MapleLeafs
New Member
Another view
Call me crazy, but I don't like it. Maybe it just doesn't fit my tastes, but it seems overkill given the location.
Toronto Ryerson Student Learning Centre | 50.59m | 8s | Ryerson University | Zeidler
- Thread starter Bogtrotter
- Start date
Call me crazy, but I don't like it. Maybe it just doesn't fit my tastes, but it seems overkill given the location.
dt_toronto_geek
Superstar
I've been struggling with it too. I truly love the design but it's so radical for Yonge Street that it almost seems unwelcome. I also fear for everything that surrounds it once this goes up. Will this be the final nail in the coffin for Yonge Street from Dundas to Gerrard when this and Aura are up?
condovo
Senior Member
God, I hope so.
yyzer
Senior Member
I think the change will be good - the building will be a radical counterpoint to everything around it, opening up new possibilities for Yonge St.....and yes, the Yonge St. between Dundas and Gerrard that we know is fading away...
Incidently, I also think a good place for the Sam the Record Man sign would be somewhere on 10 Dundas St. E....they should work a deal with the new owners to place it there,illuminating out on to the square, or maybe even along the roof line...
Incidently, I also think a good place for the Sam the Record Man sign would be somewhere on 10 Dundas St. E....they should work a deal with the new owners to place it there,illuminating out on to the square, or maybe even along the roof line...
dt_toronto_geek
Superstar
I hope not. A sterilized Yonge Street, not for me. There's plenty of that just south of here in the Eaton Centre and the PATH.
condovo
Senior Member
A dumpy, seedy Yonge Street, not for me.
Tewder
Senior Member
My one reservation about this was the retail component so I'm very excited to hear that there are discussions with major retailers. Just one major retail anchor on the Yonge strip would be the catalyst for others and this for me would be the cherry on the cake of this striking design.
On the contrary, this seems to be custom-designed for Apple! NYC's 5th Avenue location has pretty much zero square footage at street-level either and yet its presence there is now iconic.
The taste nazis around here can get a little tiresome. It's not a crime to dislike this design... however, I do feel we have to recognize an outstanding and unique piece of quality design/architecture that offers something new and provocative to the public realm, and all the more so in a city like Toronto where for the most part we play it safe. It is undeniable that this project has the potential to rejuvinate the entire area which along with heritage-sensitive projects like Five will make for a truly interesting public realm along Yonge. As for the lost seediness of Yonge it was probably only a matter of time. Some other street/area will likely pick up where Yonge left off.
On the contrary, this seems to be custom-designed for Apple! NYC's 5th Avenue location has pretty much zero square footage at street-level either and yet its presence there is now iconic.
The taste nazis around here can get a little tiresome. It's not a crime to dislike this design... however, I do feel we have to recognize an outstanding and unique piece of quality design/architecture that offers something new and provocative to the public realm, and all the more so in a city like Toronto where for the most part we play it safe. It is undeniable that this project has the potential to rejuvinate the entire area which along with heritage-sensitive projects like Five will make for a truly interesting public realm along Yonge. As for the lost seediness of Yonge it was probably only a matter of time. Some other street/area will likely pick up where Yonge left off.
TonyV
Senior Member
Hi dt.
It is a time of change (again) for Toronto, and I say this most respectfully: I believe that in this issue, the train has left the station. Aura, and this Ryerson development are ultimately going to be the change catalysts on this section of Yonge.
I did a lot of serious thinking about the lack of retail in the Ryerson project; my thinking this morning is that it is not harmful to have this short stretch lacking a retail face. The long and dull exterior of Eaton Centre to the south, now that is an issue. And frankly major retailers are cool to the idea of locating outside of Eaton Centre ...
Moving forward, there is a lot that must go right in the continuing (re)development of Yonge north of Dundas (to Tewder's point). Repeating myself, I hope that entertainment, and not grungy retail, will be the main attraction. If the city administration would only get interested (ha!). It would be super to have a variety of restaurants and pubs, instead of dollar stores and crappy electronic / jewellry / souvenir stores. I think this section of Yonge is a bad stretch -- but the reinvention of it has to be well thought out.
