Woodbridge_Heights
Senior Member
There's a large difference between calling something ugly and saying it needs improvement from 'fine' to 'amazing'
You don't have any suggestions to replace or improve the towers do you? Nope didn't think so.
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CATHEDRAL SQUARE - fictional piazza concept
- Thread starter 3Dementia
- Start date
There's a large difference between calling something ugly and saying it needs improvement from 'fine' to 'amazing'
You don't have any suggestions to replace or improve the towers do you? Nope didn't think so.
Mystery White Boy
Banned
I said the tower concept is fine. The towers themselves are just plain.
cassius
Active Member
Just stumbled across this thread. 3D, congrats on the great concept. Over the past few years I've also thought that this parking lot would make a great spot for some kind of piazza or public square. Of course I've known about the proposal for the 3 towers put forth to the city a number of years back so figured something like this would be an impossiblity. It's interesting to know that the owner has the property up for sale - especially since it seems like the east side may be going through a development frenzy.
Anyways, great work and let me know if I can be of any assistance to you. Your graphics work is great, as always!! I'm just not sure if you actually do any work in 3D or if it's just your username
Sometimes using perspective images that have been generated using real-world dimensions can put things into... perspective...
p.m me.
Anyways, great work and let me know if I can be of any assistance to you. Your graphics work is great, as always!! I'm just not sure if you actually do any work in 3D or if it's just your username
Sometimes using perspective images that have been generated using real-world dimensions can put things into... perspective...p.m me.
3Dementia
Senior Member
Thanks Cass. I've been a fan of your work for years as you know.
If you waded thru the entire thread you no doubt saw I put a bit of thought into this... Kyle Rae's office has been promising and promising... and then his EA (translation: half his brain) for many years took a new job. So after finally generating some momentum... the idea has gone cold in the hands of the new EA.
Nonetheless, when I get angry enough.... I'll storm Kyle's office and demand they cough up one of the many promised meeting (after many months).
To your point about 3D... no this is a forum name... a conceit for many years... a handle that speaks to life in 3 dimensions. My photoshop skills are limited and self-taught... and I have no 3D software or skills ('cept in my head).
If we ever manage to put some wheels on this.... I'll be in touch with you for sure. Thanks for the encouragement.
If you waded thru the entire thread you no doubt saw I put a bit of thought into this... Kyle Rae's office has been promising and promising... and then his EA (translation: half his brain) for many years took a new job. So after finally generating some momentum... the idea has gone cold in the hands of the new EA.
Nonetheless, when I get angry enough.... I'll storm Kyle's office and demand they cough up one of the many promised meeting (after many months).
To your point about 3D... no this is a forum name... a conceit for many years... a handle that speaks to life in 3 dimensions. My photoshop skills are limited and self-taught... and I have no 3D software or skills ('cept in my head).
If we ever manage to put some wheels on this.... I'll be in touch with you for sure. Thanks for the encouragement.
cassius
Active Member
Thanks 3D.
I did go through the thread in it's entirety actually. I can tell that you didn't just whip this up out of nowhere and that a decent amount of thought and time has been put into it. Good work!
Definitely get into touch with me if you find that some progress is being made on the Kyle Rae-front. Or even if you just have some conceptuals you have that you need to see in the 3rd dimension.
The land just seems like a huge opportunity waiting to be realized and your concept is a great way to give to the community, the city and future generations to come. Oh, and I love the triangulation that you've done between Dundas Square, Nathan Phillips Square and Cathedral Square. Sometimes a little symetry is good
Keep me posted.
I did go through the thread in it's entirety actually. I can tell that you didn't just whip this up out of nowhere and that a decent amount of thought and time has been put into it. Good work!
Definitely get into touch with me if you find that some progress is being made on the Kyle Rae-front. Or even if you just have some conceptuals you have that you need to see in the 3rd dimension.
The land just seems like a huge opportunity waiting to be realized and your concept is a great way to give to the community, the city and future generations to come. Oh, and I love the triangulation that you've done between Dundas Square, Nathan Phillips Square and Cathedral Square. Sometimes a little symetry is good
Keep me posted.
