ERA Initiatives
Tower Renewal + NFB feature on Metro Morning
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This week Graeme Stewart discussed ERA’s ongoing work related to Tower Renewal and working with the NFB of their film documentary with the metro morning team. You can listen to his interview in full here.
Read MoreThe Millionth Tower
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The Millionth Tower web-based documentary has launched! This weekend the project was featured on the highly-respected Wired.com site, and is already making significant waves re-imagining the way emerging web-based technologies can help to tell highly personal stories in our increasingly connected world. We are all very proud to have been involved – please see the...
Read MoreTower Neighbourhood Renewal article in the APT International
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ERA is featured in the summer edition of the International Journal for the Association for Preservation Technology (APT), in an article examining the Tower Neighbourhood Renewal initiative. From the introduction: In 2008 the City of Toronto initiated its Tower Neighborhood Renewal program. The program looks at the significant impact of post–World War II construction in...
Read MoreFour awards for ERA at CAHP Awards ceremony
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ERA were the recipient of four awards at this year’s Canadian Association of Heritage Professionals award ceremony in Victoria. Joey took the trip out west to receive the awards on behalf of the office. The awards are as follows; Preservation of a heritage building, award of merit Sharon Temple Craftsmanship award of merit Allenby Theatre...
Read MoreAlana, NOW
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Alana was featured in NOW Magazine this week, in the special career insert. She discussed her training, why she is excited to be working with ERA, and what it’s like to study and practice architecture in what is still a largely male dominated industry. *photograph from NOW Magazine
Read MoreERA x Sweden
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This month a number of ERAers took a trip to Sweden, in order to kick off a neighbourhood rejuvenation project at Semlal Lagerlöfs Torg in Gothenberg. Following the extensive site tour and project brief, the team visited precedent projects in Stockholm, Malmo and Copenhagen to view the latest in housing design and neighbourhood renewal from...
Read MoreGothenburg Renewal
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ERA has been invited to participate in a parallel commission for the neighbourhood renewal of Selma Lagerlöfs Torg in Gothenburg Sweden. Sharing many similarities to Toronto’s Inner suburbs, the neighbourhood renewal program will incorporate many of the strategies developed in Toronto for Tower Renewal…
Read MoreEast Scarborough Storefront
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Community Design – Image courtesy of Expect Theatre / Spark Productions The East Scarborough Storefront is a community agency offering multiple services in a tower neighbourhood in East Scarborough. Containing a community kitchen and garden, market, resource centre and access point to over 50 different agencies such as job search support and literacy service, the...
Read More60MM
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Michael celebrated his 60th birthday at the Carlu last night, with a great party and in high style. ERA assisted with the restoration of the heritage elements of the Carlu, and was awarded the Architectural Excellence by Ontario Association of Architects. Michael was surprised by a cake that replicated Sharon Temple, one of his favourite...
Read MoreCulture of Outports _ Burlington design/build
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As part of the Culture of Outports project, ERA taught an intensive two-week design/build course in the small outport of Burlington, Newfoundland. The course was run through Dalhousie, and began with a lengthy road-trip from St. John’s, where students had the opportunity to study and immerse themselves in the local and material culture. Then, working...
Read MoreERA and Dalhousie Complete Newfoundland Free Lab
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As part of the Culture of Outports project, ERA Architects taught an intensive design/build course with six Dalhousie University School of Architecture students in the small outport of Burlington, Newfoundland. A filled-in pond is currently serving as the only public site on Burlington’s waterfront, allowing for camping and social gathering. The studio course engaged with...
Read MoreKipling Community Build
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In July, ERA got into the building spirit as part of the Tower Renewal project at the Kipling Towers in North Etobicoke. Kipling Towers is one of the City’s great apartment neighbourhoods, with a cluster of nineteen towers perched along the western bank of the Humber River. Previous posts with more information about the neighbourhood...
