[URBAN NOTE] "How to ‘get’ and repair Uno Prii Annex grooviness"

[rfmcdonald]

The Globe and Mail's Dave Leblanc describes how 44 Walmer Road, a tower built in the 19860s from designs by architect Uno Prii, has been sensitively repaired.

Reporting for The Annex Gleaner in May, 2001, modern-architecture enthusiast Alfred Holden lamented the loss of the “curvilinear, circle-patterned balcony railings” at 44 Walmer Rd., and called them the 1969 apartment building’s “most artful and distinguishing feature.”

An Annex resident himself, Mr. Holden had written often about the whimsical designs of Estonian-born architect Uno Prii (1924–2000) and had interviewed the architect at his home, where sculpture, pottery and paintings by Prii’s own hand were in full view.

Mr. Holden argued that, just as the Eaton Centre’s flock of geese were off-limits to alterations – artist Michael Snow successfully sued mall management in 1982 when the fiberglass waterfowl were dressed in red ribbons for Christmas – architectural elements such as metal balcony railings could, perhaps, be considered art as well.

He urged unhappy building residents, who had spoken to a law student, to make waves and create a precedent.