Brandon DonnellyCanada must become a global superpower
The silver lining to the US starting a trade war with Canada and regularly threatening annexation is that it has forced this country out of complacency. Indeed, I'm hard pressed to remember a time, at least in my lifetime, when patriotism and nationalism has united so much of Canada. According to a recent survey by Angus Reid, the percentage of Canadians expressing a "deep emotional attachment" to the country jumped from 49% in December 2024 to 59% in February 2025. And as further evidence of...
Brandon DonnellyThe bank robbery capital of the world
Between 1985 and 1995, Los Angeles' retail bank branches were robbed some 17,106 times. In 1992, which was the the city's worst year for robberies, the number was 2,641. This roughly translated into about one bank robbery every 45 minutes of each banking day. All of this, according to this CrimeReads piece by Peter Houlahan, gave Los Angeles the dubious title of "The Bank Robbery Capital of the World" during this time period. So what caused this? Well according to Peter it was facil...
Brandon DonnellyThe story behind those pixelated video game mosaics in Paris
If you've ever been to Paris, you've probably noticed the small pixelated art pieces that are scattered all around the city on buildings and various other hard surfaces. Or maybe you haven't seen or noticed them in Paris, but you've seen similarly pixelated mosaics in one of the other 79 cities around the world where they can be found. Or maybe you have no idea what I'm talking about right now. Huh? Here's an example from Bolivia (click here if you can't see...
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Brandon DonnellyCanada must become a global superpower
The silver lining to the US starting a trade war with Canada and regularly threatening annexation is that it has forced this country out of complacency. Indeed, I'm hard pressed to remember a time, at least in my lifetime, when patriotism and nationalism has united so much of Canada. According to a recent survey by Angus Reid, the percentage of Canadians expressing a "deep emotional attachment" to the country jumped from 49% in December 2024 to 59% in February 2025. And as further evidence of...
Brandon DonnellyThe bank robbery capital of the world
Between 1985 and 1995, Los Angeles' retail bank branches were robbed some 17,106 times. In 1992, which was the the city's worst year for robberies, the number was 2,641. This roughly translated into about one bank robbery every 45 minutes of each banking day. All of this, according to this CrimeReads piece by Peter Houlahan, gave Los Angeles the dubious title of "The Bank Robbery Capital of the World" during this time period. So what caused this? Well according to Peter it was facil...
Brandon DonnellyThe story behind those pixelated video game mosaics in Paris
If you've ever been to Paris, you've probably noticed the small pixelated art pieces that are scattered all around the city on buildings and various other hard surfaces. Or maybe you haven't seen or noticed them in Paris, but you've seen similarly pixelated mosaics in one of the other 79 cities around the world where they can be found. Or maybe you have no idea what I'm talking about right now. Huh? Here's an example from Bolivia (click here if you can't see...
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Brandon Donnelly18 rue Pradier
Support Brandon Donnelly
Brandon Donnelly18 rue Pradier
I continue to be amazed that cities, like Paris, can make small housing projects, like this one at 18 rue Pradier, work.
The site is approximately 277 m2:
And yet, social housing developer Seqens built 8 floors, 15 apartments, and even used a stone facade with built-in sun shades on the windows.
The total building area is approximately 1,030 m2 (~11,086 ft2). That's an average of 1,385 ft2 per floor, which would be unthinkable here in Toronto with our two required means of egress.
So let's consider some of the math.
My internet sleuthing tells me that this site last sold on December 6, 2018 for €3,950,000. That works out to ~€263k per door or €356 per buildable square foot. This is a wild land basis!
So is it that construction costs are that much lower or that the project received heavy subsidies? Maybe it's both. I shall continue sleuthing.
Project photography by Cyrille Lallement via ArchDaily; building section from Mobile Architectural Office
I continue to be amazed that cities, like Paris, can make small housing projects, like this one at 18 rue Pradier, work.
The site is approximately 277 m2:
And yet, social housing developer Seqens built 8 floors, 15 apartments, and even used a stone facade with built-in sun shades on the windows.
The total building area is approximately 1,030 m2 (~11,086 ft2). That's an average of 1,385 ft2 per floor, which would be unthinkable here in Toronto with our two required means of egress.
So let's consider some of the math.
My internet sleuthing tells me that this site last sold on December 6, 2018 for €3,950,000. That works out to ~€263k per door or €356 per buildable square foot. This is a wild land basis!
So is it that construction costs are that much lower or that the project received heavy subsidies? Maybe it's both. I shall continue sleuthing.
Project photography by Cyrille Lallement via ArchDaily; building section from Mobile Architectural Office
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2 comments
The article is a valuable resource for anyone interested in this topic.
Beautiful building, Brandon, thanks for sharing. Yes, hard to imagine how the city made the numbers work. I'm guessing it was heavily subsidized under their social housing program. Perhaps the city bought -- and took the loss -- on the land. If you subtract the land value, perhaps it starts to pencil out. Note, not only is there only one exit stair, but the configuration of the stair (winders) would likely be against code here in Ontario. I think we're only allowed to have two winders in a row for a designated exit stair.