Toronto • City - Canada

[yungngai]

Yes sure

[Empty_Quarter]

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Chester Hill by Empty Quarter, on Flickr

[HK999]

Alright, my rating says 9/10, and that was a couple of years ago. To get a 10, Toronto needs more signature towers. I mean all those recent residential towers popping up lately are somehow boring. I just hope those supertall proposals come to life and the city finally starts building something of architectural merit. A Tower Verre or One57 caliber would be a nice start.

[isaidso]

Agree. Thankfully, some of the buildings that recently broke ground (or will soon) will add some visual interest: One Bloor, Massey Tower, Theatre Tower. That said, there are still far too many cookie cutter towers going up that add little texture, colour, charm, or richness to the built form.

Oxford's 2 taller towers and the 3 tower Gehry-Mirvish proposal is a giant step in the right direction, but they're far from certainties at this point.

[Uaarkson]

Originally Posted by HK999

Alright, my rating says 9/10, and that was a couple of years ago. To get a 10, Toronto needs more signature towers. I mean all those recent residential towers popping up lately are somehow boring. I just hope those supertall proposals come to life and the city finally starts building something of architectural merit. A Tower Verre or One57 caliber would be a nice start.

The city has loads of architectural merit actually, even if it does fall short in the skyscrapers category. The CN Tower is a blessing.

[Spurdo]

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Frozen In by Hanzy2012, on Flickr

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Light up the night by Hanzy2012, on Flickr

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Uaarkson

The city has loads of architectural merit actually, even if it does fall short in the skyscrapers category. The CN Tower is a blessing.

Agree, but I believe he's referring to the plethora of residential towers. Only a few of them are architecturally noteworthy.

[isaidso]

The growing skyline east of the CBD. You can see the Pan American Games site under construction in the distance.

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Courtesy of udo

Looking at from the Pan American Games site back towards the CBD.

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Courtesy of udo

[isaidso]

Courtesy of SkyJacked

[Sarcasticity]

I didnt realize how much space Union Station rail yard occupied. Its like it cut the skyline into half, similar to Edmonton and its parking lots. But I never took notice of that despite being in Toronto many times

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Sarcasticity

I didnt realize how much space Union Station rail yard occupied. Its like it cut the skyline into half, similar to Edmonton and its parking lots. But I never took notice of that despite being in Toronto many times

The rail lines do bisect the city, but they used to be far wider than they are today. Another positive development is the rise of Southcore. It's stitching the city back together both physically and psychologically. With all those skyscrapers going up south of the rail lines, better north-south connections over the tracks are being built while the rail shed itself is getting a much needed make over.


Courtesy of blogto

The biggest improvement might end up being the Oxford casino project which promises to deck right over about 400m of rail track with an urban park.

[Taller, Better]

From the website of a proposed condominium project:

Originally Posted by monkeyronin

From the new "Yonge + Rich" condos (a new low for condo names ) website:


http://www.yongeandrich.com/?gclid=C...Fe1xOgodOQkAow

[HK999]

Nice shots.

Originally Posted by isaidso

Agree, but I believe he's referring to the plethora of residential towers. Only a few of them are architecturally noteworthy.

Yep, that's what I meant. The city is booming like forever now, it's time for some signature towers. Bring it on!

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by isaidso

Agree, but I believe he's referring to the plethora of residential towers. Only a few of them are architecturally noteworthy.

But in fairness, how many cities have a high proportion of their residential structures that are architecturally noteworthy anyway? It's rare for a city to have more than a tiny percentage of its housing in that category whether the housing is mainly lowrise or includes many highrises like Toronto does. People just seem to expect a lot more from highrises than from lowrise housing, likely because in NA people are accustomed to highrises being predominantly public buildings like offices and hotels rather than residential, and those types of buildings are likely to put more emphasis (and money) on aesthetics.

Even in Halifax where we're known for having a large stock of Victorian-era houses, most of them weren't particularly noteworthy in their day, and were simply built in the standard prevailing styles of that era. They're only noteworthy now for their heritage value. And of course because contemporary people fetishize ornate Victorian-era styles as a backlash against the prevailing styles which are very simple and utilitarian by comparison.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

But in fairness, how many cities have a high proportion of their residential structures that are architecturally noteworthy anyway.

Not many but if you want to stand out from the crowd the way a Chicago or Melbourne does, building a sea of forgettable buildings isn't going to cut it. You need signature towers to draw the eye away from the mundane. You don't need a ton of them, but you need a higher % than what Toronto's built thus far. It's the signature towers that set the tone, but if you only have a few of them, its the cookie cutter buildings that people focus on.

Luckily, the swath of sameness north of Queen is about to get a few landmark buildings that will help mitigate against it. One Bloor, Massey Tower, and hopefully the Holt Renfrew tower will do wonders for the overall impression it leaves the viewer. AURA is a bit of a question mark at this point, but I think it will accomplish this in some respects.

Further south, L Tower, the Mirvish-Gehry proposal, and the Oxford casino proposal will do the same.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by HK999

Yep, that's what I meant. The city is booming like forever now, it's time for some signature towers. Bring it on!

The next few years will be crucial. L Tower, AURA (more for its height), and One Bloor will get the ball rolling, but its the ones still on the drawing board that will seal it.

[isaidso]

Great photo Taller.

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by isaidso

Not many but if you want to stand out from the crowd the way a Chicago or Melbourne does, building a sea of forgettable buildings isn't going to cut it. You need signature towers to draw the eye away from the mundane. You don't need a ton of them, but you need a higher % than what Toronto's built thus far. It's the signature towers that set the tone, but if you only have a few of them, its the cookie cutter buildings that people focus on.

I definitely agree with that, but even in places like Chicago and Melbourne, very few of those signature buildings are residential. When I hope for strong signature towers, I'm hoping for large hotel and office buildings, as things like Eureka, Marina City, or Aqua are so incredibly rare.

What really annoys me is not things like UCondos, Cityplace, Murano/Burano, etc. but rather things like BAC, which is such a huge lost opportunity. That site should have been something of the size/caliber of John Hancock Center, Scotia Plaza, Rialto Towers, et al. Something big, exciting, and dramatic, not more midsize, bland, non-descript "quality filler."



Another thing that set those two apart specifically is that their skylines are so well balanced, in the sense that the biggest and highest quality buildings are spread throughout the whole CBD rather than tightly clustered in one area which has been the case in Toronto up until very recently.

[isaidso]

I agree with everything you're saying. The criticisms I hear echo my own, but I think it's all going to come together. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that the boom lasts another few years and developers/architects start being more creative with materials and embellishments.

I really think Toronto is screaming out for some decoration after decades adhering to the International Style. I appreciate that aesthetic, but you get to a point where you're starved for some texture, colour, ornamentation, etc. I do feel that we might be moving in that direction.

As spoiled as we have been, I find myself craving that cherry on top. I admit I'll be disappointed if those aspirations I have for Toronto aren't realized, but I'm quite confident that we'll get there.

[Empty_Quarter]

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Thin Ice by Empty Quarter, on Flickr