Unlike the Architizer Awards they were announcing the winners of the AZ Awards at the awards ceremony so Dan and Scott made the trip up to Toronto hoping not to come back empty handed. The event was at the Evergreen Brick Works. Once known as the “Don Valley Brick Works—a century-old factory that produced the bricks that built Toronto. When it closed down in the late 1980s, all that was left was a damaged ecosystem, crumbling buildings and contaminated soil. Today, Evergreen Brick Works is an international showcase for green design and urban innovation.” The site actually has a lot in common with Silo City in its past and hopefully in its future.
Before the ceremony we explored the trails around the former quarries on the site. Dan ran up and down the steep slopes with a youthful vigor, in his suit of course.
The event was held in a large unheated warehouse type space that used to house brick kilns but is now used for many things including filling with water for winter ice skating.
Once the ceremony got under way there 14 categories in design and architecture with anywhere from 2 to 7 finalists in each category. The quality of the work was very inspiring and the winning projects were from many countries, Belgium, Mexico, France and Germany along with Canada and the US. Our category was presented last and it was a relief when our project was named the winner.
We talked to many people both before and after the awards that really liked our project and some that even thought from the photos that maybe it was in Canada since they have grain silos and elevators there as well. A couple of people even mentioned that the Evergreen Brick Works would be a great location for a second Elevator B. It is an interesting idea.
