C
Canuck 36
Guest
I feel sorry for the 'lady' tower. Usually they look for a man taller than themselves.
Mississauga Absolute World | 169.77m | 56s | Cityzen | MAD architects
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adma
Guest
Oh yeah, given those three ladies I just posted, who needs men
M
Mike in TO
Guest
My understanding is that the tower was released on July 15. There are still 1000s on the priority list from the first tower that did not get a unit. I would suspect Absolute World II will sell out very quickly.
A
ahrvojic
Guest
Article
'Marilyn' finds a mate
Mississauga's curvy new condo tower is proving so sexy the developer is planning a second
IVOR TOSSELL
Special to The Globe and Mail
In the heart of Mississauga, the prospect of a 56-storey concrete Marilyn Monroe went over so well, she's coming back for an encore.
With the original Absolute World condominium tower -- whose curvy design earned its Hollywood nickname -- almost sold out, its developers have announced a second distinctive tower to sit alongside the first.
The second tower will rise to 50 storeys, somewhat shorter than its counterpart; its developers say that while the first "captures the feminine," the second will be "lithe and romantic in its silhouette but more rugged and perhaps more robust."
But what might be raising eyebrows more than the towers' design is their sales record.
Developer Danny Salvatore, president of Fernbrook Homes, says the second tower is 60 per cent sold out, based on pre-registrations alone.
And people seem willing to pay for the privilege of living in an eye-catching structure: for a space in one of the Absolute World towers, buyers are paying 20 per cent more than they would for the same space in one of the block's other three conventional towers, which have almost sold out as well.
The new tower will actually be the fifth and final tower in the Absolute City Centre project, rising at the corner of Burnamthorpe and Hurontario.
The first three towers, currently under construction, are fairly conventional; the two Absolute World towers, on the other hand, were jury-selected in an international design competition.
The winner, Bejing's Yangsong Ma, provided the design for both; construction is slated to begin next spring.
The two buildings join a handful of new or soon-to-be-constructed twisting towers that are turning heads worldwide.
These include Stockholm's "Turning Torso," by Santiago Calatrava, who also designed the arching atrium in Toronto's BCE Place. (Mr. Calatrava is set to repeat the trick with the twisting Fordham Spire in Chicago, which could top the CN Tower as the world's tallest building.)
Closer to home, a twisting 52-storey hotel and condominium is set to rise in Vancouver, designed by Arthur Erickson.
In Toronto, some say the Absolute towers' success could spark a new interest in so-called "landmark towers" that stand out for their flamboyant design.
"People are starting to be more and more sensitive to the design of buildings, which wasn't always the case," said Vladimir Losner, vice-president of design at Page + Steele, an architectural firm that has designed a number of Toronto's prominent condo towers. (The firm was also on the jury that selected the Ma design for Absolute.) "We see more and more examples of very unique buildings," he says, noting that these also include a new crop of strikingly slender rectangular towers, such as the Spire, currently under construction at the corner of Adelaide and Church Streets.
"I think most people realize that in the end, a well-designed piece of architecture has better value, and will appreciate better than your standard building," said Craig Taylor, director of marketing for Context Developments, which has partnered with architectsAlliance to build the Spire. As for Absolute World, Mr. Taylor calls its design "tremendously exciting," but points out that a building will always look good in a pre-construction rendering.
"There's a lot of question marks. Will it get built to look like that? What will the materials look like?"
But beyond being confident in Absolute World's success, some of its backers are predicting that we'll be seeing more like it in the years to come.
"We can actually see that the market in Toronto is sophisticated enough now that people will pay more money for design excellence," said Michael Wilson, a consultant who's been working to sell the Absolute World towers. "All my other clients are wondering about what they should do next," said Mr. Wilson. "Not so much because they love this design, but because they can see the results of the design. People are willing to pay more."
In which case, the remaining question mark might be what name to give Marilyn Monroe's more masculine companion. The DiMaggio? The John F. Kennedy? Or maybe just the Arthur Miller?
