Toronto Concord Park Place: Ethennonnhawahstihnen' Community Centre | 18.9m | 4s | City of Toronto | MJMA

[UtakataNoAnnex]

FWIW, MJMA often (but not always) makes use of warm-toned, wood or wood-like ceilings that can add some warmth in interior spaces. They're also often good at incorporating natural light into interior spaces.

However, their exteriors are often exceedingly bland, and lack any particular sense of place; and do tend, more often than not towards the cooler side of the colour palate.

They sometimes also do this in the interior, particularly when omitting that warm-toned wood/wood-like material.

So you're saying if they did to their exteriors what they do their interiors, they would be the cat's meow?

 

[everydayhim]

my local rec centre is Wellesley community centre and I feel like the new pool addition is a great case study for how I feel about mjma. It’s a wonderful pool and the neighbourhood is better for it, but it’s a foreboding black glass and metal box with a clinical black and white interior. There are a sprinkling of wood accents but it almost feels trivial. Meanwhile the original phase 1 building (while a little dated) makes extensive use of maroon brick, and multicoloured mosaic tiles. One of these feels welcoming and is aging well - the other does not.

seems like most of the points here are about colour of materials used? I would say that the selection of a non-preferred and subjectively judged finish doesn't mean architecture is not ambitious. One could argue that their material selections are responses to the cacophony of visual noise in the context within which they exist (Wellesley is a good example, a project like Orillia rec centre on the other side of that spectrum where materials can take center stage). Besides, what new architecture in toronto isnt some form of grey or beige? that's a comment on our design culture, not the architects' work

 

[11th]

March

 

[rdaner]

Is it me or is the name unpronounceable despite its cultural appropriateness.

 

[junctionist]

Is it me or is the name unpronounceable despite its cultural appropriateness.

If it were unpronounceable, it wouldn't form part of a language. We just need to learn how to pronounce it and commit it to memory, just like when we learned how to speak English. According to the city's website, Ethennonnhawahstihnen is "Etta-nonna wasti-nuh" when spelled phonetically.

 

[interchange42]

If it were unpronounceable, it wouldn't form part of a language. We just need to learn how to pronounce it and commit it to memory, just like when we learned how to speak English. According to the city's website, Ethennonnhawahstihnen is "Etta-nonna wasti-nuh" when spelled phonetically.

I'm afraid that for a name that won't be used that often by that many people, will be as much a barrier as it will the gesture of reconciliation that it's meant as. Yes, we need more reminders of whose land we live on… but even an English word that long would have people raised in this language staring blankly at it. This is not going to be an easy addition to the local vocab. I expect a shorter nickname of some kind will develop in due course.

42

 

[ben.thebean1]

If it were unpronounceable, it wouldn't form part of a language. We just need to learn how to pronounce it and commit it to memory, just like when we learned how to speak English. According to the city's website, Ethennonnhawahstihnen is "Etta-nonna wasti-nuh" when spelled phonetically.

I'm afraid that for a name that won't be used that often by that many people, will be as much a barrier as it will the gesture of reconciliation that it's meant as. Yes, we need more reminders of whose land we live on… but even an English word that long would have people raised in this language staring blankly at it. This is not going to be an easy addition to the local vocab. I expect a shorter nickname of some kind will develop in due course.

42

I agree with both of these but, it just took me maybe 20 seconds to read the annunciation, compare it with the actual name, and now I know how to say it just fine. We all had to learn how to say Mississauga and Saskatchewan at some point

 

[11th]

I agree with both of these but, it just took me maybe 20 seconds to read the annunciation, compare it with the actual name, and now I know how to say it just fine. We all had to learn how to say Mississauga and Saskatchewan at some point

The context may be a little different. Mississauga and Saskatchewan are anglicised spellings of the indigeous language names.
Ethennonnhawahstihnen' is in Wendat language (so even the ' at the end should not be omitted) , which uses the latin alphabet for writing.

 

[interchange42]

I agree with both of these but, it just took me maybe 20 seconds to read the annunciation, compare it with the actual name, and now I know how to say it just fine. We all had to learn how to say Mississauga and Saskatchewan at some point

Sure. Ish.

Mississauga and Saskatchewan are both 4 syllable words. Ethennonnhawahstihnen', which I just copy-pasted instead of typing, and then added the apostrophe at the end, is 7. Besides being longer, it's also a modern spelling which attempts to better replicate the original Huron-Wendat sounds, which was not done so much way-back when spellings for Mississauga and Saskatchewan were agreed upon.

It's been a rather rocky road transliterating North American Indigenous words into the Roman alphabet, most often for English, French, or Spanish speakers to try to replicate, depending upon the part of the continent we live on. As an Etobian, living in this part of Tkaronto has provided a bit of a history lesson in transliteration. The first generally agreed-upon spelling for this area was Wadopikaung, (sometimes spelled with two 'a's instead of au), and quite a distance from the next attempt to transliterate, Etobicoke, that we use now (and we don't pronounce the 'ke' of course, as it looks like we don't pronounce the last 'n' on Ethennonnhawahstihnen' either…). Anyway, the most modern attempt at transliterating the name of this place from the Anishinaabemowin shows up in a new street in the Kipling-Dundas area called Adobigok Pathway. What that tells me is not that we've finally got the transliteration correct, so much as it tells us how hard it is to capture Anishinaabemowin sounds in Roman characters.

Anyway, practice makes perfect and more people will pick up on the "Etta-nonna wasti-nuh" pronunciation once the centre opens, but I still think a short form will gradually come into use. No guesses as to what form it might take!

42

EDIT: just saw @11th's post on this as well, my browser window was left open here a long time. Yes, covered some of the same territory.

 

[Edward Skira]

How many people will just say the community centre next to Bessarion Station or just Bessarion Community Centre?

Mississauga and Saskatchewan are large areas with a lot of people using the names. How many people will put in the effort to figure out the name of one community centre?

 

[drum118]

April 20
Word is this is to open July 1st with roadwork taking place as well exterior landscaping.

More up on my site not only fot this day shoot, but this year

 

[Bayer]

Well, let those who have difficulty pronouncing the name call it the Ethen Centre. My concern is how grey and beige it all looks.

 

[UD2]

The building looks fine in real life. Actually fits into the area quite well. You need to see it in real life to appreciate it.

It is pronounced et-ten-no-nen-was-te-nen

Not too hard once you try it a couple of times. The long spelling just makes many people give up immediately

 

[Edward Skira]

 

[Jules]