Toronto Corus Quay | ?m | 8s | Waterfront Toronto | Diamond Schmitt

They're trudging along the waterfront promenade, there's a park, there's a big atrium up ahead, the doors are open, they've got money in their pockets, there's stuff to buy inside, there's places to sit down and eat stuff, that's what they've been primed to want to do, they wander into the big glass lobby of this big office building and do what's expected of them, that's all, same as in lots of other places.
 
Urban Shocker said:
They're trudging along the waterfront promenade, there's a park, there's a big atrium up ahead, the doors are open, they've got money in their pockets, there's stuff to buy inside, there's places to sit down and eat stuff, that's what they've been primed to want to do, they wander into the big glass lobby of this big office building and do what's expected of them, that's all, same as in lots of other places.
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Right, but when Waterfront Toronto, TEDCO, D+S and the marketers are touting this as a spur in the lethargic gut of waterfront development and a place which isn't like 'lots of other places,' wouldn't you want something a broader audience can appreciate, or, at least, debate? I'm sure you wouldn't, but what you too often forget (probably willingly) is that (too) few people really care about subtly angled balconies, sharp cladding systems and expertly applied pockets of Dutch color. I don't suppose or expect that 'big hair' architecture is the solution to this chronic apathy, but engagement is a different matter. This building simply isn't engaging. It's good, but it just kind of lays there like a lox, and those who actually do visit it are probably just interested to find out what the fishy smell is.
 
Lox ain't everything. Can you find a broader audience than the heavily marketed-to people who come down to the harbour? They'll be in heaven when they stumble across Corus and course through the doors. Just look at the hundreds of thousands of people who go to the vacuous Buy Up The Danforth every August - they'd go to the opening of an envelope if they were invited.
 
Correct, but what you're saying really just supports my point. Those 'heavily marketed-to people,' like those visiting Taste of the Cramforth, aren't there to see the buildings, they're there to experience the events which occur in the spaces around these urbane structures. The difference however, is that there's no context within which to slot Corus and it is therefore up to the building to pick up the slack. Picking fun at the lemmings who patronize these festivals doesn't make Jack's gestures any more compelling and though you seem convinced that the ambiguous 'they' will be drawn to this structure, the reality is that 'they'll' pass right on by.
 
Oh I expect they'll go into the building in large numbers. It has lots of glass ( though your pal Renzo The Roofer didn't install any of it ) and an open atrium in the nice weather, and there's food and probably other stuff to buy there. They'll sit outside under the big overhang having a drink or a meal and watch all the other people too. It'll be lovely.

Denying the obvious is the new false dichotomy.
 
The glass, the atrium, the overhangs and the food are all experiences which one might enjoy once they are there. My question is why is the average 'over marketed person' going out past Yonge, past the sugar factory and the expansive parking lot which will (eventually) house Pier 27, to a remote stretch of the waterfront which is poorly serviced by transit to have the same Coke they can get in the Erin Mills Town Center food court. Why are they there?
 
^ Sugar Beach? Sherbourne Park

No doubt Sugar Beach will draw people to that part of the waterfront as will Sherbourne Park and the community being built around it. The community rising around the distillery district is not far either.

Eventually the revitalization of Queens Quay will bring transit and a more pleasant walk to the site.

This not to mention that hundreds of employees working in the complex will populate the place from day one and people attract people.
 
ProjectEnd said:
The glass, the atrium, the overhangs and the food are all experiences which one might enjoy once they are there. My question is why is the average 'over marketed person' going out past Yonge, past the sugar factory and the expansive parking lot which will (eventually) house Pier 27, to a remote stretch of the waterfront which is poorly serviced by transit to have the same Coke they can get in the Erin Mills Town Center food court. Why are they there?
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Because they work at Corus! Because they're a student at George Brown! Maybe in residence there too! To enjoy Sucrose Beach! Because they live in Pier 27! The water! To go walkies! For food! For drinkies! Because they work near there! Etc., etc.
 
MetroMan said:
^ Sugar Beach? Sherbourne Park

No doubt Sugar Beach will draw people to that part of the waterfront as will Sherbourne Park and the community being built around it. The community rising around the distillery district is not far either.

Eventually the revitalization of Queens Quay will bring transit and a more pleasant walk to the site.

This not to mention that hundreds of employees working in the complex will populate the place from day one and people attract people.
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Yeah...sugar beach should be a lot of fun. Laying there, in the hot sun, on the beach, not being able to swim, with no umbrella (city decided to axe them) while the wind brings in the sweet sticky sugar granules that are going to be flying around all over the place when Redpath unloads their seed onto huge tanker ships. Sounds grrrreeeeat!
 
MadMax said:
Yeah...sugar beach should be a lot of fun. Laying there, in the hot sun, on the beach, not being able to swim, with no umbrella (city decided to axe them) while the wind brings in the sweet sticky sugar granules that are going to be flying around all over the place when Redpath unloads their seed onto huge tanker ships. Sounds grrrreeeeat!
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I wasn't aware that the umbrellas got axed - why? I think the little accents of colour would have worked well in this area area. It will make the urban beach a lot less beachy and a lot more like an oddly placed sand box.
 
MadMax:

Where did you get that piece re: umbrellas from? Besides, as far as I am aware, Sugar Beach is a WT, not City of Toronto project.

AoD
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
MadMax:

Where did you get that piece re: umbrellas from? Besides, as far as I am aware, Sugar Beach is a WT, not City of Toronto project.

AoD
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I read somewhere that the beautifully coloured umbrellas that were supposed to dot the hot sand was not going to happen. I think the umbrellas would have added much needed colour into an area screaming for some bright hues.

I know it's a Waterfront Toronto project but I think the city has the final say on what's going in and what's staying out. Shame really...I'll try to the find the info and post the link...
 
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