'Marilyn' finds a mate
Mississauga's curvy new condo tower is proving so sexy the developer is planning a second
IVOR TOSSELL
Special to The Globe and Mail
In the heart of Mississauga, the prospect of a 56-storey concrete Marilyn Monroe went over so well, she's coming back for an encore.
With the original Absolute World condominium tower -- whose curvy design earned its Hollywood nickname -- almost sold out, its developers have announced a second distinctive tower to sit alongside the first.
The second tower will rise to 50 storeys, somewhat shorter than its counterpart; its developers say that while the first "captures the feminine," the second will be "lithe and romantic in its silhouette but more rugged and perhaps more robust."
But what might be raising eyebrows more than the towers' design is their sales record.
Developer Danny Salvatore, president of Fernbrook Homes, says the second tower is 60 per cent sold out, based on pre-registrations alone.
And people seem willing to pay for the privilege of living in an eye-catching structure: for a space in one of the Absolute World towers, buyers are paying 20 per cent more than they would for the same space in one of the block's other three conventional towers, which have almost sold out as well.
The new tower will actually be the fifth and final tower in the Absolute City Centre project, rising at the corner of Burnamthorpe and Hurontario.
The first three towers, currently under construction, are fairly conventional; the two Absolute World towers, on the other hand, were jury-selected in an international design competition.
The winner, Bejing's Yangsong Ma, provided the design for both; construction is slated to begin next spring.
The two buildings join a handful of new or soon-to-be-constructed twisting towers that are turning heads worldwide.
These include Stockholm's "Turning Torso," by Santiago Calatrava, who also designed the arching atrium in Toronto's BCE Place. (Mr. Calatrava is set to repeat the trick with the twisting Fordham Spire in Chicago, which could top the CN Tower as the world's tallest building.)
Closer to home, a twisting 52-storey hotel and condominium is set to rise in Vancouver, designed by Arthur Erickson.
In Toronto, some say the Absolute towers' success could spark a new interest in so-called "landmark towers" that stand out for their flamboyant design.
"People are starting to be more and more sensitive to the design of buildings, which wasn't always the case," said Vladimir Losner, vice-president of design at Page + Steele, an architectural firm that has designed a number of Toronto's prominent condo towers. (The firm was also on the jury that selected the Ma design for Absolute.) "We see more and more examples of very unique buildings," he says, noting that these also include a new crop of strikingly slender rectangular towers, such as the Spire, currently under construction at the corner of Adelaide and Church Streets.
"I think most people realize that in the end, a well-designed piece of architecture has better value, and will appreciate better than your standard building," said Craig Taylor, director of marketing for Context Developments, which has partnered with architectsAlliance to build the Spire. As for Absolute World, Mr. Taylor calls its design "tremendously exciting," but points out that a building will always look good in a pre-construction rendering.
"There's a lot of question marks. Will it get built to look like that? What will the materials look like?"
But beyond being confident in Absolute World's success, some of its backers are predicting that we'll be seeing more like it in the years to come.
"We can actually see that the market in Toronto is sophisticated enough now that people will pay more money for design excellence," said Michael Wilson, a consultant who's been working to sell the Absolute World towers. "All my other clients are wondering about what they should do next," said Mr. Wilson. "Not so much because they love this design, but because they can see the results of the design. People are willing to pay more."
In which case, the remaining question mark might be what name to give Marilyn Monroe's more masculine companion. The DiMaggio? The John F. Kennedy? Or maybe just the Arthur Miller?
A
ahrvojic
Guest
Article
THE PERFECT HOUSE: ARCHITECTURE
Absolute development still evolving
'Marilyn' is dramatic while sister tower is 'more elegant,' designer Yansong Ma says
JOHN BENTLEY MAYS
Until last week, the only news I'd heard about the Absolute residential development in Mississauga had come in the depths of winter, when Toronto reporters and critics were outdoing ourselves in praise for the design.
The unveiling of plans for the Absolute tower back then was a good day in the history of Toronto architecture. In a town where the launch of a new condominium tower is usually a ho-hum occasion, it was pleasant to see media folk thronging the restaurant atop the CN Tower for a look at the winning design of a 56-storey condo stack slated to rise at the corner of Hurontario Street and Burnhamthorpe Road.
That evening, the face of Yansong Ma, the young Chinese-American architect who captured the $125,000 prize, was on all the local television news shows. Next morning, Mr. Ma's design -- instantly nicknamed "Marilyn" because of its foxy curves and bulges -- made the front pages of the papers. Architecture was in the headlines, people were paying attention -- and all that, to my mind, was an excellent thing.
Then, one sizzling day last week, came the announcement from Absolute's developers -- Fernbrook Homes and Cityzen Development Group -- about an upcoming gala opening of the project, a mixer for people who've bought there and those who are thinking about it. The invitation was unsurprising -- except for the picture that came along with it, in which Marilyn appeared to be standing next to a long-lost sister.
This addition of a second, 50-storey tower by Mr. Ma to his 56-storey one has to do, in part, with the strong condominium market in the Greater Toronto Area. But it also indicates the readiness of the buying public to take a chance on a skyscraper design that is unusual and artistically adventuresome. The original building sold out as soon as it went on the market, Danny Salvatore, president of Fernbrook Homes, told me. No wonder he and his partners at Cityzen have invited Mr. Ma to have a second go at the Mississauga skyline.
Reached by phone in Shanghai, the Yale-educated architect explained what he is doing, and why.
"The public loved the first building, but I do not want to repeat the first one," Mr. Ma said. "We have to do something new, but similar. The first building is located at the corner, so the rotation [the apparent pulse and billow of the structure's skin] is more dramatic. The second one rotates slower, and the overall plan is more elegant."
Though the artist's impression of the scheme shows a long, low building running between the two towers, Mr. Ma said "they do not connect at the base." As he explained it to me, his intention is to make the first building, on the corner of Burnhamthorpe and Hurontario, a forceful landmark at a busy intersection, with only a minimal podium.
The second tower has no podium at all, but hits the ground free and clear.
"We want to do something other than a box. Anything but a box is fine with us! Modernism and the contemporary city has been too much related to the industrial city of the past. There was this saying in the last century that 'a building is a machine for living.' We believe it is a design for living, so that, when people look at a building, they feel nature, not industry. I think it is time for people to understand themselves, their bodies, their natural environments. Technology supports what we do, but our building does not show technology on the outside. The building should reflect culture and nature."
Somewhere between the first and second coming of Marilyn, Mr. Ma has addressed certain problems that were apparent in the single-tower scheme, though he has not, to my mind, resolved them. The base of the first tower has shed the blank look of a pedestal for statuary, and re-emerged as a somewhat more porous piece of connective fabric between skyscraper and city. But where the area below and around the tower was too stark in the one-tower version, now seems to be cluttered -- as though the architect were still too busy with the monumental glamour of the towers to pay much attention to their basic urbanism.
Be all that as it may, however, the Absolute tower scheme remains the most charming architectural project to go public in and around Toronto so far this year. It will be interesting to see how Mr. Ma's creative thinking evolves during the design of his towers, and how he addresses the outstanding problems with his plan. But already, even though Absolute is still in its early stages, he has given us much to think about and to admire.
THE PERFECT HOUSE: ARCHITECTURE
Absolute development still evolving
'Marilyn' is dramatic while sister tower is 'more elegant,' designer Yansong Ma says
JOHN BENTLEY MAYS
Until last week, the only news I'd heard about the Absolute residential development in Mississauga had come in the depths of winter, when Toronto reporters and critics were outdoing ourselves in praise for the design.
The unveiling of plans for the Absolute tower back then was a good day in the history of Toronto architecture. In a town where the launch of a new condominium tower is usually a ho-hum occasion, it was pleasant to see media folk thronging the restaurant atop the CN Tower for a look at the winning design of a 56-storey condo stack slated to rise at the corner of Hurontario Street and Burnhamthorpe Road.