3Dementia
Senior Member
Will do Cass... Kyle's office has not delivered on a single promised meeting, developer contacts etc. etc.
I won't involve you (or your time) unless there is a presentation that might include intelligent life in attendance.
I won't involve you (or your time) unless there is a presentation that might include intelligent life in attendance.
3Dementia
Senior Member
Sent to K. Rae's email (translation... intercepted by his EA before he has to read it/so he doesn;t)
With apologies to the members who offered to nudge, push or shake Kyle Rae awake enough to share a few minutes of his time (those who generally supported this vision):
I'm done trying to reach an emperor of downtown after so many months of promised meetings. Who the f#@!ck does this councillor think he is?? Wait, I just remembered, he's a public servant who actually needs to be re-elected to ensure job security... he doesn't actually own the city core. Slam dunk every election?? Maybe not next time.
I have no doubt this comfy King of all Kouncillors assumes he will always have a job gazing out over downtown.... but he's pissed off a guy who has tried to contribute for a dozen years without a single, thoughtful response. Except from his oh so savy EAs of course. All he had to do was keep one (EA) promise. One meeting.
With all the negative energy out there in the city, imagine making an enemy out of someone who loves this city so much and tries to contribute? Not once, not twice, not three times but.... so now this freshly gathered negative energy will be harnessed and exploited by another wannabe councillor.
"I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!".
Mr. Rae, please assume that I will vigorously support a candidate who opposes you in the next election. King Kye?... no-one in politics/public service is too busy to give a ten second thumbs up to an effort involving this many hours/days/dedication.
I think your zero effort to respond is rude, lazy and discourteous... I have sent you ideas built on hundreds of hours of thinking and design. You couldn't manage one email of support or encouragement.
So, guess what. One of your potential best friends is now angry. And I will dedicate my creative energy to showcasing the glorious invisibile clothes that adorn your fiefdom (downtown Toronto).
I hate being so negative, but you've earned it. Emperor wake up and put on some clothes ...
Rest assured I know these comments will be ignored, which is normal.
________________________________
Author note:
OOpsie... was I too direct??
With apologies to the members who offered to nudge, push or shake Kyle Rae awake enough to share a few minutes of his time (those who generally supported this vision):
I'm done trying to reach an emperor of downtown after so many months of promised meetings. Who the f#@!ck does this councillor think he is?? Wait, I just remembered, he's a public servant who actually needs to be re-elected to ensure job security... he doesn't actually own the city core. Slam dunk every election?? Maybe not next time.
I have no doubt this comfy King of all Kouncillors assumes he will always have a job gazing out over downtown.... but he's pissed off a guy who has tried to contribute for a dozen years without a single, thoughtful response. Except from his oh so savy EAs of course. All he had to do was keep one (EA) promise. One meeting.
With all the negative energy out there in the city, imagine making an enemy out of someone who loves this city so much and tries to contribute? Not once, not twice, not three times but.... so now this freshly gathered negative energy will be harnessed and exploited by another wannabe councillor.
"I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!".
Mr. Rae, please assume that I will vigorously support a candidate who opposes you in the next election. King Kye?... no-one in politics/public service is too busy to give a ten second thumbs up to an effort involving this many hours/days/dedication.
I think your zero effort to respond is rude, lazy and discourteous... I have sent you ideas built on hundreds of hours of thinking and design. You couldn't manage one email of support or encouragement.
So, guess what. One of your potential best friends is now angry. And I will dedicate my creative energy to showcasing the glorious invisibile clothes that adorn your fiefdom (downtown Toronto).
I hate being so negative, but you've earned it. Emperor wake up and put on some clothes ...
Rest assured I know these comments will be ignored, which is normal.
________________________________
Author note:
OOpsie... was I too direct??
Tony
Active Member
Ha! Well done! Surely his EA will never forget you. Do not give up on this proposal though, there must be other avenues for an idea so good.
