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

What I learned about Anthony Bourdain from that clip is that his thoughts on architecture are about as sophisticated as someone saying McDonald's makes the best burgers in the world. He clearly has no clue and it's laughable. He embarrassed himself and sounded dumb. Even people who have an unsophisticated view of Modern architecture wouldn't turn around and criticize the Royal York. But ultimately, no one cares what he thinks on the subject; people admire his taste for food. He seemed to find great things in Toronto as he delivered a somewhat mechanical sounding narrative. In terms of his narrative, he sounded like he just wanted to slam the city in food as well the whole time but failed because Toronto has great things to offer. In terms of food, he seemed to have been well researched and careful to maintain his credibility.

TrickyRicky said:
I think the drive in on the Gardiner has become more ugly, and yet more powerful and awe inspiring. Like Aura this city is not becoming more beautiful but it is becoming harder and harder to ignore. The cities that matter in the future, the power centres of the developing world are even uglier and more monsterous than Toronto. Toronto is a model of sane and careful planning by comparison. The model cities of Europe and our colonial past we admire are amazing and yet are essentially globally irrelevent dead wood when it comes to the urban future of humanity.
Click to expand...

I disagree. All the new towers make for an incredibly scenic and beautiful drive. I would even say it's one of the most beautiful drives you can go on in Canada, up there with the Icefields Parkway. I never hear Vancouver called ugly, and it's not just the mountains in the background (though I suspect they play the biggest part in people's perceptions). Most people like glass towers to some extent. If they take issue with something, it's the architectural detail amidst the glass or the shape of the tower, but glass has an inherent beauty just like natural stone. You can clad very simple buildings with glass or stone, and they will look decent to good. Concrete and metal cladding are generally seen in a less favourable light than glass or stone.
 
Last edited:
someMidTowner said:
They raised the webcam once again....either that or the high winds today have dislodged it
Click to expand...

*Looks like they will have to raise it several more times before it's completed...
:cool:

f33yy.jpg

(from Aura webcam found Here )

* Caution: Future image may appear larger than actually is. It is only a rough guess.
 
Last edited:
Jesus this is gonna be huge. I finally sat myself in a streetcar and went as far east as I could and, as I was walking along Woodbine at Gerrard, I looked back west and there was Aura. And it's only halfway there...
 
hollyyyyy ^ wow, that picture Traynor put together totally blows my mind. pretty dizzying heights, and Aura already has the sky to itself immediately to the east. Aura will be in the clouds.
 
junctionist said:
What I learned about Anthony Bourdain from that clip is that his thoughts on architecture are about as sophisticated as someone saying McDonald's makes the best burgers in the world. He clearly has no clue and it's laughable. He embarrassed himself and sounded dumb. Even people who have an unsophisticated view of Modern architecture wouldn't turn around and criticize the Royal York. But ultimately, no one cares what he thinks on the subject; people admire his taste for food. He seemed to find great things in Toronto as he delivered a somewhat mechanical sounding narrative. In terms of his narrative, he sounded like he just wanted to slam the city in food as well the whole time but failed because Toronto has great things to offer. In terms of food, he seemed to have been well researched and careful to maintain his credibility.
Click to expand...

Bourdain is a chef and writer, not an architect or designer. I've followed him for years and find him to be pretty straightforward and unpretentious in his view of things... and you are right that there isn't anything 'sophisticated' about him, which is sort of the point. He sees things the way most people do, which is why his travel shows are popular and engaging. If he 'slams' Toronto it's because there really isn't all that much that's very original or unique here to get excited or passionate about, to the casual observer or outsider at least... and really, like it or not, it is true that this city has been a trend follower, rather than a trend leader when it comes to food, culture, architecture, design etc: our colonial/multicultural viewpoint encourages us to import culture, whereas the American melting pot encourages them to blend and reinvent cultures to create something new. Montreal does this well too, for obvious reasons. This doesn't mean there aren't some great restaurants in Toronto, which Bourdain has acknowledged, but that there isn't a strong culture or tradition of food here that defines the city in any special way. If peameal bacon were a signature ingredient in Chicago or Montreal, for example, it'd be celebrated in the culture there and you'd find it everywhere and in every possible culinary incarnation. In Toronto it is pretty much ignored because there is no imported template for it. In fact, we do poutine better than we do peameal, which is sort of telling.

I see Bourdain's comments as fair. We've known it for quite some time now that the ingredients for greatness are here but that the recipe hasn't come together yet. Bourdain gets it too. Whether this will really ever change remains to be seen. I hope it does.
 
Last edited:
So cool seeing all those cranes along Yonge in that middle pic of skyjacked... and even in the distance too in (midtown?) not sure what projects those crane's are associated with.
One Bloor and 501 Yonge are gonna really contribute to creating a more balanced canyon on either side of yonge. going to be an amazing sight.
 
The little white crane on top of Aura looks like the Canadarm on the space station.
 
Tewder said:
If he 'slams' Toronto it's because there really isn't all that much that's very original or unique here to get excited or passionate about, to the casual observer or outsider at least... and really, like it or not, it is true that this city has been a trend follower, rather than a trend leader when it comes to food, culture, architecture, design etc: our colonial/multicultural viewpoint encourages us to import culture, whereas the American melting pot encourages them to blend and reinvent cultures to create something new. Montreal does this well too, for obvious reasons.
Click to expand...

That's just your opinion, it's not a fact. I disagree with such old, tired notions that continue to undermine this city and everything it has brought to the world.
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top