Our server at lunch today told us that the Grouse Grind hike should take us about 45 minutes. She also mentioned that she has seen some people attempt it in flip flops, but that she would strongly advise against that. That was sound footwear advice.… Read More
Back in 2008, Dasha Zhukova and Roman Abramovich hired starchitect Rem Koolhaas and founded a new contemporary art museum in Moscow called the Garage Museum. Supposedly this was the first philanthropic institution in Russia dedicated solely to contemporary art. (Here’s a short video in case… Read More
Slate Asset Management is hiring. We are looking to hire an Associate or Director to join the Development team here in our Toronto office. The full set of responsibilities can be found over here on LinkedIn, but at a high level, we are looking for… Read More
Seth Godin’s blog post this morning, called “I hate this restaurant,” is really excellent. I would encourage you all to read it. In it, he talks about a mismatch of expectations. More specifically, he gives the example of somebody going to a restaurant and not… Read More
Witold Rybczynski’s recent post about the tragic fire at Notre-Dame de Paris provides an interesting summary of cathedral construction techniques over the years: The Paris fire is also a reminder of what a weird hybrid structure Gothic cathedrals really are. The ancient Romans roofed their… Read More
Today we visited the Aga Khan Museum here in Toronto, which is a museum dedicated to the arts of Islamic civilizations. I had been outside the building before but this was my first time inside and my first time seeing some of the collections. Here… Read More
I’m a few months behind on this one, but back in April the CBC published a documentary called: Where’d the night go? It’s about Toronto’s grassroots music community and “DIY venues”, all of which are under pressure as a result of rising real estate values and… Read More
I have been very vocal on this blog about the importance “nighttime economies” for cities and for its creative industries. So I continue to be encouraged by all of the attention that this topic is getting over the last year or so. Recently, the Creative… Read More
The founder of Westbank, Ian Gillespie, recently sat down with Bloomberg TV to discuss the Toronto and Vancouver real estate markets; his Mirvish Village (Honest Ed’s) redevelopment project; affordable housing; and the markets he is and plans to be focused on (Vancouver, Toronto, Seattle, Tokyo,… Read More
Art Basel Miami Beach is going on right now so a few of us were talking about it in the office this week. If I had the time, I would have loved to go back this year. I think it’s great how Miami (Beach) seems… Read More
BRANDON DONNELLY 