Toronto Ontario Square and Canada Square | ?m | ?s | Waterfront Toronto

[junctionist]

The benches don't look comfortable. The squares look barren and pointless. That Ontario Square looks worse than Canada Square with cheaper paving seems trite. Why go to the politically inferior square when you can have the granite-paved Canada Square?

 

[ttk77]

The squares are pretty and clean, but unless there's programming going on, there's nothing active to engage people. I was down there on the past couple of weekends and while the water's edge was crowded almost shoulder to shoulder, the squares were pretty much deserted. Yes, it will help when the construction on QQ is finished, and it will also help if the cultural village ever gets installed, but the two squares will still only be spaced you walk through to get to the water or the cultural village.

I know it's been said before, but a fountain or splash pad would go a long way to providing something active to engage people and keep them in the squares....especially Ontario square which at the moment just seems grey and lifeless.

 

[someMidTowner]

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Those pylons dividing the parking garage traffic is a giant fail.

AoD

 

[christiesplits]

Those pylons dividing the parking garage traffic is a giant fail.

AoD

This is Toronto. We're not good with those types of details. This is a city that builds Gehrys and Alsops and then surrounds them with strip-mall quality cigarette bins.

 

[Red Mars]

This concrete park has an adequate number of seats/benches but like most of Toronto lacks adequate garbage bins.

 

[renvel]

Utility poles

This is Toronto. We're not good with those types of details. This is a city that builds Gehrys and Alsops and then surrounds them with strip-mall quality cigarette bins.

...And those third worldish ugly UTILITY POLES...

 

[Torontovibe]

This concrete park has an adequate number of seats/benches but like most of Toronto lacks adequate garbage bins.

Try sitting on one of the benches and tell me how comfortable it is. Is it enjoyable sitting in these new squares? If so, why are so few people doing it? It's because they are all sitting on the promenade, along the water's edge. They need to keep these squares well programmed because otherwise, they are dead space.

 

[TOBoy]

Most people choose to sit along the lake's promenade. The 2 squares are useful only when there are events going on, buskers, etc. I too wish they have something that attracts people to the area such as an elegant water fountain. But let's not get into the fountain thing again...

 

[Adjei]

Those pylons dividing the parking garage traffic is a giant fail.

AoD

Ha, that's what I thought when I first seen it. We can't even get the simple things right in this city.

 

[Tulse]

The pylons are designed to avoid damaging cars if they run into them, and they also look like they are easily removable if that driveway space is temporarily repurposed for events. Maybe there's a better, nicer-looking solution that would address these needs, but the approach used looks to be designed to solve those problems.

 

[jje1000]

The site almost calls out for a large, durable open sculpture. Maybe something like Calder's L'Homme or one of those tall spidery things would be nice.

 

[Torontovibe]

It certainly calls out for something. Open space may be useful for events but as a public square, this is not what I'd call beautiful. I would have preferred a grand fountain but any large scale piece of art, in the centre, would have been a good improvement. Right now, it just feels (and functions) as a really wide walkway. Those benches are very uncomfortable to sit on, which is why nobody sits there very long. They also look rather cheap and drab.

 

[ttk77]

Sculpture isn't going to help this square any more than it helped the one at the foot of Yonge st unless the art somehow invites more active engagement than just staring at it. Fountains / water features have movement, they have noise and they engage the senses. People want to get in close to toss in a few coins, to touch the water or just to sit on the edge, eat some lunch and chat with friends. The center of Ontario square is just screaming for something like that.

 

[old boy]

Second-class space for a second-class city.

It's banal to name these spaces Canada/Ontario Squares in the first place when this ought to be about Toronto, the city. As for the vacantness of the spaces, many would fret if it weren't so open this close to the waterfront.