Toronto CrystalBlu Condos | ?m | 36s | Bazis | Burka

My apologies to anyone offended, just a little healthy debate,...
I guess I am curious how the finished product on most of these new towers is so horrible (overall general consensus) and a concrete finish can be so staunchly defended??? Why do people not like Blu, or Uptown??? I honestly read so much negative here, about so many new projects, but question the old and established, and its like I'm an idiot??
Anyhow, sorry for rufflin feathers, I love Toronto, and thats why I read this forum...
 
Jets,

Many people read and post on UT, and there is no consensus of opinion on anything. There will always be those who agree and those who disagree with you on any particular project, and you will find that your thoughts may be in line with someone on one project, while you may wholeheartedly disagree with that same person on another. If you want to know why many people aren't very happy with Crystal Blu, then reading back through the thread will answer all of your questions. If you want to know why others like the Manulife Centre, then it would be worth your time reading through the book Concrete Toronto that more than one other member has cited here.

It's always worth researching what it is about certain architectural styles that makes fans out of some people, especially when you don't appreciate that style yourself. I'm not saying that the research will make you a fan out of you, but it will impart some understanding of what the style was trying to achieve in any case. Books like Concrete Toronto are the perfect place to go to delve into an under-appreciated style, in this case Brutalism. Of course digging into a book takes time, but you will find the explanation it can provide of what was going on when the Manulife Centre went up will satisfy your curiousity much more. Of course, there's always Wikipedia's article on Brutalist Architecture as a good place to start too...

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by me

sany1123.jpg
 
It makes me think you could select the exterior features from an a la carte menu.
Want a wall here instead of a window? No problem!
Sliding door? We can add them anywhere!
 
One thing i like about crystal blu is the "texture" of the cladding... it looks kinda cool if you ask me (as seen in Caltrane's shot). fully clad crystal looks good :D
 
Wow - never noticed those Juliet balconies before. I haven't been that tempted to look up in this case I suppose...

I did catch this yesterday though:

CrystalActualBluepano.jpg



Wait - is that actual blue?! Yes, the crystal shards at CrystalBlu are actually blue when in sunlight! I hate to admit it... but I actually like these things when the sun hits them. It's so much easier to have nothing good to say about a project, but, well, there you go. The playfulness actually works here when the sun's out.

CrystalBluCrystals.jpg



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Jonny5 said:
It makes me think you could select the exterior features from an a la carte menu.
Want a wall here instead of a window? No problem!
Sliding door? We can add them anywhere!
Click to expand...

My thoughts precisely !!

steveve said:
One thing i like about crystal blu is the "texture" of the cladding... it looks kinda cool if you ask me (as seen in Caltrane's shot). fully clad crystal looks good :D
Click to expand...

But the problem is ... Crystal Blu's bizarre window/wall/balcony arrangement simply looks too messy / unorganized but not exactly random either ... had it been random balconies like Boutique2 or St. Nicholas I would have had no problems with it ~

interchange42 said:
Wait - is that actual blue?! Yes, the crystal shards at CrystalBlu are actually blue when in sunlight! I hate to admit it... but I actually like these things when the sun hits them. It's so much easier to have nothing good to say about a project, but, well, there you go. The playfulness actually works here when the sun's out.
Click to expand...

Good catch I-42 ... unfortunately the sun is not going to hit the base of Crystal Blu very often considereing how packed Balmuto Street is ... basically it will likely be in shadow more than not IMO ... nonetheless I do like the sandstone (?) with crytal cutout treatment a lot, regardless of much many hated these crystal 'cutouts' ... this is perhaps the only redeeming factor for the whole project to me ~
 
Great picture!

I feel like CrystalBlu just gets worse as they add more to it and time goes on. The only thing I can see redeeming it now is how the residents' blinds appear through the glass once it's occupied. I'm not holding my breath.
 
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If this is how a Bazis project turns out, compared to the render, I think we can all be thankful that they're not developing a much taller and more prominent tower a 1BE anymore. We dodged a bullet.
 
To be honest, for me, the more cladding they install on the mechanical box, the better it looks :)
Crystal doesn't look all that bad with the mechanical box all class. The patterns are cool. It kinda reminds me of the same patterns as festival tower but it won't light up...
 
egotrippin said:
If this is how a Bazis project turns out, compared to the render, I think we can all be thankful that they're not developing a much taller and more prominent tower a 1BE anymore. We dodged a bullet.
Click to expand...

The more I think o it, this building wasn't too far off from the render... If you look closely at tube renders, the glass is actually sort of grey but it looks more blue against the blue background... Plus, the name of the building makes you think it's blue...

Bazis's 1BE would have probably been far off (in terms of coloir)from the renders... Plus,
 
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