Cityzen Developments

Waterfront Toronto: The latest developments

There has been a lot of development lately with Waterfront Toronto (just check their website for evidence) but we wanted to get the scoop behind the man in charge of it all. Waterfront Toronto CEO of John Campbell sits down with us and explains why Toronto's waterfront specifically needs to be revitalized.

 

Monumental in size, Waterfront Toronto has received worldwide recognition for leading waterfront development in the right track, engaging the public and industry and producing visionary waterfront neighbourhoods. Despite rendering upon rendering, we cannot envision the wonderful result of this project, and we'll be following it every step of the way.

For more images of the Queens Quay Boulevard projects, click here (Queens Quay West) and here (Queens Quay East).

Migrating Landscapes is migrating east!

There is tons of news about Migrating Landscapes coming up as they travel east from their first exhibition in British Columbia. Tomorrow is actually their last day in Calgary at ACAD before a pause for the holidays, then it's off to Dalhousie University School of Architecture in Halifax in January.

Here is a five-second time lapse video of the Calgary exhibition really showing what it's all about:
 

For more photos, check out the following:

• Museum of Vancouver launch photos, which you can see here
• Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary with exhibition photos here

We also have a list of winners from the British Columbia exhibition. Linked in their names and contestant numbers are their video submissions.

Regional Winners will advance to the National Finals at the Winnipeg Art Gallery in March, where a high-profile jury (Eleanor Bond, Ian Chodikoff, Anne Cormier, Bruce Kuwabara and John Patkau) will select the young architectural "Team Canada" that goes to the Venice Architecture Biennale in August 2012.
 

#142 Amirali Javidan

#216 Imu Chan & Mira Yung

#184 D'Arcy Jones, Amandy Kemeny, Daan Murray and Melani Pigat

#317 Jody Beilun & Pablo Leppe

#160 Alana Greene, Philipp Dittus, Katy Young and Olena Chytra

#188 People's Choice Award: Bryan Beca & Stevie DiPasquale

In order for the winning team to get to Venice, though, we need donations today. Please donate if you support Canadian architecture! A charitable tax receipt will be provided by the RAIC Foundation.

You can also contact Sara Crignano at saracrignano@cityzen.ca and 416-777-2489 ext 225 to donate.

154 Front: Five questions with Rob Cadeau

Rob Cadeau of Architects Alliance sits down with us to talk about 154 Front Street East as well as future projects at the company. We can't  wait to see how the community develops. Watch our interview below.

Thanks for the interview, Rob!

Absolute unveils public art in Mississauga

On Friday, December 2, the city of Mississauga officially unveiled their first privately commissioned public art in front of the Absolute towers. "Buen Amigo" by renouned Chilean artist Francisco Gazitua now graces downtown Mississauga with equine flare, honouring the past and present of intersection Hurontario and Burnhamthorpe.

“We knew we wanted this urban art exhibit, or urban work, to create a physically and visually engaging series of elements that would enhance and animate the Absolute community,” says Paulo Stellato, sponsor of the design competition and partner of Cityzen.

Both Mayor Hazel McCallion and Ed Sajecki, Planning Commissioner, were in attendance, as well as Mr. Matias Ahumada, Consular Officer in Charge of Cultural and Community Affairs in Chile.
 

We want to celebrate this landmark for Mississauga and hope that it is a continuing trend for developers to include mandatory public art in their developments, like in the city of Toronto. Thank you to the city of Mississauga for making this possible.

Now that Mississauga has its first privately commissioned artwork as part of the Absolute condo community, do you think it should be mandatory for the city to require these works in every development?

For an entire gallery of our photos from Friday, click here. To see our previous post on Francisco Gazitua, click here.

Why you should support Migrating Landscapes

We have great news for everyone! Cityzen is now sponsoring Migrating Landscapes, an organization promoting young architects ages 45 and under in Canada who want to influence design via their cultural background.

Here's the deal with Migrating Landscapes. Young architects from seven regions in Canada will enter the competition with their designs and a video explaining them. There will be several winners from each region in Canada. The finals will take place in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and the winners will then go to the Venice Biennale in Architecture for 2012. This will be Canada's official entry into the biennale.

In collaboration with BILD and the entire Ontario building industry, we want to raise funds for Migrating Landscapes to support young architectural design talent in Canada. We will announce our Ontario winner at Brookfield Place in Toronto in February 2012.

Cityzen believes in supporting young design talent and has always believed in excellence and uniqueness in design. Why don't you?

Here's how you can show your support: 

• We are accepting donations through an online form now
• We have a twibbon you can shrink and insert at the corner of your twitter icon 
• Follow Migrating Landscapes on twitter @MLOrganizer and on facebook
• Follow Cityzen on twitter @Cityzengroup and on facebook for updates
• Visit the official page of Migrating Landscapes
• Contact Sara Crignano to get more involved by email saracrignano@cityzen.ca and by phone 416-777-2489 ext 225
  

We think this is a really dynamic and inspiring group, and we can't wait to see how these architects interpret migration and cultural heritage in design. Check our blog weekly for updates, and thanks for supporting Migrating Landscapes.