Toronto Clear Spirit | 131.36m | 40s | Cityscape | a—A

[syn]

That's just the point, the DD wasn't a neighbourhood. It was a derelict industrial site! The addition of the towers adds density and residential to the mix, helping in the creating of a neighbourhood...

I agree with US on this. Low rise would have been a way to go, obviously, but I like the drama of the towers, the contrast of the modern/new with the heritage, and the way the towers announce the district from afar yet tie it into the rest of the city through the leitmotif of aA's design.

I think that's a point many are trying to make. Low-mid rise buildings would've helped build a neighbourhood while respecting the historical built form of the area.

It also would've allowed them to re-use buildings, as opposed to tearing them down.

Say what you will about these projects on their own, but the fact that they didn't creatively adapt the buildings that used to be in their place instead of demolishing them (in Clear Spirit's and The Gooderham's cases) is a huge negative when it comes to the design.

 

[Red October]

1 St. Thomas and Trump are mediocre designs, at best.

No, Pure Spirit is a mediocre design at best. 1ST is one of the better buildings to go up in the last decade, bringing back art deco and doing it well (as opposed to Uptown), instead of just falling back to the typical green glass square condo tower with some balconies.

 

[Tewder]

I think that's a point many are trying to make. Low-mid rise buildings would've helped build a neighbourhood while respecting the historical built form of the area.

It also would've allowed them to re-use buildings, as opposed to tearing them down.

Say what you will about these projects on their own, but the fact that they didn't creatively adapt the buildings that used to be in their place instead of demolishing them (in Clear Spirit's and The Gooderham's cases) is a huge negative when it comes to the design.

... or a sprat to catch a mackerel?

I can't really argue against low/mid rise but I just prefer the high rise in this situation for reasons already cited.

The deed is done though and at the very least the outcome is beautiful and the DD is no less a thriving successful adaptive reuse of some amazing heritage buildings at the heart of an emerging new neighbourhood.

 

[ProjectEnd]

No, Pure Spirit is a mediocre design at best. 1ST is one of the better buildings to go up in the last decade, bringing back art deco and doing it well (as opposed to Uptown), instead of just falling back to the typical green glass square condo tower with some balconies.

It's unfortunate that you're unable to appreciate the buildings which stand proudly as testament to the work our better architects are doing and have to fall back on imported, historical simulacrum for succor. Also, what does "...typical green glass square condo tower with some balconies" have to do with Pure Spirit (which, with its younger brother Gooderham, should be one of the gems of this boom)?

 

[Urban Shocker]

They went through the same process as the Distillery District condos. They were approved by both the city and the developers. They're both successful projects, a testimony to what was planned and designed.

Same process, different levels of creativity in their design, and different results, qualitatively - so Trump and 1 St. Thomas are a testimony to mediocrity.

 

[Urban Shocker]

Say what you will about these projects on their own, but the fact that they didn't creatively adapt the buildings that used to be in their place instead of demolishing them (in Clear Spirit's and The Gooderham's cases) is a huge negative when it comes to the design.

The windowless hulk of Rack House 'M' wasn't cited as anything historically important within the context of the site, wasn't built as part of the Victorian era complex that is being celebrated, and has made way for residential and retail uses that are far more attractive and vital.

 

[DSC]

The windowless hulk of Rack House 'M' wasn't cited as anything historically important within the context of the site, wasn't built as part of the Victorian era complex that is being celebrated, and has made way for residential and retail uses that are far more attractive and vital.

...and the money made through the three condo towers has gone into very expensive restoration of what is still there. All in all it seems like a very fair bargain. (Though the recent plan, on hold I think, to put a hotel and condos on top of the bonded warehouse at Mill & Trinity (60 Mill) was clearly against the site plan agreed to earlier.) See: Gansevoort Hotel & Condos (60 Mill St, Cityscape/Dundee, 34s, Saucier + Perrotte)

 

[syn]

Same process, different levels of creativity in their design, and different results, qualitatively - so Trump and 1 St. Thomas are a testimony to mediocrity.

The city seems to disagree, as do the developers.

Sounds to me like a textbook fear of heights.

 

[WiddleBittyKitty]

I'm missing your point. Who is "the city" in this case? The people in general, or the civic government? Either way, what are they disagreeing about specifically? And where does 'fear of heights' factor in? I am honestly trying to find some meaning in your post.

 

[Red October]

It's unfortunate that you're unable to appreciate the buildings which stand proudly as testament to the work our better architects are doing and have to fall back on imported, historical simulacrum for succor. Also, what does "...typical green glass square condo tower with some balconies" have to do with Pure Spirit (which, with its younger brother Gooderham, should be one of the gems of this boom)?

I've already said I liked Clear Spirit (and therefore by extension, the Gooderham, despite being copy+paste), and the podium for Pure Spirit is great. I just don't like the tower. It's really nothing special and couldn't be picked out of a lineup with other square glass condos.

 

[Urban Shocker]

I'm missing your point. Who is "the city" in this case? The people in general, or the civic government? Either way, what are they disagreeing about specifically? And where does 'fear of heights' factor in? I am honestly trying to find some meaning in your post.

Who isn't? Neither Trump nor 1 St. Thomas have won any design awards that I'm aware of, while Evergreen, Wychwood and the Distillery have all been lauded as examples of design excellence by various professional bodies. Furthermore, neither Trump nor 1 St. Thomas are examples of adaptive use, nor were they mentioned by our new chief planner in her Q&A with the Post.

 

[Ramako]

Who isn't? Neither Trump nor 1 St. Thomas have won any design awards that I'm aware of, while Evergreen, Wychwood and the Distillery have all been lauded as examples of design excellence by various professional bodies. Furthermore, neither Trump nor 1 St. Thomas are examples of adaptive use, nor were they mentioned by our new chief planner in her Q&A with the Post.

1 St. Thomas won a Pug: http://www.thestar.com/yourhome/new...-choice-awards-celebrate-toronto-architecture

 

[Urban Shocker]

That's hardly an award from a professional body.

 

[Torontovibe]

That's hardly an award from a professional body.

Sure, design a city by a "professional body" and don't be surprised when the tourists avoid it like the plague. I don't think the average Canadian considers minimalist glass boxes to be beautiful or charming. I'll take a 1 St. Thomas over the sterility of glass box any day.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Pug is a very uneven barometer - recall that French Quarters, Waterclub and Kilgore Estates all made it onto their list.

Instead of an either/or proposition - is it that difficult to accept that both Pure/Clear Spirits and 1 St. Thomas represent the pinnacle of their architectural "genre"?

AoD