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CNN's Alex Zolbert shows how a 40-story building is being demolished the clean and environmentally friendly way in Japan.

Confessions of a Condo Architect Halanah Heffez Right after completing her Masters degree in Architecture, Alex got a job with a local firm that designs those condominiums you always see cropping up in the Plateau, Rosemont and Villeray. We have all seen these new constructions and shuddered, or perhaps just sighed it could be worse. The blocks are neither offensive nor inspiring: they're mediocre at best. “We’re creating a generation of condos that are really ugly," Alex says,"It’s as bad as the 'eighties. Frankly, I think it’s going to be worse.” She runs through a list of all-too-familiar features: cramped juliettes where balconies should be; basement apartments with dug-out cours anglaises surrounded with bars that end up looking like jail cells; the use of different tones of brick to break up the façade; the random insertion of incongruous colours to add a semblance of architectural variety... As Alex describes it, designing condos is a constant give and take between respecting the building code while maximizing the client's profits that leaves little space for creativity. Here's an example: the City of Montreal requires 80% of building fronts to be masonry and monotone bricks in taupe matt, grey anthracite and Champlain orange-red are inexpensive (how cheap it feels to reduce the urban landscape to colours in a catalogue). The most an architect can hope to do is to add a splash of coloured plexiglass, and only if the borough's CCU lets it through. Within the envelope, the constraints are event tighter: Alex describes her workdays as "trying to shove too much into a space that’s inherently too small.” She recalls debating with a colleague about the ethics of sketching a double-bed into the plans when a queen simply wouldn't fit in the room. "'If you can’t fit a Queen-sized bed in your apartment, then it’s not an acceptable apartment," Alex insists. But most people don't have much experience reading architectural plans so they don’t necessarily realize what they’re getting. The developer, on the other hand, knows exactly what they want: "they come to you and say: this is the lot, and we want 8 condos in it." That leaves room for only a couple two-bedroom apartments, and the rest bachelors, all within the footprint of what was once a duplex or triplex apartment block. "It’s more profitable to sell more condos than to sell more bedrooms,” Alex points out. There's another catch: buildings under three stories fall within part 9 of the building code, which is more lenient in terms of fire safety regulations. But by sinking in a couple basement suites and adding a mezzanine (which must not exceed a certain percentage of the floorspace), it's possible to squeeze five levels into a building that is officially only three stories high. At least there's a sliver of good news: just this year the city stopped allowing windowless rooms. And while we may be in favour of urban density, tightly-packed residential units are not synonymous with density of inhabitants. "All these properties with great potential are being turned into one single type of real estate that is not family friendly: it’s all geared to young professionals without children. They’re not big enough for a growing family and there’s no flexibility in the space," says Alex. Another thing that she laments is that, with the requirement to transform every square inch of the lot into square-footage of floorspace, there's a tendency to lose the individual entrances, balconies and outdoor staircases that are typical of Montreal's urban landscape, and that create a dialogue between public and private space. Of course, being an architect, she also dwells on the aesthetics: “It’s all going to look very 2010," she sighs, "....and not in a good way.” http://spacingmontreal.ca/2011/12/19/the-architecture-of-mediocrity/