Mystery White Boy
Banned
Not in this city. It's a city with little visionaries and the ones that have good ideas like 3D are ignored. This city will always be an under achiever.
MBS
Active Member
We need more people like 3D in this city. It breaks me heart to hear all this bad news, when this proposal is not only brilliant, it has inspired me. As a young architect hopefull, 3D's work has open my mind to how creative and ambitious one could become.
Whatever you do, do not give up. You've got what this city needs more of, as Im sure it has been mentioned already countless times. I dont think I'm alone when saying "you've got my support".
Whatever you do, do not give up. You've got what this city needs more of, as Im sure it has been mentioned already countless times. I dont think I'm alone when saying "you've got my support".
3Dementia
Senior Member
Thanks for your kind post... it is really appreciated. Relieves the sting a bit (puts down hacksaw and recently acquired shotgun).
Mystery White Boy
Banned
There There Duggins.
caltrane74
Senior Member
Wow this thread is long. And my brain has to work too!! That sucks!
Bay Adelaide is so much easier to get through
_____
3D I managed to read through this thread once. (quick glance) There is a lot of information and detail in this post. So I will not be able to get back to you with a report as promised. However, I hope these things that you have proposed do become a reality and you receive a residual for your vision and legwork. This parking lot has bothered me for a long time, and it's end would become a celebrated moment in the history of Toronto..... should some of your proposals come into reality. _ I will go back through this information before I go to bed tonight, and one time at work tommorrow. Then if I'm not too busy at work tommorrow I can forward a report on your proposal with at least some minimum amount of background information.
Ha!
Bay Adelaide is so much easier to get through
_____
3D I managed to read through this thread once. (quick glance) There is a lot of information and detail in this post. So I will not be able to get back to you with a report as promised. However, I hope these things that you have proposed do become a reality and you receive a residual for your vision and legwork. This parking lot has bothered me for a long time, and it's end would become a celebrated moment in the history of Toronto..... should some of your proposals come into reality. _ I will go back through this information before I go to bed tonight, and one time at work tommorrow. Then if I'm not too busy at work tommorrow I can forward a report on your proposal with at least some minimum amount of background information.
Ha!
junctionist
Senior Member
From Posted Toronto
From an amateur, a bold vision for a forgotten corner of east Toronto
May 23, 2008, 6:16 PM by Rob Roberts
Scott Dickson runs his boutique advertising agency, Upside-Down, out of his apartment in the Pantages tower on Victoria Street. In his spare time he is a bit of a dreamer, and his latest dream has turned a few heads in the city’s planning community, although perhaps not the ones that matter.
The vision of Mr. Dickson, who calls himself an “amateur urban planner architect,†is a development for what is perhaps the biggest remaining parking lot in the centre of Toronto -- a vast expanse of crumbling asphalt just east of the row of pawn shops that run north from Church and Queen streets. The Canpark lot ($3.50 for half an hour) bordered by Shuter, Dalhousie, Queen and Mutual streets, is just a five-minute walk from Mr. Dickson’s home.
This is a lovely part of town, what with the three spires of St. Michael’s, Metropolitan United and St. James churches, but, perhaps there are too many social service agencies or just not enough vision, this area is far from what it was in its heyday.
“We have three of the best churches in Toronto, but the neighbourhood is more or less forgotten,†he says. “It’s a place to sleep on a park bench or do a drug deal.â€
In Mr. Dickson’s vision, this lot becomes a stone-paved piazza, perhaps 60 metres by 120 metres, opening onto Queen, with a fountain at its centre. The south side of Queen Street holds a row of historic brick three-and four-storey office buildings. Midrise buildings line the east and west sides of the square, and two tall towers rise at the north end. The sun, which arcs across the sky from the south, would bathe and warm the piazza.
His vision is Piazza Navona, in Rome. “It’s a meeting place,†he says. “It has restaurants and shopping spilling out onto it.†Mr. Dickson says Toronto is ready for such a place, where locals can saunter over for brunch.
