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Showing posts from September, 2013

Experiential Design

If you have ever stopped to admire the facade of Ann Manor at 71 Somerset Street West (c.1974) in the Golden Triangle, you would have noticed the large expanses of blank brick walls on the facade. Interestingly, the windows are all grouped around the balconies and corners of the building. At first this may seem unusual, but what this creates are interior layouts which I like to refer to as "experiential design". I am not certain this was the intent of the designers, but this is the way I interpret these designs.  The design of most newer high-rise condo buildings have exterior walls of glass - so as soon as you enter the unit, you are gobsmacked with some sort of an exterior view. This is not the case at Ann Manor, where the view has to be discovered by moving through the space of the unit. This is one of the penthouse units in the building and you will notice that the entire long wall of the living room has no windows. There is a great view, but the condo has