Doors Open 2010

[adHominem]

My only disappointment was not getting to go to Diamond & Schmitt. I planned to go there first since it was about 5 minutes from home, but when I got there they weren't open yet. I hoped I would have time to stop by on the way back, but no such luck. Did anybody go there? If so, did I miss anything?

Not really. Their offices are nice enough, but nothing spectacular. They were doing the "ask an architect" thing, and seemed friendly and approachable, but I couldn't think of any questions that weren't along the lines of "why did you ruin Museum Station, you jerks", so I kept quiet. (If you don't have anything nice to say, and all that.) They were also giving slideshow/talks about various projects; I caught the tail end of their talk about Varsity Stadium, which was interesting.

 

[khris]

hahahaha... yeah, I totally get how 7 hours from 10am to 5pm for two days on the weekend would cut down on the opportunities. Whatever.

Based on what I hear about lineups, and then also having to walk/use public transit, to get everywhere, plus actually spending any decent amount of time at the building you're visiting, 14 hours is not a lot of time at all for 150 buildings.

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

re DO2010 lack of buzz

I think one can become a bit jaded by their second or third year through the program, especially if one more of a fringe interest than architecture geeks like we find here. I visit not only to see the buildings but also in hopes of getting some behind the scenes looks at these buildings. By and large the places that I have visited in the past 3 years have been really hit or miss: The Union station tours are wonderful, as was the John St roundhouse this year, Canada Life and City hall were very good in previous years. However I found Commerce Court North and Canada Permanent underwhelming, aside from seeing the vault and how it became a boardroom and the intricate design of the interior, but no access to upper floors (thumbs down). I also read on BlogTO that the new CityTV building was a major dud.

For someone who just wants to explore their city this can be a bit demotivating as ones expectations are not met. I think next year I will venture out to some locations outside of the downtown core, hopefully this type of bland presentation is only limited to those buildings in the downtown core.

What do the rest of you think?

 

[interchange42]

If I may respectfully say this, I think UT dropped the ball. This should have been a feature on the front page and should have had a dedicated forum section where users could post their experiences and photos at different venues, each with their own thread.

I had a hard time finding this thread, buried in the Out & About section (appropriate I know, but hidden) and after 2 days of Doors Open, Im writing the 14th post.

Urban Toronto could have been the headquarters for Doors Open and should propose it to organizers next year.

We featured a story every day last week on the UrbanToronto home page... an area of the which many of you are not referencing yet I suspect. Click on 'Home' when you check in for the first time each day to see what's been highlighted!

As for us becoming the home of Doors Open, I cannot see it happening as it is a City initiative and they have a good website for it. We are happy to do our part to publicize it though.

42

 

[MetroMan]

Hi Interchange. I did see the posts on the home page. What I was suggesting was something similar to the "Bridge the Gap" initiative where a forum section and a maybe a box on the home screen would be highlighted prior to and for the duration of the event.

Doors Open isn't a UT event but it might as well be. It's everything that UT is about. It's as if all the UT geeks dreamed up an event and the city funded it.

Doors Open should be like UT's SuperBowl. Our Wrestlemania. The premier event where once a year, UT transforms into a discussion portal for members to suggest venues, share their experiences and post their photos.

 

[Urban Shocker]

Though I didn't go this year, I'm delighted that our local architectural firms see Doors Open as an opportunity to present and explain the buildings they are working on, here and abroad, to the general public. I hope that continues.

As for the Urban Toronto site, I suspect that many of us automatically bypass the home page for the Forum. Home page threads - which disappear off the front fairly quickly - don't seem to get as many replies, and the replies that they get are of a different sort from the Forum. Perhaps we're avoiding what we see as conventional "packaged" news content for the more reader-generated free for all of the Forum? Either way, congrats to interchange for his approach.

 

[Observer Walt]

I had only Saturday available this year, not Sunday. Major disappointment: McKinsey's building was open Sunday only, not Saturday as had been mistakenly advertised in the Star. I have long been an admirer of this building, from the exterior. Hope it's open next year.

An infill project which had been completed this year was the new lobby at 90 Wellesley Street West (Regis College). The lobby links a Victorian building and a 1950s building. A small but nicely done structure, it was worth a look.

 

[marcus_a_j]

I knew I wouldn't be able to attend Doors Open this year because of a wedding on Saturday, and baseball games (and effects of said wedding) on Sunday, however I did suck it up Sunday morning in the 2 hr window I had open. As many are repeats from previous years that I've seen, I wanted to see a new venue in my limited amount of time. A big Thank You to I-42 for the post on the home page for the modernists structures of the Gardiner Museum and McKinsey building.

I've admired the Gardiner Museum from the outside for years as I love the form and use of concrete on the exterior. I never went to see the inside (the collection itself does not interest me too much, to be honest) but I took Sunday as an opportunity to finally take a gander of the interior. The third floor wasn't open to the (thrifty) public that day but I was able to go on the balcony on the front on the second floo and thought it to be such a wonderful outdoor spot for some reason.

After the Gardiner Museum it was a quick walk to the McKinsey building, and it cured my hangover (temporarily) for the 45 minutes inside the building. I was thoroughly impressed by the clean, modern lines and consistent use of teak wood, concrete and other materials throughout. The wide open common areas with plenty of couches to lounge in (and beside two fireplaces as well), the three storey atrium by the kitchen area, the natural light flowing in, and the open staircases were very impressive. And there's a pool table and library for workers to relax a little bit.

I joined one of the tours going on that turned out to be very informative. They discussed how the employees played a major role in designing the building by giving their input into the types of spaces that they wanted in the building. This was the first and only building that has been built for McKinsey, a very large global company. All of there other offices are in buildings in which they lease space. While inside I kept wondering how much it would cost to lease space in this building given the large amount of floor area given to common spaces (meaning the percent of floor area available), something not generally found in office buildings downtown. UofT owns the land and McKinsey leases it from them. I wasn't sure and didn't ask on the specifics, ie. who actually owns building, but McKinsey operates with 15 year leases from UofT. The only question I did ask was where I can get an application form because I would absolutely love to work in this marvellous building.

I wish I could provide a more thorough detailing of the building but as I said I was in rough shape to begin with. If it is open next year, I highly recommend making the McKinsey Building top of the list. I prolly would not have thought of making it there if it wasn't for UT.

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

My Doors Open flickr photostream: Link

Some samples: