This all feels a little suspect to me in a very intriguing way. I feel like there's a lot more under the table here that the media is just not privy to yet.
IMO, like most of HdeM work, this proposal should be looked at as something of a farce that seeks to hold up a mirror to the politics, design culture, and bureaucracy of wherever they are building. In HdeM's statement, it was mentioned that the design is a direct representation of the context. In other possible words, Toronto is mediocre and boring, so we will give you a highly articulated, well composed and restrained, boring building. They do this a lot; make fun of the context by producing a highly polemic proposal and thus play the game with said game's pieces, not their own (see Parrish Art Museum, 1111 Lincoln Road Parking Garage, M+ Museum Hong Kong, among others). I think this is the genius of their work; they don't seek the pursuit of eye catching architecture, but rather architecture which is born out of the context already in play. Sometimes that architecture is eye-catching, sometimes not as much...
There are a few more details about programming of the proposed building here..
Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron and Canadian studio Quadrangle have unveiled plans for a super-skinny skyscraper in Toronto that will rise 324 metres.
www.dezeen.com
"The 324-metre-high building would have a
3:1 construction ratio, meaning that its length is approximately three times that of its width."
"Its
structural core is intended to be on the western facade to maximize the usable area of the floorplate. This would also provide privacy from adjacent developments to the west."
"The
first 16 floors of 1200 Bay Street would
comprise retail and office functions, and a level with private amenities would separate these from the residences above. On the top three floors, there would be a restaurant and lounge, and a triple-height lobby for tenants will be located on Bloor Street."
