"Facadism" and Toronto

[sergionni]

Originally Posted by Minato ku

Facadism is very common in Paris.

any examples from paris?

[vittorio tauber]

Not from Paris, however an example from Europe.
First opened in 1828 on the site of a demolished dominican monastery after a project by Carlo Barabino.
Square De Ferrari was later shaped as the main square of Genoa in front of the theatre's block - which includes the Fine Arts Academy as well.
The theatre was severely damaged by incendiary bombs in 1943, thus completely demolished for statical reasons.
The only surviving part was theporticoed façade: it was preserved as ruin or folly in the core of the city.
Several contests for the reconstruction took place. The theatre was finally reopened in 1991, after the design of the leading postmodern architect Aldo Rossi who added a new scenic tower -now a landmark in Genoa's skyline- and the interior was modeled like the piazza of a typical ligurian village.

(Sorry for the uneven size and quality of the pics.)

The first theatre:





Empty shell after the shells:




Ultimate project (Aldo Rossi):





Massive!





Details:




image hosted on flickr



Representation Hall:





Piazza De Ferrari:



I hope you have enjoyed it.

[Grygry]

Hausmannian building in Paris are a source of inspiration for facadism:
On the Champs Elysées:

ministère de la culture:

[Taller, Better]

facadism is when you keep the exterior wall and the interior of the building is demolished for a new one. Some of the ones shown appear to be renovations or restorations.

[sergionni]

Originally Posted by Taller, Better

facadism is when you keep the exterior wall and the interior of the building is demolished for a new one. Some of the ones shown appear to be renovations or restorations.

yes exactly...i saw recent examplein jerusalem.it is hotel "the palace"

[sergionni]

^ thanks for examples from italy and france.

[Taller, Better]

Here is an example of facadism from Toronto:

[SOLOMON]

I love facadism.
that's a really good example!

[urban 2.0]

... want a bad example ... the Eaton Centre NW corner at Yonge and Queen where the facade doesn't even meet the street. It's a joke.

[sergionni]

very nice design from toronto with calatrava street cover that is pure facadism,good example. i now many were done in paris ...but i dont know any of those examples...

[sergionni]

Originally Posted by Taller, Better

Here is an example of facadism from Toronto:

as i heared this building was moved from other site and placed here. it is not its original position. anyone knows more about this project (not so much about caltravas cover but more about story about this historic building..?

[Taller, Better]

I don't know anything about that project.. it is quite likely they moved the facade to fit the design of the atrium space.

Originally Posted by urban 2.0

... want a bad example ... the Eaton Centre NW corner at Yonge and Queen where the facade doesn't even meet the street. It's a joke.

That project was started not that long after I had moved to Toronto, and I watched it unfold. It was a painted brick building, and they carefully removed all the paint. All was well till about halfway down the building, and they discovered the brick was all mismatched... in other words, the original building had been built with a crap mixture of bricks, because the intent was to paint it. There was no way they could leave it like that as it looked like a dog's breakfast, so they had to design this PoMo feature to cover up the parts that were mismatched brick. Shame, as that was not the original intent of the project.
Sometimes in projects you are limited by what you uncover.

[TheCharioteer]

Originally Posted by urban 2.0

... want a bad example ... the Eaton Centre NW corner at Yonge and Queen where the facade doesn't even meet the street. It's a joke.

What you are referring to is the old Woolworths store which is still there under all that cladding. TB is correct about the quality of the brick when it was being renovated, but I think the POMO design (by Lloyd Alter Architect) always had that peel-away cladding, most likely inspired by Pelli's toweres at Battery Park City in NY. Remember also that the original facade was covered up by aluminum siding all through the 70's and 80's as was the trend at the time, so no one really knew how much the original facade had deteriorated.

Here are two pictures that illustrate the building, first in 1950 and second in the 70's:

[Taller, Better]

I'm not sure if the PoMo siding was originally intended, but it certainly appeared from watching the project unfold that the mismatched bricks were a surprise and that the aluminium facing was placed over the mismatched sections. Nice pics of Woolies, Charioteer!

[Filip]

Originally Posted by sergionni

as i heared this building was moved from other site and placed here. it is not its original position. anyone knows more about this project (not so much about caltravas cover but more about story about this historic building..?

The building used to stand 200 m away on Wellington street. When this project began construction, the Bay/Wellington tower would stand on its location, so they moved the building south to fit within the atrium.

[TheCharioteer]

Originally Posted by sergionni

as i heared this building was moved from other site and placed here. it is not its original position. anyone knows more about this project (not so much about caltravas cover but more about story about this historic building..?

The facade once stood at 15 Wellington Street West and was originally The Commercial Bank, designed by William Thomas, completed in 1845. It was considered by Eric Arthur in Toronto No Mean City as one or the finest Greek Revival buildings in the city. Thomas was also quite skillful at Gothic Revival (as any 19th century architect had to be) and designed Oakham House (at Church and Gould) 1848, and St. Michael's Cathedral (1845).

[Taller, Better]

Oakham House is oft overlooked, but it is one of my favourite buildings downtown. Great little gargoyles. I believe it is a Ryerson student bar now.

[TheCharioteer]

Can't forget Thomas' best building the St. Lawrence Hall. Below is an interesting quote from the Canadian Encylopedia in light of the discussion of facadism:



"St Lawrence Hall was designed in competition in 1845 as "a new front to the old market buildings" to replace a public hall flanked by shops erected in 1831 as one side of a rectangle of buildings surrounding York's market square. When York was incorporated as Toronto in 1834 the hall and adjoining rooms became the City Hall for a decade until its successor was built nearby. Construction of the "new front" was delayed until 1849, when an area-wide fire destroyed the old buildings on the site. In their place was raised a structure containing a large and elegant public hall in the centre and shops and walk-up rooms in the wings. The latter were privately owned but erected to an approved plan. Behind the building a long tail housing the city's butchers replaced the market square. For many years St Lawrence Hall, named for Canada's patron saint, was the centre of cultural and political life in Toronto, hosting many balls, receptions, concerts and lectures. John A. MACDONALD, George BROWN and the world-renowned soprano Jenny Lind all appeared here.

Designed by William THOMAS of Toronto, the architecture reflected the influence of the Renaissance style, with its raised portico over an arcaded base, but reinterpreted in a distinctly Victorian manner. Its richly carved ornamentation, picturesque skyline, and the eclectic incorporation of a French mansard roof were typical of contemporary architectural tastes."

[Taller, Better]

It is a beauty, and truly one of the finest buildings in our city. Also, we can't forget one of the very few buildings that survived the Great Fire of 1849, and just happened to be on the lucky side of that very same street- the lovely old Georgian Daniel Brooke Building (1833):



Sadly we recently lost a similarly styled building, Walnut Hall (1856) through sheer neglect, during a, well... unusual collapse one Sunday afternoon. I have a little broken piece of brick from it on my desk as a reminder.

[TheCharioteer]

I agree, TB. Hard to believe that it once looked like this in the 70's: