Cityzen Developments

Things you need to know about the Venice Architecture Biennale

Frank Gehry was awarded the Golden Lion lifetime achievement award in 2008

Now that the Venice Architecture Biennale is on Cityzen's radar, we thought we'd give you real estate/developer folks a brief run-down of what's going on. You might know that Cityzen is a diamond sponsor of Migrating Landscapes, the national architectural competition for designers under 40.

Select winners from provinces across Canada will be heading to Venice,  Italy, to participate in Olympics of architecture. So, what is the Venice Architecture Biennale all about? Here's what you need to know.

 

The Netherlands' 2010 pavilion
 

The Architecture Biennale happens once every two years, but only on even years (i.e. 2008, 2010, 2012), rotating with the Art Biennale every other year. The Architecture portion was officially established in 1980, giving big-shots and starchitects the chance to showcase their new projects in various curated pavilions. Now the event has over 170,000 international attendees.

This year's theme "Common Ground" makes perfect sense for Team Canada's Migrating Landscapes initiative, which is about contemporary design within a global context, cultural memory and migration. David Chipperfield, director of Venice's 2012 biennale, wants to explore architecture in intellectual and phyiscal territories. We're looking forward to seeing how other nations interpret this challenge.

 

Poland's 2010 pavilion
 

Spain's 2010 pavilion
 

Hungary's 2010 pavilion
 

Canada's 2010 pavilion
 

See more photos Canada's 2010 entry here. It's quite the visual delight. Are you going to the Venice Biennale? Talk to us!

Developers' Den: What would you do with 10 acres of land?

On Friday we rambled up to York University's Schulich School of Business to watch case competitions of Developers' Den, which is like Dragon's Den. Just replace Kevin, Arlene, Jim, Robert and Bruce with some of the GTA's top developers.

One of those developers was Sam Crignano, president of Cityzen, joined by judges Michael Cooper of Dundee REIT, Phil Gillin of Sun Life, Geoffrey Grayhurst of Dorsay, and Frederic Waks of RioCan. They evaluated a group of select students, awarding the winner with $2500 and the runner up with $750.

The judges

The students came from Rotman School of Management, Ted Rogers School of Management and Schulich School of Business, eager to submit a development proposal to be considered by York University Development Corporation for 10 acres of land fronting Keele Street. The catch? They only had four hours to organize before presenting how they would do it.

Why York University? Ontario public universities face a difficult financial future. As a public institution, universities must strive to make the most effective use of their assets. York University is over 440 acres in size and now mix-used development is permitted on the edges of campus. Not to mention, the York subway line is expected to launch in 2015, opening up mountains of opportunity.

Students were evaluated on the financial return to York University, proposal feasability, goal of creating a vibrant/livable/sustainable campus, how much financial risk is involved, and non-monetary benefits. So, who were the winners?

Runner up: Rotman School of Management ($750)

Masha Dudelza, Ray Yen  and Stephen Ou       

Winner: Schulich School of Business ($2500)

Philip Baron, Luke Chisholm, Jamil Bundalli

Congratulations to the winners! Were you at Developers' Den? What did you think? See our live tweets from the day at Cityzen. Thanks to RealNet Canada for the group pictures, and for organizing the event.

In depth: Ontario's regional winners

From T.Dot to the Peg, who's heading off to represent Team Canada in Venice?

Thought Migrating Landscapes was over? Nah, it's just getting started. The Ontarian starchitects-to-be may have conquered Toronto's Brookfield Place, but on March 16 to April 29, 2012, they're heading to the national finals at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. From there, the winners will head to the Venice Architecture Biennale.

Some of you might be vaguely familiar with the four Ontario regional winners announced at the end of February. We thought we'd give you a more in-depth view of who's really competing in Winnipeg from Ontario.

Andrea Lacalamita & Gillian Tyrrell

Both Andrea Lacalamita and Gillian Tyrrell are Toronto-based emerging designers and recent graduates of the University of Waterloo Graduate School of Architecture. Although they were born in Canada, their current work focuses on the migration of their ancestors. Gillian has shown her work at the Design at Riverside Gallery in Cambridge. Andrea is a contributor to Canadian Art Magazine and has taught as an adjunct professor in Waterloo.

See Andrea and Gillian's video submission here.

Andrew Batay-Csorba & Jodi Batay-Csorba

Created in Los Angeles, Batay-Csorba is a design studio founded by Andrew Batay-Csorba and Jodi Batay-Csorba. In 2010, they relocated to Toronto with a progressive design outlook in their luggage, as well as bringing fourteen years of work experience at internationally renowned firms. 

See Andrew and Jodi's Vimeo submission.

Erica Pecoskie & George Simionopoulos

Erica Pecoskie and George Simionopoulos are dedicated to quality, context, necessity and delight. Interested in how excavation is rooted in construction, Erica values projects that are reactive, collaborative, poetic and enduring. George is an intern architect, craftsman, critic and lecturer with knowledge of materiality.

To see Erica and George's Vimeo submission, click here.

Kfir Gluzberg & Liana Bresler

Kfir Gluzberg and Liana Bresler are originally from Israel. Kfir studied at the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia in Barcelona and McGill University in Montreal. Liana's thesis was completed at the University at Waterloo where she also taught design, as well as in Rome. She exhibited in Canada and abroad as part of the collaboration, In-Between Cities. She currently practices at Levitt Goodman Architects in Toronto while Kfir pursues projects in Tel-Aviv.

Click here for Kfir and Liana's Vimeo submission.

PEOPLE’S CHOICE WINNERS

Emre Yurga & Christina Kalt

Watch Emre's and Christina's Vimeo submission.

Wishing everyone the best of luck in Winnipeg! Ciao.

Top 8 curvy buildings in the world

Lately, we've got curves on our mind. The Monroe-esque contours of the Absolute towers in Mississauga have motivated us to study various types of sweeping, twisted and sinuous architecture around the world.
 

Much to our delight, there are numerous voluptuous buildings to be witnessed. After some serious Google searches and hours spent in the proverbial library, we've come up with a well-rounded, full-figured list of voluminous buildings. (No pun intended).
 

Here are our favourites: 

 

The Aqua Building on Chicago's waterfront wins for most impressive undulating. 

The Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles is just one example of the many astounding buildings designed by starchitect extraordinaire, Frank Gehry.
 

The Turning Torso in the influential, miniature town of Malmo, Sweden, stands as a whirling statue for all of Scandinavia.

Devious! Frank Gehry's Dancing Building in Prague, Czech Republic, has us sashaying towards its whimsy windows.

In Groningen, Netherlands, these coiling treats are actually the Education Executive Agency and Tax Offices. We wish taxes were this exciting.
 

The Guggenheim in New York City is a classic, with art winding through the interior of the building, while the exterior leaves us thinking about The Future.

The Jameson House slinks into Vancouver, B.C., making its mark as one of the city's most intricate buildings.
 

30 St. Mary Axe is a salacious bullet in a fragment of London's skyline.
We can dig it.
 

Don't know about you, but we're adding these to our architecture sightseeing bucket list. Are we missing your favourite building? Tweet us your favourite piece of curvy architecture!