Thrilled to build
Danish ‘starchitect’ drew a sold-out, design-loving crowd
For those of you driving by the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, it was a scene to be seen. Hearts were aflutter as “hopefuls” patiently waited for a seat to open up, not for a rock concert ( as many a passerby would have assumed) but f or t he Bjarke Ingels l ecture, “Yes is More,” that was soon to take place inside. The world- renowned Danish “starchitect,” principal of Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), revealed his vision for a landmark block of Toronto’s King Street West. The sold- out audience assembled from the worlds of architecture and design, arts and entertainment, government and academia, to hear Ingels share his views on how architecture can create communities while paying homage to Israeli- Canadian architect Moshe Safdie and Habitat 67, the groundbreaking model community he designed 50 years ago in Montreal. “With King Street West, we wanted to find an alternative to the tower and podium you see a lot of in Toronto and revisit some of Safdie’s revolutionary ideas, but rather than a utopian experiment on an island, have it nested into the heart of the city,” said Ingels. “It would be strange if one of the most diverse cities in the world had the most homogenous
architecture.” Visionaries making the rounds included filmmaker Jen Baichwal, Don Schmitt of Diamond Schmitt Architects, Siamak Hariri of Hariri Pontarini Architects, Paul Dowsett of Sustainable. TO, Bruce Kuwabara of KPMB Architects, Ian Gillespie of Westbank Projects Corp. and Alex Josephson of Partisans. Highlight of the night? At intermission a massive squad of architecture and engineering students climbing on stage to meet Ingels and get a moment ... or a selfie. The two-part evening was followed by a small cocktail party in the upper balcony of Koerner Hall. The event was presented by Westbank and Allied.
It was comedic sensation Rus
sell Peters who stole the show at the 4th Annual Laugh Out Loud to benefit the Trillium Health Partners Foundation, presented by Deepak International Ltd. They laughed all the way to the bank as almost $ 950,000 was raised for the mental health program at Trillium Health Partners. Jessica
Holmes did a brilliant job as host and had patrons laughing so hard, that some were in tears. Her Celine Dion impersonation never gets old. Magnifique!
“We’re thrilled to have had another successful event in support of an important cause,” said Meaghan Stovel McK
night, SVP and COO, Trillium Health Partners Foundation. “Mental health touches so many in our community. It’s inspiring to see such incredible support for mental health and to see close to 1,000 members of our community come together in support of our hospital. We’re so grateful to our generous sponsors and community for their continued partnership, and to our celebrity guests for leading us in laughs, giving us a spectacular night to remember.”
Other sponsors i ncluded Square One, Entertainment Sponsor; Longo’s, Dinner Sponsor; Yorkville Asset Management, VIP Reception Sponsor.