Building Storeys Blog

Building Storeys - Scotiabank Contact Photography Festival

2011-04-28T13:31:07Z

Join us for our next exhibition at the North York Central Library as part of the Scotiabank Contact Photography Festival. This exhibition will feature a best of collection from the 2010 series. The exhibition is free to visit anytime the library is open. There is no opening reception.

The library is located at 5120 Yonge Street. For additional details, please see the event listing at the Festival website.

Building Storeys is a collaborative effort by Heritage Toronto and a collective of Toronto architectural photographers. Founded in 2009, the project seeks to document Toronto's architectural history that often goes unseen. The resulting exhibition is a visual documentation and anecdotal exhibit of the city's cherished - and in some cases, somewhat unknown - heritage buildings and sites. The exhibit highlights both past and present, and ponders their place in Toronto's future.

February Exhibition Cancelled

2011-01-13T16:58:34Z

Unfortunately, the February exhibition for Building Storeys 2011 has been cancelled.

Building Storeys 2011: In Transit

2011-01-04T12:45:37Z

The Building Storeys team is pleased to announce the theme and exhibition dates for their 2011 exhibition.

This year, Building Storeys: In Transit will focus their lenses on Toronto's public transit system. From abandoned stations to active historic repair yards, to vehicles in use and undergoing repair, to the public areas we see every day, this exhibition will be a comprehensive look at most aspects of the system that millions of people rely upon in their daily lives.

As with previous years, the exhibition will be held at The Gladstone Hotel on the 3rd and 4th floors. The exhibition opens on February 3rd, and will run throughout the month. Visiting the exhibition is free, and is open from 12pm-5pm daily. On weekends, artists from the exhibition will be present to answer questions and meet visitors.

In an era when public transit in Toronto is under increasing pressures, this important exhibit brings light to all aspects of the system that forms part of the backbone of the city.

Building Storeys 2010 - Closed!

2010-04-26T02:12:25Z

Building Storeys at the Gladstone Hotel closed today after 3 months, hundreds of visitors, and many great comments and reviews. To say that it was a success would be an understatement, and we are grateful for all the support we were given.

Special thanks go to Heritage Toronto, without whose help the exhibition would not have been possible.

The exhibition will tour over the rest of this year, and we will update this space with dates an locations.

We have already started planning next year's exhibition... So stay tuned!

Until then, thanks again.

Our Adventures on Video

2010-02-23T14:44:15Z

During the four or so months that we spent shooting the different locations for the exhibit, Mathew Merrett went one step further and shot some interesting video showing not only the great and varied locations that we visited, but also highlighting the photographers in action.

The video was shown at the opening reception and was a big hit. Sit back, relax, grab some popcorn, and see how we build the stories that have become a part of this exhibit....

BUILDING STORIES
The Sites and Photographers of the BS2010 Project
(a silent film by Mathew Merrett, 19 minutes)

BS2 from Mathew Merrett on Vimeo.

Show Extended!

2010-02-09T15:33:32Z

Thanks to the Gladstone Hotel and the overwhelming response to the exhibit so far, the show has been extended from 1 month to a 3-month run! You'll have plenty of time to come down and see all the great location photographs and meet the artists as they sit the show on the weekends:

BUILDING STOREYS 2010
A Photo Exhibit of Toronto's Industrial Past
Now Running Until April 25th, 2010!

As always 12pm - 5pm daily and FREE

A Night of Building New Storeys

2010-02-06T04:24:05Z

Mayor Miller & Peter Ortved with the photographers. Photo by John Carson.Yesterday evening was the opening reception for our second installation of Building Storeys at the Gladstone Hotel. The air was abuzz with anticipation even before the doors were open to the public as the the staff of Heritage Toronto readied the 2nd floor for the evening's festivities, while the photographers looked to the finishing touches on the 3rd and 4th floor galleries. Photos were straightened, labels were checked, artist bios were put out - all in time for guests to arrive.

By 7pm, the main reception hall was filling up with familiar faces from the City - those we had worked with to photograph the sites - heritage and arts supporters, special guests from our sponsorship, the media, and our always supportive friends and family. With wine in hand, we were ready for the speeches to begin.

Mayor David Miller - who's office was responsible for getting us access to 90% of the buildings in the exhibit this year - spoke about the city's industrial foundations and how these facilities and works buildings were built not just for function but with great craft and design. It was great to see him at our exhibit, publicly supporting heritage preservation at a time when so many historic architectural gems in Toronto and nearby cities are being erased from our landscape.

Carlos Pimentel and Aldo Bucitti from the Carpenters Union spoke about their close connection to this year's show - almost all the buildings in the exhibit were built by the Carpenters Union as well as Maple Leaf Gardens, which was featured in last year's exhibit. It was a unique opportunity for them to see their buildings showcased from a fine art perspective instead of through an engineer's eye.

To encourage a dialogue between the guests and the photographers, we scheduled a series of artist's talks throughout the evening on both floors of the exhibit, allowing the guests to learn more about the buildings, the photographer's process, give time for some Q&A. Robert Dyke started the talks off on the 3rd floor with a session on the Wellington Destructor while Toni Wallachy spoke with guests about the Ashbridges Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant on the 4th floor. Part way through the evening, Timothy Neesam regaled a captive audience with stories of the RC Harris Water Treatment Plant on the 3rd floor, while Rick Harris spoke about the Toronto Island Water Treatment Plant on the 4th floor. At the end of the evening, Mathew Merrett and I intrigued listeners with tales of R.L. Hearn Generating Station and Commissioners Street Waste Transfer.

Before anyone knew it, the doors were closing on the exhibit, the bar was packing up, the hors d'oeuvres were gone, shoes were coming off sore and tired feet, and the evening was coming to a close. Before we close off this recap of the evening, some people need to be mentioned and thanked:

Timothy Neesam @ Shadow Collective - can negotiate us out of any jam
Rick Harris @ Shadow Collective - never met a curb he didn't drive on, all the way from Whitby
Robert Dyke @ Shadow Collective - can hang a show like nobody's business
Toni Wallachy @ Shadow Collective - without who's PM skills this project never would have happened
Mathew Merret @ DK Group - not just photos, but amazing video
Sean Galbraith @ DK Group - our old-school film specialist
Rebecca Carson @ Heritage Toronto - tireless project coordinator who still proofed artwork from her Christmas vacation in snowy Scotland
Kim Adlard @ Heritage Toronto - leaps over sponsors in a single bound
Peggy Mooney @ Heritage Toronto - never met a building she couldn't get us access to
Gary Miedema @ Heritage Toronto - font of all Toronto historic knowledge

- Olena Sullivan

Opening Night Twittering

2010-02-05T14:34:49Z

Mayor David Miller snaps a photo of Mathew Merrett, Olena Sullivan, Toni Wallachy, and Robert Dyke at the opening night festivities in front of Toni's photo These Boots Are Made for Working from R.C. Harris.

Click to view large.

Ready to go!

2010-01-30T18:38:58Z

The exhibition is framed and ready to hang! Thanks for the great work, LePix and The Framing Depot!

In Production

2010-01-23T18:24:29Z

The photos have been printed by LePix and are being framed by The Framing Depot. Looking good, and will soon be ready to hang at the Gladstone!