Architecture: Not Carved in Stone

Originally published in the Globe and Mail. Read the full text here.

A home built out of concrete blocks and steel is surprisingly warm and agile

When Joanna Sable hired her friend Rudy Bortolamiol to design her home, she concisely laid out her terms. "She said: 'I hate brick. I hate stucco. I hate drywall,'" Mr. Bortolamiol recalls. "'I want something unusual.'"

It was 1992, and Mr. Bortolamiol had just graduated from the architecture program at Carleton University. Here, straight out of the gate, was an opportunity – to have creative control on an original build – that many practitioners don't get until decades into their careers.

Since Mr. Bortolamiol accepted that early job, his life has taken him in unexpected directions. After stints with Toronto's most well-known firms – Brisbin Brook Beynon, Hariri Pontarini – he left the big leagues and became an elementary school teacher, although he continues to do residential commissions on the side.

Sable's North Broadview-area house is among his favourites. He visits often, and last year Ms. Sable brought him back to renovate the kitchen. The house is an adaptable structure sustained by a lifelong friendship.

This is an excerpt. Read the full text here.