Why does the new Mini Toronto flagship auto dealership, at the foot of the Don Valley Parkway, evoke the towering BMW flagship nearby? Roland Rom Colthoff was the architect for both: as a Quadrangle partner, for BMW, and now as principal at Raw Design, for Mini. The spring launch drew 500 people and boasted slot-car racing and an ice-cream truck. (Photos by Lindsay McBurney)
1–Karl Lohnes, decorating expert on CTV’s Canada AM, and Michelle Mawby of Lucid Interior Design and hostess of Discovery Channel’s Junk Raiders.
2–Austin Powers (who drove a Mini) impersonator Del Morgado.
3–The client, Steve Quinn, co-owner of Quinn Automotive Group and its six Mini dealerships, with Raw Design co-founder Roland Rom Colthoff.
The Gladstone Hotel, that restored vintage pile on Toronto’s Queen Street West, has an ambitious art and design incubator program that saw a May launch for James B. Fowler’s exhibit of his felted textile works in the hotel caf. Fowler, former chair of fashion at the Academy of Design, has his own company, TEXT’LL, which makes art from recycled textiles.
1–Sarah Nasby, artist and jewelry maker; and Shaun Moore and Julie Nicholson, co-owners of Toronto design boutique MADE, and curators of the exhibit.
2–Marnie Harnden, director at RM Group Canada, sets up companies and does trademark registration; textile artist James B. Fowler; and Cathy McDougall, who paints dogs for Woofstock, the canine-themed festival each spring at St. Lawrence Market.
3–Textile artist Grant Heaps, whose quilts previously graced the space; photographers Walter Segers and Michele Crockett, and Air Canada flight attendant Christopher Weaver.
The Ontario Association of Architects held its annual conference, The Changing Face of Architecture, at Caesars Windsor Hotel and Casino, in May. We saw many familiar faces at the opening reception.
1–Bruce Hinds, professor of environmental studies at OCAD University, and Tonu Altosaar, partner at B+H Architects.
2–Frank Di Roma, project designer at Ware Malcomb; Elizabeth Vandertuin, principal at XCI Design & Architecture; and Michelle Gibson, architect at Thunder Bay–based Kuch Stephenson Gibson Malo.
3–From Autodesk AEC Division: Caesar Ruest, BIM Solutions executive; and Pierre Hoppener, Ontario territory executive, building solutions; with architect Gerrie Doyle, OAA president and principal at AIPM; and from cladding manufacturer Dryvit: John Smith, national sales manager, and Joseph Amodeo, corporate accounts manager.