University of Toronto Graduate Student Housing
Toronto, Canada · 2000
Photo · Photo by Steven Evans
A striking precedent for large-scale urban housing featuring a dramatic, high-altitude cantilevered volume that redefines the street corner profile.
- What we like about this project
- The cantilevered bar extends far beyond the building's main footprint, suspended directly over the street intersection.
Materials
- concrete
- steel
- glass
- metal-cladding
Visual identifiers
- cantilevered-volume
- night-photography
- concrete-facade
- horizontal-window-bands
Style tags
- deconstructivist
- high-tech
- expressive-structure
Visual tags
- cantilever
- institutional
- student-housing
- urban-corner
- monumental
- Geometry
- A massive, cantilevered linear bar volume floats high above a dark, orthogonal concrete block, creating a dramatic horizontal projection over the street corner.
- Facade system
- Concrete panel rainscreen with integrated horizontal strip windows and a glazed curtain wall on the cantilevered volume.
- Structural guess
- Steel truss system for the cantilever integrated with a reinforced concrete frame.
- Spatial scale
- Large-scale institutional or residential block, approximately eight to ten stories tall, dominating the street corner.
- Lighting
- Night photography with a deep blue sky; artificial interior lights glow through horizontal window bands, complemented by bright streetlights and light trails from passing traffic.
- Atmosphere
- A dramatic, high-contrast nocturnal scene defined by glowing windows and a soaring, suspended structural mass.
- Environmental context
- Urban street corner intersection with pedestrian sidewalks and young street trees.
- Spatial experience
- The extreme cantilever creates a sense of dynamic suspension and shelter over the public sidewalk, while the dark, punctured facade of the main block grounds the composition.
- Composition rhythm
- A heavy, dark vertical block with rhythmic punched openings contrasted against a long, continuous horizontal bar floating above.
- Style reading
- Deconstructivist-influenced high-tech modernism
- Program
- University student housing and academic facilities
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture
- Materials
- concrete, steel, glass, metal-cladding
- Visual identifiers
- cantilevered-volume, night-photography, concrete-facade, horizontal-window-bands
- Style tags
- deconstructivist, high-tech, expressive-structure
- Visual tags
- cantilever, institutional, student-housing, urban-corner, monumental
- Geometry
- A massive, cantilevered linear bar volume floats high above a dark, orthogonal concrete block, creating a dramatic horizontal projection over the street corner.
- Facade system
- Concrete panel rainscreen with integrated horizontal strip windows and a glazed curtain wall on the cantilevered volume.
- Structural guess
- Steel truss system for the cantilever integrated with a reinforced concrete frame.
- Spatial scale
- Large-scale institutional or residential block, approximately eight to ten stories tall, dominating the street corner.
- Lighting
- Night photography with a deep blue sky; artificial interior lights glow through horizontal window bands, complemented by bright streetlights and light trails from passing traffic.
- Atmosphere
- A dramatic, high-contrast nocturnal scene defined by glowing windows and a soaring, suspended structural mass.
- Environmental context
- Urban street corner intersection with pedestrian sidewalks and young street trees.
- Spatial experience
- The extreme cantilever creates a sense of dynamic suspension and shelter over the public sidewalk, while the dark, punctured facade of the main block grounds the composition.
- Composition rhythm
- A heavy, dark vertical block with rhythmic punched openings contrasted against a long, continuous horizontal bar floating above.
- Style reading
- Deconstructivist-influenced high-tech modernism
- Program
- University student housing and academic facilities
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture