I love it when people take the time and make the effort to do something like this. Some unknown creator has brightened up Gerrard Street East for a few blocks, with what seem to be Dinky Toys stuck on multi-colored painted backgrounds strapped to cement telephone poles. You can’t help but look at them – and for many passers-by it brings a smile. Whoever did this, you’re the best!
Photographer ROSS WINTER – “An anonymous artist has brought lots of TLC to the north side of Gerrard, from River Street to Sherbourne – a stretch of 10 blocks, 43 installations and counting. The fixing to lamp posts is 100% City of TORONTO style. The boards are laminated to let the strap pass through. Sad to say, west of Parliament Street several have been vandalized. What do you do with half a Dinky other than take pride in your destructive tendencies?”
PEDESTRIANS CAN TAKE IN SOME AUTO-ART BESIDE SPEEDING TRAFFIC ON GERRARD ST. E.
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<PHOTO – Architectural Daily>
In TORONTO PEI is known for Commerce Court, where Bay Street meets King West in the Financial District. His style was described as modernist with cubist themes, and was influenced by his love of Islamic architecture. His favoured building materials were glass and steel, with a combination of concrete. (BBC) 
A seemingly unremarkable thoroughfare, DUPONT STREET is located alongside the Canadian Pacific Railway line that long ago marked TORONTO’s city limits.
Leaving behind its industrial past in the face of rapid redevelopment, the old street epitomizes the fact that modern, urban landscapes are always in flux.
“Further Along The Road”, a large exhibition of ELIOT WRIGHT’s photography is on display at the URBANSPACE Gallery, 401 Richmond St. West, until July 31/2019. Artist talk – June 6th, 7:30 to 9:00 pm.
Who isn’t transfixed some nights when they look up to see a full silver or orangey moon. It’s magic, and you can see it without causing eye damage. For this exhibition the AGA KHAN MUSEUM, 77 Wynford Drive in DON MILLS has assembled works from prestigious institutions in London, New York, Cleveland, Cambridge, Oxford, Ann Arbor, Rotterdam, Toronto – and from the Aga Khan collection itself.
A highlight is ‘MOON’, a giant sculpture created by contemporary British artist LUKE JERRAM. It features detailed NASA imagery of the lunar surface, and includes sound by BAFTA-winning composer DAN JONES. The sculpture measures five metres in diameter and it would take 40 people standing shoulder-to-shoulder to circle it.
The AGA KHAN MUSEUM is a work of art itself. Tours can be arranged, and the museum’s DIWAN restaurant has developed an excellent reputation. ‘The Moon’ continues until August 18/2019. Website – 
‘LAKESHORE’ by CHRIS RIDDELL
CHRIS RIDDELL is a writer and musician based in TORONTO. He’s written for Maisonneuve & The Globe and Mail, and his poetry has appeared in Vallum, Sulphur, and amomancies. He endeavors to capture the beauty of the world, and universal truths about life on Earth.
The medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité was built between 1160 and 1260, making it one of the world’s oldest and finest examples of French Gothic architecture. <PHOTO – Eduard Baldus, 1860’s>
It’s so much a part of France that embedded in the square outside is Paris Point Zero, marking the centre of the city and the country itself. Now that the roof and other parts have been destroyed by fire, the world is mourning the loss of the treasures sheltered there – the enormous stained glass windows, sculptural decorations, the organ and altar (saved), the roof, the spire (destroyed), the paintings and religious collections.
<Front page ’24 Minutes’, PARIS, April 16/2019> The destruction of Our Lady of Paris comes at a time when the city itself has seen some of the world’s most vicious acts of terrorist violence. France is badly divided in 2019, but in the face of all this, PARIS will survive – as it has through the French Revolution and two world wars.
<Front page, Le Journal de Montréal, Quebec, April 16/2019> President Emmanuel Macron has announced that Notre-Dame will be rebuilt, stating “it’s part of the fate, the destiny of FRANCE, and our common project over the coming years. I am committed to it.”
<Front page, Toronto Star, April 16/2019>
<Editorial cartoon by GRAEME MACKAY, Hamilton Spectator, April 16/2019>
<The site under construction. Photo courtesy ASTOUND> LGA Architectural Partners have designed a two-block, 2.4-acre site on city-owned land at Bathurst and Front Streets. TORONTO is planning to eventually turn the space into a public park, but for now it’s pop-up shops, food and beverage vendors & an onsite brewery, mixed in with courtyards, pedestrian paths, and open spaces for community programming and events.
STACKT’s physical structure can be picked up and moved elsewhere – in a different configuration – at a future date. That’s the genius behind the project, leaving the site unscathed.
<A one-container retail unit. Photo courtesy ASTOUND design-build> To quote JANNA LEVITT at LGA Architectural Partners – “Retailers are looking for unique physical spaces and experiential opportunities for their customers. Shipping containers suggest an unusual and immersive retail experience while also offering a practical and sustainable building solution.” – CANADIAN ARCHITECT
<Belgian Moon brewery anchors the site. Photo courtesy Pomp & Circumstance>