Toronto Aura at College Park | 271.87m | 78s | Canderel | Graziani + Corazza

purist said:
I find it astonishing that, in a city the size of Toronto, a 78-story mega-tower could be in the hands of a local architectural firm with zero national or international profile and no track record of excellent or notable work; partnered with a developer with a reputation for using the most inexpensive and cut-rate materials available.

I can’t think of another large city in the US or Western Europe where such a second-rate developer and architect would be able to get something this big off the ground. How does this happen? Why is this project not in the hands of important, successful and/or extremely talented architects? In other words, people who aspire to create an architectural landmark for the city.

This should be a flagship project, a project that defines downtown Toronto for the 21st century, instead it is the hands of a low rent design/build firm with a well-earned reputation for cutting corners. Based on the folly that is The Residences at College Park, I think chances are very good that Aura could end being a monstrous albatross.
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The design firm has nothing to do with cut corners. The developer and design firm are two seperate entities. Cutting corners is usually a request from the developer, and the design firm has no choice but to follow the developers wishes, as the developer is the one paying them. That being said, I don't think design is an issue here. From the renderings and models we have all seen, the design is great. The design has also gone before Toronto's design review panel to make sure it was exceptional.
 
Here is a side shot of the cladding

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Hey, everyone has their own opinion, and I'll admit that the first design of the Aura condo left a lot to be desired. However, due to the city taking an interest in this development, *it went from a very average 50ish storey condo to a landmark tower that will define this area for the next generation. *In effect we should be thanking the city from saving us from the mediocre design that had been destined to become a major non-event to a tower that will become the focal point for the intersection south of College Park. As for low rent, poor materials, you have to be a billionaire to consider 1 million dollar suites and a 17 million dollar penthouse low rent, *even with "average" curtianwall cladding.
 
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purist said:
I can’t think of another large city in the US or Western Europe where such a second-rate developer and architect would be able to get something this big off the ground.

This should be a flagship project, a project that defines downtown Toronto for the 21st century, instead it is the hands of a low rent design/build firm with a well-earned reputation for cutting corners.
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That there is pretty much an exact description of what happened almost ten years ago at Yonge/Dundas with PenEquity and "Metropolis."
 
caltrane74 said:
However, due to the city taking an interest in this development, *it went from a very average 50ish storey condo to a landmark tower that will define this area for the next generation. *In effect we should be thanking the city from saving us from the mediocre design that had been destined to become a major non-event to a tower that will become the focal point for the intersection south of College Park. .
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Im hoping the same happens with the city and developer up at 501 Yonge....1 big/tall brand spanking new angled tower on a 4-5 storey commercial retail podium
and parking towards the rear......Hey, you never know:)
 
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caltrane74 said:
Hey, everyone has their own opinion, and I'll admit that the first design of the Aura condo left a lot to be desired. However, due to the city taking an interest in this development, *it went from a very average 50ish storey condo to a landmark tower that will define this area for the next generation. *In effect we should be thanking the city from saving us from the mediocre design that had been destined to become a major non-event to a tower that will become the focal point for the intersection south of College Park. As for low rent, poor materials, you have to be a billionaire to consider 1 million dollar suites and a 17 million dollar penthouse low rent, *even with "average" curtianwall cladding.
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Considering that submitting your designs to the DRP is completely a voluntary process, I think the developer deserves far more credit than you are giving them. They obviously wanted this building to be a landmark, otherwise they would have never agreed to going before a design review. The city has no power to approve/reject a proposal based on design so they could have moved forward with the original proposal if they really wanted to.
 
I'm not sure I'd give Canderel that much credit. If they'd wanted a landmark, why would they hire G+C? Who remembers how bad the pre-DRP design was? Utterly embarrassing.

a8b88c8d4fccad35a6058608098e.jpeg
 
ProjectEnd said:
I'm not sure I'd give Canderel that much credit. If they'd wanted a landmark, why would they hire G+C? Who remembers how bad the pre-DRP design was? Utterly embarrassing.
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And who else is there locally to create a landmark? They could try to have MAD or Gehry or some other international starchitect to design a tower, and that's what they did with L Tower. But no matter what the design is, or how "iconic" it is, people will always find something to complain about.

Aura is a breath of fresh air in this city after some of the other jenga blocks going up, and it's expensive to go to international competitions for every tall building. This design is fine, and yes the old design wasn't great, neither was the old Trump design (not saying the current one is top notch), but it doesn't matter what the old design looked like, all that matters is the current design that's being built, which is good.

We have good designs on tall towers going up at One Bloor and L Tower, but if every tower was mindblowing, then nothing really would stick out.
 
purist said:
I find it astonishing that, in a city the size of Toronto, a 78-story mega-tower could be in the hands of a local architectural firm with zero national or international profile and no track record of excellent or notable work; partnered with a developer with a reputation for using the most inexpensive and cut-rate materials available.

