Ode to New York

.

I am thinking of my trip to New York City earlier this month for Design Week and ICFF.  I go every year, as each visit never fails to inspire and provide opportunities to forge new connections to people and places and ideas.  Each meal for instance is a delight; starting with the curation of a table - each element serves simply to give pleasure, from feel in the hand to visual care to of course, the taste.  This does sound indulgent but whenever I leave the city I treat myself to a little plate of oysters and sit at a favorite spot, reveling in the marvels around me that one of the greatest cities in the world offers. I certainly remember how difficult it was to first arrive in NYC to find a place to live and to work, and the tremendous satisfaction in the reward of eventually finding both.

Minto 1

.

It was a real pleasure to work with Boszko & Verity and with Minto on a new office for Minto in High Park Village.  Here are a couple of (early) in-progress photographs that I rather enjoy.  Nothing like chilly morning meetings whilst inspecting various historical layers of flooring!

Port Credit House 3

.

The windows and lift and slide doors are going in today!  Following the violence of demolition comes the quiet peace of a new vision and future for the house.  The living spaces are suddenly full of light with views akin to those from a treehouse.  The lush gardens with mature trees can be appreciated from every room.  The custom millwork is being fabricated, and the finishes and fixtures will soon be installed.  I feel that the integrity of the original house has been preserved and celebrated also.  Rather pleased.  Thank you to C+C and Parallel General.

Spring 2015

.

Well it has been some time since I have posted - during which I have thoroughly enjoyed New York City during ICFF, done countless drawings, performed as many site visits, and planted an already thriving garden during this temperamental spring.  I shall follow with more reports of projects in progress, to-begin, and concluding!

Port Credit House 2

.

One of my favorite stages on a construction site is when the steel is going in.  Getting this big chunk of steel through the front door was not so easy.  A lot of laughing and bluster, inch by inch rotations and some nearly pinched fingers.

Sketchbook 35

.

Sketchbook 34

.

SANTA MARIA DEI MIRACOLI - VENICE

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!  I have been delinquent in posting new entries, clearly.  Along with exciting ongoing and new projects I visited London for design week and Miami for Art Basel/Design Miami.

A New Year's resolution - to post some images of those experiences, and project updates.

Here's a page from a little sketchbook of some favorite buildings that was my contribution during a Christmas Eve gift exchange.  In turn I received a beautiful light box with a photo/painting by Joseph Eiger.

Autumn 2014

.

Needless to say it has been months since my last update; what a wonderfully productive summer and early fall.  A short recent visit to London UK was a fantastic reunion with that majestic old city, filled with contrasts, inspirations, long-time friends, family, history, exploration.  100% Design and DesignJunction and the V+A.  Etc.  I hadn't been in London since 1999 when I last lived there.  I shall endeavor to share some images soon from that little trip.

A full roster of new projects is also on the horizon - I am thrilled about them, and will be updating more on all of these things in short order.  To name a few, a pavilion, a restaurant downtown, and a resort.  Exciting times.  Other projects are under construction, are concluding, have concluded, and at some point if the hours magically multiply those shall be documented. 

Port Credit House 1

.

Starting work on a perfect 1950's home in Port Credit - very sensible spacious plan, amazing street and lot backing on to a ravine.  The original light fixtures, little surprises such as the vintage in-wall radio (that works!), and views through the mature trees surrounding make this house even more special. 

Strata

.

OLYMPIA TILE SLAB WAREHOUSE

I love touring stone slab warehouses and marveling at these gorgeous ancient slices cut from the earth.  I saw the most magnificent specimens yesterday that looked like topographic maps, microscope slides, painterly masterpieces, quiet captured stretches of petrified matter, magnified photographs, glacial records... the most vibrant and delicate colours compressed adjacent, all in natural stone.  I have been to many of these warehouses to choose precious slabs for projects, and every time it is at least as thrilling as any gallery or museum.  Each must be touched to feel the subtle veining, honing, and the layers that have been concealed before the diamond saws sliced through those irreplaceable blocks; the sheets to be treasured for generations as reminders that there is a hidden and mysterious beauty beneath our feet.

Some Inspiration

.

ALL PHOTOGRAPHS BY KARL BLOSSFELDT

I adore Karl Blossfeldt's photographs (a few of which are above).

I have been contemplating for a quite a while taking images such as these as a starting point for inspiration to create a new series of large images/wallpapers/collages/murals combined with some incredibly detailed maps that I have.  Nonsensical perhaps, but I love the idea of these gorgeously organic forms in black and white colliding with the organic complexities of man-made cities.  I can see the images that I want to achieve so clearly in my mind.  I just have to do it.

Sketchbook 33

.