That evening, the face of Yansong Ma, the young Chinese-American architect who captured the $125,000 prize, was on all the local television news shows. Next morning, Mr. Ma's design -- instantly nicknamed "Marilyn" because of its foxy curves and bulges -- made the front pages of the papers. Architecture was in the headlines, people were paying attention -- and all that, to my mind, was an excellent thing.
Then, one sizzling day last week, came the announcement from Absolute's developers -- Fernbrook Homes and Cityzen Development Group -- about an upcoming gala opening of the project, a mixer for people who've bought there and those who are thinking about it. The invitation was unsurprising -- except for the picture that came along with it, in which Marilyn appeared to be standing next to a long-lost sister.
This addition of a second, 50-storey tower by Mr. Ma to his 56-storey one has to do, in part, with the strong condominium market in the Greater Toronto Area. But it also indicates the readiness of the buying public to take a chance on a skyscraper design that is unusual and artistically adventuresome. The original building sold out as soon as it went on the market, Danny Salvatore, president of Fernbrook Homes, told me. No wonder he and his partners at Cityzen have invited Mr. Ma to have a second go at the Mississauga skyline.
Reached by phone in Shanghai, the Yale-educated architect explained what he is doing, and why.
"The public loved the first building, but I do not want to repeat the first one," Mr. Ma said. "We have to do something new, but similar. The first building is located at the corner, so the rotation [the apparent pulse and billow of the structure's skin] is more dramatic. The second one rotates slower, and the overall plan is more elegant."
Though the artist's impression of the scheme shows a long, low building running between the two towers, Mr. Ma said "they do not connect at the base." As he explained it to me, his intention is to make the first building, on the corner of Burnhamthorpe and Hurontario, a forceful landmark at a busy intersection, with only a minimal podium.
The second tower has no podium at all, but hits the ground free and clear.
"We want to do something other than a box. Anything but a box is fine with us! Modernism and the contemporary city has been too much related to the industrial city of the past. There was this saying in the last century that 'a building is a machine for living.' We believe it is a design for living, so that, when people look at a building, they feel nature, not industry. I think it is time for people to understand themselves, their bodies, their natural environments. Technology supports what we do, but our building does not show technology on the outside. The building should reflect culture and nature."
Somewhere between the first and second coming of Marilyn, Mr. Ma has addressed certain problems that were apparent in the single-tower scheme, though he has not, to my mind, resolved them. The base of the first tower has shed the blank look of a pedestal for statuary, and re-emerged as a somewhat more porous piece of connective fabric between skyscraper and city. But where the area below and around the tower was too stark in the one-tower version, now seems to be cluttered -- as though the architect were still too busy with the monumental glamour of the towers to pay much attention to their basic urbanism.
Be all that as it may, however, the Absolute tower scheme remains the most charming architectural project to go public in and around Toronto so far this year. It will be interesting to see how Mr. Ma's creative thinking evolves during the design of his towers, and how he addresses the outstanding problems with his plan. But already, even though Absolute is still in its early stages, he has given us much to think about and to admire.
A
AlvinofDiaspar
Guest
Re: Architects from 70 Countries bidding for Absolute Projec
geotectura:
You've already made one posting of this nature in the Absolute thread under Architecture - it's quite sufficient and doing that again could be considered as spamming.
AoD
geotectura:
You've already made one posting of this nature in the Absolute thread under Architecture - it's quite sufficient and doing that again could be considered as spamming.
AoD
O
Oliver Tweed
Guest
Re: Architects from 70 Countries bidding for Absolute Projec
Mississauga is a suburb. That's simply a fact. It's a very big suburb, but it's a suburb.
It's only in the recent past that the term suburb has become a dirty word, at least partly because it has been associated with the dreaded sprawl that as a society we are beginning to see was probably somewhat of a mistake.
