Toronto Lumiere Condominiums | ?m | 32s | Lifetime | Wallman Architects

Wow- what a dizzying shot! I think this one turned out really well, and in my opinion is the nicest highrise in the area. The roof structure works well, nice sharp corners and I really like the dark podium that is appropriately scaled for a major avenue.
 
tomms said:
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mind blowing pic!
Toronto is truly in a class of it's own! (at least in this pic!), so long as you look in the right places, it looks like a chicago/new york!:D:D
 
Christ. I've walked by this building five times in the last two days and I must say that in person this thing looks super cheap. What's with all these 'snap-and-go' Playmobil-type panels that seem so ubiquitous in Toronto these days? I can't stand this pre-fab fad that has taken over construction. The entire podium is just concrete slabs with fake brick or black aluminum siding popped-in over top. I hate to sound like a tectonic misanthrope, but this has turned out horribly. It looks like something off of an assembly line.

And what's with all the right-angles in Toronto design? To me, it seems like one of the simplest, childish and most basic ways to design architecture. Perpendicular right angles to delineate differences between lobbies, podiums and depth and height.

Where is the ingenuity? All I see is glass, fake brick, right angles and snapped-on panels. Again, I hate to sound so negative, but this is not inventive, it's just indicative of cheap, quick and temporal design.
 
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great post 4grand! the scary thing is that Lumiere is in the upper ranks of what we are getting built here. I think that we as Canadians dont demand high standards and so developers feel that they can pass off drivel and then hype it all up with the marketing program. And as long as people keep buying its not going to get any better. At this point in the quest for profits, quality and actual style is in free fall. I'm trying to figure out how I can move to Europe actually...
 
hmm, when I walked by I didn't get that feeling at all.

I'm curious what are you thoughts regarding ROCP's podium - the building on the other side of the street, everything used there seems like it was very high quality compared to other projects.

In general though I do understand your argument, not regarding this building in particular, I don't think it's a Canadian thing at all, I can show you countless buildings that have went up recently in the states that look very similar. Same with other contries.
 
I'm only 26, but I miss the days of Art-Deco and Neo-Gothic... You know, when roofs used to be part of the architectural aspect of design and not just a convenient and logical place to stick an elevator box and venting? It's as if the developers don't expect us to look up

Thanks for the compliment Redroom.
 
Lumiere looking great on a sunny spring day and starting to look lived in. There's still a bit of work to go on the roof feature yet. I haven't seen the lamps on the north side of the building illuminated yet, presuming that they are indeed lamps.

Click on the thumbnail to enlarge, then click again on the image for full size.

 
4grand said:
I'm only 26, but I miss the days of Art-Deco and Neo-Gothic... You know, when roofs used to be part of the architectural aspect of design and not just a convenient and logical place to stick an elevator box and venting? It's as if the developers don't expect us to look up

Thanks for the compliment Redroom.
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Here's something to remember: all of the crappy buildings built during the Art Deco period have been a) torn down or b) fell apart. That's why the past always looks rosier than the present. We only save the good bits (or the good bits get fixed up even nicer). It's like saying "only great poetry was produced in the Renaissance period." We only remember the good poetry because it is good.

Lumiere is quite attractive - it's just that the poetry of its form hasn't solidified in your mind as something real yet, as Art Deco has.
 
... and to be fair to 4grand, who doesn't have nostalgia for the golden age of those early twentieth century deco/neo gothic scrapers?? When I see them in my mind's eye I can practically hear the Gershwin music and taxi cab horns. Are minimalist modern buildings beautiful? Yes, but who's gonna write a song about one?
 
dt_toronto_geek said:
Lumiere looking great on a sunny spring day and starting to look lived in.
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Definitely more lived in; from a high floor at ROCP, I am blessed with a perfect view of the crap that is accumulating on the balconies. By the way, it looks like they started painting the balcony floors from the bottom floor and then stopped.
 
Tewder said:
... and to be fair to 4grand, who doesn't have nostalgia for the golden age of those early twentieth century deco/neo gothic scrapers?? When I see them in my mind's eye I can practically hear the Gershwin music and taxi cab horns. Are minimalist modern buildings beautiful? Yes, but who's gonna write a song about one?
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Bernard Hermann's score for North By Northwest ( 1959 ) is one of my favourites:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIlqatMQSgI
 
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