While I'm here, it is my dearest wish that a new developer take over 10 Dundas East and turn it into a worthwhile place. I am also fairly disgusted with the use (abuse?) of Dundas Sq. and I wish the people who run the place would just come to their senses, it is totally dreadful. Maybe the Ryerson thing will pull things in a different direction ??? Maybe it will influence some thinking ... let's hope so.
More than anything else I am focusing on the positive. Magically the new SLC lends the structure immediately to the east some context. The two massings, smushed up against one another, really work, architecturally. I can't believe it, it's still too good to be true.
Tulse
Senior Member
Keeping mind the Zanzibar, I hope that the entertainment won't be grungy either.
Hipster Duck
Senior Member
Yonge street's primary businesses were selling CDs and pornography, so the street your thinking about is called "the internet".
Torontovibe
Senior Member
Are we really worried that Toronto doesn't have enough run-down, seedy, scruffy areas? lol What about Queen St. West, Parliament Street, Sherbourne, Parkdale, Chinatown, Bloor & Bathurst, The east side of The Danforth, Chinatown East, Moss Park, Seaton, Gerrard India Village, Jamison Street......god, I could go on forever. (and that's just some of the central core) Most of Toronto is pretty scruffy, so I'm happy when neighbourhoods get cleaned up. I can't believe people want to keep our shabby areas looking like 3rd world countries.
Back in the day, Yonge Street used to be a place to go when people wanted to have fun. It had great night clubs, bars, amusement arcades, movie theatres and a cool vibe. Much of that is now gone but I'd like to see the entertainment and amusements come back. A little bit of fun wouldn't hurt our main tourist street.
That bowling alley and the Canadian Music Hall Of Fame, in Metropolis, would have been perfect. Too bad it was cancelled for retail. How about a wax museum?
Back in the day, Yonge Street used to be a place to go when people wanted to have fun. It had great night clubs, bars, amusement arcades, movie theatres and a cool vibe. Much of that is now gone but I'd like to see the entertainment and amusements come back. A little bit of fun wouldn't hurt our main tourist street.
That bowling alley and the Canadian Music Hall Of Fame, in Metropolis, would have been perfect. Too bad it was cancelled for retail. How about a wax museum?
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Hipster Duck
Senior Member
^You must have pretty high standards if you think that Queen West is shabby. A house on Beaconsfield costs $750k and Queen street is lined with things like Simon Carter and a Fred Perry outlet. It's "shabby" the way that SoHo or the East Village is shabby in New York, which is to say "shabby chic".
Of course, if dog grooming spas and places where private school kids troll around and make a nuisance of themselves is more your thing, there's a lot of Toronto that looks like that too: about 6 kilometers worth of Yonge street extending north from Rosedale, for starters, and then Yorkville, Bayview through Leaside, etc.
Of course, if dog grooming spas and places where private school kids troll around and make a nuisance of themselves is more your thing, there's a lot of Toronto that looks like that too: about 6 kilometers worth of Yonge street extending north from Rosedale, for starters, and then Yorkville, Bayview through Leaside, etc.
Torontovibe
Senior Member
Queen West & Bathurst is pretty shabby. (as well as other parts) Hell, all of Bathurst is pretty shabby and probably the ugliest street in the core. It's slowly changing on it's south end but I'd love to see ALL of Bathurst redeveloped, of course, with retail on the main floor. The houses along that stretch are really UGLY and quite run-down.
TrickyRicky
Senior Member
I'm filing this one under wait and see.
I'm reminded of U of T's Graduate house on Spadina. I don't hate that building but I deem it a failure based on the incongruency between the rendered vision and the feel of the structure in the real world under real world conditions. Similarly here the glass facade presents a strong "rendered" vision but it may or may not work in the real world.
I'm reminded of U of T's Graduate house on Spadina. I don't hate that building but I deem it a failure based on the incongruency between the rendered vision and the feel of the structure in the real world under real world conditions. Similarly here the glass facade presents a strong "rendered" vision but it may or may not work in the real world.
dt_toronto_geek
Superstar
All good, valid points. I love Yonge Street downtown, have for decades. I guess I just have to get my head around the inevitable change that will come and I worry about the fate of many of the buildings that line this stretch.