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Heritage Buildings that have been incorporated into new buildings

k10ery said:
To me, yes and yes. When the heritage building is hacked up instead of restored, then modernism (especially "Toronto school") seems to help because it is not overpowering. And the modern architecture often is enhanced by the contrasts.

Exception to the rule: I think the Bloor-Gladstone library was an epic fail. The new structure should have been taller or different in some other ways. Not a slavish copy of the original massing, this time in glass.
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I like the copying with glass. I thought that was kind to the original structure and provided a nice similar yet different contrast. I'd like to see more of that, actually.
 
I personally love how the Merchant's Bank sits facing inward in the galleria.

Though the building itself doesn't do to well at following the whole idea of a Mies building, the Ernst & Young Tower incorporating the old Toronto Stock Exchange is well done in the sense that it is not just a facade, but they kept the entire original building while having the tower be built around it.
 
greenleaf said:
What makes the good ones universally good? Is it using clear glass next to the heritage buildings to create a deferring buffer yet a bridge between the two architectures? Is it the clear restoration of the old building?
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I think you nail it by maintaining the old building in its entirety while creating a new design that is deferential to it, even if the new building is strikingly modern.

The National Ballet School is the best example of this that I can think of.
 
Hipster Duck said:
I think you nail it by maintaining the old building in its entirety while creating a new design that is deferential to it, even if the new building is strikingly modern.

The National Ballet School is the best example of this that I can think of.
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Are there any cases where glass is not used? The only one that comes to mind is the condo and King & Sherbourne which utilizes brick.

Also, what does it say about our current architecture that it must defer to the heritage building? Can a striking modern building co-exist with a heritage building successfully. I know the building is controversial, but I do think Libeskind pulled this off with the ROM. Regardless of how the final product turned out in terms of materials, the violent nature of the two parts creates something harmonious. This may have to do with the way the sidewalk opens up here too, after being pinched on Bloor between the tighter sidewalk near Club Monoco and then brick wall of Varsity Stadium to the west. I love how the crystal just explodes over the sidewalk.
 
The key word in the thread title is "incorporation". One Bedford does not incorporate the Lyle Studio, it uses its facade like some decorative cladding. Likewise, the Merchants Bank (though much better done). The other examples to a large extent are additions (philosophical question: when a large building grafted onto a small building (the Grange/AGO or King/Sherbourne) stop being an addition?) I think that the St. Lawrence Market is the best example quoted as a true "incorporation".

Of course, Toronto being such a young city has not had as much time to produce examples of this phenomenom. Best example I can think of is Rome's Church of San Nicola in Carcere, which is a Byzantine/Renaissance Church that incorporated three Roman Temples:

http://rometour.org/church-san-nicola-carcere-prison-and-its-3-temples-templi.html

rome-s-nicola-1.jpg


Also, the Theatre of Marcellus, which was incorporated into a 16th C palazzo:

Theatre_of_Marcellus.jpg
 
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greenleaf said:
Also, what does it say about our current architecture that it must defer to the heritage building? Can a striking modern building co-exist with a heritage building successfully.
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Hmmm, I'll start with the latter first. I think that striking modern buildings, even deconstructivist buildings, can coexist with heritage buildings very well. I like the ROM's exterior treatment, even if I think that the inside is an awful mess from a circulation perspective.

With respect to the former, I think that successful buildings that defer to the original heritage structures aren't necessarily playing second fiddle to the older building. I think KPMB's NBS is a superior structure to the Victorian building it envelops, yet it always pays homage to the building that came first. I would say that it actually heightens our awareness of a Victorian building that, by itself, is nothing more than a run-of-the-mill 19th century mansion. Not only do I think that that is such a class act, but it reminds me about why I love glass modernism: because it can integrate so beautifully with traditional structures in a way that its brick and stone predecessors - as much as we celebrate them - never can.
 
greenleaf said:
Are there any cases where glass is not used? The only one that comes to mind is the condo and King & Sherbourne which utilizes brick.
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The 1980s ROM addition shows you can be respectful and harmonious in concrete. I liked how the terracing on the north side suggested the hanging gardens of Babylon which fit well with the museum. And it offered contrasts to the earlier wings but did not overpower.

Well, that's what I thought. But Bill Thorsell apparently disagreed!
 
k10ery said:
The 1980s ROM addition shows you can be respectful and harmonious in concrete. I liked how the terracing on the north side suggested the hanging gardens of Babylon which fit well with the museum. And it offered contrasts to the earlier wings but did not overpower.

Well, that's what I thought. But Bill Thorsell apparently disagreed!
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The main problem with it was that it blocked the north end of the site without linking with the heritage wings to the east and west, and was thus a departure from the original plan of 1914 for expansion. The Crystal got them back on track and solves the circulation problem that was created by the previous addition by linking these two wings at the second and third floors, as well as restoring the main entrance to the north end of the site, and creating a courtyard ( Hyacinth Gloria Chen Crystal Court ) at the north end. All were sensible objectives of the original plan for expansion.
 
thecharioteer said:
Of course, Toronto being such a young city has not had as much time to produce examples of this phenomenom. Best example I can think of is Rome's Church of San Nicola in Carcere, which is a Byzantine/Renaissance Church that incorporated three Roman Temples.
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Hawksmoor's addition to All Souls in Oxford is one of my favourite English equivalents.

The original building is in the foreground, and his additions are grouped around the new quadrangle lawn. The twin towers, the library, and the low, gated arcade that set his addition apart from the street are, I suppose "faux" Gothic ... but pure Hawksmoor too.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/All_souls_college_from_above_and_to_the_west.jpg
 
A great building. But Hawksmoor wanted to build significant elements in a classical style. The client said no. In the end, I think Summerson is right that there is too much compromise and too much pastiche to make it one of Hawksmoor's great exteriors. Myself, I prefer his Queen's College, designed about the same time in a very different style.

5375340601_fc00d5de45.jpg
 
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