CANVAS : WHERE ART MEETS ARCHITECTURE

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

Successful Park(ing) Day in Ottawa

Ever heard of Park(ing) Day? It's an annual worldwide event where citizens, artists and activists collaborate to transform metered parking spaces into temporary public places known as PARK(ing) spaces. This clever project is the brainchild of an interdisciplinary studio called Rebar in San Franscico. They produced the first one back in 2005 and this quickly turned into a worldwide event. As such, each year on the third Friday of September, Park(ing) Spaces are created in hundreds of cities around the world.


This year Ottawa had one too, thanks to yowLAB. They created a nice Park(ing) space in front of a restaurant in the Byward Market, with a bright yellow fence, benches, astroturf and potted plants. Well done!

Wouldn't it be a great if Ottawa participated every year? It would be fun to have several Park(ing) spaces likes this in the city. We could even turn it into an annual competition between different wards. And perhaps get citizens to help fund these projects by installing a special parking meter placed next to future location of a Park(ing) space to help with the cost of materials to create the spaces. This doesn't need to be promoted by the city. I think it would be better and faster if individual businesses with parking in front of their store would team up with some people to make it happen.

If you're thinking about participating next year, check out what other cities have done over the years below for some inspiration.



Photos : yowLAB | the green dots | laughing squid | object | goodlifer | parking day nyc | designing hong kong

MINTO PLACE'S LIVING WALL

A couple weeks ago I discovered a really nice living wall inside the Minto Place downtown. It looks like a natural pieces of abstract art measuring 18 ft by 40 ft with over 6,000 plants. There's a little plaque at the bottom stating that this wall can support oxygen for 15-20 humans per day. Pretty neat isn't it?

Based on a previous post on Urbsite, it looks like this wall was installed a little over a year ago. It's a great feature and the air definitely feels nicer inside compared to other buildings.

According to Green Over Grey, green wall specialists, there are a lot of benefits in having a green wall in a public space like this, including better indoor air quality, reduced noise pollution, higher property value, reduced stress and increase in well being. It definitely feels good to be in this place. There are also live plants and flowers along the walls and around the eating area. Aren't they beautiful? I also like how clean the place was when I was there. A+ to the building managers and maintenance staff!

The skylight is also a great addition and allows natural light in the building which is another great plus, specially in the winter. If you're around and have a bit of time, I suggest you go check it out. Let me know what you think. We can never have too many green walls in the city! I hope others building developers and owners will do the same in the near future.

Do you know of any other places in town with great looking living walls? If so, let me know by commenting below and on MOOT's facebook page.

cardboard wall at Bridgehead

Over the holidays I came across this neat little project in the Bridgehead coffee shop downtown Ottawa : Cardboard pieces attached to a wall arranged like art. As per the shop's blog, this is a nod to the Ini Ani Coffee Shop in New York designed by LTL Architects. They used cardboard on the walls as a way to meet their tight budget, site limitation and time frame (shown below).


Cardboard is a eco-friendly and inexpensive material to use in a space to add texture and interest. Check out these other neat spaces using cardboard on the wall.

Wall Wave from Splace and designer Tung Chiang (via Mocoloco)


Istanbul Santral (via tom$ Flickr)


Papercut shop by darchstudio

Art Chairs for Charity

I recently found out about a really neat project by IKEA and OCRI: “Pull Up a Chair for Breakfast” Fundraiser Auction. The goal is to improve the ability of children in-need to learn by providing a nutritious breakfast in a safe, supervised environment. According to OCRI, approximately 10,000 children in 145 schools in the city begin each school day with a nutritious meal provided by the School Breakfast Program. The program provides funding for equipment, program monitors and food.

In order to raise money, several IKEA Stephan chairs have been hacked by various people and are currently up for auction until Sunday March 7th. The modified chairs (shown below) are also on display at the entrance of the IKEA Ottawa store until March 7th.

There are some really original ideas but personally the top 3 in terms of originality has to be:

1. Stefan the Man by Pierre I. Brunet, local artist
2. Ode to Mondrian by Charlotte P, Fatima S, Melissa B. and Julia T (students)
3. Calamari by Marlaina D & Kennedy B. (students)

Click here for larger photos.

We are One

You are What You Eat

Hotwheels

Where's the Doctor

Breakfast of Champions

Ode to Mondrian

Blooms

Beary Fun

Get in the Game

The Spirit of the Heart

Breakfast Bonanza

Hot Hits

Stefan the Man

Calamari

The Reader

B.O.B. - Big on Breakfast

The Paradox of Zenon

The Diva's Chair

Hope