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It does look more realistic to have the seams. On the other hand, why not use stone? We have a ridiculous aversion to masonry in the city and in Canada in general.

A lot of people don't realize how dense a lot of low-rise neighbourhoods are in the pre-amalgamation City of Toronto. The streets are narrower, the front yards and backyards are smaller, the setbacks between buildings are small or non-existent, there's little surface parking, etc. Many...

Toronto often has low public realm design standards that are almost laughable. Here, a utilitarian mini-highway barrier is seen as the aesthetically pleasing "final" design option. I've seen permanent concrete planters with shrubs and perennials in other cities as the separator for separated...

The colours of the towers make them look like they've been around for a few decades already and have been patched up on the cheap with mismatched cladding.

It looks like a fairly sophisticated design, but it could use more colour and design character from a civic standpoint.

So many of our residential side streets are unnecessarily wide at the expense of sidewalk width and public space amenities. Strangely, though, in some wealthy areas like Chestnut Park, the city has kept the roadways narrow. There's no reason why Logan needs a roadway wide enough to fit 4 cars...

If they're going to demolish such a handsome old house, it would be nice to see something more substantial go up than a bland looking 3-storey building. It could use an extra storey or two and a more architectural facade along the main street, Annette Street.

This building has some nice details, but it also has the proportions of a slab tower. One would hope that the units are wide, which is a potential advantage of slab tower proportions.

Colouring concrete helps to give it a more aesthetically pleasing design for sure. It'll still lack the texture and sheen of granite and other kinds of stone, as well as traditional red paving bricks. It'll therefore still feel inferior to stone but to a lesser extent. It's surprising that we...

This being Canada, a fire like this one almost always means the end of the structure, its design, and its art forever. Still, if there was a good case to go the European "Notre Dame Cathedral" route, it would here with this National Historic Site of Canada and the mural work of the Group of...

I'm a huge fan so far because it's better than 99% of condos in this city, but the vertically-oriented fenestration detracts from the flowing horizontal curves. The vertically-oriented windows are giving end users what they want, namely splendid views and lots of light, but the building looks...

I'm a big fan of the Crossways' brick Brutalist architecture, it doesn't seem to be well managed based on the state of the retail part of the mall and the fact that they rejected a direct connection to the subway. It was originally an impressively metropolitan development that was ahead of its...

That's a good point about longevity, but concrete tends to lose its appeal in landscape design as it ages (and usually after just a couple of years as the clean white look gets stained and turns grey).

I wish Hamilton could do that and get its Market Square back. Had it survived, it could have been revitalized to look and feel like a traditional European market square with restaurants, large patios on the square, restored heritage buildings, and outdoor markets, concerts and other events.

I genuinely hope this project turns out well. Everyone was so excited by the Nathan Phillips Square revitalization that was focused on restoring the original design but with enhancements. The end result, while an improvement overall with the stage, restaurant and washrooms, highlighted the...

You can have a pond with a fountain built in. We don't have enough ponds in our parks to even know that.

A direct connection combined with GO and TTC fare integration would be amazing.

This project turned out to be a mixed bag. The facade is well detailed and interesting. It frames the public realm nicely, and the massing is visually appealing. The hotel is attractive and has a lot of windows into its common spaces, which adds interest to the street. There's an interesting...

It seems silly to drive downtown. I would replace it with a regular but well designed four-lane or even a two-lane road with shops, squares, and parkland all around it. Eliminate the road capacity and people will abandon the notion of driving to the area. Then watch the air quality improve, the...

It's kind of depressing to basically see a new Gardiner Expressway going up. When you don't actually see the construction, it's not that bad. It's just a "rehabilitation". But in reality, it looks like it's being torn down and replaced with a new structure. To waste so much in resources (even...