SLOCRO
Active Member
Winning submission is terrible. There is a reason why you don't see concrete balls as seating elsewhere. It's uncomfortable. Why would I want to, in the summer, take a break outside under drooping mesh?
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John Street Ideas Competition - TED BIA - Support The ORE
- Thread starter SpadinaBus
- Start date
junctionist
Senior Member
I'm quite disappointed with this one too. The plan calls for empty space and uncomfortable seating, with a signature lighting system that will be dim a lot of the time because it's solar. What a wasted opportunity. May they at least save a few of the existing trees.
spaced
Active Member
toto
Active Member
I wonder how many serious entries there would have been, if the entrants knew that there was no chance of actually getting commissioned to build the thing if they won? The efforts presented by the entrants were certainly worth more than the $5000 prize. This whole proccess was nothing more than a design lottery.
MisterF
Senior Member
I'm not a fan either. Call me old fashioned but what's wrong with a traditional public square like you find in older cities? You know, with a fountain or sculpture in the middle and cafes around the outside. It seems that designers are intent on being "innovative", designing things that have never been done before and have symbolic meaning that only art geeks understand. Innovation can be great but it should always be functional and attractive to laypeople. I guess this is only a design exercise, but still...
junctionist
Senior Member
I think we need both tradition and innovation in public square design. The kind of traditional space you imagine has actually been partly realized a short walk from this corner at Metro Square, though that space could use a restaurant and cafes that stay open after business hours.
MisterF
Senior Member
Re: Metro Square - it's more postmodern than traditional. It's not a place where streets meet, or a traditional gathering place, so it feels more like a courtyard for an office complex than a traditional square. I don't think anything can really change that. I think NPS is a good mix of modernist design while keeping traditional fundamentals (well, except for its edges, which have have always been a little misguided, but that's getting mostly fixed with the reno). The John Street winner, not so much.
khris
Senior Member
Ugh. The Oracle design was much more interesting! If I saw that, I'd want to cross the street to go take a closer look. This one, I could just walk past and not be interested at all. Seriously, who is going to sit on those balls and eat their lunch? Nobody!
Here's the link from the Toronto Entertainment District website: http://www.torontoed.com/johnst
Here's the link from the Toronto Entertainment District website: http://www.torontoed.com/johnst
UrbanPrincess
New Member
imho, it looks like a cheap backyard party at aunt Susanne and uncle John's place. I definitely didn't vote for this.
I really liked the steps to nowhere concept. I guess it felt as if one was sitting on the steps at the Met <3
I really liked the steps to nowhere concept. I guess it felt as if one was sitting on the steps at the Met <3
DTowner
Active Member
Thankfully it won't be built. It wasn't attractive at all (sorry if the person who designed it is reading this!) The cement globes are ridiculous and wouldn't have acted as seating (except for bird poo) and would've been awkward during the winter. The others were far more beutiful and striking. Who ever is on that committee (or board, or organisation or what ever) need to be removed immediately. Lol.
Urban Shocker
Doyenne
KPMB called. They want their 2008 Luminato Yonge-Dundas Square design back.
MetroMan
Senior Member
Turns out this place already exists... right here in Toronto!
