Toronto Ripley's Aquarium of Canada | 13.11m | 2s | Ripley Entertainment | B+H

[AlvinofDiaspar]

SPIRE:

There are ways around that - like surrounding the tower and yet leave it unattached to any structure in a sort of courtyard arrangement. It would certainly be more authentic than that awful power centre addition that is now physically attached to the tower.

AoD

 

[Xray_Crystal_Junkie]

SPIRE:

There are ways around that - like surrounding the tower and yet leave it unattached to any structure in a sort of courtyard arrangement. It would certainly be more authentic than that awful power centre addition that is now physically attached to the tower.

AoD

The problem with that is that it would still look like it is attached to the tower. I think being able have an unimpeded view of the tower reaching dirt is as important as physical access the base.

I agree the "power centre addition" leaves a bit to be desired but I do like the open feel. It doesn't distract too badly while you're admiring the tower itself. That's my take at least.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Xray:

I agree - though personally I think it is more important to create street level presence and knit the area back into the city. There might be other hybrid solutions like breaking down the mass of the building and create selected "corridors" of openness, etc.

AoD

 

[Kraylin]

Thank you all for your contributions, the civil back and forth just above really helped me appreciate the CN tower more for the wonder it is. I never considered that building around the CN tower and obscuring the base would be a bad thing and yet I completely agree. One of the marvels I never fully appreciated is the way this huge tower seems to simply be planted in the ground whereas other buildings nowhere near as tall sit on huge podiums.

P.S. Aquarium is looking good! Can't wait for September, already got the nieces and nephews excited so i don't look too eager all by myself lol.

 

[TOBoy]

FYI, the salmon fountain is working again. It looks great. Better than what I remembered as a kid.

 

[kram74]

 

[Torontovibe]

FINALLY, the salmon fountain is on! That makes me happy.

 

[jsjaker]

I hope the pipes leading to the fountain will be covered over -a bit unsightly from that viewpoint.

 

[langstarr]

Agreed. Hopefully they clean up the "landscaped" area around the fountain now to finish the job.

It would have been interesting if they had carried the theme from Canada Square to the area around the base of the CN Tower (see kram's 15th picture) and planted two or three Redwoods here as well. It would put things into perspective just how tall and thick at the base the CN Tower is when standing next to the world's tallest and thickest tree.

 

[rpeters]

lol, redwoods take hundreds of years and a rainforest climate to become the world's tallest trees. May as well plant white pines they'd probably grow bigger and in a shorter time frame, plus they're ontario's official tree.

 

[someMidTowner]

Redwoods will grow in Toronto if they are (for some reason) planted here, but our climate isn't what they need to grow to their trademark size, and there are apparently generations old redwoods in this region that are (comparatively) short and emaciated looking. In short, terrible idea.

 

[ttk77]

These are Dawn Redwoods, not the same at all as the redwoods growing down in California. They're cold hardy down to zone 5 and more than capable of surviving and thriving here in Toronto. My parents have one growing in their back yard in Guelph, the University of Waterloo has a fairly large specimen growing next to the biology building, and I believe we even have some growing here in high park.

 

[RiverCity1]

Yes, def. in High Park. There's a few in front of the buildings in High Park Village. Beautiful trees! I take pics of them all the time. The ones at York Quay are going to be gorgeous in 10 years (as they grown 4 to 5 feet per year).

 

[Torontovibe]

FINALLY, the salmon fountain is on! That makes me happy.

I spoke too soon. It's now not working again.

 

[MafaldaBoy]

July 12, 2013: