Return to the Street of Childhood
In the nearest future Toronto skyline will be replenished with three new towers, which concept for a mixed-use project designed by famous architect Frank Gehry will transform Toronto’s downtown arts and entertainment at the King Street West providing the area’s future as a thriving cultural centre.
The multi-phase, multi-year project is the largest and most significant urban project for the Toronto-born architect, bringing new cultural, residential and retail spaces to a site adjacent to the Royal Alexandra Theatre, creating a new visual identity for the city’s premiere arts district. It is a special project for Gehry who grew up in the King Street West neighborhood. The Mirvish/Gehry project is the vision of David Mirvish, whose father Edwin Mirvish was not only a lucky businessman, but philanthropist and theatrical impresario who lived in Toronto and supported the local arts. As for David Mirvish – he is the founder of Mirvish Productions, who through his family’s support of the arts has helped make Toronto a major international arts destination.
The site is bordered by many of Toronto’s leading cultural institutions, including the Royal Alexandra Theatre and Roy Thomson Hall to the east, the Toronto International Film Festival Bell Lightbox to the west, and the John Street Cultural Corridor to the west culminating at the Art Gallery of Ontario to the north, the project will have as its center the new Mirvish Collection museum, a 60,000 sq ft gallery dedicated to abstract art and a new facility for OCAD University. “Urban universities such as OCAD University contribute to and benefit from their situation within a creative city,” said Dr. Sara Diamond, OCAD University President and Vice- Chancellor. “We are a hub for art, design, media, research, innovation and the business of creativity, and this new facility, in the heart of a transforming cultural district, is a perfect setting for OCAD University.”
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Materials provided by Polskin Arts & Communications Counselors, Courtesy of Gehry International, Inc