Design: Mike Barker   Left Photo: Exterior OISE Building, 1970.   Right Photo: Premier William Davis at OISE inauguration, 1970. OISE Collection.

DOMINION MODERN presents OISE D&A, an exhibition celebrating the design, art and architecture of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto.

The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), established in 1965 and officially merged with the University of Toronto in 1996, was first envisioned by Premier William Davis as an institution for graduate studies and education research in Ontario. From its inception, OISE was a part of the grand vision of Ontario. Along with TVOntario, Ontario Place and the Ontario Science Centre, OISE was a project undertaken by a government adept in architecture, art, and graphic and industrial design.

Erected in 1970 by architect K.R. Cooper, a University of Toronto graduate, OISEs interior was enhanced by the art of Jack Bush, Sorel Etrog and Kazuo Nakamura and by the furnishings of Eero Saarinen, Jan Kuypers and Paul Arno.

The OISE building stands as a wonderful example of provincial post-war planning and of late-modern concrete architecture, a real presence in downtown Toronto.

Exhibition ran May 15 to November 18, 2007
Free Admission
@ Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto
Library, Ground Floor
252 Bloor Street West, Toronto

Monday to Thursday: 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Friday and Saturday: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday: Closed
Phone: 416 923 6641 x 2900

During 2007, OISE is hosting the 100th Anniversary of studies in education at the University of Toronto. Visit the website at www.100years.oise.utoronto.ca for more information about the Centennial programme of events and activities.

Preservation of Canadian Modernism is at a crossroads. Indifference and hostility have led to the demolition of modern buildings across Canada and as these buildings fall, those who designed and built them age and die. Ironically, this comes at a time when modern architecture and design are enjoying renewed interest amongst professionals and the public.

With the demise of many fine modern buildings like the Inn on the Park, Trend House, Terminal One, Wawanesa Insurance, the Salvation Army Headquarters, Union Carbide to the Shell Oil Tower, shows that nothing has really changed. And now Riverdale Hospital awaits a similar fate?

Endangered Species investigates the notion of modern architecture as an endangered genus. Is modernism bound for extinction? Endangered Species, the book and exhibition opens the debate. Includes the Catalogue of Destruction and essays by Carole Pope, John Martins-Manteiga, Steve Russell, Gene Threndyle, Jose Castel-Branco, Luigi Ferrara, Peter Kuitenbrouwer and Adam Sobolak.

Exhibition will feature body parts of long lost buildings like the Shell Oil Tower, Wawanesa Insurance and Union Carbide, on exhibit like some long extinct beasts.

Dominion Modern and the School of Design, George Brown College is presenting the exhibition, ENDANGERED SPECIES, in two phases.

PHASE I: PART OF CONTACT

Maple Leaf Gardens, 2006 by Anthony Dorian, School of Design, George Brown College

The theme of this year's School of Design Director's Design Competition, "Endangered Species" represents a photographic exploration of post-war modernist architecture listed to be demolished in Toronto, The Greater Toronto area, and beyond. The Director's Design Competition was launched in 2003 in the spirit of promoting the creative talent from the school and to encourage young designers to use photography and design as a tool to improve the quality of self-expression and communication.

May 4 to May 31, 2006
Monday through Friday, 8AM-6PM
290 Adelaide Street East
Toronto, ON M5A 1N1
Wheelchair access

Curated by Annette Hemerik, John Martins-Manteiga and Luigi Ferrara.

For more info on our programs please contact:
Annette Hemerik
Program Coordinator, School of Design
George Brown - The Toronto City College
design@gbrownc.on.ca
www.schoolofdesign.ca

PHASE II: ENDANGERED SPECIES

Riverdale Hospital, Toronto, Chapman & Hurst Architects, 1963.
One of the "Endangered Species" of buildings presently threatened with demolition.

ENDANGERED SPECIES was initiated to spur debate amongst the wider community on the topic of modern architecture and its endangerment. Endangered Species is the first collaboration between Dominion Modern and the School of Design and this book with its accompanying exhibition at the Institute Without Boundaries is the result of this project.

