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Kids re-invent the city

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On Sunday, March 29, from 2-5 PM, Yahoo! Canada presents the third annual Bunch Family Salon at the Ontario College of Art & Design. At this event, kids and parents will team up with some of Toronto’s top intellects to do some radical thinking about what a city is, and then make one.Families at the Salon will take part in a think tank, design playgrounds, create a wind driven art garden, build a massive cardboard box city, go on guerilla green missions, create public art and play an urban planning game.Kids and parents will also be able to consult a giant Yahoo! Canada search interface to get answers to questions raised by the Salon’s activities as wells as exercise their photojournalism skills and document the day for Flickr.The team behind this world class family event includes: Art Gallery of Ontario, archiTEXT, Bunch, Design Exchange, Evergreen, Institute without Boundaries, Learning Through the Arts, Toronto Renewable Energy Co-operative and Ontario College of Art & Design.To ensure that kids from all parts of Toronto get to share their vision of what a city should be, some free admissions to the Salon will be given to families in need through the non profit groups Kids Up Front and Art City.The Salon tradition dates back to 17th century France, where a host or hostess would bring together interesting and creative people to entertain and inspire one another.

Big Box Fun

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The Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD) is a Canada's largest post-secondary institution for art and design. In 2004 construction was completed on the "Sharp Centre for Design", a $42.5 million addition to the school designed by architect Will Alsop (with Toronto-based Robbie/Young + Wright Architects Inc). It's basically a big checkered box raised four stories by a series of multi-coloured Crayon-like stilts. It's a unique building, totally what an art school building should be (at least look-wise) - and a really fun sight for families. Make an afternoon of it: check out OCAD's big box (you can even take an elevator up to the box for several splendid scenic views of Toronto); then have lunch in the Village by the Grange (an impressive food court across the street); and complete your experience with a visit to the nearby Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) for a little more cultural enrichment. The AGO also recently got a new makeover, so - bonus!

Cool buildings

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It's one of those buildings you can't help but stare at and wonder how scared the people in the corner offices must be.

• Favourite thing(s) at this place:
• cool buildings

Building

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It's so damn brash and bizarre!!! (Yes, it's that weird and fun it merits three exclamation marks - this is Toronto after all - a city not known for architecture.) Seems like an ideal setting for a remake of Towering Inferno, however.

• Favourite thing(s) at this place:
• Building

City view

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The view is amazing and unexpected from the table top of OCAD. sneak in sometime and check it out

• Favourite thing(s) at this place:
• city view