Hola Everyone! I hope you are all doing great! This week's blog post is about our trip to the University of Toronto's John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design at their new building located at 1 Spadina (near the intersection of College and Spadina).
The weekend we went on this trip it was Doors Open Toronto and so the public was given access to enter this university building. Doors Open Toronto is an annual celebration that offers members of the public a chance to check out a number of architecturally significant buildings and interiors of interest, all for free. This year was the 19th version of the Festival and there were over a 130 buildings available to check out all over the city, but we only had time to check out one of them. A rare example of gothic architecture in Toronto, the 1 Spadina building itself was built over a 140 years ago, at that time the Presbyterian Church bought the land and commissioned the architects Smith & Gemmell to build Knox College. Over the years the building has been adapted to fit different uses.
Commencement on the renovation of the 1 Spadina building to turn it into the home of the University of Toronto's Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design began in 2013 and was completed in 2017. The renovated building was designed collaboratively by Nader Tehrani and Katherine Faulkner who are principals at the internationally acclaimed firm NADAAA, along with architects Adamson and Associates, Landscape Architects; Public Work and Heritage architects ERA. Join us in this blog post as we take a walk around the building in our self guided tour of 1 Spadina.
The Front Of the 1 Spadina Building.
Arriving at the building.
Posing in front of a model of the 1 Spadina Building.
Checking out the displays.
Student sketchbooks on display.
More Student Sketch Books.
These windows were show stoppers.
A wall of Student Work.
3D Printed Model.
The top level of the Daniel's building has a fabrication lab which features a very cool roof.
This roof detail was quite spectacular.
The windows from the fabrication lab lets you see straight down Spadina Avenue as far as your eye can see to the lake shore. The windows were so neat that we just had to take a silhouette type photo with them.
Textures
A cool organic wooden structure.
An architectural model made of cardbaord
Student Exhibit
We were able to check out the last minutes of a talk on architecture.
There is a viewing area that allows spectators to look into the auditorium from the upper level of the building.
The panelling in the auditorium is a neat array of colours.
In the basement of 1 Spadina is where the library can be found. Here I am walking towards the library.
Railing Details.
The details of the stairs were interesting.
The lighting details are quite cool.
A quiet area for students to work/ study which is located adjacent to the library areas on the ground floor and basement.
In the other section of the library (on the ground floor) one can check out magazines and this sculpture.
A wall full of architectural magazines in a section of the library.
There are tons of seating all over the building, which is quite convenient for students.
Can you guess that what is behind me are a bunch of lockers? It was interesting to see how the architect located them on the ground floor. The added light panel was a nice touch.
After our tour of the building we headed outside to check out the surrounding landscapes and look what we came across! A yellow tractor!
Here I am standing outside one of the entrances to the building.
The landscape around the building is quite unique and was designed by Public Works.
After visiting 1 Spadina we made a quick stop to Kensington Market to shop for fruits. The market is not so far from the University of Toronto's building and is actually within 10 minutes walking distance.
Ataulfo Mangos are the best!
So many flowers to choose from!
There is always something interesting happening at the Kensington market. On this day there was a band playing some music out of a laneway!
Good music deserves a tip!
There are always tons of goods for sale at Kensington Market!
Alright this brings me to the end of our blog post! Hope you enjoyed the tour of 1 Spadina with me! Stay tuned for a whole lot of other exciting blog posts still to come this year!
Until next time peace, love and light always!
-Katia
1 Spadina's location on the map can be seen below.
Where to get Katia's clothing items: CLICK HERE TO SEE STYLE BLOG POST
