Surface Development recently joined forces with artist Christopher Griffin to create two unique semi detached homes facing the Rideau River in Old Ottawa South. Griffin is known for his "concrete painting" where he carves patterns into concrete stuccos, as shown previously on MoOt. This time he performed a live art installation using his technique on the building project.
Griffin (shown in the video below) got his inspiration from the river and natural surroundings. After finding out that the river is home to a walleye fishery in Ottawa, he decided to integrate them into his concrete painting. It's a great way to visually connect the building to the nature surrounding it and definitely makes the building a lot more interesting and unique. Perhaps this could become a signature design feature unique to Ottawa. How fun would that be.
Jakub Ulak, who designed this project, took his collaboration with the artist a step further by commissioning paintings from Griffin so that each homeowner gets an original piece of art from the artist who inspired the project CANVAS. Also, a copy of the art will be enamel printed on movable glass panels that will be used as privacy screens on the second floor balconies. At the same time they will act as outdoor artwork, giving the effect of being in an outdoor art gallery to the people walking by outside.
The floor plans look very promising. Each home has essentially 5 stories of living spaces, including the basement and the rooftop living space equipped with an outdoor kitchen. The homes are currently under construction and should be ready soon. Check out the video tour below presented by the founder for a sneak peak of the interiors under construction. Hopefully there will be an open house. It would be fun to see the finished product.
source : Surface Development | Christopher Griffin
Very nice architecture design, i really appreciate and its looks so unique.
ReplyDeleteI will have to be on the lookout for this. I live near Old Ottawa South and love many of the older buildings, but some modern architecture such as this would be nice. I think these designs have an interesting look, will have to watch the video later.
ReplyDeleteThis is the same development that is completely unsold - seems like the neighborhood hates his guts and the development:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/story/2012/11/05/ottawa-infill-home-referral-offer.html
It's sad that some people are opposed to change / evolution like this. Good thing it's not everyone. I imagine the right buyers will eventually come.
DeleteStreet front on tight lots = death of urban residential architecture and the sense of community
ReplyDeleteCARS AND RESALE PROFITS BEFORE PEOPLE AND A SENSE OF COMMUNITY I GUESS????
Not sure what you’re trying to say. I don’t see the connection between a modern home that promote local art and the death of a sense of community.
DeleteThis developer should attend this event. May help his work and or open his eyes. Architect is not just "surface"
ReplyDeleteStreets for People
Gary Toth,
Projects for Public Spaces
The "Complete Streets" movement challenges the prevailing wisdom of the Automobile Age. Car-oriented street design has been linked to environmental
and health issues and the livability of our cities. "Complete Streets" focuses not only on redefining how we move pedestrians, bikes, transit, cars and trucks, but also on elevating our streets as important public spaces.
Gary Toth is an experienced leader in the integration of transportation with landuse planning throughout North America. Join us to hear how we can get the most out of our streets both for transportation and place-making.
Sounds like an interesting lecture. However, I think this lecture would be more beneficial to the people who are responsible for decisions such as widening Kent street. (See Urbsite’s blog post about this http://urbsite.blogspot.ca/2009/07/kent-street-as-it-was-and-is.html).
DeleteWhat my comment means is four garage doors no more then 10' from the sidewalk = death to "eyes on the street" and a social community. To bad that resale and the car will kill urban life. Its not about "modern" I actually like the look/feel of this project but no one can argue four garage doors at grade along the sidewalk is a good thing. Maybe that's why the new infill by-law (now taken to OMB) wills stop and not allow garages on tight lots. I believe developments like this are just as bad as the Kent street developments for social communities.
ReplyDeleteChange is great just not CAR focused
I don't think it's fair. Looking at the neighbor's houses on Google streetview they all have prominent garages or driveways and they all have cars. So the design of the new homes is not that much different than what's already there.
DeleteFirst, Canvas faces a large 3-story semi detached home (about the same size too) which also have what looks like two wide garage doors facing the street.
Second, the second floor of the new building might be closer to the curb, but it looks like the main floor is at the same distance to the sidewalk as all the houses on that side. They all have space for their cars too.
I don't get this fixation with the "evil cars". They are part of modern living in modern societies, especially in residential areas like this one. Also, this is not an urban area. There's nothing but houses around. Most people living there need a car to run their errands, which is probably why most neighbors have cars in their lots. Pretending that we don't need space for them is preposterous. I'm sure there are better and more eco-friendly solutions to this “issue”, but I don't think it's fair to penalize the newcomer just because he's different.
While I appreciate what the developer is trying to do I don't care for infill buildings that show no respect to the area they are building in. You've made it clear you personally don't care for the existing architecture, also fine, but the people this kind of building impacts are entitled to like their homes and their neighbourhoods with out that tract home view. And, yes, while this is artistic there are now so many versions of it in the city they have taken on a tract home feeling.
ReplyDeleteLittle clarification : I don't care for existing architecture/building that have been neglected for years. People who really care about existing architecture would better maintain them and care for them. Sorry
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