Toronto is currently experiencing one of its largest building booms, but that doesn’t mean that the city has to look ugly while countless condos go up. Designed by Young Choi, architect Andres Cortes, and structural engineer Sarrah Khan, the Urban Umbrella promises to replace the ugly scaffolding that adorns most construction projects with a colourful structure that resembles an unfurling umbrella. Made of high-strength recycled steel and translucent plastic panel, the Umbrellas are not only beautiful, but are also strong enough to withstand the impact of falling debris – the design went through several design iterations and extensive testing to insure that it was safe. 

Of course, whether Toronto will see the widespread use of the Urban Umbrella remains to be seen. In the meantime, Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam, Sheldon Levy, President of Ryerson University, Alan Vihant, Senior Vice President of High Rise Development for Great Gulf, and Sarrah Khan will be at the Ryerson Image Arts Building on Thursday, October 25 at 11:30am to showcase the innovative scaffolding. [Urban Toronto]   

____

Igor Bonifacic is a writer working for the Toronto Standard. You can follow him on twitter at @igorbonifacic. 

For more, follow us on Twitter @TorontoStandard and subscribe to our newsletter.