Just licensed this photo. All proceeds went to the Canadian Red Cross for the Japanese disaster relief.

Every dollar given to an organization like the Red Cross or Direct Relief International provides up to $30 of (wholesale) medical material aid. We can all make a difference, no amount is too small.

Our utmost respect and best wishes to the people of Japan.

Saw this little guy (on the right) by the lake today, right downtown Toronto. It was sitting in a tree, shaking in the wind and trying to sleep while people were getting in its face, taking pictures.

Happy Halloween!

Celebrating Toronto, the new “crazy, sexy, cool” place:

Harbourfront

Mette Keating is the principal / interior designer at InDeVision Interior Design. She works with business leaders to conquer the “Dead Office Syndrome” and create inspirational and productive work environments with her Office Alive Solution^TM. Mette kindly allowed us to share this from her latest newsletter:

Light in most indoor environments comes mainly from two sources (other than from our mother sun, of course): fluorescent lighting…and incandescent lighting…

The ability to distinguish between contrasts and black-and-white is not as good in fluorescent lighting as it is in incandescent lighting. Your eyes and brain have to put more effort into reading in the low energy lighting rather than the more ‘old fashioned’ type of lighting.

One of the main reasons for this is that there are only nine (!) basic colours in low energy lighting versus 1200 in incandescent lighting. And because we use the colours in the lighting to see depth and sharpness, it naturally gives us a disadvantage — a “sight handicap”.

So when you start feeling that you really can’t see the true colours of the food, your artwork, your colleagues, your own reflection in the mirror, or that you simply think that you have old and tired eyes, it might just be time to change the lighting in your space.

Hmmm, this can also explain why the clothes you buy under fluorescent lights at the store look different at home.

Image © 2009 AR Studio; text © Mette Keating

Doors Open Toronto is on May 29-30 this year (always the last weekend of May).
There’s lots to see. If you’re not going to the cottage for the weekend, it’s a great way to spend the day in the city. Some of the buildings never open to the public, except for this event. You may have to wait in line but most of them are really worth it.

We’re lucky to live and work in the heart of Toronto and frequently visit most of these places. My personal favorites are the Allan Gardens, Toronto’s First Post Office, 401 Richmond, the Design Exchange, Distillery District, Osgoode Hall.

Here are some of our shots from these locations:

 

This year on the agenda: The Drake Hotel, Factory Theatre, Farrow Partnership Architects Offices, Le Méridien King Edward, Levitt Goodman Architects Ltd.