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Royal Ontario Museum Extension, Toronto
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2007-06-05 15:32:04
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What started out as a sketch on a napkin at a family wedding, soon
became a submission for Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum extension. This
extension may well signal the prelude to the city’s cultural
renaissance, and be the first deviation from the boxy buildings of the
existing landscape. It’s about time someone got away from the boxes,
plus this building is not too shabby either.
World-famous architect Daniel Libeskind, who also won the 2002 contest
to replace New York’s World Trade Center, faxed the napkins in. Since
then, the 56,000 square-foot addition has brewed several controversies
amongst Torontonians and architecture buffs - as does any visionary
work, or so they say. While some praise its bold design marked by
angular complexity, others believe it’s an insult to a heritage
monument. Yet others just think it resembles an alien ship from space.
At least it has people talking.
Completion is estimated for 2009, when seven galleries will house
exhibits including the world’s largest known black-star sapphires,
masterworks from Japan and pre-historic dinosaur and mammal specimens.
The new lounge-like, black-and-white-themed fine-dining restaurant
Crystal 5, will give you a peek into the city through the large windows
over fresh, organic meals in biodegradable packaging. They’ve thought
of everything. Since when have places that house historical items had
to resemble medieval, symbolic, majestic, or so-called timeless
buildings? We don’t think they do, and this dawning of the Crystal age
supports our views. By Hima Bativia. Pics by SAM JAVANROUH
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Crystal Castles - Remix the Future
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2007-05-02 08:24:03
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Crystal Castles, the Toronto two-piece, are the remix artist of
now. The first sniff of their mastery came in the remix of The
Klaxons’ Atlantis to Interzone’ - a blippy, abrasive entry into their
electronic wonderland.
Then came the Castles’ remix of the Goodbooks’ ‘Leni’ which turned the
original guitar pop goodness into a future-pop masterpiece.
‘Leni’ hinged on the pitch-shifted central vocal, reminiscent of Karin
Dreijer from The Knife. Underneath the vocal, the track chugs along on
the back of a hi-res synth loop and Super Mario keyboard squelches.
It’s the sound of a couple, madly in love, freebasing orange
sherbet.
The nadir of the Castles’ discography is the remix of The Little Ones’
‘Lovers Who Uncover’. Opening with the desperate cry of, ‘Where do all
the lovers, meet with one another?’, the track again centres on a
haunting central vocal and a driving low end. The arpeggio makes you
feel like a kid staring through a kaleidoscope and the voice rattles up
and down, building intensity then releasing into the distance with an
ecstatic ‘ooooh’.
While their original work is yet to reach its potential, their remixes
are enough to make you dream of a future musical world ruled by Crystal
Castles. I Heart CC. By Nick Christie
myspace.com/crystalcastles
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CYCLING TUBES - TORONTO
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2006-01-26 15:20:03
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Cycling the streets of Toronto in winter has it's pitfalls. Ice Stalactites falling and killing you, Blizzards messing with your speed and killing you and the occasional death by grizzly bear. Well the safest and fastest way to get around a cold city is by tube , and we don't mean London's'. Velo-City is an elevated bikeway, enclosed in tubes to provide protection for all season cycling. The tubes create a natural tail wind which reduces air resistance and increases speed. Cyclists can zip through a network of tubes like lab rats and resurface at various exit points in the street. It's all in the development stages but provides a very bright future to freezing cyclists. by Andy G
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