DEZEEN MAGAZINE – This enclosed bridge with a geometric black and white facade connects a hotel to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, helping visitors pass between the two even in the depths of winter. For more photos and the complete story go to http://www.dezeen.com/?p=842056
After years of development and a crowdfunding campaign that raised almost $1-million, the Vanhawks Valour is about to hit the road. The company has more than 1,000 orders for the carbon fibre two-wheeler that tracks cycling habits on a mobile application. The bikes technology includes a Bluetooth connection that gives turn-by-turn directions, sensors for blind-spot detection, a GPS-equipped accelerator and LED indicator lights. Plans are to build a smart bike network to discourage thieves. The network would connect all Valour bikes, tracking a bike’s last known location when two Valours are within 6 kilometres of each other.
Selling price – around $1,000.
TORONTO designer ANDREW JONES <PHOTO – Kevin Van Paassen/Globe & Mail> bested 700 entrants from 15 countries, to take home a $10,000 prize and a contract to build 300 chairs for Battery Park. The 25-acre park on the southern tip of Manhattan Island is – without a doubt – one of the most prestigious sites in the Big Apple.
The winning chair, the FLEURT (pronounced ‘flirt’) is a blend of ‘fleur’ <French for flower> and ‘flirt’. “They’re meant to be clustered together, like a bouquet.” MR. JONES, 47, is best known for high-end residential and office seating and work surfaces. His creations are in the permanent collections of the Royal Ontario Museum and the Design Exchange. After studying furniture design at the Royal College of Art in London, he obtained an architecture degree from the University of TORONTO.
His most famous public project, the umbrellas for TORONTO’s Sugar Beach, came under fire from our disgraced former mayor, Rob Ford, for costing too much. Needless to say, the entire Sugar Beach project (umbrellas included) is a solid hit with the public.ANDREW JONES to the Globe and Mail: “I really wanted to design a chair that everyone could connect with, from the first ah-ha moment upon seeing a garden of flower chairs, pollenated with people enjoying hours of comfort – sitting, reading, talking with friends, people watching and being part of the scene.” Website – http://www.andrewjonesdesign.com
Toronto Savvy 