a building with no name

Student Name: Allison Jang & Ivee Wang

School: John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design - University of Toronto

Degree Program: M. Arch

Location of Project: Golden Mile, Toronto, Canada

Year of Project: 2019

Brief Description of Project:

An introverted mass lays on a tranquil landscape at the Golden Mile. The unassuming box is lowly carved from the earth and lifted through a cantilevered corner to allow the gentle mounds to slip in, changing from soft earth to a hard, wooden block texture. The pathway guides the visitors to the open courtyard central to the building and within it are the two feature stairs that leads to the two floating pools. An introverted building by nature, the mass is entirely cladded with undulating textured concrete panels with little to no indication of the programmatic function inside. The building is solemn and past the cantilevered corner and through the courtyard, the building finally opens to the visitors. The programs inside are glazed with different transparencies perimetering the courtyard, enabling layered views and cinematic layering of recreational programs. The heavy mass of the building only reveals itself when the visitors slip under the monolith. Nothing about the life inside the program is revealed from the park and the neighbourhood. It manifests as what could be a generic box, an ode to the historic heritage of the Golden Mile, but now as a waved concrete cladded, a building with no name.