Toronto Nathan Phillips Square + Spirit Garden | ?m | ?s | City of Toronto

TonyV said:
It's fun to be adding this post while adma, whoever he or she is, is "on vacation" (read banned). Eventually he or she will get back and term me a "weekend urbanist painter" or the like. But frankly I'm ready for the screaming match anytime.
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Is this true? Mods, you've got to lighten up on your trigger fingers. You've got to give the more informed and opinionated members a bit of leeway to express themselves without censorship. For me, anyway, that's what makes UT interesting. Certainly, I think a lot of us would agree that UT is less interesting today than before a certain long-dead baseball player got banned and never came back. So take it easy!
 
mrgrieves said:
If I’m walking by on the street, how would I ever know how to access the concrete walkway? There’s no signs anywhere on Queen St, or Bay. If I didn't know better I would assume they’re not even open to the public but used by maintenance workers or to store stuff.
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I really don't think it would take too much intelligence for someone walking past a staircase that goes upwards to assume it might lead one to something. Having a proliferation of signs is really not the answer to everything and Toronto already has far too many signs. ("Red Light Camera Ahead", "Press button to cross" etc.)
 
k10ery said:
Is this true? Mods, you've got to lighten up on your trigger fingers. You've got to give the more informed and opinionated members a bit of leeway to express themselves without censorship. For me, anyway, that's what makes UT interesting. Certainly, I think a lot of us would agree that UT is less interesting today than before a certain long-dead baseball player got banned and never came back. So take it easy!
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As far as I'm concerned he already had more than his fair share of leeway when it came to personally attacking other posters. He makes solid contributions to this board, but it was indeed a well deserved suspension.
 
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Ramako said:
There's a reason it made a cameo in Star Trek:


worf%20in%20toronto.png

http://blog.demodulated.com/2009/02/16/captain-im-detecting-double-doubles-and-doughnuts/
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Two cameos actually; it (and the Iconian gateway illustrated) also showed up in the Original Series episode "All Our Yesterdays". It's a testament to how iconic the building is that it was featured again twenty years later.
 
TonyV said:
Aside from (please) the walkways, it really irks me that this city's administration sees fit to keep the Queen forecourt so forlorn looking for so many years; this part should have been addressed first, imho.
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I so agree with you, the neediest and most prominent areas are being completed last. As the expression goes, first impressions....
 
City Hall is a masterpiece. The curved towers cradling the council chambers in the exuberant "saucer" is symbolism that might as well be classical. The heart of our city's democracy is cradled or supported by the bureaucracy in the towers that make the city work--planners, accountants, lawyers, managers, etc. You can be skeptical about bureaucrats at the city hall, but the building is designed proclaiming the ideal to everyone in the square (and beyond). It's such a bold and well-resolved design with incredible attention to detail. Revell didn't neglect any aspect of the architecture--the scale, the proportions, the shape, the materials, and the overall composition are manipulated to perfection. The window-less back gives the building a more sculptural quality that sets the tone for the symbolism in the design. It's massive without feeling oppressive. The floor in the lobby is impressive, and the massive mushroom column inside which supports council chambers above is incredible. The podium is quite functional but still attractively sleek, and the new podium garden is beautiful and lets people get closer to the marble-clad towers and enjoy the grade separation so idealized in 1960s with its great views and unique atmosphere.

dt_toronto_geek said:
Concrete with marble inset.

cityhall_zps8d647602.jpg
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That's exactly what it is. What's important to note is that when you look at the back of City Hall that's clad with marble in in concrete, you are looking at mostly marble from a distance, which makes up most of the surface area of the precast cladding pieces.
 
DHLawrence85 said:
Two cameos actually; it (and the Iconian gateway illustrated) also showed up in the Original Series episode "All Our Yesterdays". It's a testament to how iconic the building is that it was featured again twenty years later.
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It's also in the amimated series (or the comic book that was based on it).
 
City Hall is iconic. Whether or not the walkways would be included today is immaterial. They are part of the original vision and should remain.
 
TonyV said:
It's fun to be adding this post while adma, whoever he or she is, is "on vacation" (read banned). Eventually he or she will get back and term me a "weekend urbanist painter" or the like. But frankly I'm ready for the screaming match anytime.
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"Sunday painter urbanist", actually.

Look: at this point, reopening the walkway issue is like reopening the abortion issue. Sure, you can be a "principled" Steve Woodworth about it, but even through his bowing-to-the-caucus lip service, Harper realizes the issue is D-E-D dead, a non-starter, time to move on, folks...
 
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