Toronto Etobicoke Civic Centre | 75.82m | 16s | CreateTO | Henning Larsen

Which of the four entries in the Etobicoke Civic Centre design competition do you favour?

  • Team 1: Moriyama + Teshima, MJMA, FORREC

    Votes: 17 15.9%

  • Team 2: Diamond Schmitt Architects, Michael Van Valkenberg Associates

    Votes: 26 24.3%

  • Team 3: KPMB Architects, West 8

    Votes: 42 39.3%

  • Team 4: Henning Larsen, Adamson Associates, PMA Landscape Architects

    Votes: 22 20.6%
  • Total voters
    107
  • Poll closed .
Moriyama + Teshima and KPMB are my fave.

KPMB are good at doing modernist architecture. And this submission is a very good example of that.
 
Oh man, I like that Diamond Schmidt / Valkenburg one. It's a proper throwback to modernism, or seems to me. I like that style. I wonder if they have any models. K wait I like the KPMB one too for the same reason, just not sold on the public plaza part.
 
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Sign me up for the Henning Larsen design. Although i'm probably holding my breath a little too much knowing how things work in this city.
 
The DS/Valkenburg design balances creative flourishes with a unique and attractive outdoor area that looks like it would attract people even in the evenings and on weekends when the civic centre building is closed. While the architecture of the Henning Larsen design is the most dynamic in the varying sizes and shapes of the volumes, it looks like the surrounding public space would be flat, institutional, and boring.

The Moriyama + Teshima building looks too abstract and the outdoor area lacks any real focal point beyond the tower, which itself lacks a focal point. The KPMB design is plain and dull like the current Etobicoke Civic Centre, though an attractively landscaped plaza on the other side of the site could redeem it. Otherwise, it should be avoided because the architecture wouldn't create a strong sense of place.

It's important to have great landscaping because the civic centre should be a public space that people will want to visit even if they have no business to conduct in the building itself. That way, the city will maximize the value of this civic amenity for residents.
 
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Overall, I'm leaning towards the DS design so far, but I'd like to see more details, especially regarding the public plaza.
 
Pretty easy: Henning Larsen (needs work but shows potential), KPMB (smart, simple, civic), Diamond (bit of a snooze but still alright), Moriyama (please, no) in descending order.
 
ProjectEnd said:
Pretty easy: Henning Larsen (needs work but shows potential), KPMB (smart, simple, civic), Diamond (bit of a snooze but still alright), Moriyama (please, no) in descending order.
Click to expand...

My only beef with the KPMB proposal is that it looked like every other one of their civic centre project Waterloo>Richmond>Vaughan.

AoD
 
For me.........I can't say I've got a fave at this point.

DS: I could go either way on the building, I'm not gobsmacked.

The landscape shows the most creativity, but the rendering doesn't give me any real sense of how it relates to the street/context and that's crucial for its success.

Moriyama: The building in the render isn't quite working for me, yet the shape is more iconic and the building appears well-sited. The landscape is a snooze.

KPMB: Nothing wrong here. Entirely competent. But entirely forgettable.

Larsen: Building show some visual interest, need more sense of landscape, relationship to street and programability.
 
I think with all schemes we need to see the site plan to fully understand what their strategies are, since the whole area is so amorphous at the moment that there aren't any visible landmarks to orient ourselves.

Definitely like the Diamond proposal at a first glance for the ground/podium treatment, though the tower is a bit forgettable.

Agree with the point that the Moriyama + Teshima scheme seems to be a bit scattered- though the landmark-iness of the tower may benefit the area in providing a visual landmark.

Also interesting seeing the Westwood sign in all schemes. Was it a requirement, or was there so little local character that that was the only thing they could use?
 
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