Marta O'Brien
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archhistory.bsky.social
Marta O'Brien
@archhistory.bsky.social
1.6K followers 410 following 1.1K posts
Architectural historian. Passionate pedestrian & former cyclist, so road safety! City & provincial politics. Lifelong renter in Toronto.
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archhistory.bsky.social
We need a borough system so that the old city isn't continuously held hostage by inner-suburb councillors. Should also keep every single thing from going to whole council.

Something like Montreal or NYC?
stateofthecity.bsky.social Brian F. Kelcey @stateofthecity.bsky.social · 21h
A better approach would be to allow for varied rules within the four 'community council areas' launching a sort of borough model seem in many other cities of Toronto's size & scope. If not that, then just lose the vote; sometimes standing, fighting and losing is better than pretzel compromises.
November 11, 2025 at 1:55 AM
archhistory.bsky.social
Yes it's wintery & chilly today, but almost all of us can get warmer with more heat or layers. The extreme heat of summer is so much worse, accompanied by humidity & -- increasingly -- smoky air.

Welcome winter! ❄️
November 9, 2025 at 8:49 PM
archhistory.bsky.social
From article:
- prov provided 78% of operating revenues for Ont universities in 1987-88
- by 2001 was 36%; in 2022 <25%
- result: lowest per-student funding of any prov in Canada
thelocal.to The Local Magazine @thelocal.to · 1d
"For my fellow graduate students and faculty, it felt absurd to be spending hundreds of millions on a shiny new building so far from the city when we were learning and teaching in crowded classrooms in buildings that felt like they were falling apart."
How York University Lost the Trust of Its Community | The Local
After program closures, questionable major capital projects, and increasingly fractious labour relations, what is the future of York University?
thelocal.to
November 9, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Reposted by Marta O'Brien
patterdad.bsky.social
Just shovelled snow in front of my house and also shovelled in front of our elderly neighbour’s house. This is a reminder to help each other out please everybody. (and also a reminder to my other neighbour that I am older than you.)
November 9, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Reposted by Marta O'Brien
ketanjoshi.co
the weirdest thing about this is Musk specifying "delights in being mean" as a bad thing, when he and his entire cult have only ever felt anything close to joy when they're bullying, mobbing and abusing people
downwithdan.bsky.social Dan of the Year @downwithdan.bsky.social · 2d
lol she got his ass and he knows it
Joyce Carol Oates @Joyce... 17h O So curious that such a wealthy man never posts anything that indicates that he enjoys or is even aware of what virtually everyone appreciates— scenes from nature, pet dog or cat, praise for a movie, music, a book (but doubt that he reads); pride in a friend's or relative's accomplishment; condolences for someone who has died; pleasure in sports, acclaim for a favorite team; references to history. In fact he seems totally uneducated, uncultured. The poorest persons on Twitter may have access to more beauty & meaning in life than the "most wealthy person in the world." Elon Musk ' @elonmusk X.com Oates is a liar and delights in being mean. Not a good human.
November 9, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Reposted by Marta O'Brien
vylenza.bsky.social
Especially when there are cats involved.
“May I help you find a book?”
November 9, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Reposted by Marta O'Brien
peachykeeen.bsky.social
Windows flood light into a 17th century convent hospital, now Ghent city museum.

#WeekSforShadows
#AlphabetChallenge 📷
City Museum, Ghent
November 9, 2025 at 9:35 AM
Reposted by Marta O'Brien
peipolitical.bsky.social
"Canadians do not live in a pretend world. They know there is no tax on food. They know which party always votes against affordability. Against dental care, pharmacare, childcare, basically anything with the word "care" in it." - Caroline Desrochers. #cdnpoli
November 8, 2025 at 8:20 AM
Reposted by Marta O'Brien
architecturalicons.bsky.social
We are most definitely the number one best superduper incredible top fabulicious place on the internet to get all your architecture themed gifts sorted... have a browse via the link on our profile page or visit architectural-icons.com
November 7, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Reposted by Marta O'Brien
thebikinglawyer.bsky.social
Join us Wednesday AM as we ride against Ford's attack on bike lanes, bus lanes, pedestrian friendly neighbourhoods, tenants rights & more! This omnibus bill aims to distract & divide communities with intersecting interests. We need to unite & ride against Bill 60!
www.cycleto.ca/bill_60_prot...
November 9, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Reposted by Marta O'Brien
bikewaysto.bsky.social
"At this moment of crisis, Carney needs to invest in projects that will help create the jobs of the future and truly build Canada up, not burn it down."

Former Mayor, David Miller
November 9, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Reposted by Marta O'Brien
petercoffman.bsky.social
I’m getting ready to co-teach our new course on Canadian architecture.

So, What *is* Canadian architecture?

Well, it’s a long story. Or rather, *many* long stories.
A lone, weathered grain elevator sits against a rolling, undulating, barren mandscape. A singloe road winds around it and into the distance. A slightly warm-tinted black & white photograph of an ornate, three-story wooden building. The lower two stories are white with pronounced dark trip around all of the many windows. The upper story is darker and has very large Serliana windows. The roof has a robust and picturesque skyline of towers and turrets, silhouetted against a dark sky with stormy grey clouds that seem to be in motion. A wooden gabled building facade with a gently sloping roof is perfectly bisected by a tall and very ornately carved totem pole. The sky behind is dark with billowy white clouds. A curvilinear, undulating, sheer white building facade contrasts starkly with the dark sky above. The facade is without any features such as window or ornament, Its white mass sits like an iceberg on the street.
November 8, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Reposted by Marta O'Brien
jasonthorne.bsky.social
Cladding going up on the Frank Gehry-designed “Forma” in downtown Toronto by developers Great Gulf and Dream.
November 9, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Reposted by Marta O'Brien
moreneighboursto.bsky.social
Neighbourhood Retail is coming up before Toronto City Council this week. If you want to see it happen, send a note of support to your Councillor (toronto.ca/councillors) AND councilmeeting@toronto.ca
anotherglassbox.bsky.social Dan Seljak @anotherglassbox.bsky.social · 6d
I wrote an op-ed on what I think about the fight for local neighbourhood retail (and the grousing about Badiali's) means for the urban vision of Toronto. Gift link here: www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
When even the humble corner store is impossible to open in Toronto, it’s a sign of something deeply wrong
We need to accept that Toronto is now a big city.
www.thestar.com
November 9, 2025 at 1:18 PM
archhistory.bsky.social
Plus the obscene amounts of energy & water AI uses.
jasonkoebler.bsky.social Jason Koebler @jasonkoebler.bsky.social · 5d
Once you start thinking of AI as a war on humanity, on human thought, on human inquiry, on human labor, on nuance and critical thinking, it slots in pretty seamlessly with the right wing ideological project, oligarchical political projects, big tech's political projects, etc
The future being pushed by both AI boosters and educational censors is one where access to information is tightly controlled. Children will not be allowed to read certain books or learn certain narratives. “Research” will be performed only through one of a select few artificial intelligence tools owned by AI giants which are uniformly aligned behind the Trump administration and which have gone to the ends of the earth to prevent their black box machines from spitting out “woke” answers lest they catch the ire of the administration. School boards and library boards, forced to comply with increasingly restrictive laws, funding cuts, and the threat of being defunded entirely, leap at the chance to be considered forward looking by embracing AI tools, or apply for grants from government groups like the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), which is increasingly giving out grants specifically to AI projects.
November 9, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Reposted by Marta O'Brien
marklemley.bsky.social
Australia has so much electricity from solar power that it is going to start offering free electricity to everyone for at least three hours during the day as the wholesale price of power goes negative

electrek.co/2025/11/04/a...
Australia has so much solar that it's offering everyone free electricity
Australia's extensive solar power penetration makes so much energy that the government wants to offer free electricity at peak hours.
electrek.co
November 6, 2025 at 4:58 AM
Reposted by Marta O'Brien
jasonthorne.bsky.social
City staff tour of the beautiful Landscape of Landmark Quality project at the University of Toronto with Shirley Blumberg and Nick Jones of KPMB Architects and Adrienne Heflich of Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates.
November 8, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Reposted by Marta O'Brien
brittlestar.com
THINGS ARE PRETTY GOOD HERE 🇨🇦
PeaceLoveCanada.ca
November 7, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Reposted by Marta O'Brien
alexbozikovic.bsky.social
People want to be with other people. A recent event showcased the wisdom of William H Whyte, and I ask: why don’t our public spaces follow his lead? www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/art-...
Parks should be made for people. Why does such an obvious idea elude us?
We need to create spaces where people want to gather, as William H. Whyte argued, but the central requirements are sadly absent in Canadian public spaces
www.theglobeandmail.com
November 8, 2025 at 10:50 PM
Reposted by Marta O'Brien
cnygren.bsky.social
More exciting news coming out of Pittsburgh! My department is searching for a Teaching Assistant Professor of Architectural Studies. This is a permanent position in the Appointment Stream (i.e. non-tenure-track). networks.h-net.org/jobs/69451/u...
University of Pittsburgh - Teaching Assistant Professor in Architectural Studies | H-Net
networks.h-net.org
November 8, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Reposted by Marta O'Brien
brenttoderian.bsky.social
WATCH: Seriously, if you’re following ANY bike-lane debate, you HAVE TO WATCH this news story. You actually can’t make this up. Ford claims without evidence that bike-lanes are bad for small business, and THE ACTUAL BUSINESS ASSOCIATION obliterates him with data.

Safe bike-lanes mean business.
Annex businesses tell Ford to back off Bloor bike lanes
Stores in the Annex say the Bloor bike lanes have been a big boost to business. As Michelle Mackey reports, the neighborhood's BIA wants the province to back off its new bill that could see the lanes ...
toronto.citynews.ca
November 8, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Reposted by Marta O'Brien
toondreessen.bsky.social
Window wall is a curtain wall that leaks; there’s a reason so many fail and a reason my insurer won’t cover their design. But it’s cheap. Black swan event on insurance horizon.
stephenjacobsmith.com Stephen Jacob Smith @stephenjacobsmith.com · 4d
One way to reduce condo defect liability: stop forcing architects to design buildings that leak. HCD’s “objective design standards” guide *encourages* making building envelopes more complex, heightening leak and therefore defect lawsuit risk cao-94612.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/documents/Ap...
November 7, 2025 at 3:30 AM
Reposted by Marta O'Brien
savethecbc.bsky.social
🚨 CBC: Liberal budget clears 2nd confidence hurdle — after Poilievre fumbles a key amendment.

He forgot to move his party’s motion to reject the budget, handing the Bloc the spotlight and blunting his big moment.

📰 r.pebmac.ca/https://www....

#SaveTheCBC #cdnpoli #Accountability #Leadership
November 8, 2025 at 4:30 PM
archhistory.bsky.social
Added to my enormous "what the f**k will it take for people to change" file.
November 8, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Reposted by Marta O'Brien
drgorfinkel.bsky.social
This isn't simply a matter of inconvenience.

1 in 5 patients find ERRORS in their medical records
...over HALF of which are SERIOUS.

Patients need access to their primary care records NOW

www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
Iris Gorfinkel: The price Ontarians’ pay for the lack of access to their medical records
Ontario must stop treating access to primary care records as a privilege and recognize it as a right — because patients’ safety, trust and lives depend on it.
www.thestar.com
November 8, 2025 at 4:58 PM