Our Own Private Opera House

Toronto's Four Seasons Center for the Performing Arts



Architect columnist for the Toronto Star, Christopher Hume, described the new Toronto Opera House (known as The Four Seasons Center for the Performing Arts, after the famous hotel of the same name, whose owner was a big donor) as "at least Le Corbusier would have approved".

Perhaps he means the famous Corbusier domino house prototype “Maison Dom-Ino” depicting tall vertical structures as “machines for living”. Or he may mean the functional low-income housing designs Corbusier initiated – now notorious for those French suburban Muslims who set off the riots last year.




Top: Dom-Ino Designs by Corbusier; Bottom Clichy Sous Bois low income houseing (HLM)

Or, in the ever-expanding lines of influence, perhaps the Toronto designer, Jack Diamond, did have a real, French Opera House in mind. But, it is likely the more recent Opera de la Bastille (which always reminded me of a giant swimming pool interior), not the grand old dame which Parisians still keep dear to their heart.





In any case, aesthetics and grandeur were not on the agenda. And what is opera without that?

Diamond talks about lack of funds in making some of his decisions. He also describes his desire for the building to blend in with the surroundings (to the extent that the back of the building resembles a
warehouse!).

But, I somehow think it was more of a lack of skill, coupled with a lack of imagination. Look at the environmentally attuned, beautiful Sydney Opera House.


Top: Opera de la Bastille; Middle: Opera National de Paris; Bottom: Sydney Opera House

But, if there is ever an equivalent center that is both modern and dignified, it is surely the Lincoln Center, which didn’t sacrifice anything for the sake of functionality and modernity.

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Blogging Wish List

Is that why we blog?

The Evangelical Outpost describes our (or rather his) inner conflicts regarding blogging. He says:

- We hope for community. But we often reward individuality
- We hope for eternal perspective. But we often reward focus on the trivial and ephemeral
- We hope for depth and breadth of interest. But we often reward shallowness and narrowness of concern
- We hope for wisdom. But we often reward foolishness
- We hope for unity. But we often reward division
- We hope for faith, hope, and love. But we often reward doubt, pessimism, and uncharitableness

I honestly made a concerted effort to avoid all the traps the Evangelical Outpost says we eventually fall into. See for yourselves!

I think blogging is serious. I really do try to follow my blog heading: "A place to explore and shed light on how art, culture and society converge".

I think there are serious things going on in the world. By writing about them I try to find the missing (or insightful) links.

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Preserving Memory

But is that enough?


Repeat Pattern for textile or
wallpaper print of "Lilac Bush"

One of the many ways that we can remember things is by making records of them. By pure chance, I had made a record of the the building from my previous post before it got demolished.

I'm not sure what will replace this building, probably a high rise since the neighboring building is one too.

There has been a construction spree going on throughout the downtown. Blogger Dispatches from the Hogtown Front talks about the skyscraperization of Toronto, at least the downtown part. His point is that it is probably increased levels of immigration that is fueling this rapid increase in development.

Although Hogtown Front mostly talks about the encroachment into green areas, where farmland and delicate natural sanctuaries are being destroyed, how different is that from demolishing attractive, sturdy buildings of some historical significance?

Geography and culture are being eroded for the sake of accommodating people from miles away with no compassion, understanding or even love for the real Canada.

I think the issues are more subtle than urban sprawl caused by immigration. Unlike ever before, new immigrants are transforming the symbols of this country into things totally alien to any of the residents here. Even within the diverse immigrant population, these symbols are not interchangeable. What we’re witnessing is replacement not for the better, but by the different, and in many cases for the worse.

Well, my small part has been to inadvertently record this, and what better way than as a textile design, full of the comfort, texture and tradition of cloth.

A larger part will take some thought.

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Lilac Memories

An early intuition



I was struck by this beautiful stone house late last spring. There were a lot of contrasts that attracted me: the light grey walls with the dark outlines around the windows, the lilac bush's spontaneity and curvature alongside the rigid architecture of the building, the swirls under the balconies contrasted with the railings. Besides, it looked like a great study on dark charcoal drawing against a more colorful pastel palette.

After taking numerous photos, at various angles, I managed to come up with this cropping that seemed to work.



Here is the end result.



Yet, this year, while I walked along the street (Gerrard Street, just blocks away from Yonge), I came to this shocking discovery! The house was being demolished. And the beautiful lilac trees were gone.



