Well Hello, I Didn't See You There

I've been obsessing over the world of architecture for years now. I'm not entirely sure when it began but for as long as I can remember I have been reading about development projects, urbanism, architecture, etc. in my spare time. Reading, researching, discovering, stumbling upon and realising has been such a significant part of my architectural development that it continually eats up my spare time. You wouldn't believe the reactions I get when I tell people that when I'm not working on an architectural project, I'm studying architecture. Do I need a life?

In any case, I decided this morning rather spontaneously to start a blog. I've been doing so much reading that maybe its time to do some writing instead. Why? One day I'll look back and wonder what on earth I was thinking. This blog will hopefully document that.

Now is a good time to introduce myself. My name is Michael, I am a fourth year architecture student at Ryerson University in Toronto. I love architecture in general, but I am  particularly interested in a buildings contextual relationship, its materiality, its streetscape, and the spaces it creates. I have been following the Toronto development scene since I started highschool, particularily on sites such as urbantoronto.ca, skyscrapercity.com and skyscraperpage.com. I am  no writer (you may have already figured this out) but I figured I'd give this a shot and provide my opinion on the doings of architecture in Toronto and Canada. Not only do I love architecture, but I am also very interested in the world of technology, especially computers and gadgets. Finally, I have had a love for music and have been writing and playing songs for years.

This is the way the blog will work. I will break posts into a bunch of different sections I find interesting and will probably end up writing alot about. 

The Development Front

The development section will take a look at new projects in Toronto that have just recently been conceived, are in the planning stages, or under construction. I'll post renderings, plans, elevations and critique the design.

Critique

The critique section will quite simply be a critique of an existing building, most likely in Toronto. I'll focus on recently completed projects and hopefully will be able to provide a quick tour. I'm going to try to streamline the critiques by introducing a rating system, so buildings can be easily compared.

Home Brew

This section will be a place for me to post and discuss my own designs from school projects, work, and my spare time projects.

From the Studio

On the lighter side of things, this is where I'll talk about anything and everything from the life of an architecture student.

And there we have it. I look forward to sharing with you my world and my ideas.