesto or foundational moment. Although the majority are historic examples, some, like Brussels’ Atelier de recherche et d’action urbaines, a nonprofit group that organizes walking tours critiquing urban development projects from the vantage point of local residents, remain active today. Above all, the exhibition celebrates the capacity of the architectural imagination to reveal possibilities outside of the profession where none existed before. Simply put, The Other Architect poses architecture as the question—rather than the answer—and a rich, fruitful inquiry at that.

AMO © OMA

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The Other Architect is on display at the Canadian Centre for Architecture until April 10, 2016. Tanya Southcott is a Montreal-based writer and Ph.D. student at McGill University’s School of Architecture.

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REPORT

TILES FOR ALL TASTES

STANDOUTS IN ITALY’S ANNUAL TILE SHOW INCLUDE CERAMICS THAT PLAY WITH PHOTOREALISM AND TEXTURE IN INTRIGUING WAYS. TEXT

Andrew Jones 1

Visiting Cersaie provides a zeitgeist survey of the world’s ceramic products. This year there were 872 exhibitors representing 39 countries, and more than 100,000 visitors. Wares ranged from a seemingly endless variety of tiles and bathroom furnishings to tools and equipment for the tiling trade. Cersaie seemed to propose that the world could be made anew in ceramic, whether practical or luxurious—and, after a few days of exploring the show’s offerings, I learned that ceramics, with all their many advantages, can be used for virtually every building surface. Furthermore, ceramics continue to evolve into high-tech materials that go beyond the expected. One of the exciting technical innovations in ceramics is the production of extra-large and wafer-thin panels. Sizes reach 1.6 m x 3.2 m, with thicknesses as little as 3 mm. Large thin panels are easy to handle and cut compared with conventional porcelain, are perfectly f lat, and can be installed over existing surfaces without the need for demolition. Thin panels have outstanding green credentials thanks to their limited use of raw materials, energy resources and water. Large panels are made using an industrial manufacturing process that employs a meticulously selected blend of clays, rocks, feldspars and pigments, which are pressed under very high load on a continuous belt and are then fired at a temperature of more than 1,200 degrees Celsius. Manufacturers of these sleek tiles include ABK Group and Laminam.

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One large-format standout is Patrick Norguet’s recently designed Naïve panels for Lea Ceramiche’s Slimtech product range, which includes a white background with an irregular pattern of intersecting lines. These crosshatched lines are registered over top the same design in low relief, creating a floating graphic effect. New technological advances allow for a quick and seamless process from initial concept through to sampling and manufacturing. Designers are now able to create designs using many types of artwork, surface relief and metallic inks. Daniel Libeskind used these characteristics when working with the Italian company Casalgrande Padana on the tile-clad Vanke Pavilion at last year’s Milan Universal Expo. A description from the Libeskind website explains: “The three-dimensional surface [of each tile] is coated with a metallic coloration that changes as light and viewpoints shift. At times it will appear as deep crimson, then a dazzling gold, and even, at certain angles, a brilliant white.” The geometric ceramic panels evoke a dragon-like skin, and also possess highly sustainable selfcleaning and air purification properties. Casalgrande Padana recently licensed the proprietary Hydrotect technology from the Japanese company Toto, and with it has developed the Bios Self-Cleaning line of ceramics. When the tiles are used in façades and exposed to light, the technological innovations break up organic substances and pollutants on the tile surface.

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High-definition ink-jet printing is not brand new, but is still having a profound effect on the ceramic tile industry. The potential of digitally printing onto tile has opened up limitless possibilities for pattern, colour and combinations of surface relief and pattern. But we’ve yet to see the full potential of digital printing in ceramics. At present, the technology has resulted in a proliferation of ceramic tiles that simulate the appearance of wood and stone. At Cersaie, it seemed that every producer had a broad selection of wood and stone look-alike tiles. However, a handful of companies have reacted against photorealism and are referencing real-life materials in a self-conscious way. As an industrial designer, I feel these products are most comfortable in their ceramic skins. For instance, Digitalart by Ceramica Sant’Agostino samples herringbone fabrics with irregular and contrasting colour and weave effects.

vein of mixed media exploration, Slimtech Type 32 by designer Diego Grandi for Lea Ceramiche overlays photorealistic wood with lines in chevron patterns to create an interesting hybrid of photo and drawing. Two collections by boutique manufacturer 41zero42 also show inventive verve. Rigo by 41zero42 is a full-coloured body tile, which the company describes as having “the contemporary charm of wood’s imperfections.” The woodiness is conveyed through surface relief alone, which highlights the wood’s natural grain and bandsaw cuts. Signs, on the other hand, features six different patterns imprinted onto extruded, full-coloured porcelain. Tiles vary in thickness and shape, giving the collection a handmade feel. Another product focused on surface texture is Carve, a floor tile by artisan stone designer Giovanni Barbieri for Vallelunga & Co. Even