I can’t think of another large city in the US or Western Europe where such a second-rate developer and architect would be able to get something this big off the ground. How does this happen? Why is this project not in the hands of important, successful and/or extremely talented architects? In other words, people who aspire to create an architectural landmark for the city.

This should be a flagship project, a project that defines downtown Toronto for the 21st century, instead it is the hands of a low rent design/build firm with a well-earned reputation for cutting corners. Based on the folly that is The Residences at College Park, I think chances are very good that Aura could end being a monstrous albatross.
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It's definitely a sign that the housing market in this city is firing on too many cylinders; developers are not having to work hard enough (and spend the money on great architecture) when they can sell out 70-something floors of this b-grade building.

ProjectEnd said:
I'm not sure I'd give Canderel that much credit. If they'd wanted a landmark, why would they hire G+C? Who remembers how bad the pre-DRP design was? Utterly embarrassing.

a8b88c8d4fccad35a6058608098e.jpeg
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Cringe-worthy.

The_Architect said:
And who else is there locally to create a landmark? They could try to have MAD or Gehry or some other international starchitect to design a tower, and that's what they did with L Tower. But no matter what the design is, or how "iconic" it is, people will always find something to complain about.

Aura is a breath of fresh air in this city after some of the other jenga blocks going up, and it's expensive to go to international competitions for every tall building. This design is fine, and yes the old design wasn't great, neither was the old Trump design (not saying the current one is top notch), but it doesn't matter what the old design looked like, all that matters is the current design that's being built, which is good.

We have good designs on tall towers going up at One Bloor and L Tower, but if every tower was mindblowing, then nothing really would stick out.
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True, we will never find agreement amongst all UrbanTorontoers regarding what constitutes good architecture… but your willingness to excuse an over-70-storey tower from not being "mindblowing" is causing me to sigh. If we don't require the best from our most prominent buildings, we are shooting ourselves in the foot - and the head. (I'll note though that the G+C elevations for 560 Yonge are far scarier than Aura however. Whereas I do give Aura a B, that building will have to change massively not to look like a sad joke compared to HP's silkily smooth and beautiful 1 Bloor design. Let's hope the DRP saves us from that looming disaster.)
 
purist said:
I find it astonishing that, in a city the size of Toronto, a 78-story mega-tower could be in the hands of a local architectural firm with zero national or international profile and no track record of excellent or notable work; partnered with a developer with a reputation for using the most inexpensive and cut-rate materials available.

I can’t think of another large city in the US or Western Europe where such a second-rate developer and architect would be able to get something this big off the ground. How does this happen? Why is this project not in the hands of important, successful and/or extremely talented architects? In other words, people who aspire to create an architectural landmark for the city.

This should be a flagship project, a project that defines downtown Toronto for the 21st century, instead it is the hands of a low rent design/build firm with a well-earned reputation for cutting corners. Based on the folly that is The Residences at College Park, I think chances are very good that Aura could end being a monstrous albatross.
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Bravo, purist. That was as magnificent a first post as I've ever seen.
 
The_Architect said:
And who else is there locally to create a landmark? They could try to have MAD or Gehry or some other international starchitect to design a tower, and that's what they did with L Tower. But no matter what the design is, or how "iconic" it is, people will always find something to complain about.

Aura is a breath of fresh air in this city after some of the other jenga blocks going up, and it's expensive to go to international competitions for every tall building. This design is fine, and yes the old design wasn't great, neither was the old Trump design (not saying the current one is top notch), but it doesn't matter what the old design looked like, all that matters is the current design that's being built, which is good.

We have good designs on tall towers going up at One Bloor and L Tower, but if every tower was mindblowing, then nothing really would stick out.
Click to expand...

I'm afraid it's a bad sign when a building's greatest merit is that it's not "just another box". Not every tower has to be mind-blowing, but it'd be nice if our biggest and most substantial proposals aimed a little higher, or tried to raise the bar.
 
egotrippin said:
I'm afraid it's a bad sign when a building's greatest merit is that it's not "just another box". Not every tower has to be mind-blowing, but it'd be nice if our biggest and most substantial proposals aimed a little higher, or tried to raise the bar.
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Well, perhaps, but I do find one bloor and l tower to have raised the bar at least in terms of design, even if the finishes used are not to everyone's liking...(although we will see.)
 
I get the feeling that if the Taj Mahal or the Burj Khalifa were built here, people would be complaining that the designs were not good enough.
 
mckarisma said:
Well, perhaps, but I do find one bloor and l tower to have raised the bar at least in terms of design, even if the finishes used are not to everyone's liking...(although we will see.)
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I like 1 Bloor and the L Tower quite a bit, I was just referring to Aura in this case.
 
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