This past Thursday, the Sundance Institute announced that it will be moving the Sundance Film Festival from Park City to Boulder starting in 2027. This is sad. Sundance has been based in Park City since 1981 and it's the largest independent film festival in the US. Last year (2024), it is estimated that it created 1,730 jobs for residents, contributed $132 million in GDP to Utah, and produced about $13.8 million in state and local tax revenue.
Here's what Park City Mayor Nann Worel had to say following the announcement:
“For over 40 years Park City wasn’t just the host of the festival, we were its home. We helped shape the identity of Sundance with our unique energy, our colorful people, our undeniable spirit,” Worel said. “The world came here for film, yes, but they stayed for something more. They stayed for the feeling this town gave them. So, yes, I’m disappointed. Deeply. I know many of you are, too.”
“To our community: We are not defined by one event. Our creative spirit is deeper than any single festival. And while Sundance may be leaving, Park City isn’t going anywhere,” Worel said.
As I understand it, Utah offered to nearly double the amount of funding that they provide to the arts festival. But that clearly wasn't enough. There's also speculation that the festival left because it had overgrown Park City and/or because Colorado is viewed as being more liberal. There are people in Utah who do not approve of some of the content shown at said festival. I have no idea as to the actual reasons. But I do think it's a real loss for Utah.
Cover photo by Spencer Davis on Unsplash
Home, as I've always said, is not an actual building typology. A home can be anything. For some people, a comfortable home might be a suburban single-family house in a bucolic community. And for others, a home might be two converted office spaces in Le Marais that also double as a highly coveted event space for art and design. That's the thing about homes, they're very personal.
This latter scenario describes the home of Jérémy Rocher and Kym Ellery -- a space that seems to be making the rounds in Paris and getting people in the art and design community excited. It was featured in HTSI magazine over the weekend and looks like the below. (In case you were wondering, the answer is yes, that is a piece by James Turrell.)
This past Thursday, the Sundance Institute announced that it will be moving the Sundance Film Festival from Park City to Boulder starting in 2027. This is sad. Sundance has been based in Park City since 1981 and it's the largest independent film festival in the US. Last year (2024), it is estimated that it created 1,730 jobs for residents, contributed $132 million in GDP to Utah, and produced about $13.8 million in state and local tax revenue.
Here's what Park City Mayor Nann Worel had to say following the announcement:
“For over 40 years Park City wasn’t just the host of the festival, we were its home. We helped shape the identity of Sundance with our unique energy, our colorful people, our undeniable spirit,” Worel said. “The world came here for film, yes, but they stayed for something more. They stayed for the feeling this town gave them. So, yes, I’m disappointed. Deeply. I know many of you are, too.”
“To our community: We are not defined by one event. Our creative spirit is deeper than any single festival. And while Sundance may be leaving, Park City isn’t going anywhere,” Worel said.
As I understand it, Utah offered to nearly double the amount of funding that they provide to the arts festival. But that clearly wasn't enough. There's also speculation that the festival left because it had overgrown Park City and/or because Colorado is viewed as being more liberal. There are people in Utah who do not approve of some of the content shown at said festival. I have no idea as to the actual reasons. But I do think it's a real loss for Utah.
Cover photo by Spencer Davis on Unsplash
Home, as I've always said, is not an actual building typology. A home can be anything. For some people, a comfortable home might be a suburban single-family house in a bucolic community. And for others, a home might be two converted office spaces in Le Marais that also double as a highly coveted event space for art and design. That's the thing about homes, they're very personal.
This latter scenario describes the home of Jérémy Rocher and Kym Ellery -- a space that seems to be making the rounds in Paris and getting people in the art and design community excited. It was featured in HTSI magazine over the weekend and looks like the below. (In case you were wondering, the answer is yes, that is a piece by James Turrell.)
The design brief given to architect Simon Pesin was to create "a home and a meeting place for art." This is a fascinating use case to me. Because it's cool and interesting and, in my view, a positive thing for the city. Brands like Danish furniture company Frama are some of the groups that have programmed it, which suggests there's maybe a need for more unique spaces like this.
But at the same time, as a real estate developer, it's mostly impossible to underwrite spaces like this. If you were developing this building and thinking about the various buyers/tenants who may want to one day occupy it, this segment would never be on your list. In fact, it is yet another example of Jane Jacobs' famous mantra that "new ideas require old buildings." This is an old building. Here's an excerpt from HTSI:
Rocher bought the property six years ago, though he and Ellery only moved in last year. “It’s funny, the property was on the market for six months because people didn’t see the potential behind it,” he says of what was formerly two office spaces fitted with partition walls, false ceilings and carpeting. “Even the windows and skylights were hidden,” he adds, pointing skyward.
Thankfully, all you need is one person to see the potential. That is one of the magical things about cities.
Photos: Depasquale + Maffini
Crypto Citizens are a collection of 10,000 NFTs that were minted between 2021 and 2024, starting first in Venice, California and ending in Venice, Italy. Each of their 10 locations has a sub-collection of 1,000 pieces and I am the owner of CryptoParisian #112, because, well, Paris was the next best city for me after they egregiously skipped over Toronto.
This is one of the most ambitious projects in the NFT art community and, now that they've completed their world tour, they've just released a documentary called Venice to Venice. It is currently being screened in private venues around the world, but eventually there will be a world premiere at a film festival. This is when I presume they will land in Toronto!
If you'd like to watch the trailer and/or mint it, click here.
Photo: Seth Goldstein
The design brief given to architect Simon Pesin was to create "a home and a meeting place for art." This is a fascinating use case to me. Because it's cool and interesting and, in my view, a positive thing for the city. Brands like Danish furniture company Frama are some of the groups that have programmed it, which suggests there's maybe a need for more unique spaces like this.
But at the same time, as a real estate developer, it's mostly impossible to underwrite spaces like this. If you were developing this building and thinking about the various buyers/tenants who may want to one day occupy it, this segment would never be on your list. In fact, it is yet another example of Jane Jacobs' famous mantra that "new ideas require old buildings." This is an old building. Here's an excerpt from HTSI:
Rocher bought the property six years ago, though he and Ellery only moved in last year. “It’s funny, the property was on the market for six months because people didn’t see the potential behind it,” he says of what was formerly two office spaces fitted with partition walls, false ceilings and carpeting. “Even the windows and skylights were hidden,” he adds, pointing skyward.
Thankfully, all you need is one person to see the potential. That is one of the magical things about cities.
Photos: Depasquale + Maffini
Crypto Citizens are a collection of 10,000 NFTs that were minted between 2021 and 2024, starting first in Venice, California and ending in Venice, Italy. Each of their 10 locations has a sub-collection of 1,000 pieces and I am the owner of CryptoParisian #112, because, well, Paris was the next best city for me after they egregiously skipped over Toronto.
This is one of the most ambitious projects in the NFT art community and, now that they've completed their world tour, they've just released a documentary called Venice to Venice. It is currently being screened in private venues around the world, but eventually there will be a world premiere at a film festival. This is when I presume they will land in Toronto!
If you'd like to watch the trailer and/or mint it, click here.
Photo: Seth Goldstein
Share Dialog
Share Dialog
Share Dialog
Share Dialog
Share Dialog
Share Dialog