"Buildings, like living things, can be classed in species, and just as we do not wish various animal species to become extinct, we should not want various types of architecture to become extinct. Like the whole question in the animal kingdom, it is virtually impossible to re-create a building that has disappeared (or if not impossible, certainly well outside the realm of the probable). I would suggest that this argument--and it should be seen as an ecological argument--is totally applicable to our architectural heritage, and at every point we must weigh the costs and benefits involved in the destruction or retention of any particular building."
  -- John Sewell, former Mayor of Toronto, 1972

Exhibition ran March 3-4, 2007
Hours: 1-6pm. Free Admission
@ The Institute Without Boundaries
207 Adelaide Street East (at Jarvis), Toronto
Books on Sale at the venue

Exhibition was remounted to June 30, 2007
Free Admission
@ Urbanspace Gallery
401 Richmond Street West (ground floor), Toronto
Monday to Friday: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturday & Sunday: Closed

March 5 to May 29, 2005

The two World Wars had a tremendous impact in transforming Canada into a confident and robust industrial nation. With that came a building boom and an artistic explosion that gave young entrepreneurs, designers, artists and architects opportunities to dream big, bold and modern.

MEAN CITY celebrated this great boom in architecture and industrial design (1945-1975), with emphasis on the work of John B. Parkin Associates: works that include the Sun Life Building, Yonge Subway and Terminal One at the Toronto International Airport.

Also, MEAN CITY took a closer look at the CNE's distinctive cluster of modern buildings. Beginning in 1947 with the new Grandstand Stadium and culminating in the Better Living Centre in 1962, young architects like Richard Fisher, George Robb and Peter Dickinson were given the opportunity to execute '50s fantastic and futuristic buildings.

The Don Mills housing project was featured in MEAN CITY. Urban planner Macklin Hancock was hired right out of Harvard by E.P. Taylor to develop the rolling hills of North Toronto. Talented architects like Douglas H. Lee, John C. Parkin, Henry Fliess, James A. Murray, Harry B. Kohl and Peter Dickinson created housing, factories, schools, churches, libraries and parks for the unique community.

MEAN CITY also payed tribute to the industrial design of the post-war years. The exhibition highlights the accomplishments of A.V. Roe Canada. They built Orenda engines, the Avro Arrow, and the Avro Jetliner; the latter, designed by James C. Floyd, was the first commercial jetliner in North America.

MEAN CITY was the most ambitious exhibition presented by Dominion Modern. It is accompanied by a full-colour exhibition catalogue. MEAN CITY coincided with the current show at CCA in Montreal, "The 60s: Montreal Thinks Big" (20 Oct. '04 - 11 Sept. '05) and the Museum of Civilization show in Ottawa, "Cool 60s Design" (25 Feb - 27 Nov. '05.)

October 30 to December 21, 2003

Dominion Modern is proud to present a retrospective of the work of Hugh Robertson. Synonymous with architectural photography, Robertson was at the helm of Panda Photography, the premiere house for architectural photography, where he perfected the art he began in the 1930's. For the next sixty years Robertson would go on to record a country bursting at the seams with energy and exuberance. Robertson refined himself as an artist with a sharp eye whose work was defined with a bold, dramatic, and simple elegance. His oeuvre includes architecture, commercial, industrial and war photography. As one of the chief documentarians of the 20th Century Robertson belongs to a unique league of gentlemen photographers that were true pioneers.

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April 10 to May 25, 2003

Thank you for supporting Dominion Modern's inaugural exhibition, (9 April - 25 May, 2003) PETER DICKINSON ARCHITECT. The first weekend, about 50 people attended. The last weekend, 1,000 people came through the gallery. They were all interested in Canadian architecture, drawn by the Doors Open Weekend. Some visitors had never heard of Peter Dickinson, but even those who knew his name had no idea of the scope of his work until this show.

DICKINSON BOOK UPDATE: Peter Dickinson Architect, the book, is a 600-page volume that will include his complete works. We received great feedback and interest during the Exhibition about the book. We have yet to find a suitable publisher. What we need in this country is a Taschen-like publishing dynamo. The search continues.

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