More than perhaps any other city in Canada, Toronto has called upon the stars of the architectural world to solidify its status as a center of cultural and artistic significance in North America. Ever since Will Alsop’s outlandish OCAD Sharp Center for Design was completed just over a decade ago, the big names have been landing: Daniel Libeskind’s controversial Crystal crashed into the Royal Ontario Museum in 2007, and, only a year later, Frank Gehry’s lavish expansion of the Art Gallery of Ontario was unveiled.
Accordingly, one of the main challenges for Bortolotto — the local firm commissioned to convert the main office of the Ontario College of Art and Design University into the Rosalie Sharp Pavilion — was to produce a design to complement rather than compete with this constellation of cultural icons. The question is: how can a new building stake its claim as a new landmark alongside this army of architectural extroverts without falling into the trap of simply imitating the formal gestures of those existing structures?
Bortolotto’s answer is simple. They propose a building envelope that pays homage to the surrounding architectural context and which also lends the building a fresh, distinctive identity that is memorable in its own right. This endeavor required a bespoke response together with the adoption of a highly innovative manufacturing process, as project architect Tania Bortolotto explained: “The project responds to the existing context with a diaphanous white veil of water jet-cut aluminum panels on a metal sub-frame secured by structural steel outriggers covering the existing structure.”
Going by Bortolotto’s models — both rendered and physical iterations of the structure have been crafted — the resulting façade will be a sight to behold. The intricate, lacy sails of aluminum appear to float alongside the glazed exterior of the building, evoking a delicate paper sculpture by day and a glowing Chinese lantern by night.
Architectural model created in collaboration with Denegri Bassai Studio
These gently bellowing sheets bear a subtly pixelated appearance to echo the black and white box of Alsop’s stilted OCAD a little further down McCaul Street. Meanwhile, its corners are gently peeled back to reveal glimpses of the building it shields just as Gehry’s undulating wave of glass pulls away from the Art Gallery of Ontario on Dundas Street. References to the architectural language of nearby buildings should be easily readable from the sidewalk while remaining subtle enough for the building to retain a unique identity within Toronto’s growing gallery of cultural highlights.
The patterned surfaces also hold a functional value, elevating them beyond the primarily decorative façades of the pavilion’s illustrious neighbors. Bortolotto mapped data pertaining to the artistic community of the local area, translating it into a physical augmentation upon the external skin of the building — when a passerby takes a smartphone photo of a specific section of the elevation, they will be given access to information about the University via an app currently being developed by OCAD U’s Digital Media Research Lab.
The design effectively embeds new media permanently within the fabric of the building. This concept appears to be an evolution of previous explorations by architects into the digital realm, such as MVRDV’s Teletech Call Center in Dijon, France, which is entirely covered with a complex skin of QR codes. Similarly mind-boggling codes coated the inside of the Russia Pavilion at the 2012 Venice Biennale; in comparison, Bortolotto’s perforated façades make for light visual relief.
Behind their signature skin, the firm has given equal attention to the internal layout, striving to create spaces that would serve their function most effectively for users. The multipurpose pavilion will be transformed into open work and exhibition spaces for OCAD U students, providing a flexible platform in keeping with the institution’s position as Canada’s “university of the imagination.”
Moving forward, the firm is well aware of the tests they face in bringing this ambitious vision to reality. “Developing a project of this nature within tight site constraints in an urban setting is the most challenging aspect of the project,” reflects Bortolotto. “Working with the city’s zoning bylaw, public transit systems, utilities regulations, and restrictions [takes] time and attention to resolve. The scrim is a detailed and intricate system for which will have to be carefully managed to be realized accurately within such constraints.”
Indeed, Toronto’s particularities will provide a challenge to the architects, contractors, and the manufacturers of this unique building envelope, but the team seems well prepared for what it is about to face. Construction is due to begin later this year. Soon, Ontario will be home to another innovative educational facility deep within the urban heart of its largest city.