Suburbs can have great qualities, ones that big cities (or downtown areas) don't have. Of course it also works vice-versa. Comparing Toronto to Mississauga, though, is like comparing apples to oranges. It's like comparing Mississauga to Dundas, Ont. They both may have their redeeming qualities, but they are of two completely different scales, histories and functions.
There's no need for a person from Mississauga to get all sensitive about being from a suburb. I was raised in Mississauga and I had a great childhood in a great area. I was also able to easily take the bus to Islington subway station and explore Toronto. I now live in Toronto (surprise, surprise) and I love it. But I'm not embarassed to say I grew up in Mississauga. Nor do I pretend it's Toronto. It's not.
Mississauga is a suburb. That's simply a fact. It's a very big suburb, but it's a suburb.
It's only in the recent past that the term suburb has become a dirty word, at least partly because it has been associated with the dreaded sprawl that as a society we are beginning to see was probably somewhat of a mistake.
Suburbs can have great qualities, ones that big cities (or downtown areas) don't have. Of course it also works vice-versa. Comparing Toronto to Mississauga, though, is like comparing apples to oranges. It's like comparing Mississauga to Dundas, Ont. They both may have their redeeming qualities, but they are of two completely different scales, histories and functions.
There's no need for a person from Mississauga to get all sensitive about being from a suburb. I was raised in Mississauga and I had a great childhood in a great area. I was also able to easily take the bus to Islington subway station and explore Toronto. I now live in Toronto (surprise, surprise) and I love it. But I'm not embarassed to say I grew up in Mississauga. Nor do I pretend it's Toronto. It's not.
B
bizorky
Guest
Re: Architects from 70 Countries bidding for Absolute Projec
I don't think that people in Mississauga want to be Toronto or, like you, they would have moved to Toronto. What some are attempting to create is their own unique urban setting in Mississauga. So far, some of the language used in the descriptions is encouraging. How it all turns out is something we will have to wait for.
I don't think that people in Mississauga want to be Toronto or, like you, they would have moved to Toronto. What some are attempting to create is their own unique urban setting in Mississauga. So far, some of the language used in the descriptions is encouraging. How it all turns out is something we will have to wait for.
S
SD2
Guest
Re: Architects from 70 Countries bidding for Absolute Projec
Most people I know in Mississauga (if not all) are totally against increasing density or creating an urban setting. They want the place to remain as is - auto oriented and suburban in nature. They'd also be quite happy to see the population capped as is, or decline slightly.
There are no doubt people who like the direction Mississauga is going, but for many others it's going to take a lot of getting used to.
Most people I know in Mississauga (if not all) are totally against increasing density or creating an urban setting. They want the place to remain as is - auto oriented and suburban in nature. They'd also be quite happy to see the population capped as is, or decline slightly.
There are no doubt people who like the direction Mississauga is going, but for many others it's going to take a lot of getting used to.
T
Transportfan
Guest
Re: Architects from 70 Countries bidding for Absolute Projec
Quote:
Mississsauga has got to be the world's largest "town" with a population of over 700,000 people.
Officially, I think think another GTA suburb holds the 'world's largest town' record.
Quote:
Mississsauga has got to be the world's largest "town" with a population of over 700,000 people.
Officially, I think think another GTA suburb holds the 'world's largest town' record.
T
Tuscani01
Guest
Re: Architects from 70 Countries bidding for Absolute Projec
Im from mississauga and most of the people I know are getting excited about the plans to make it more urban. People here have always complained about the lack of transit and the traffic the car is causing.
Im from mississauga and most of the people I know are getting excited about the plans to make it more urban. People here have always complained about the lack of transit and the traffic the car is causing.
S
SD2
Guest
Re: Architects from 70 Countries bidding for Absolute Projec
The people I'm referringto complain about the traffic too - they don't seem to realize it's going to remain that way unless things change. Their solution is always widening roads, as if that's something that can be done in perpetuity.
I realize there are many in Mississauga that are excited by the changes proposed and underway...but there are also many (and possibly many more) who feel the opposite.
