In very Toronto fashion, we're getting another mediocre conservative "landmark" that will serve its purpose, fulfill its obligations and do its job well.
I can interpret a portion of your post two ways: as a satiric aside with words like mediocre and "landmark"; or I could read it in some kind of literal way, and assume that you are dredging out that typical Torontonian defence of "our way has always been good and always will be good enough". I shall argue against the Torontonian defence just to make sure that the point is driven home.
I think it is safe to say, that if you read my posts anywhere on the UT you will see that I would like to change that "very Toronto fashion" everywhere that I find it. Or if that is too much, get people to at least consider another option or options when they see building into urban Toronto. I know that I am not alone on this. As I stated earlier, I am not upset, just disappointed with what we keep getting.
If I hadn't went Aussie, I don't know if it would have made a difference. I can think of several Toronto-based architectural firms, for instance, that could have done as well as
Lyons - I was using the
Lyons example simply because they had actually built a sophisticated bio-med research buildings, only a bit more dramatic than most people are use to seeing. And if you look at their record in this and other areas, they build responsibly not just with flash. The other bio-med I looked at was by
Staab Architekten, and while their design team of Alfred Nieuwhuizen and Volker Staab are outwardly as conservative as what you are getting now, they are still more innovative in their exterior detailing than the buildings seen here, and their interiors are like
Lyons, very forward-looking. (Unfortunately, there are only two internet photos I could use, both are not good enough to illustrate this point).
All of these alternatives can be scaled to site so I am not sure why this is being stated as part of any argument. Also they would likely be different in look than what has already been built by the same architects, thus avoiding the label of being a copy of something placed elsewhere. Neither
Lyons nor
Staab Architekten are "one-trick ponies," that is why I brought them into the discussion in the first place. Both represent young firms that are generating affordable but innovative designs in specialty areas of architecture; there is no need to go starchitect to get something arguably better than what we are going to get now.
I'll save my Toronto-based architects' names and designs for later, if necessary. But I'll alert you straight away, that the best works of these Toronto architects, aware of Toronto traditions, have been done outside Toronto. That speaks volumes about that "very Toronto fashion" which serves us oh-so very well.
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