I guess you can call it an early intuition. But, I'm very glad I took the time to make some kind of recorded memory of this understatedly beautiful house and its lovely lilac trees.

Makes one wonder though, who gets to decide which building stays, and which one goes. I assume that the empty space will soon be filled by a bland high rise.

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What's in a Logo?

When Diversity Weakens Design

There are many immigrant services agencies around Toronto. One of the most famous is an organization called COSTI. It was originally founded in the 1950s for Italian immigrants, mostly to help them with trades-related employment.

It has since grown to accommodate any current immigrant that enters Toronto.

Recently, the organization updated its website, and even changed its logo.


Original COSTI logo

Its original logo, obviously meant to represent the colors of the Italian flag, was much more dynamic and effective. It had three colors (red, green and usually a tan background rather than pure white), and a subtle symbolism with the red line indicating some kind of path into the horizon, leading the new immigrant straight into their new society. Its colors, concepts and message was more diverse.


New COSTI logo

The new logo has a two color scheme: a bland white background and an indeterminate (is it green, turquoise or blue?) logo. Thin, awkward lines resembling the skeleton of a not very stable umbrella embrace the diversity that COSTI is now meant to represent. Rather than indicating a path of integration as the original red line seems to imply, this broken skeleton of an umbrella suggests instead that these diverse newcomers remain under a separate, unified ghetto, rather than seek the manifold opportunities of an open society.

Diversity, in this case, means a badly designed logo, a paucity of colors and mixed (or even incompatible – for the new immigrant) messages. Diversity becomes enclosure - a lack of diveristy.

The proud Italians at least understood that their bold colors would get them into their new society. Whereas this new diversity seems to prefer that its members remain in the bland, broken and unstable boundaries of its own making.

My humble advice to COSTI would have been: do not change the logo. The Italians have left a mark in Toronto. Their success can only serve as a role model for future immigrants. Just the bold confidence of the original logo's design would have conveyed that!

But, I'm afraid in these days of diluted diversity, COSTI deliberately sought just the kind of logo they got.

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The Global Runway Part 2

Wrinkles, Straps and Short Hemlines

Vera Wang is the most famous wedding dress designer out there.

And once again, the informal wins the day in her Spring 2006 Wedding collection.

Compared to Amsale's serious formality, Wang seems to revert back to the dishevelled, rebel adolescent.

Surprisingly, her best cut wedding dresses are the short ones. But she is just following a certain juvenile tendency exhibited by many top designers these days.

Of course, designers don’t come out of the blue, they have to cater to their clientele. Yet, I can’t help but believe that people will follow the choices designers make, rather than dictate how these designers should design.

Designing is a big responsibility. Which requires a strong mind, and an even stronger principle.

Some Vera Wang examples:

Straps and lace;Wrinkles and uneven hemlines. Radical statements.

And her best designs also come incomplete - in length!

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The Global Runway Part 1

Formality and Culture

One of the most formal events of anyone's life is one's wedding. So, it seems hardly surprising that (Ethiopian) American fashion designer Amsale chose to design wedding dresses.

Amsale's Christian, formalized background, I would argue, led her to pursue one of the most formal clothings of all.

At her wedding, a girl is finally a woman. She leaves her parents' home to start her own. And will soon have her own children with whom she must interact as a fully matured adult.

Although, in Christian households, there is a hierarchy of adults, the woman is still the head of the internal runnings of the household, and the behavior and upbringing of the children. She cannot afford to regress into the child she was at her parents’ home.

That is the ideal, in any case.

So, the wedding dress expresses this ideal. It shows a formal and aesthetic acceptance of the woman's adulthood and womanhood at a most important turning point in her life.

Amsale captures this beautifully.

Almost all of her designs are exquisitely formal. Her choice of the stiffer satin rather than the formless silk, her clinching of the waist, her emphasis on clean, straight lines, and above all a mature femininity of beautiful lacework, show her innate understanding of this unique moment in a woman’s life.

I’m not surprised that Amsale has so far stuck with designing bridal wear, rather than branching out into other clothing lines

Until she has mastered her trade to the level of the formal designer greats like Valentino, she is better off keeping out of the limelight which might force her to compromise her style for the running market.

At least, that would be my advice to her.



Amsale's ivory-toned wedding gowns

(click on image to see larger version)

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