Author: Jonah Humphrey

Canada Lands Company, a self-financing, federal Crown corporation that manages developments across country, approached Cicada to develop a video to communicate their role in the ongoing development of Downsview Lands. This area surrounds Downsview Park, one of Toronto’s largest urban green spaces, and will be an active area of development for several decades.

The video was developed by Cicada in coordination with a new website for Downsview Lands, created to better inform the public of the area’s rich history, and to describe the future of development in the area. As such, Cicada was tasked with organizing and displaying accurate information about the current planning process through animated infographics, while showcasing the intended experience of new neighbourhoods, urban environments, and greenspaces.

To see the video on the Downsview Lands website visit: downsviewlands.ca
To see other Cicada work on Vimeo: vimeo.com/cicadadesign

Cicada created the interactive presentation that promotes Manhattan’s new Agern restaurant, which opened this spring in Grand Central Station. The presentation highlights the unique experience of dining in the modern Scandinavian interior of the formal 85-seat restaurant, whose owner, Claus Meyer, also created the world-famous Noma restaurant in Copenhagen.

No single image could capture the interplay between the different areas of the restaurant, which is why the client hired Cicada to produce the presentation. Lighting played an important part in conveying the different moods between these areas which includes a sleek bar, depicted in cool tones, a warmly lit banquet section, and a chef’s table awash in bright light. The interactive presentation also showcases how the modern design of the restaurant contrasts with the Beaux-Arts interior of the historic station.

So if you’re feeling hungry the next time you’re in New York City, why not pop by 42nd Street and take a look around. If you decide to sample some New Nordic cuisine, check out the design interior of the restaurant to see how realistic our interactive presentations are.

For further reading on the Agern restaurant, see the Agern Restaurant’s Website, as well as articles from the New York Times,  Vogue, or the Wall Street Journal.

Design team :
Ulrik Norderntoft/Christina Meyer Bengtsson/Richard Lewis Architect

 

An urban revitalization proposal is underway at the site of the Galleria Mall on Dupont Street, Toronto. Visualizations provided by Cicada are now being used in a community consultation process, to involve local residents and businesses in discussions of the proposed development.

The site was purchased last year by Freed and ELAD Canada. The early community conusltation process is a refreshing take on property development, as the community is being engaged so early on, as  expressed in the recent article in Urban Toronto. Joe Svec of Galleria Developments, representing the joint venture between Freed and ELAD, along with Hariri Pontarini Architects worked closely with Cicada to achieve images that best represent the conceptual direction for the site and input from the community thus far. Svec himself describes the aspirations and included features of the new development:

Creating complete communities, establishing a finer grain street and pedestrian network, redesigning the existing park to reflect the needs of the community, and improving transit and multi-modal transportation options.

The community continues to have involvement as the project evolves, including in a recent community meeting open house.  This continued process will be of interest to follow in the way it shapes the Galleria site, and future community-centred developments.

Montgomery Sisam Architects won approval for their submission for the George Street Revitalization project, which is a new housing development in downtown Toronto. The architecture firm approached Cicada to work with it on the submission for the dynamic new mix of housing for homeless and vulnerable seniors.

Cicada produced a number of stills to illustrate the various options included in the submission package to the City of Toronto, which outcompeted eight other firms to win the contract.

The Kuwaiti government’s public housing authority has posted a video of the proposed planned city for 250,000 on its official website. Cicada worked with client MGP to produce the four-minute video, in which date palms and eucalyptus trees line the wide boulevards and pedestrian-friendly streets of the conceptual city.

The video involved extensive knowledge of architecture and urban design in all phases of its production. From storyboarding to 3D modeling, editing, compositing, and music composition, Cicada’s registered architects made use of their training to quickly and easily communicate MGP’s vision with a minimum of instruction or explanation.

The resulting video conveys both a sense of place, and a clear understanding of the different components and neighbourhoods of Al-Mutlaa. Click to watch the Al-Mutlaa Video.

Architectural visualizations display the unique design of Mun’s new core science building

HOK engaged Cicada to visually represent the architectural design of the building which includes the 90-foot skeleton of a whale that recently washed up on shore. Inspired by the Newfoundland coast, the building features an atrium in which the skeleton of the whale appears to rise between two metaphorical ice floes. As students and visitors pass through this space they share the experience of breaching with the beautiful blue whale.

Cicada’s illustrations expertly captured this and other design features of this noteworthy building and helped to show why Memorial University is a choice destination in the global competition for students.

Construction of the building is now underway. For more information please read “CBCnews article MUN`s new science building”

We’ve worked with the Brampton Planning Department for two years on the 2025 Vision for Brampton. In addition to creating visualization packages that include renderings and videos, we created the Moving People Matters video, a keystone communication tool for the new train service that will create an innovation corridor between Toronto, and the Brampton-Guelph-Kitchener-Waterloo metropolitan hubs.

As a result of our video, we were invited to get involved in additional visualization media for Kitchener and Mississauga. Please visit our blog soon for samples of this work.
Click to watch the Moving People Matters Video