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

Although I cannot remember what Plant's proposal was for the square's tiles themselves, the area beyond the walkways is definitely getting repaved: the plan calls for long, thin terrazzo planks. You can see them in some of the Plant proposals on page 2 of this thread.

The area that will get disappearing fountains will also need repaving, and then there's the area where the square is being re-established where the peace garden is now: maybe all of the tiles will be replaced.

I'm quite happy that Plant won. (See the top of page 6 in this thread.) The scheme is respectful, handsome, urbane, and humane, and not gimmicky.

42
 
In a minimalist design it should be about the quality of the finishes!
Click to expand...

Bingo.

NPS never needed a drastic makeover, just some sprucing up. We know now what they didn't know in the 60s... concrete does not age well. Add some greenery, replace the concrete with granite and we'll have a nice square. I think the Plant makeover will be fine.

2700188419818080_0.jpg
 
Although PLANT will do fine in fixing up the square, I'm not sure that enclosing the square in this urban forrest is a good idea.

Isn't the plan to make City Hall open, inviting an accessible?

As for the West strip, what difference is it going to make adding a few trees? This area is underused and PLANT's proposal does little to nothing to make it more usable and attractive.

I think Zeidler had the right idea with the wavy landscaping for this strip. I envisioned a great lawn with a stage at the end (`a la' Millennium Park) and Zeidler captured that.

I wish they could combined proposals.
 
It's a fine choice, but I'll believe this thing when I see it. Miller is already warning that this project can be done in stages and that it will take many years to complete (hello Dundas Square). Come the 2010 elections the city will be in massive debt and everything remotely related to any aesthetic enhancements will get scrapped.
 
The huge permanent stage, and the squirty Dundas Square fountains, are the oh-so-2007 equivalent to Art Eggleton's oh-so-1984 Peace Garden.

Uber-programming and over-designing of public space is a characteristic of our age - witness Millennium Park, Dundas Square, and now NPS.

While I don't find Plant's interventions as objectionable as those proposed by the Rogers Marvel plan, I still prefer Baird Sampson Neuert's design which was more respectful of Revell's vision and materials.
 
I also question how well any of the proposals dealt with the main entry point into the Square - diagonally, from the south east corner at Bay and Queen. And I wish the plantings had been more urban; sticking up a whole bunch of tall trees seems rather lacklustre. Doesn't the south side, along Queen, deserve something lower that won't block the view of the curved towers?

Someone I spoke to at the announcement ( not a judge ), who had been a part of the selection process, said that the final Rogers Marvel design had changed quite a bit from their original submission: their "berm" had grown considerably, and this person got the impression the judges were surprised.
 
While I don't find Plant's interventions as objectionable as those proposed by the Rogers Marvel plan, I still prefer Baird Sampson Neuert's design which was more respectful of Revell's vision and materials.
Click to expand...

I completely agree. That was definitely the best proposal.
 
I walked into City Hall to review the PLANT proposal and model.

It's well grounded and completely doable. I was surprised by some little niches I hadn't noticed before.

- The roof of the skating/utilities building is a large patio at the walkway level.

- The Peace Garden is beautiful and will become a great space to relax and cool off in the summer. I love the shallow reflecting pool which you can walk in your shoes just like Crown Fountain in Millennium Park.

- The stage is a stroke of genius. It will be a place to people watch and its two tiered steps allow for more intimate performances... perhaps a space where aspiring musicians can hold spontaneous concerts.

Aside from the niceties of this proposal, I would change two small bits:

1) The south walkway is glassed on the northern part only. The view into the square is still blocked by the concrete sides from the outside. The entire walkway should have glass sides, there's no reason to maintain the concrete bunker look.

2) The Dundas Square inspired fountains are nice, but I'd rather seen this space reserved for a competition of its own. Conditions: must be flat with the rest of the square, and include a water element.
I imagine a glass bricked floor with LED lights underneith projecting images to the tune of water.... yes a rip off of Crown Fountain... I love that place! :D
 
Re the walkway walls: is solidity *bad*, necessarily?
The huge permanent stage, and the squirty Dundas Square fountains, are the oh-so-2007 equivalent to Art Eggleton's oh-so-1984 Peace Garden.
Click to expand...
Re the Peace Garden, I find it interesting how a lot of those bold, well-meaning, even design-competitiony 80s retrofits of "dated" 60s landmarks wound up--in an urban-aware era when we ought to have "known better"--ungainly (in that ever-Pomo way) and, ultimately, even more tatty and dated than what they replaced. (cf. the Sparks Street Mall, Ottawa)
Maybe the point here is that we're supposed to learn from those failures-at-large, never mind the Peace Garden itself...
 
1) The south walkway is glassed on the northern part only. The view into the square is still blocked by the concrete sides from the outside. The entire walkway should have glass sides, there's no reason to maintain the concrete bunker look.
Click to expand...
Good idea.

2) The Dundas Square inspired fountains are nice, but I'd rather seen this space reserved for a competition of its own. Conditions: must be flat with the rest of the square, and include a water element.
Click to expand...
Bad idea, IMO. There's no need for a water element in that part of the square. It's redundant, there's already a reflecting pool. That area works fine as a big open space. That space really isn't all that big compared to some squares around the world.
 
What'll happen to the Peace Garden's "unfinished hut" structure? Will it be loaded on the back of a truck and shipped to Michigan?

Maybe it can be incorporated into the Great Big Stage as a wedding chapel? Since we're creating new structures in the now perpetually over-designed Square, for future generations to clear away, why not save a little bit of '80's Eggletonia for them too?
 
babel:

Send it to Mel Lastman Square. It'd fit in perfectly.

AoD
 
I think they already have one. Maybe Mississauga? It'd fit nicely with their PoMo city hall.
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top