One of the things that I have wanted to do since I was in architecture school was visit the Venice Biennale. Partially because I would hear people say, " so and so exhibited at the Biennale this year", and that made it sound cool. But mostly because it's the oldest cultural exhibition of its kind in the world -- it was inaugurated in 1895 -- and because there's an entire section of it dedicated to architecture. So I'm excited to say that it looks like this month is going to be the month.

The way I am told the Venice Biennale of Architecture works is that there are two main components. There are the national pavilions in the Biennale Gardens, and there is the Arsenale, which is where lots of different nations exhibit under one roof. Canada is one of the 29 countries that has its own pavilion and, if you aren't familiar with its history, it's worth watching this short video:

At the time of writing this post, it only had 277 views, so I'm guessing that most of you have not seen it. I felt patriotic when I watched it, because the purpose of these pavilions is that they host each country's official representation during the Biennale. It's Canada to the world and that makes me proud. This year, Canada is being represented by Architects Against Housing Alienation (AAHA) with an exhibit called "Not for Sale!"

Here's an excerpt from the project description:

Real estate speculation is a form of extortion. It converts homes into spatio-financial assets, changing the form, function, and aesthetics of housing to better serve the logics of wealth storage and speculation. The process is violent, resulting in an urban environment that is racist, sexist, and classist at a systemic level. This global phenomenon is nowhere more visible than in Canada, a country whose economy is now dominated by real estate.

In other words, it looks like the pavilion is going to be turned into a scathing criticism of what I do for a living: real estate development. How neat! The other neat thing about the Venice Biennale is that One Delisle is going to be featured in an exhibition called, "Reconceptualizing Urban Housing." Our team has been working on this project with Studio Gang since 2016, and so it's a great honor to have it recognized on such a global stage.

It also means that the Venice Biennale is going to simultaneously tell me that my work is doing some amount of good for Toronto, and that I'm also contributing to racism, sexism, and classism at a systemic level. I can't wait.

Friday was a busy day at Junction House.

In the morning, we gave a hard hat tour to Toronto's City Planning Division. They are currently revisiting the Mid-Rise Building Performance Standards, and so this was an opportunity to see what these standards translate to when you're on site trying to actually build a mid-rise building.

It was great to see the group so highly engaged and looking for ways to improve the delivery of this housing typology. Thanks for taking the time to visit Junction House.

Then we had the "official lighting ceremony" for the placemaking art. And by official lighting ceremony, I mean that there were a handful of us playing around with a drone and trying to get cool pictures on our phones. However, did we have one actual videographer, so stay tuned for some proper video footage of the installation.

Finally, in the evening after sunset, we got to see it illuminated for the very first time. And it was everything we had hoped for! An idea turned into reality, many years later. Shout out to the Urban Toronto community for spotting one of our earlier prototypes online and then encouraging us to make some design changes. We are happy we listened.

But what do you all think? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below.

I am so impressed by The Well. I walked through it this afternoon after a meeting at BDP Quadrangle's office, and I think that once it's fully open and stabilized, it's going to become an instant icon and destination in the city of Toronto. So much so that when people visit Toronto, they're going to come to The Well to take a photo under its glass canopy. Just watch.

Right now, only a portion of it is accessible to the public and it's because there's a BMO bank branch on the lower level that is open and operating. It's all by itself right now, though, so if you bank with BMO, maybe pop by and say hello.

Now, if you're a naysayer, I would imagine you're probably thinking at least two things. You're thinking of the office space that Shopify left behind. And you're thinking that open-air malls maybe aren't well suited towards the Toronto climate. When our group walked through it today, Matt Young (of Republic Developments) immediately said that it felt like something from California.

I don't really get this climate argument though. Mainly for two reasons: (1) because winter clothes exist and (2) because we have lots of other open-air malls throughout the city that are doing just fine. Except we don't call them open-air malls, we just call them streets. And the way they work is that people walk outside, and then go into various retail establishments.

On the office piece, well, you all know how I feel about office.

Congratulations to everyone involved in The Well. It is an accomplishment that you should all be very proud of, and our city is better for it. I look forward to seeing it continue to take shape.