Video Friday: Cool Hunting / Tord Boontje
This week over at Cool Hunting they’ve intereviewed Dutch designer Tord Boontje at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York. Tord’s designs take an environmental focus, and he explains the nature of his interest in this type of design evolves from the attempt to evoke emotion, rather than the coldness of minimalistic design. Cool Hunting’s video features are always a pleasure to watch; They’re impeccably produced, shot with a real professional eye, and has always been one of my favourite podcasts.
Doors Open Toronto
I had the chance this weekend to check out a few of the locations open in the city as part of the Toronto Doors Open celebration. Each year, hundreds of business and buildings not typically open to the public open up their doors for free admission. As you can see by the list of open buildings, there were quite a few to choose from, but among the ones that stood out included the now closed and often illegally adventured Lower Bay subway station, the historic Distillery District, and the one that caught my eye (pictured above), 401 Richmond Street.
Once a factory, 401 Richmond has been repurposed as offices for cultural producers (artists, and so forth) and what they call ‘microenterprises’. The main feature of this building is its garden and green roof, a relatively new urban solution to the heat island effect that many cities are now facing that can raise temperatures and make things generally unpleasant for all of its residents. Buildings equipped with these green roofs not only cut down on heat absorbed from the sun on their traditionally tarred roofs, but also help cut into carbon dioxide and provide a non-traditional space for the occupants of the buildings to enjoy.
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Adam is a User Experience Specialist at IBM in Toronto and also produces content of all kinds around the Web.
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