The Piccaluga brothers, an architectural team, arrived in Toronto to help give the city a new look
Northern Italian by birth, the Rome University-trained architect was living in Beirut, Lebanon during the mid-1960s – his father was at the Italian embassy there – and, with his older brother, Francesco, producing work that was gaining the attention of architecture magazines, some in far-off North America.Montreal and Expo 67, to be exact: “There was a very progressive climate, like the country is going forward,” says Mr. Piccaluga, his accent still prominent at age 85.
So, at age 32, Aldo Piccaluga arrived just as Mies van der Rohe’s 56-storey TD Centre was preparing to open and a new, with-it Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau was settling into 24 Sussex Drive. After making contacts and surveying the increasingly international climate, he went back to Beirut. In 1969, Piccaluga-the-younger returned to stay. His brother joined him three months later.
And while important interiors followed, such as De Berardinis at the Eaton Centre – another space age interior that shoehorned the hair salon around parking infrastructure – and Le Gavroche Gourmand at Hazelton Lanes, a standalone building still eluded them. “We basically lived on doing interiors,” says Francesco Piccaluga. Saying they were pigeonholed, Mr.
Four projects in Toronto’s east end showed that the brothers could build sophistication into buildings that cost $80- to $90- per sq. ft. The “Pink Building” at 970 Eastern Ave. was a stripped-down version of the Greenlaw house, with tiny square windows and, inventively, the downspout creating a graphic line down the façade. Its “greenhouse foyer engages the street and makes a nice entry,” wrote the The Globe and Mail’s Adele Freedman at the time.
“As you can see we had a tendency to break up [massing] to bring it back to the scale of houses, instead of having a block,” says Francesco Piccaluga, “and, at the same time you maximize the air flow and the light.” Of course, all along, the duo designed small chairs, big chairs, tables, modular furniture in spun steel, light fixtures, and bookshelves. Some made it into limited runs by companies such as Group Four in Oakville, while others were for clients only, such as at La Fenice. And much of it, wrote Adele Freedman, was “as good as anything imported from Italy.”
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Petr Mrazek to miss four weeks with groin injury - TSN.caToronto Maple Leafs goaltender Petr Mrazek has been placed on injured reserve with a groin injury.
Read more »
Lack of modern design slows the sale of St. Clair West semiSemi-detached home in Toronto’s St. Clair West Village neighbourhood the victim of modern architecture preferences
Read more »
First place in East Division on the line when Ticats visit Argos on Friday nightToronto Argonauts to host Hamilton Tiger-Cats in East Division showdown
Read more »
Nicaragua's Ortega decries foes who question his re-electionA day after questioned elections, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega's government on Monday set about painting as a historic democratic victory what many of the world's democracies condemned as a sham.
Read more »
Asian markets lower after Wall St record, China trade growthAsian stock markets were mostly lower Monday after Wall Street hit a new high and China reported a double-digit rise in exports.
Read more »
Sudan military disperses anti-coup protesters, arrests dozensSudan’s security forces use tear gas to disperse protesters and arrest at least 113 people, mostly teachers. There were sporadic protests elsewhere in Khartoum
Read more »