On our annual “visit a new city tour”, Tracey and I drove up to Toronto Canada to explore a relatively new city of only 175 years. Our trip started early on Aug 15 with a departure from Providence taking us about 12 hours to reach our destination (including stops, traffic and a dinner caused be a severe traffic jam on the QEW in Ontario). We arrived late at our hotel in downtown Toronto and sat down to a few pints of Canadian ale. Our Sunday walking effort was challenged by record high heat and humidity, nevertheless we navigated through the city and found our way while drinking plenty of water. The heat continued on Monday as we found ourselves back in the car to explore west and east suburbs of the city and get a sense of living styles in the surrounding area. Tuesday night we walked 2 blocks from our hotel to Rogers Centre to watch the Red Sox defeat the Blue Jays 10-9. We were impressed by the stadium and it’s amenities, grand concourse and retractable roof all of which made the game more spectator friendly. Also noted by our new friend Saba (a long time Jays fan) that it is an “old stadium and not to be confused with a ballpark like Fenway”. Toronto is loaded with new architecture by Will Alsop, Gehry, Morphosis, Libeskind, Mies, Calatrava and many others. Some of the building noted in the photographs include:

The Sharp Centre for Design, Ontario College of Art and Design, Alsop Architects, 2004
Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), Gehry Partners, 2008
University of Toronto Graduate Housing, Morphosis Architects, 2000
BCE Place Allen Lambert Galleria, Santiago Calatrava, 1992
Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), Studio Daniel Libeskind, 2007
Toronto Dominion Centre (TD Centre), Mies Van Der Rohe, 1967

Wednesday we left Toronto and made a stop to visit our friend Doug who recently moved to Niagara Falls and visit the Falls (my first time). Needless to say the Falls are breathtaking and a very unique natural wonder that can not be fully captured with photographs, so I also shoot some HD video to get a better representation of the sites and sounds of the Falls. As a five day trip we covered many miles and saw many interesting things, enjoyed great food, friendly people, and became acquainted with a new city. We haven’t determined our destination for next year but I’m certain Toronto will remain on our top 5 city list for a long time to come. I hope you enjoy the photographs which can be seen as a full screen slide show and please leave your comments!

The rain here in Providence has been a steady issue for the last couple of months and finding sunny days to run outside and photograph the city are limited. A few weeks ago on a cloudy but dry day I found myself taking pictures on Benefit Street. I was excited to use a friend’s camera to take these pictures since I have contemplated a real camera instead of a point and shoot for a long time.

I enjoy Benefit Street for it’s true historical charm of residential buildings, it’s elevated stance overlooking the “downcity”, and it’s academic proximity. I find walking around with a camera is more interesting for finding unique details and views that are consistently abundant throughout this area of Providence. I hope you enjoy these photos and leave your comments.

Please take note that because of my new-found interest in photography all my images shown here will also be available for viewing on Flickr.

Today I was downtown (downcity) to run a few errands and took my camera along to snap some pictures on what turned out to be a picturesque spring day in New England. I have always admired these older buildings within a limited concentration of the downtown area. One aspect of the architecture reminds me of travels through Europe and the classical styles seen throughout.

Although I describe myself as a modernist with a deconstructive background, the beauty of these buildings are apparent and extremely inspiring to just about anyone. The buildings speak of skilled laborers and artists that collaborated for endless hours on every detailed inch of facade. The richness of detail is best viewed at the top of these buildings and accounts for the creation of a city as each building attempts to be more important than the previous. I can image a time when only the first building was in place and the glamour of viewing such an art piece from afar.

I have been connected with Providence since my childhood and then later interested in the city as a student of architecture. In my time I have seen the city transform with the additions of hotels, a mall, office and luxury apartment buildings. My first architectural reaction happened during the construction of the first Westin Tower One over a decade ago. As I recall my architectural criticism along the lines of “why not design a building to make a statement, why something that merely copies it’s context”. Since that time I have seen various other building styles come to fruition in the area and contrast the classic buildings I photographed today. The Westin Tower Two was just completed last year and is more of a traditional building style in contrast to the newer all glass office buildings near the shopping mall. I feel it’s design is more closely related to the evolution of the buildings in the pictures and truly fits into the Providence context.

As my years in the architectural profession mature so does my sensitivity toward environments, style and the continuity of history. And although I strongly proclaim a modernist design style, the process of learning from history is always and eye opening experience that can reclaim old ideas and generate entirely new concepts. I hope you enjoy the pictures and find your personal way to Providence to enjoy the views.