Toronto Minto Midtown | 160.01m | 52s | Minto Group | Zeidler

A shot of the lights from Flickr:

3229974800_22bea9f861_b.jpg


Uploaded on January 26, 2009
by ZV0NK0

Yep, totally underwhelming. They could not have done a crappier job lighting the top of this otherwise impressive tower.

42
 
It needs floodlighting of some kind.

42
 
I saw it in person the other night when I was up at Eglinton and I thought it was nicely lit. A subtle but sleek touch :)

And I am by no means a huge fan of the materials used on the towers. But the podium is beautiful.
 
Why would they not light up all of the spikes up there? It mustn't be finished, and if it is, that's pretty damn lazy.
 
The picture doesn't do it justice.
Moreover, if you were to see the lighting feature on any building (anywhere, outside of Toronto even) that close up it wouldn't look very interesting.

From farther away i.e. street level its effect is more pronounced. Although I agree it would be nice if all the so called spikes were lit up.
 
Ditto. Those photos are unfair. It was not meant to be seen like that. These look exceptional in real life.
 
Re: why are all the spikes not lit up?

My answer: because more doesn't = better. Having the corners lit up is a neat effect, and it looks very sleek that way.
 
Colour changing LEDs would be a good feature on future buildings. The colours would be changed for special occasions, including ones of neighbourhood significance.

What colours did you have in mind that would bear any neighborhood specific significance ... ?

Not that I'm disagreeing.

But if there were multiple lights I'd rather them not change i.e. the beacon effect wouldn't do this area justice. If 1 colour change occurred a day then I wouldn't mind.
 
Re: why are all the spikes not lit up?

My answer: because more doesn't = better. Having the corners lit up is a neat effect, and it looks very sleek that way.

After seeing them in person a few times now ... I can attest to the above. In other words I take back my original comment. I'm glad that not all the *spikes* were lit up. It would have been too much / cheesy.
 
What colours did you have in mind that would bear any neighborhood specific significance ... ?

Not that I'm disagreeing.

But if there were multiple lights I'd rather them not change i.e. the beacon effect wouldn't do this area justice. If 1 colour change occurred a day then I wouldn't mind.

For instance, a condo in or near Chinatown could change the colours for a Chinese holiday. Elsewhere, the birthdays of notable neighbourhood residents could be marked with specific colours. I'm not sure what would be appropriate for this tower, though.
 
That's asking a bit much of residential towers I feel. But it's possible.

Too much lighting and the novelty fades away. I would hope that every new tower doesn't have LED lighting. Too much of a good thing...
 
I'll reserve further judgment until I see the lighting in person, at night. In the closeup it looks unfinished.

Regarding the towers themselves, they sure make one hell of an impact. I work just north of Eglington, out by Warden, and they really punctuate the skyline looking due west from Ashtonbee Road. The end result is brilliant, as they really add a sense of place to "midtown Toronto", and are prominent from so far. Also, in the most recent pictures posted, they really have that nifty pseudo-futuristic Hong Kong look going for them. I actually quite like the effect, they're modern without being either throwbacks or just plain cheesy.
 

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