Big Daddy
Senior Member
So two taller bland glass boxes. Great. Are you sure they even need an architect for that? A structural engineer can provide all they need for something that simplistic.
Toronto TeaHouse 501 Yonge Condominiums | 170.98m | 52s | Lanterra | a—A
- Thread starter VoiceofReality
- Start date
So two taller bland glass boxes. Great. Are you sure they even need an architect for that? A structural engineer can provide all they need for something that simplistic.
canarob
Senior Member
Haha!
Toronto really only seems to boom when boxes are in style. I'm kind of hoping some new kind of pomo makes a return, or at least something that offers new shapes.
Traynor
Senior Member
aA is becoming a One-Trick-Pony
All geniuses should be limited to producing one or two of their specialty and that's it.
Look at examples of "Genius" anything and soon you will see that anyone attributed with a genius mentality, is one-dimensional and can only end up reiterating variations of their original "genius" theme.
Frank Gehry
Daniel Libeskind
George Lucas (Seriously, how many times are you going to flog that Star Wars idea? Next it's a 3D re-imagining of the original. Puhleeeease!)
All geniuses should be limited to producing one or two of their specialty and that's it.
Look at examples of "Genius" anything and soon you will see that anyone attributed with a genius mentality, is one-dimensional and can only end up reiterating variations of their original "genius" theme.
Frank Gehry
Daniel Libeskind
George Lucas (Seriously, how many times are you going to flog that Star Wars idea? Next it's a 3D re-imagining of the original. Puhleeeease!)
TheKingEast
Senior Member
I wonder if it's the developers who are asking for these glass, boxy tower designs.
If you look on Aa's website, they have some interesting non-glass/non-boxy/non-boring designs.
If you look on Aa's website, they have some interesting non-glass/non-boxy/non-boring designs.
DC83
Senior Member
Amen! I was so annoyed at that dude that always harasses you to come into his crap store that I almost yelled "I CAN'T WAIT TIL YOUR STORE IS TORE DOWN!!!" last week :s
TonyV
Senior Member
So a couple taller glass boxes.
Methinks you are a tad contradictory with ... yourself.
CN Tower
Banned
Won't get approved. Precedent is too dangerous.
Architecture is directly a cause of market demand. Market is off shore never set foot in Canada buyers. They like glossy brochures and a lot of '8's.
Toronto gets what it deserves.
Architecture is directly a cause of market demand. Market is off shore never set foot in Canada buyers. They like glossy brochures and a lot of '8's.
Toronto gets what it deserves.
Ramako
Moderator
That seemed like a lot of sentences that had nothing to do with one another.
Red October
Senior Member
For every L Tower there are 20 boring glass boxes..
Any reason to expect anything different from Toronto?
Any reason to expect anything different from Toronto?
toto
Active Member
A 600 sq. ft. rectangle is a far more efficient use of space than 600 sq. ft. with curved walls. Hence, buyers prefer rectangular units. Developers like to pack as many units on to floor as possible. Hence, rectangular or square buildings. I see the economic reasoning behind that kind of decision. What I don't get, is that why, for the most part, does the exterior have to be glass curtain walls? A few more 50s +, One St. Thomas type exteriors would be welcomed.
ladyscraper
man alive
Because it's cheaper to build.
Ramako
Moderator
These kinds of comments bother me. I'm happy to chastise the developer or architect for foisting yet another one of these bland designs on us, but I don't think it's fair to somehow put down the entire city and its design culture. If this kind of boom were happening in any other city in the world, you'd still be getting a couple dozen mid-range, non-descript towers for each and every "iconic" building. At least, for a box, we know that they will be high quality. The alternative is a building boom where every tower is an icon, like Dubai, and that's not really much better.
TonyV
Senior Member
Yes, there is a reason. This site is sort of "special": a key area on Yonge, north of College, a stretch that is presently dowdy. I feel that the city should press for maximum benefits and obtain something that will add some verve to the area, and that will influence the developments which inevitably will come later in this vicinity. Not far away, Aura went through design review, and that is a good precedent.
Is it not sort of crude to rehash an older design and repackage it, with a bow, for this site? With respect to height, well, sorry, but massive height is not the only possibility -- how this development meets the street is paramount. This development can really make a difference.
It's kind of crazy to speculate any further on the designs that are being hatched now, no? Let's wait and see what the architects propose.
Last edited:
MapleLeafs
New Member
If they want to build cheap, let me show them some land in North York or Mississauga they can build on. I understand that every building cannot be a marvel, but this is a very prominent location and the least the developer owes the city is to put some damn effort into the design for once.
Red October
Senior Member
I generally don't make the cynical comments that "bug you", probably just me being in a bad mood today..
I love Toronto, but would like a bit of variety every so often. That's too much to ask?? I'm not asking for Dubai, but it's not either/or, hitting a middle ground would be ideal. They don't all have to be icons, but they don't have to be the generic glass box either.
Being in the middle of a boom is even more of a reason to expect some interesting designs! A boom doesn't have to mean Vancouver-izing Toronto, it could mean CityPlace exists, but adding an 8 Spruce Street! Imagine if this boom comes and goes, and we still don't have our landmark tower! We could end up waiting decades for a new one. There's been a lot of lost opportunity so far, and it would be a shame to end up without one.
As much as Shangri-La, FS, etc are great buildings, they're no Shard, they're no 8 Spruce Street, they're no Tower Verre, etc. To me the Ritz, One Bloor (if it's ever built) and L Tower are the only truly "different" designs that have been prominent in this boom, with Pier 27 being good but not as prominent (I'm not including Mississauga, so no Absolute).
I already don't like how Yonge, Queen, King, Bloor, etc are losing character, and it's a slap in the face that they aren't even getting interesting buildings to replace them! I would trade 5 generic condos we have for one of the Bow, Tour de la Bourse, Trump Chicago, 8 Spruce Street, Bank of America Tower, etc etc.
Just my $0.02.
Last edited: