| August 2001
MEC Toronto Design for a Post-Consumerist Society |
.page 3 of 4
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Trees grow from their roots towards the sun. How does the Toronto store's reused timber roof figuratively connect itself to the ground? As illustrated, the connection passes from wood to reused steel girders, to a cylindrical concrete column. The earth to sky connection is lost between the concrete ground and the light-filled wooden vaults. The sinewy columns of a Gothic cathedral lets us revel in the rootedness and uplifting lightness of the nave. The two are not placed in opposition; rather, the Gothic column brings the earth and sky together. At the Co-op, this link is much more successful in the store's entrance canopy where the wooden roof connects to the ground through reused timber columns and creates the Agora appeal of place, community, and grounded scale. | On the other hand, the interior atrium columns do not have to be made of a singular material. Concrete, itself, can be used in expressive and fascinating ways. For example, the concrete columns of Le Corbusier's Unité d'Habitation in Marseilles express the weight of the building being transferred to the ground. Montréal's Peel Métro Station moves the forces of nature through tapered concrete columns and jointed steel connectors. Both materials show their properties. The massive strength of concrete is harnessed by the steel and the thrust of gravity is transferred into the ground. Will the preoccupations of a post-consumerist society deem it necessary to spend the extra effort in designing places that are not only ecological, but also poetically expressive? |
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