December 19th, 2011 Confessions of a Condo Architect By Alanah Heffez // 7 Comments http://spacingmontreal.ca/page/7/ Right after completing her Masters degree in Architecture, Alex got a job with a local firm that designs those condominiums you always see cropping up in the Plateau, Rosemont and Villeray. We have all seen these new constructions and shuddered, or perhaps just sighed it could be worse. The blocks are neither offensive nor inspiring: they're mediocre at best. “We’re creating a generation of condos that are really ugly," Alex says,"It’s as bad as the 'eighties. Frankly, I think it’s going to be worse.” She runs through a list of all-too-familiar features: cramped juliettes where balconies should be; basement apartments with dug-out cours anglaises surrounded with bars that end up looking like jail cells; the use of different tones of brick to break up the façade; the random insertion of incongruous colours to add a semblance of architectural variety... As Alex describes it, designing condos is a constant give and take between respecting the building code while maximizing the client's profits that leaves little space for creativity. Here's an example: the City of Montreal requires 80% of building fronts to be masonry and monotone bricks in taupe matt, grey anthracite and Champlain orange-red are inexpensive (how cheap it feels to reduce the urban landscape to colours in a catalogue). The most an architect can hope to do is to add a splash of coloured plexiglass, and only if the borough's CCU lets it through. Within the envelope, the constraints are event tighter: Alex describes her workdays as "trying to shove too much into a space that’s inherently too small.” She recalls debating with a colleague about the ethics of sketching a double-bed into the plans when a queen simply wouldn't fit in the room. "'If you can’t fit a Queen-sized bed in your apartment, then it’s not an acceptable apartment," Alex insists. But most people don't have much experience reading architectural plans so they don’t necessarily realize what they’re getting. The developer, on the other hand, knows exactly what they want: "they come to you and say: this is the lot, and we want 8 condos in it." That leaves room for only a couple two-bedroom apartments, and the rest bachelors, all within the footprint of what was once a duplex or triplex apartment block. "It’s more profitable to sell more condos than to sell more bedrooms,” Alex points out. There's another catch: buildings under three stories fall within part 9 of the building code, which is more lenient in terms of fire safety regulations. But by sinking in a couple basement suites and adding a mezzanine (which must not exceed a certain percentage of the floorspace), it's possible to squeeze five levels into a building that is officially only three stories high. At least there's a sliver of good news: just this year the city stopped allowing windowless rooms. And while we may be in favour of urban density, tightly-packed residential units are not synonymous with density of inhabitants. "All these properties with great potential are being turned into one single type of real estate that is not family friendly: it’s all geared to young professionals without children. They’re not big enough for a growing family and there’s no flexibility in the space," says Alex. Another thing that she laments is that, with the requirement to transform every square inch of the lot into square-footage of floorspace, there's a tendency to lose the individual entrances, balconies and outdoor staircases that are typical of Montreal's urban landscape, and that create a dialogue between public and private space. Of course, being an architect, she also dwells on the aesthetics: “It’s all going to look very 2010," she sighs, "....and not in a good way.”

Une PME montréalaise au sommet de l'AppStore Publié le 05 juillet 2010 à 06h28 | Mis à jour le 05 juillet 2010 à 06h34 Martin Vallières La Presse (Montréal) Une jeune PME de jeux vidéo de Montréal dirigée par d'ex-employés d'Ubisoft et de la firme publicitaire Cossette fait une belle percée dans le marché effervescent des logiciels à télécharger pour les appareils iPhone d'Apple. En trois mois à peine, une gamme de jeux conçue par Gamerizon, nommée Chop Chop, vient de franchir le seuil des 4 millions de téléchargements par le réseau AppStore, qui est géré par Apple pour les usagers de ses téléphones iPhone et ses tablettes électroniques iPad. > Suivez Martin Vallières sur Twitter De plus, le troisième jeu de cette gamme, nommé Chop Chop Tennis, lancé il y a deux semaines, s'est élevé le week-end dernier à la première place du principal palmarès mondial de 40 pays pour les téléchargements de jeux de sports dans le réseau AppStore. Avec plus d'un million de téléchargements en quelques jours, ce dernier-né de Gamerizon s'est aussi inscrit dans le top 3 des jeux pour