
Canada 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...

The 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...
The 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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Daily insights for city builders. Published since 2013 by Toronto-based real estate developer Brandon Donnelly.

Canada 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...

The 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...
The 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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https://youtu.be/0s8RIkpMf8Q?si=8c0ZJJXGPtal3dwA
My colleague shared this project with me while we were researching water features for one of our projects. It is called the miroir d'eau (water mirror) and it's located in Bordeaux, France.
Supposedly, it is the largest of its kind in the world, or at least that was the case when it was completed back in 2006.
As a design concept, it couldn't be simpler. It consists of a 2cm deep layer of water that is meant to reflect its surroundings. In addition, there are small jets that periodically mist water, and so it also serves as an active splash pad in the summer months.
Sometimes, or maybe oftentimes, the best ideas are the simplest ones. And in this case, it feels like they really nailed it. The water mirror lets the surrounding architecture do the talking.
The above video is in French, but even if you don't understand what they're saying, it will give you some good visuals of the water mirror. It should also convince you that it has helped to create a highly successful public space.
https://youtu.be/0s8RIkpMf8Q?si=8c0ZJJXGPtal3dwA
My colleague shared this project with me while we were researching water features for one of our projects. It is called the miroir d'eau (water mirror) and it's located in Bordeaux, France.
Supposedly, it is the largest of its kind in the world, or at least that was the case when it was completed back in 2006.
As a design concept, it couldn't be simpler. It consists of a 2cm deep layer of water that is meant to reflect its surroundings. In addition, there are small jets that periodically mist water, and so it also serves as an active splash pad in the summer months.
Sometimes, or maybe oftentimes, the best ideas are the simplest ones. And in this case, it feels like they really nailed it. The water mirror lets the surrounding architecture do the talking.
The above video is in French, but even if you don't understand what they're saying, it will give you some good visuals of the water mirror. It should also convince you that it has helped to create a highly successful public space.
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