Hello. This is a busy week for design events, with the Interior Design Show and much more. The Toronto International Design Festival is underway; Radiant Dark (in the lobby of Commerce Court!) and Come Up to My Room are definitely worth your time. I’ll be writing about some of the news, including a book and show on Peter Dickinson and a new design gallery. But before I do, I want to take stock of this year’s big stories in architecture and planning. There won’t be as many ribbon-cuttings in 2010 as in recent years, but there will be visible progress on some important projects that have been percolating for a long time.

Sugar Beach

On the waterfront. If you’re reading this, you’re probably tired of hearing about big plans for the waterfront. It’s been the object of grand ideas and great disappointment for a century. But be patient. Waterfront Toronto’s current array of projects add up to the biggest and best effort of citybuilding to hit Toronto in two generations. These things take a while. But the infrastructure and planning has been humming along nicely on the east side of downtown, with some of the world’s best landscape, planning and architectural talent at work, including the brilliant landscape architect Michael van Valkenburgh (who just got a second gig at Harbourfront).

In less exciting news, Corus will be moving into its new headquarters, designed by Diamond Schmitt, soon. I’ll be eager to examine it up close. It seems like a very competent building that is, as Bruce Kuwabara and the area’s Design Review Panel said, not really good enough to anchor such an important district. But let’s see the finished product.

On the other hand: This year will see the opening of Sugar Beach (by Montreal’s Claude Cormier), which looks like inventive work by a very talented firm; the partial completion of Sherbourne Park, by Vancouver’s Phillips Farevaag Smallenberg, which features a dramatic pavilion by Teeple Architects, pic below, that deserves an entry of its own (see here for a critical assessment). It’s a sculptural pavilion that also houses eco-friendly ice-rink and water purification equipment. This is how Toronto architects do icons.  There’s also a new serction of boardwalk by the Dutch firm West8 that runs from Jarvis to Parliament. Plus a prviate developer will start selling units in River City, a condo development by Saucier + Perotte that should be a stunner.

Sherbourne Park pavilion

A more city-like CityPlace. The forest of condo towers at the foot of Spadina is growing in size and in quality, and what’s complete west of Spadina Ave. seems much more urban than you might think – though still aseptic. It’s a transplanted bit of Vancouverism that still needs some water and shade. Happily, this year will see several new towers completed and I believe the new park co-designed by Douglas Coupland, too. (I’m underwhelmed by the park so far, but we’ll see.) But construction will also start on “Block 31,” a highrise complex that includes two schools, a community centre and public housing. Some neighbours aren’t thrilled about the presence of Toronto Community Housing, but this complex will be a hugely positive addition, creating more gathering places and bringing in kids to generate some healthy chaos in the streets.

Block 31

The scheme by architectsAlliance and MacLennan Jaunkalns Miller looks like a first-rate solution to a complex puzzle.

Regent Park and environs. Regent Park itself will be largely under construction this year, though the first private residential building — One Cole, designed by Diamond Schmitt — will be finished. I’m curious to see how the residents settle in and how they fit into the neighbourhood. Otherwise, Toronto Community Housing is building a couple of remarkable buildings elsewhere downtown. One of them, 60 Richmond East, by Teeple Architects, will be among the very best buildings in Toronto. I’ll be coming back to write about it soon.

Fort York Visitors' Centre

Competitions. Architectural competitions are good news: they open the door to new ideas and new talent. The recently announced winner of the Fort York Visitors’ Centre is the first major work in town by Patkau Architects, with Kearns Mancini. It breaks ground this year.

The big competition this year will be for the redevelopment of the North Building at St. Lawrence Market. This site has as much historic importance as any place in Toronto, and a good design will set the tone for new construction in the neighbourhood. Also the city’s plan to put a courthouse on this site, and interrupt the Market Street pedestrian block with a parking ramp, is… questionable. It’ll take some deft design to make this work. The city will announce the finalists in February. There’s also a private competition ongoing at the University of Toronto for the new Goldring Centre. More next month.

Bell Lightbox

The finale of the “Cultural Renaissance.” The recent wave of cultural building projects comes to an end with Bell Lightbox, designed principally by KPMB, which will open this fall. It represents the transformation of the Entertainment District into a residential area and a venue for high culture. The cultural component, a home to the Toronto International Film Festival Group (it won’t open in time for TIFF itself) should be one of the city’s great public places.

Not a bad list, and that’s just the marquee work. I’ll get into some smaller projects (and shorter, more specific posts) soon.