iPhone pour les importants marchés des États-Unis et de la Chine. «En trois mois, c'est le troisième jeu de notre série Chop Chop qui réussit une telle percée en période de lancement. Manifestement, nous avons trouvé notre voie dans un marché aussi concurrentiel que celui des jeux à télécharger sur l'iPhone, qui se comptent déjà par dizaines de milliers», indique Alex Sakiz, président et coactionnaire de Gamerizon. Par conséquent, assure-t-il en entretien avec La Presse Affaires, Gamerizon serait déjà rentable malgré sa jeunesse et le coût des inévitables promotions de lancement de jeux à télécharger. Ces promotions sont en fait des périodes de téléchargements gratuits de nouveaux jeux que les développeurs gèrent comme un outil précis de commercialisation. «Ces promotions ne rapportent rien en revenus immédiats, mais elles servent surtout à générer du bouche à oreille parmi les utilisateurs de l'iPhone», explique M. Sakiz. «Et quand ces promotions vont bien, comme pour nos jeux Chop Chop, nous pouvons ensuite introduire des tarifs flexibles à volonté pour les téléchargements.» Bref, les dirigeants de la jeune Gamerizon semblent avoir bien apprivoisé autant leur concept de jeux à télécharger que les impératifs très particuliers de leur commercialisation. «Avec cette possibilité d'ajuster constamment les prix des téléchargements, le marché des jeux pour appareils mobiles s'avère très différent de celui des jeux pour consoles, où les producteurs souhaitent des blockbusters vendus à prix déterminés d'avance en magasins», explique Alex Sakiz. Par ailleurs, le succès initial de Gamerizon dans le marché très concurrentiel des applications pour iPhone et iPad s'explique aussi par la feuille de route de ses trois cofondateurs. Le président, Alex Sakiz, 52 ans, a notamment été cadre en publicité pendant 10 ans à l'importante firme Cossette Communications Marketing. Ses deux associés, les frères Martin et Robert Lizée, au début de la quarantaine, ont pour leur part été gestionnaires de projets à Ubisoft, la plus grande entreprise de conception de jeux du Québec. Les frères Lizée ont aussi une formation professionnelle utile pour gérer une jeune entreprise productrice de jeux vidéo: l'un est avocat spécialisé en droits d'auteur et l'autre a une maîtrise en intelligence artificielle. D'ailleurs, les trois fondateurs de Gamerizon ont déjà attiré des capitaux de quelques particuliers investisseurs, devenus coactionnaires. Et selon Alex Sakiz, des gestionnaires de fonds de capital-risque commencent à s'enquérir des possibilités d'investir. «Notre objectif est de créer l'une des gammes de jeux à télécharger pour appareils mobiles qui soit parmi les plus respectées de la planète», affirme le président de Gamerizon. La prochaine étape importante aura lieu dès la mi-juillet avec le lancement d'un quatrième jeu Chop Chop, cette fois sur le thème du soccer. «Après la conclusion de la Coupe du monde, et toutes ces heures à regarder du soccer à la télévision, de nombreux utilisateurs d'iPhone seront intéressés à pouvoir aussi jouer au foot sur leur appareil», anticipe Alex Sakiz. L'article

The New York Times Printer Friendly Format Sponsored By April 6, 2008 30 Seconds With Alex Ovechkin By LEW SERVISS The fans chant “M.V.P.!” when Alex Ovechkin scores at the Verizon Center in Washington. They have had a lot of practice this season. Ovechkin, the 22-year-old dynamo from Moscow, scored his 65th goal Thursday, breaking the season goal-scoring record for a left wing set by Luc Robitaille of the Los Angeles Kings in the 1992-93 season. The next task for Ovechkin is to help the Capitals advance in the postseason; Washington secured a playoff berth Saturday night. LEW SERVISS BEST THING ABOUT LIVING IN WASHINGTON Good people here and just I like it here WHAT DO YOU MISS MOST ABOUT RUSSIA? My family, my friends FAVORITE VIDEO GAME Counter-Strike THE BEST THING ABOUT SCORING A GOAL The celebration WHO WOULD PLAY YOU IN THE MOVIE “THE ALEX OVECHKIN STORY”? Probably Jim Carrey THE SPORT YOU’RE WORST AT American football probably FAVORITE CITY TO VISIT Montreal IF YOU WEREN’T A HOCKEY PLAYER, WHAT WOULD YOU BE DOING? Probably playing soccer LEAST FAVORITE FOOD Sushi FAVORITE DRESSING ROOM MUSIC Hip-hop ANYTHING IN PARTICULAR? No WHAT’S BETTER THAN MAKING THE PLAYOFFS? Nothing Home Contact Us * Work for Us * Site Map Pour moi il va avoir une opportunité de visiter notre belle ville, plusieurs fois ce printemps!