Tag: breakfast

• BREAKFAST unveils Brixel Mirror

  BREAKFAST, a design and engineering studio out of Brooklyn, recently unveiled something that they call Brixels. 

  A Brixel is a variable-sized brick that is controlled by software and can act as a pixel in artwork, building facades, and other kinds of installations. 

  Below is a video of their first installation, called Brixel Mirror. It is a 19 foot wide by 6 foot tall installation compromised of 540 Brixels. If you can’t see it below, click here.

  [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-5cVpWhp30&w=560&h=315]

  While extremely cool, you may be wondering how applicable this might be to real world uses. But kinetic architecture isn’t a foreign concept and I am sure we’ll be seeing more of it.

  2018.11.04

• Frenetic dim sum

  

  We went for dim sum (breakfast) yesterday morning. We wanted an authentic experience and found a place in Monocle’s Hong Kong travel guide called Lin Heung Lau. It’s an “institution” in Central that has been around since 1926. Locals would later tell us that the place is good but they probably would have sent us elsewhere.

  

  It was of course packed when we arrived and we quickly learned that you need to be aggressive in this place if you hope to get any food. There’s no line at the front and nobody is going to seat you. Instead, you circulate around the room and find your own spots. If nothing is available, you simply hover over a communal table until something opens up.

  

  This also means not waiting for the dim sum carts to come around to your table. If you do that, none of the good stuff will be left. Pull out your sharp elbows and go to work as soon as you see one come out of the kitchen. This is how most of Hong Kong seems to work. There’s too many people in too little of a space to be a polite Canadian.

  

  I thought the whole experience was great. Although, I could have probably done without the laundry (underwear included) hanging up in the bathroom.

  

  2018.01.03

• The roots of the tree

  

  Yesterday morning I attended a CTBUH (Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat) breakfast event called The Story of Marketing Tall Buildings.

  It consisted of a talk by William Murray, who is Group Director of the UK-based creative agency Wordsearch, and then a panel discussion with some of Toronto’s leading developers. (David Wex of Urban Capital was one of the panelists. Many of you will probably remember him from this BARED post.)

  Shown above is one of William’s slides. The title is: The roots of the tree. And I thought it was a great metaphor for what tall buildings, well really all buildings, should aspire to do.

  The tendency is to think of buildings as objects. Here, look at how beautiful this thing is. That’s obviously important, but what about its roots? What about the way in which it interfaces with its context and hopefully gives back? Is it a catalyst for positive change?

  I thought it was a good slide.

  2017.06.22

• Morning routines

  

  I often get asked: How the hell do you find time to write every day?

  The trick, for me at least, is to do it first thing in the morning. I get up early, prepare a bowl of cereal with fruit, make a single cup of coffee, and then sit down at my desk and read until something hits me. I like to do this before touching my inbox. It’s too easy to get sucked in once you start opening emails.

  I am not naturally a morning person, but I find this approach works best for me. When I did my MBA a few years ago, I did it part-time through 7am to 9am classes. I really enjoyed that ritual of morning education before the office and so I try and replicate that experience with my blogging routine.

  Some people like to workout in the morning, but I have never been great at that. I have more energy and I lift more when I work out in the afternoon or evening. I just wish I could find a gym that wasn’t so busy in the evenings.

  What’s your morning routine?

  Image: Snapped at Quantum Coffee last week

  2016.11.01

• Saturday morning bike ride to the Bluffs

  This morning I got up at 7:30am and met a good friend of mine at the St. Lawrence Market for breakfast.

  Market Street is closed to cars today so it’s pedestrian-only. It should be this way all the time. They had a pig roasting on a spit when I walked by and a big stage set up. 

  Below is a photo of what it looks like. Keep in mind that this photo was taken just after 8:00am, which is why it’s not all that busy, yet.

  

  When Market Street was redone a few years ago, the original vision for the street was for it to be pedestrian-only. But somebody told me that the city didn’t want that. Too bad. It strikes me as a perfect candidate for that.

  After breakfast, we then biked out to the Scarborough Bluffs in the east end of the city. If you click here, you can see the path we took via Strava. It’s only about 15km from downtown. The ride through the Beaches was by far the best stretch. The water was on my right hand side. The pavement was smooth and continuous. And I had George FitzGerald on my headphones for pacing.

  When we got there, this was the view we were presented with:

  

  It honestly doesn’t feel like Toronto. The water is turquoise and there’s a beautiful beach at the bottom of the cliffs. It felt like paradise.

  If you’ve never been to the Scarborough Bluffs, do yourself a favor and get out there on a beautiful summer day. It’s the dog days of summer and Toronto is a magical place right now.

  2015.07.11