“Architectural purists will hate this,†he says. “They’ll call it the worst kind of faux historicism. But on the scale I’m proposing, it’s a destination, and that’s why it will succeed.â€
One measure of a true piazza is whether you can get a coffee. Toronto has Nathan Phillips Square, where you can buy a hot dog and then fight with the pigeons and gulls as to who shall eat it. You can get coffee at the Café on the Square, but an unused cement car ramp overhead means its patio is perpetually in shadow. In Yonge-Dundas Square, there are aluminum tables and chairs, but no hot dogs -- or coffee, either.
Councillor Kyle Rae (Toronto Centre -- Rosedale), in whose ward the vast parking lot sits, says, “Mr. Dickson did a good design. I can’t do anything with it. And he’s become very abusive. He’s demanding seeing me. He should talk to the owner.â€
According to Mr. Rae, Joe Rubin, owner of the Primrose Hotel at Jarvis and Carleton streets, has owned the site 40 years and recently put it up for sale, but did not get his price. Mr. Rubin did not return a call.
“I’d love to see the end of [the parking lot],†says Mr. Rae, who does not own a car. “My favourite pasttime is getting rid of them.†(In Mr. Dickson’s vision there is parking for 1,000 cars below the square.)
Lately City Council has approved a prodigious quantity of new high-rise condominium towers in the core of the city. The other day I walked through the open space at College Park, doubly vital as park space now that two huge towers are complete on the east side of Bay Street, south of College Street. The area feels forlorn, with struggling trees and the tired rink house for the skating rink here, now empty but for little pools of water.
The city needs to revive such spaces to make sure people enjoy the downtown lifestyle that looks so groovy in all those condo ads. A piazza on Queen East is another great idea.
From an amateur, a bold vision for a forgotten corner of east Toronto
May 23, 2008, 6:16 PM by Rob Roberts
Scott Dickson runs his boutique advertising agency, Upside-Down, out of his apartment in the Pantages tower on Victoria Street. In his spare time he is a bit of a dreamer, and his latest dream has turned a few heads in the city’s planning community, although perhaps not the ones that matter.
The vision of Mr. Dickson, who calls himself an “amateur urban planner architect,†is a development for what is perhaps the biggest remaining parking lot in the centre of Toronto -- a vast expanse of crumbling asphalt just east of the row of pawn shops that run north from Church and Queen streets. The Canpark lot ($3.50 for half an hour) bordered by Shuter, Dalhousie, Queen and Mutual streets, is just a five-minute walk from Mr. Dickson’s home.
This is a lovely part of town, what with the three spires of St. Michael’s, Metropolitan United and St. James churches, but, perhaps there are too many social service agencies or just not enough vision, this area is far from what it was in its heyday.
“We have three of the best churches in Toronto, but the neighbourhood is more or less forgotten,†he says. “It’s a place to sleep on a park bench or do a drug deal.â€
In Mr. Dickson’s vision, this lot becomes a stone-paved piazza, perhaps 60 metres by 120 metres, opening onto Queen, with a fountain at its centre. The south side of Queen Street holds a row of historic brick three-and four-storey office buildings. Midrise buildings line the east and west sides of the square, and two tall towers rise at the north end. The sun, which arcs across the sky from the south, would bathe and warm the piazza.
His vision is Piazza Navona, in Rome. “It’s a meeting place,†he says. “It has restaurants and shopping spilling out onto it.†Mr. Dickson says Toronto is ready for such a place, where locals can saunter over for brunch.
“Architectural purists will hate this,†he says. “They’ll call it the worst kind of faux historicism. But on the scale I’m proposing, it’s a destination, and that’s why it will succeed.â€
One measure of a true piazza is whether you can get a coffee. Toronto has Nathan Phillips Square, where you can buy a hot dog and then fight with the pigeons and gulls as to who shall eat it. You can get coffee at the Café on the Square, but an unused cement car ramp overhead means its patio is perpetually in shadow. In Yonge-Dundas Square, there are aluminum tables and chairs, but no hot dogs -- or coffee, either.