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The design claims to be “the first fabric-look made on a three-dimensional textured ceramic surface.” Five neutral colours and eight modular sizes allow for textile-like combinations for walls and floors. Imagine what might result if fashion houses in Milan, like Pucci or Prada—who have fully realized the potential of digital printing on fabric—were to join forces with the Italian ceramics industry. Similarly, there is a renewed interest in clay and in past methods of pattern-making as inspiration for new designs. These designs show the random, malleable qualities of the stuff itself. Maxe, for example, is a playful, wood-inspired tile designed by local architect Studio Architetto Romanelli for Unica by Target. The tile design is created by hand-rubbing graphite over wood samples, a technique inspired by the work of German artist Max Ernst. In a similar

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1 Lea Ceramiche’s Slimtech range includes the fine-lined Naïve collection. 2-3 Daniel Libeskind’s installation at the Milan Expo used iridescent tiles from Casalgrande Padana. 4 41zero42’s Sign tiles play with subtle, plaster-like textures. 5 Sant’Agostino’s Digitalart tiles employ the texture of herringbone fabric. 6 Type 32 recalls inlaid wood and is also part of Lea Ceramiche’s Slimtech range. 7 Target’s Maxe line appears like rustic, painted-over wood.

though it is industrially produced, the tile appears hand-chiselled because the patterns were first handmade. Overall, Cersaie demonstrates the continued relevance and evolving role that ceramics play in our contemporary built environment. With fierce competition from China, the Italian ceramics industry is invest ing in design, technical innovation and better environmental materials to ensure its dominance in the global marketplace. This foresight will ensure that Cersaie will continue to be the place where the latest and greatest in ceramics are seen for years to come. Andrew Jones’ work includes furniture design and architectural, commercial and residential interiors. He teaches at the University of Toronto’s John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design.

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CANADIAN ARCHITECT 02/16

PRODUCT SHOWCASE Dryvit’s high impact resistant program for their family of Outsulation systems is HDCI™ (High Durability Continuous Insulation). It incorporates Dryvit’s Panzer® 20 high impact mesh for entire façades. This configuration is 10 times more impact resistant than industry standard. Dryvit can provide a 20-year warranty against system punctures – it’s peace of mind, if the wall is damaged, Dryvit will repair it.

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Arctic Adaptations: Nunavut 15 January 21-May 15, 2016

The exhibition that represented Canada at the 2014 Venice Biennale in Architecture continues its cross-country tour with a stop at Calgary’s Illingworth Kerr Gallery. www.acad.ca

Your Future Home: Creating the New Vancouver January 21-May 15, 2016

Presented by the Urbanarium Society and the Museum of Vancouver, this exhibition explores timely issues including housing affordability, urban density, mobility and public space. www.museumofvancouver.ca

Constructed with Light: The One Spadina Project February 9-April 8, 2016

This exhibition of photographs by Peter MacCallum documents the revitalization of One Spadina Crescent, currently under construction as the new home of the University of Toronto’s Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design. www.daniels.utoronto.ca

Design Matters Film Series February 24, 2016

This one-night screening in Edmonton presents a curated selection of local and international short films that showcase different kinds of abilities, disabilities, inclusion and exclusion through design objects and environments. www.joinmade.org

Dan D’Oca Lecture

Drawing Ambience: Alvin Boyarsky and the Architectural Association February 29-April 10, 2016

This exhibition in Cambridge, Ontario offers a rare opportunity to view architectural drawings from the private collection of educator Alvin Boyarsky, including early drawings by Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid and Rem Koolhaas.

www.uwaterloo.ca/architecture/events

Atmosphere Symposium February 25-27, 2016

This year’s Atmosphere symposium at the University of Manitoba explores the theme of water’s physical and phenomenological character.

www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/architecture

Rayside/Labossière open house

March 8, 2016

The Urban Land Institute presents a conversation at the Toronto Region Board of Trade between urban designer Ken Greenberg and William Fleissig, the new president and CEO of Waterfront Toronto. www.toronto.uli.org

www.ideaexchange.org/art

Rooftops Canada fundraiser

Re-Imagining Urban Form and Policy in a Global Economy

March 1, 2016

March 9-11, 2016

February 15-March 20, 2016

The co-founder of New York firm Interboro Partners speaks at the University of Waterloo as part of the Arriscraft lecture series.

Fireside Chat with William Fleissig

CANADIAN ARCHITECT 02/16

CALENDAR

Frank Lewinberg from Urban Strategies interviews Josie Adler, a Johannesburg community organizer working with residents to reclaim the Hillbrow neighbourhood and make it safer.

This symposium at the University of British Columbia examines the linkages between global capital flows, policy initiatives, local democracy and urban form. www.urban-design-forum.sala.ubc.ca

www.rooftops.ca

Jeanne Gang lecture

International Green City Conference

March 7, 2016

March 14-18, 2016

www.carleton.ca/architecture

www.cnla-acpp.ca/greencity

The founder of Chicago-based Studio Gang lectures at the National Gallery of Canada as part of the Forum lecture series.

