NXT City and Pavilion Project are hosting an event on March 23, 2017 here in Toronto (at the Drake Hotel) called Short Term, Lasting Impact. 

It’s all about how “temporary, low-cost and scalable [urban] interventions” can bring about lasting / meaningful change within our cities.

Here’s some info on the panelists / topics:

Matt Rubinoff, Tusk Global // STACKT

This temporary shipping container market proposes a visionary complex with everything from retail and restaurants to studio spaces and a brewery. What are some of the challenges of bringing an unconventional project to life?

Rui Pimenta & Layne Hinton, Art Spin // IN/FUTURE ART FESTIVAL

This art experience reclaimed a beloved Toronto space, transforming it briefly through a multidisciplinary art and music festival. What opportunities can site-specific events bring to celebrate underused spaces?

Michael McLelland, ERA Architects // PORTLANDS PROJECT

There are many long-term and competing visions for Toronto’s Portlands. How do we make best use of this prime city site today? How can short-term planning inform a future agenda and create critical cultural space in the near-term?

I know the folks behind both of these non-profits (NXT City and Pavilion Project), and so I am happy to support this event. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased here.

Lately I’ve been feeling that we’ve been having some pretty serious conversations here on Architect This City. Everything from condominium reserve funds to housing/tax policy. So today I thought we could change it up and talk about something a bit more fun: farmhouses.

Last weekend when I was in Prince Edward County, one of the places that I visited was the Drake Devonshire Inn. It’s been on my list for awhile, so I’m glad I finally got to experience it. It’s an outpost of the Toronto-based Drake Hotel (no relationship to Hotline Bling Drake) and they refer to it as their “contemporary farmhouse.” 

It was stunning.

As soon as I walked on the grounds, I couldn’t stop looking around, taking pictures, and examining all the art that they have sprinkled around the inn. Those are the sorts of things I do when I get excited by a building or place. I’m like a kid in a candy store.

I was so impressed that after I left I had to message my friend – who worked on the project and who I went to architecture school with – to tell her that she did an amazing job. Want to see for yourself? Click here for photos of the farmhouse. And click here for information on the design firm behind the farmhouse (+tongtong).

But beyond just a great space, the Drake Devonshire is also symbolic of something greater than seems to be taking place. Almost everybody I met in PEC seemed to be a Toronto transplant. They were done with life in the city and decided take off for the country. But along with them is coming pieces of the city. (The Hayloft Dancehall is another example.)

I used to think that this kind of city-to-country colonization was bound to happen in Niagara-on-the-Lake, which is only about an hour west of the city. But it turns out I was wrong. It seems to be happening to the east of the city in Prince Edward County.

NXT City and Pavilion Project are hosting an event on March 23, 2017 here in Toronto (at the Drake Hotel) called Short Term, Lasting Impact. 

It’s all about how “temporary, low-cost and scalable [urban] interventions” can bring about lasting / meaningful change within our cities.

Here’s some info on the panelists / topics:

Matt Rubinoff, Tusk Global // STACKT

This temporary shipping container market proposes a visionary complex with everything from retail and restaurants to studio spaces and a brewery. What are some of the challenges of bringing an unconventional project to life?

Rui Pimenta & Layne Hinton, Art Spin // IN/FUTURE ART FESTIVAL

This art experience reclaimed a beloved Toronto space, transforming it briefly through a multidisciplinary art and music festival. What opportunities can site-specific events bring to celebrate underused spaces?

Michael McLelland, ERA Architects // PORTLANDS PROJECT

There are many long-term and competing visions for Toronto’s Portlands. How do we make best use of this prime city site today? How can short-term planning inform a future agenda and create critical cultural space in the near-term?

I know the folks behind both of these non-profits (NXT City and Pavilion Project), and so I am happy to support this event. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased here.

Lately I’ve been feeling that we’ve been having some pretty serious conversations here on Architect This City. Everything from condominium reserve funds to housing/tax policy. So today I thought we could change it up and talk about something a bit more fun: farmhouses.

Last weekend when I was in Prince Edward County, one of the places that I visited was the Drake Devonshire Inn. It’s been on my list for awhile, so I’m glad I finally got to experience it. It’s an outpost of the Toronto-based Drake Hotel (no relationship to Hotline Bling Drake) and they refer to it as their “contemporary farmhouse.” 

It was stunning.

As soon as I walked on the grounds, I couldn’t stop looking around, taking pictures, and examining all the art that they have sprinkled around the inn. Those are the sorts of things I do when I get excited by a building or place. I’m like a kid in a candy store.

I was so impressed that after I left I had to message my friend – who worked on the project and who I went to architecture school with – to tell her that she did an amazing job. Want to see for yourself? Click here for photos of the farmhouse. And click here for information on the design firm behind the farmhouse (+tongtong).

But beyond just a great space, the Drake Devonshire is also symbolic of something greater than seems to be taking place. Almost everybody I met in PEC seemed to be a Toronto transplant. They were done with life in the city and decided take off for the country. But along with them is coming pieces of the city. (The Hayloft Dancehall is another example.)

I used to think that this kind of city-to-country colonization was bound to happen in Niagara-on-the-Lake, which is only about an hour west of the city. But it turns out I was wrong. It seems to be happening to the east of the city in Prince Edward County.