Read MoreCulture of Outports: Burlington Freelab
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ERA’s Culture of Outports project, through the Centre for Urban Growth + Renewal, and sponsored by TD Canada Trust, is now taking shape in Newfoundland. The team includes Principals-in-charge Michael McClelland and Philip Evans, Project Architect Will MacIvor, and Assistant Laila MacDougall-Milne, as well as six students from Dalhousie University’s School of Architecture in their...
Read MoreOn the grill
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ERA celebrated the summer season with grilled food and cold drinks at the firm’s annual BBQ yesterday. Once again Andrew generously provided his back yard for the festivities, which always seem to take place on the hottest day of the summer. All the new ERA-babies made for a really wonderful family atmosphere this year. More...
Read MoreOn mapping
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With any exercise in mapping there are a whole series of interesting Borges-like adventures that reveal themselves. There is the story or stories the map-writer wishes to tell, but to the map-reader there are countless other stories which may appear as unpredictable discoveries beyond the intentional. As a child, playing the game of ‘connect the...
Read MoreSolstice at the Brickworks
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DSAI held their annual Solstice party at the Evergreen Brickworks last night. The weather on the longest day of the year was beautiful, and the venue was perfect. The party gets bonus points for a Jeanne Beker appearance.
Read MoreLearning from Europe
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Over the past several years, the Tower Renewal team at ERA and CUG+R have conducted a series of study tours throughout the European Union, visiting numerous cities and neighbourhoods, and meeting with local experts to learn about best practices in tower refurbishment and neighbourhood revitalization. Many of these findings have been compiled in the report...
Read MoreOut East
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Philip and Will recently took a trip out to Halifax, to give a public lecture at the Dalhousie School of Architecture and to introduce the Culture of Outports Free Lab project to the students and faculty. ERA has coordinated and will be leading an intensive two-week design/build studio in the outport community of Burlington, Newfoundland. ...
Read MoreMissed Connections
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Inspired by our friends at Coach House, we put out a discrete little Missed Connections box near the entry of the Toronto the Good party this year. If you met or saw someone interesting, but couldn’t quite muster up the nerve to exchange information, maybe the magic of Missed Connections could help. Below are a...
Read MoreAdmit One
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A handful of ERAers paid their dues this year (both literally and metaphorically), and attended the OAA admissions course. The OBC, the Construction Lien Act, and a number of other essential components of professional practice were presented and absorbed in short order. A necessary marathon, which brings us all one step closer to accreditation. Get...
Read MoreAfter the (TTG) party it’s the afterparty.
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Thanks to everyone who came out to Hart House last Thursday! Toronto the Good 2011 was a huge success, and attracted record crowds. The Tower Neighbourhood Renewal symposium was also packed to the rafters, and over a hundred people unfortunately had to be turned away at the door. Stay tuned for more photos from the...
Read MoreTTG 2011!
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The 2011 Toronto the Good party is this Thursday May 12th at Hart House. For more details, please visit www.torontothegood.org. ERA started the Toronto the Good parties to bring together a broad cross-section of Torontonians who are interested in the city and in city building. We started these parties with Spacing Magazine and [murmur], and...
Read MoreYonge Street
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Michael is currently featured on the Yonge Street website, where he discusses postwar Toronto architecture. Usually, even when people like a building, that initial appreciation declines and it continues to fall for several decades. After 40 years, it hits an all-time low. But if a building can survive past that 40-year period, then there will...
Read MoreThe new Standard
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Graeme is featured on the cover of the brand new Toronto Standard online daily news portal, with an extensive interview covering the Tower Neighbourhood Renewal initiative. This is a 20-year project. We’re talking about a huge number of buildings, hundreds of neighbourhoods and over a million [residents]. It’s about a gradual process of improvement. For...
Read MoreToronto the Good
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The 2011 Toronto the Good party was a great success! For more details, please visit www.torontothegood.org and stay tuned to our ERA Office Blog for event photos and discussions of the issues raised at the Tower Neighbourhood Renewal symposium. ERA started the Toronto the Good parties to bring together a broad cross-section of Torontonians who...
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