The people I'm referringto complain about the traffic too - they don't seem to realize it's going to remain that way unless things change. Their solution is always widening roads, as if that's something that can be done in perpetuity.
I realize there are many in Mississauga that are excited by the changes proposed and underway...but there are also many (and possibly many more) who feel the opposite.
G
ganjavih
Guest
Re: Architects from 70 Countries bidding for Absolute Projec
No reason to fear, there's plenty of suburban crap around the GTA for them to move to should Mississauga become too city-like.
No reason to fear, there's plenty of suburban crap around the GTA for them to move to should Mississauga become too city-like.
O
officedweller
Guest
Re: Second tower to join Marilyn
I don't recall seeing this posted here - from Building.ca. The second tower complements the first well - it won't stand out so much now. Too bad the townhouses look so conventional.
Second tower to join Marilyn
A rendering of Yansong Ma’s Absolute World towers, coming soon to the Mississauga, Ont., skyline.
MISSISSAUGA, Ont. – The second in a pair of unconventionally curvy condos in downtown Mississauga, called the Absolute World towers (or more colloquially the Marilyn Towers), has been unveiled. The newer of the towers, called Absolute World 2, will be 50 storeys compared to the 56 storeys of Absolute World 1.
The design for both, by Yansong Ma of Beijing-based MAD Architectural Design Studio, was chosen out of 92 submissions from 70 countries in a contest held by Cityzen Development Group and Fernbrook Homes, the developers of the site. Competitors in the project were asked to design a residential tower that would leave an architectural stamp on downtown Mississauga.
Ma proposed a uniquely gendered style to each tower, “a version of Yin and Yang,†says Danny Salvatore, president of Fernbrook Homes, “While the first tower captures the feminine, the second tower will be its counterpart, still lithe and romantic in its silhouette but more rugged and perhaps more robust.â€
Both towers will be built at the same time with construction beginning in spring 2007. The towers will include similar features such as wraparound balconies, floor-to-ceiling windows, a common terrace and a 30,000-sq.-ft. recreational facility.
“There is a synergy between them, an aura which transcends each of the individual buildings to create a totally unique and original urban space,†says Ma, commenting on his design. “My work has always tried to develop something more organic, more close to nature.â
I don't recall seeing this posted here - from Building.ca. The second tower complements the first well - it won't stand out so much now. Too bad the townhouses look so conventional.
Second tower to join Marilyn
A rendering of Yansong Ma’s Absolute World towers, coming soon to the Mississauga, Ont., skyline.
MISSISSAUGA, Ont. – The second in a pair of unconventionally curvy condos in downtown Mississauga, called the Absolute World towers (or more colloquially the Marilyn Towers), has been unveiled. The newer of the towers, called Absolute World 2, will be 50 storeys compared to the 56 storeys of Absolute World 1.
The design for both, by Yansong Ma of Beijing-based MAD Architectural Design Studio, was chosen out of 92 submissions from 70 countries in a contest held by Cityzen Development Group and Fernbrook Homes, the developers of the site. Competitors in the project were asked to design a residential tower that would leave an architectural stamp on downtown Mississauga.
Ma proposed a uniquely gendered style to each tower, “a version of Yin and Yang,†says Danny Salvatore, president of Fernbrook Homes, “While the first tower captures the feminine, the second tower will be its counterpart, still lithe and romantic in its silhouette but more rugged and perhaps more robust.â€
Both towers will be built at the same time with construction beginning in spring 2007. The towers will include similar features such as wraparound balconies, floor-to-ceiling windows, a common terrace and a 30,000-sq.-ft. recreational facility.
“There is a synergy between them, an aura which transcends each of the individual buildings to create a totally unique and original urban space,†says Ma, commenting on his design. “My work has always tried to develop something more organic, more close to nature.â
E
Ed007Toronto
Guest
Re: Architects from 70 Countries bidding for Absolute Projec
Hate the podium. A major letdown on what could have been an amazing project. The two boxes in the background don't help either.
Hate the podium. A major letdown on what could have been an amazing project. The two boxes in the background don't help either.