Councillor Kyle Rae (Toronto Centre -- Rosedale), in whose ward the vast parking lot sits, says, “Mr. Dickson did a good design. I can’t do anything with it. And he’s become very abusive. He’s demanding seeing me. He should talk to the owner.â€
According to Mr. Rae, Joe Rubin, owner of the Primrose Hotel at Jarvis and Carleton streets, has owned the site 40 years and recently put it up for sale, but did not get his price. Mr. Rubin did not return a call.
“I’d love to see the end of [the parking lot],†says Mr. Rae, who does not own a car. “My favourite pasttime is getting rid of them.†(In Mr. Dickson’s vision there is parking for 1,000 cars below the square.)
Lately City Council has approved a prodigious quantity of new high-rise condominium towers in the core of the city. The other day I walked through the open space at College Park, doubly vital as park space now that two huge towers are complete on the east side of Bay Street, south of College Street. The area feels forlorn, with struggling trees and the tired rink house for the skating rink here, now empty but for little pools of water.
The city needs to revive such spaces to make sure people enjoy the downtown lifestyle that looks so groovy in all those condo ads. A piazza on Queen East is another great idea.
3Dementia
Senior Member
"I can’t do anything with it. And he’s become very abusive. He’s demanding seeing me. He should talk to the owner."
Obviously I have talked to everyone including the architect of record, the owner (thru their representatives Urban Strategies), my Mother....
My response posted on the Nat Post site, to Rae's idiotic, useless comment:
To set the record straight, Mr. Rae's comment about "demanding to see him" is a joke and smacks of the kind of arrogance and indifference that does nothing to encourage "outsiders" to try and contribute to this city.
Mr. Rae is a "public servant" who logically can and should play an ambassadorial role when good ideas for the city land on his desk. Particularly when his office promises to do just that.
During the past 4 months, meetings and development contacts have been offered by his office and not one of those promises were kept. Not even a 2 minute chat.
A few samples of offers made but not kept:
"Scott,
We have lots of development contacts! Let me float this around and if there are any nibbles of interest, I'll send them your way. Kyle's back in the office on Monday. I think it might make some sense for you to swing by and we can talk about this further. Let me allow him to catch his breath and we'll get something set up."
Kyle Rae's Executive Assistant
"Scott,
I have taken the liberty of forwarding your concepts to Steve Diamond. Steve is a former development lawyer who is now directly involved in land deals and development approvals. He will be contacting you directly.
Good luck with this idea - I think it would be a great addition to the core of our City."
Kyle Rae's Executive Assistant
It's too bad that Mr. Rae chose to devalue a good idea (Cathedral Square) idea further by characterising me as some kind of stalker.
Obviously I have talked to everyone including the architect of record, the owner (thru their representatives Urban Strategies), my Mother....
My response posted on the Nat Post site, to Rae's idiotic, useless comment:
To set the record straight, Mr. Rae's comment about "demanding to see him" is a joke and smacks of the kind of arrogance and indifference that does nothing to encourage "outsiders" to try and contribute to this city.
Mr. Rae is a "public servant" who logically can and should play an ambassadorial role when good ideas for the city land on his desk. Particularly when his office promises to do just that.
During the past 4 months, meetings and development contacts have been offered by his office and not one of those promises were kept. Not even a 2 minute chat.
A few samples of offers made but not kept:
"Scott,
We have lots of development contacts! Let me float this around and if there are any nibbles of interest, I'll send them your way. Kyle's back in the office on Monday. I think it might make some sense for you to swing by and we can talk about this further. Let me allow him to catch his breath and we'll get something set up."
Kyle Rae's Executive Assistant
"Scott,
I have taken the liberty of forwarding your concepts to Steve Diamond. Steve is a former development lawyer who is now directly involved in land deals and development approvals. He will be contacting you directly.
Good luck with this idea - I think it would be a great addition to the core of our City."
Kyle Rae's Executive Assistant
It's too bad that Mr. Rae chose to devalue a good idea (Cathedral Square) idea further by characterising me as some kind of stalker.