Statements of Canada

Three Eras - Three Landmarks - Three Expressions 

Observations on the contemporary architecture of Canada, with the opportunity of three distinct landmarks across different eras. This blog post has appeared as three separate posts on our BLUEMATERIALS Instagram accounts.

Less is More  

Light, rhythm and a sense of the extraordinary. 

I wanted to visit the TD Pavilion in Toronto at night. We approached on foot through the city centre, amongst skyscrapers, illuminated adverts and noisy traffic. The pavilion's pure geometry emerged as an oasis of calm, order and human scale. 

At night, the interior is fully illuminated, a large volume uninterrupted by internal columns, which gives the pavilion the effect of a lantern. The roof appears to hover above the granite plinth, blurring the boundaries between interior and exterior. The main facade structure, black painted steel columns and bronze-tinted glass, carries the dual role of support and aesthetic order. In contrast, the interior's pure geometric forms are dressed in more tactile materials, English oak and marble, creating a welcoming atmosphere. 

The pavilion embodies precision and economy of material. Yet this doesn't diminish, but rather enhances the aesthetic experience of the space. 

This clarity of intent, where restraint contributes to succinct storytelling and meaning, informs our design philosophy at BLUEMATERIALS: creating atmosphere through precise selection of materials, colour and geometry. 

Less is more.  

Cathedral of Commerce 

A symphony in steel and light. 

Toronto's PATH is an underground shopping and pedestrian network connecting over 70 buildings - vital in cold winter months. After a short visit, we returned to the surface via a modest staircase. 

Nothing could warn us about what we were about to discover. 

As we tried to adjust to the brightness of our new surroundings at ground level, the space felt like an elvish palace in a J.R.R. Tolkien scene. Above us, a Cathedral-like structure of white trees was climbing six storeys high to support what seemed like an archway open to the sky. The whole arrangement was flooded with light. The quiet walkway at ground level gave the scene an almost reverent feel.  

Allen Lambert Galleria, by Santiago Calatrava, is a masterful piece of engineering. Imagined as the "Cathedral of Commerce", it consists of 24 tree-like structures in white steel, supporting a series of arches infilled with glass, forming a 130m long covered piazza. It is an ingenious way to cover an existing void between buildings. The result is not just a technical response to a practical problem; it is a poetic expression in steel and glass. 

The element of surprise, the elegance of the space and the metaphor of the Cathedral: these are qualities that resonate with our design philosophy at BLUEMATERIALS. We create objects that evoke feelings and tell stories, where aesthetics are loaded with meaning.  

Status Reinvented 

Investing in New Ideas in an Old Temple for Finance

An involuntary hesitation as we entered the vast lobby space with the intricate vaulted ceiling. No doubt we were in a major public building. Yet the signage read Crew Collective & Café. Both conditions were correct: the Royal Bank of Canada, which used to occupy this building for nearly a century, has given its seat to a tech startup, co-working space and public cafe. 
 
The arched colonnades in ceremonial symmetry resemble a neoclassical temple. The familiar monumental scale of old banking buildings. The robustness and richness of the materials are tangible: marble inlaid floors, stone-clad walls and brass doors. Once emblems of wealth and longevity, now vessels of cultural memory. 

The cafe on the main floor vibrates in a loud atmosphere of informal conversations and music. The original teller stands are preserved as a backdrop to the main counter. They provide a human scale to our surroundings and act as a threshold between the frivolity of a modern cafe and the solemnity of the original interiors. What was built to inspire financial confidence is now a gilded stage where new ideas take shape - in business meetings over coffee or in isolation in front of laptops.  

Crew Collective & Cafe doesn't preserve the space as a relic or museum artefact, but rather adapts and reuses it for a new purpose. This is what interests us at BLUEMATERIALS: spaces and objects charged with memory, reimagined into a new role. Our designs carry cultural memory into contemporary rituals. 

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