CCA (Canadian Centre for Architecture)
OAA (Ontario Association of Architects)
TED Talks : Architectural Inspiration
LIFE BETWEEN BUILDINGS
JAN GEHL
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A classic is republished "Life between buildings" was first published in 1971. This book frequently revised over the years is still the best source for understanding how people use public spaces in our cities. Published in many languages, it is a standard textbook in Architecture and Planning Schools around the world, and continues to be the undisputed basic introduction to the interplay between public space design and social life. This book is now available in its fourth English language edition.
THE GEOGRAPHY OF NOWHERE
JAMES HOWARD KUNTSLER
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The book is an attempt to discover how and why suburbia has ceased to be a credible human habitat, and what society might do about it. Kunstler proposes that by reviving civic art and civic life, we will rediscover public virtue and a new vision of the common good. 'The future will require us to build better places,' Kunstler says, 'or the future will belong to other people in other societies.'
THE DEATH AND LIFE OF GREAT AMERICAN CITIES
JANE JACOBS
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The Death and Life of Great American Cities has, since its first publication in 1961, become the standard against which all endeavors in that field are measured. In prose of outstanding immediacy. Jane Jacobs writes about what makes streets safe or unsafe; about what constitutes a neighborhood, and what function it serves within the larger organism of the city; about why some neighborhoods remain impoverished while others regenerate themselves. She writes about the salutary role of funeral parlors and tenement windows, the dangers of too much development money and too little diversity.
DARK AGE AHEAD
JANE JACOBS
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In Dark Age Ahead, Jane Jacobs identifies five pillars of our culture that we depend on but which are in serious decline: community and family; higher education; the effective practice of science; taxation and government; and self-policing by learned professions. The decay of these pillars, Jacobs contends, is behind such ills as environmental crisis, racism and the growing gulf between rich and poor; their continued degradation could lead us into a new Dark Age, a period of cultural collapse in which all that keeps a society alive and vibrant is forgotten.
UTOPIA - TOWARDS A NEW TORONTO
EDITED BY ALANA WILCOX, JASON MCBRIDE
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Featuring passionate, visionary essays by thirty-four different journalists, artists, thinkers, architects and activists, uTOpia is a compendium of ideas, opinions and strategies. The anthology explores plans to redevelop the Island airport into a Ward’s Island-style community; how the Zeidler family is energizing artist-run centres; what a car-free Kensington Market might mean; the necessity and beauty of laneway housing; the way past efforts to combat devastating developments like the Spadina Expressway have shaped current activism; what a utopian Toronto might look like mapped out; and much, much more. Playful, erudite and accessible, uTOpia writes Toronto as it is shared and created by the people who live here. Though it is by no means a complete picture of what is happening in the city right now, it will hopefully show that what was once just a T-shirt slogan—I Heart T.O. —is now genuine, heartfelt sentiment.
TORONTO : NO MEAN CITY
ERIC ROSS ARTHUR, STEPHN A. OTTO
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Eric Arthur fell in love with Toronto the first time he saw it. The year was 1923; he was twenty-five years old, newly arrived to teach architecture at the University of Toronto. For the next sixty years he dedicated himself to saving the great buildings of Toronto's past. Toronto, No Mean City sounded a clarion call in his crusade. First published in 1964, it sparked the preservation movement of the 1960s and 1970s and became its bible.
CONCRETE TORONTO: A GUIDE TO CONCRETE ARCHITECTURE FROM THE FIFTIES TO THE SEVENTIES
MICHAEL McCLELLAND
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In the sixties, architecture fell in love with concrete. Architecture has since shifted its fondness to glass and steel, and concrete buildings have fallen out of favor and into disrepair. But they represent an exciting era of faith in architecture and technical innovation that has yet to be documented. Concrete Toronto acts as a guidebook to the city’s extensive concrete heritage. Architects, journalists, professors, concrete experts, and even the original architects use a wealth of new and archival photos, drawings, interviews, articles, and case studies to celebrate Toronto’s concrete past.
THE ARCHITECTURE OF HAPPINESS
ALAIN DE BOTTON
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The Architecture of Happiness starts from the idea that where we are heavily influences who we can be, and it argues that it is architecture's task to stand as an eloquent reminder of our full potential.
Whereas many architects are wary of openly discussing the word beauty, this book has at its center the large and naïve question: What is a beautiful building? It is a tour through the philosophy and psychology of architecture that aims to change the way we think about our homes, our streets and ourselves.
MEAN CITY: FROM ARCHITECTURE TO DESIGN: HOW TORONTO WENT BOOM!
JOHN MARTINS-MANTEIGA
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In Mean City, John Martins-Manteiga writes, “We built big and with vision and tenacity. The Toronto Style was modern, with a naked freshness that emphasized simplicity using indigenous materials." This book celebrates that style, showcasing the fantastic concrete-and-glass futurism of a city on the rise. The famous Sun Life Building, Canada’s first subway system, the Better Living Centre — these and many more creations from the city’s design boom of 1945 to 1975 are profiled and illustrated, along with the pioneering individuals and design firms responsible.
THE STATE OF THE ARTS: LIVING WITH CULTURE IN TORONTO
EDITED BY ALANA WILCOX, CHRISTINA PALASSIO AND
JONNY DOVERCOURT
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The State of the Arts explores the Toronto culture scene from every angle, applauding, assailing and arguing about art in our fair burg. The essays consider the big-ticket and the ticket-free, from the CNE to unintentional art. In between, you'll find thoughts on the ’creative city’ and photobloggers, Toronto on film and the fine line between part and art. Taken together the thoughts of these writers, artists and city-builders create a snapshot of culture in T.O. as it grows from ’Toronto the Good’ to ’Toronto the Could’ to ’Toronto the Can-Do.’
ENDANGERED SPECIES (AEDIFICIUM NOVUS EXSTINCTUS)
JOHN MARTINS-MANTEIGA
Endangered Species investigates the notion of modern architecture as an endangered genus. Is modernism bound for extinction? Endangered Species, the book and exhibition opens the debate. Includes the Catalogue of Destruction and essays by Carole Pope, John Martins-Manteiga, Steve Russell, Gene Threndyle, Jose Castel-Branco, Luigi Ferrara, Peter Kuitenbrouwer and Adam Sobolak.