Home Surveillance

.

Fire in the Garden

.

I am loving my Weltevree corten steel oven.  Such a wonderful thing to enjoy in the garden; a warming hearth to prepare dinners within and to gather around.  It is quite the treat in the winter; a sparking steaming entity that melts the snow and glows with fragrant wood alight, creating a growing mass of ruby embers. 

Eckler Actuarial Office_9

.

.MAIN BOARD ROOM WITH RETRACTABLE WALL AND

 MOBILE VOX FLIP-TOP  TABLES BY NIENKAMPER.

 

IMAGE ON SCREEN - SCHEMATA SERIES BY MARIANNE LOVINK

PHOTOGRAPHY BY SCOTT NORSWORTHY

These are a few photographs of the recently completed meeting and reception areas for Eckler Ltd.  It was a pleasure to realize another project for the company and to work with Gillanders Construction again.

RP Investment Advisors_2

.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY SCOTT NORSWORTHY

RP Investment Advisors are in their new offices in a unique two storey building in Yorkville. There is a beautiful little courtyard that can be viewed from one of the meeting rooms, and an opening between the traders floor and the upper level that allows light from the skylight above to flood the space.

Moore Park House_2

.

MILLWORK BY JMAC PRODUCTIONS

The millwork is nearly complete for the Moore Park House; I am excited to see this walnut desk and the shelves installed - here they are at Jeremy's shop.

Happy New Year - 2014!

Art Basel / Design Miami

.

DAVID RENGGLI "I LOVE YOU"

REVERSE PAINTING ON GLASS
WITH MATCHING SUIT AND TOTE

RICHARD PRINCE "ALL YOU CAN EAT"

ACRYLIC + SILKSCREEN INK ON CANVAS

BARNABY FURNAS
DRANOFF FINE ART

LIFEGUARD TOWER ON SOUTH BEACH

BREAKFAST AT THE RALEIGH

SOUTH BEACH

 

Amazing trip to Miami saturated with art (+art + art), design, neon, pastel hues, art deco architecture, the beach, gorgeous weather, great food and good company. A few of the places and events visited that I would recommend include Art Basel during Vernissage, Design Miami, Untitled, Scope, INK, Wynwood, Art Miami, Soho Beach House, Casa Tua for lunch, the Raleigh at the little interior bar and also by the pool, Wynwood Kitchen, (thanks Andrea Mills!) the Standard, the Delano, and for a fun meal with seafood bibs and key lime pie Joe's Stone Crab.

Very inspiring.  Lingered over beautiful Motherwell prints and I also saw a very nice Francis Bacon piece that would have almost fit into my suitcase.

Last Hurrah

 .

I love the effort and spirit it took to send this beautiful old industrial warehouse off in style.  So many of these wonderful spaces simply disappear under the wrecking ball without acknowledgement - becoming ghosts remaining in too few people's imaginations.  Check out the video.  Hey Zion, thought you'd like this.

Fall Update

Hello, is November around the corner?  I am excited about the projects on the boards right now.  I am working on a cottage project in Port Hope on a gorgeous property, have designed a tiny little sauna [memories from Helsinki flooding back], am about to embark on a 50's modern gem of a house renovation, am designing for the Thompson Hotel rooftop, and have just booked another short trip, this time to Miami for Art Basel again, which was so fun the last time.  The Art Deco hotels along South Beach have a special place in my heart.  Montreal was amazing - hopefully I'll get around to posting some photos eventually. I have been lagging on posting photos and new work I admit, however time is too precious these days, as always. 

.

I have had many relationships with different amazing cities.  Loves, crushes, friendships, the ones that got away.  Toronto is of course one of them.  It has been a gradual bond, a slowly dawning appreciation - indeed I have lived here for a decade.  Last night, as I was having dinner in the precious summer twilight, it was clear to me that Toronto can be very beautiful, and there is magic to be found here.  Not a revelation, but it was a reminder of why we ground ourselves in certain places, when the rest of the planet is calling.

Summer Epilogue

.

Whew.  This summer has flashed before my eyes, in a dizzying array of project pitches, construction administration, design, drawing production, sourcing, site visits, and yes thankfully the occasional wonderful cottage getaway with friends.  I do appreciate summertime in Toronto, with the festivals, great food, and its discrete patio and rooftop pool oases.  It is almost Labour Day, shocking.  I haven't had much time to document projects or post new content here, but given how time is flying honestly I would rather sit on a dock and dip my feet in a beautiful cool lake.

Sketchbook 32

.

Moore Park House_1

.

The addition we are working on at this Moore Park home feels like a treehouse - amazing light and views through the garden  Time to rethink putting on a roof!