Co-organized by the Canadian Nursery Landscape Assocation, this Vancouver event focuses on urban green infrastructure.

February 26, 2016

This socially oriented Montreal firm opens its doors as part of the Rencontres Novae event series. www.novae,ca

Winter Stations February 15-March 20, 2016

This second annual outdoor display on Kew Beach in East Toronto features the winning entries from an open international design competition to transform lifeguard stands into cold-weather pavilions. www.winterstations.com

Frank Barkow lecture February 29, 2016

The co-founder of Berlin- and New York-based firm Barkow Leibinger, which designed the Biosphere in Potsdam, Germany, lectures in Vancouver. www.sala.ubc.ca

Fiberboard panels manufactured in Canada by MSL meet the most stringent environmental criteria, made entirely from non-toxic natural materials. They are stable, lightweight and easy to install, and have been placed at the top of the ranks for soundproofing, insulation and roofing panels. Innovation in sustainable development continues to be top of mind at MSL, with its newest product being recognized as one of Canada’s top green products of the year by the Canada Green Building Council.. www.MSLfibre.com

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BACKPAGE

COURTESY DIETMAR STRAUB & ANNA THURMAYR

CANADIAN ARCHITECT 02/16

FOLLY FOREST TEXT

Lisa Landrum

AN ASPHALT SCHOOLYARD IN WINNIPEG IS TRANSFORMED INTO AN IMAGINATIVE LIFE-FILLED PLAYGROUND. Ever have the urge to take a sledgehammer to a nasty patch of asphalt? Students, parents and teachers at Winnipeg’s Strathcona School, together with landscape architects Dietmar Straub and Anna Thurmayr, turned that urge into restorative action. With modest resources ($20 per square metre), but great resourcefulness, the team transformed a playground of hard tar into a terrain of soft spots for serious play. This schoolyard is no longer a paved lot to park children during recess. It has become an enchanting outdoor classroom and community park. The design includes a scattering of follies and dozens of trees sprouting from a constellation of skewed stars sliced into the ground. This primary design move subdued the asphalt while reinterpreting its chaotic geometry of grass-filled cracks as cues to renewal. Surface failures were seen as enabling a resilient return of natural growth. Straub and Thurmayr pitched their strategy as a quintet of interventions: breaking open the asphalt; planting trees in newly exposed earth; filling gaps with soil and a permeable bricolage of salvaged bricks, cobblestones, logs and asphalt chunks; sowing prairie grasses; then finally, welcoming urban wildlife. This wild-

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life includes not just pretty birds and butterf lies, but also bugs and earthworms. As every kid should know, earthworms play a vital role in maintaining healthy ecosystems by aerating the soil and ferrying nutrients from the surface to roots below. As much as Straub and Thurmayr designed for frolicking children (kindergarten to grade six), they also designed for burrowing invertebrates, providing thresholds—like trap doors in a stage floor—where lower and upper worlds meets. For these underground soil engineers, the pavement’s colourful array of fissures frame gateways up to daylit dirt, enabling them to do their work. Together with the perforated dance floor for students, trees and worms, Straub and Thurmayr choreographed other socially constructive diversions. These include a dense archipelago of rocks (known as Rocky Island); a grassedover mound formed by broken clumps of paving; a weathered array of tree trunk-like benches, made from beams recovered from a demolished stadium; and a surreal trio of upturned industrial tanks—rusty curiosities from Winnipeg’s Salvage Supermarket. Each folly supports topographical play: hopping, climbing, balancing and running around in circles. The rich materiality and allusiveness

ABOVE Trees, repurposed industrial tanks and paint were among the modest resources used in the Folly Forest project.

of these rocks, mounds, beams and cauldrons also provoke peripatetic wondering and storytelling. Their strange presence recollects tales of origins and spurs imagination. Are they lookout towers for earthworms and nests for dinosaur eggs, as Straub purports? Or are they heads of magic mushrooms, emerging humps of an autochthonous monster, archaic bells, petrified beehives, or primitive huts for a genius loci? Straub and Thurmayr, Associate Professors of Landscape Architecture at the University of Manitoba, call their design Folly Forest. This coupling of terms is telling. Whereas “forest” flags the primary design intention to conjure a host of trees, “folly” nods to the aesthetic delights of 18th-century pleasure gardens. In this forest, folly also leaps past foolery to recover its original Latin meaning of a shady retreat (think foliage) and the ephemeral play of leaves. Since 2012, when the project was first planted, some saplings have succumbed and bright graphics have faded. Yet, as a catalyst for rethinking urban playgrounds and community design collaborations, Folly Forest is taking root, cultivating a collective ecological imagination. Lisa Landrum is an Associate Professor in the Department of Architecture at the University of Manitoba.

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