Toronto TeaHouse 501 Yonge Condominiums | 170.98m | 52s | Lanterra | a—A

I'm alright with the tower but still prefer this podium motif explored here though.

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AlbertC said:
Maybe some of those miscellaneous stores will find their way to Aura's basement level. People still need to buy their slutty leopard-print/disco-ball pants from somewhere.
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WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWW ...... WHAT A COMPLEMENT ON AURA'S BASEMENT.. HAHAHAHAHAAAAA.. I believe AURA is a BIIIIGGGGGG Failure too...... I wish we could swish that MONSTROUSITY with MASSEY TOWER right now ...... what a waste of opportunity ....
 
^ I'll have what he's having.

This is a sleazy part of Yonge, and I'm glad it's getting cleaned up. Those stores can easily be accommodated in Aura's basement, as others have suggested. No loss here.
 
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kweku said:
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWW ...... WHAT A COMPLEMENT ON AURA'S BASEMENT.. HAHAHAHAHAAAAA.. I believe AURA is a BIIIIGGGGGG Failure too...... I wish we could swish that MONSTROUSITY with MASSEY TOWER right now ...... what a waste of opportunity ....
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gabe said:
That's a huge chunk of retail lost for such a busy part of Yonge St.
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I know this is off topic, but how did you amass 1808 posts since February of this year? Oddly enough, a search suggests that you only have 57 posts. It normally says 500 for anyone that has over 500 posts :S
 
DtTO said:
I know this is off topic, but how did you amass 1808 posts since February of this year? Oddly enough, a search suggests that you only have 57 posts. It normally says 500 for anyone that has over 500 posts :S
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I think the 'View Forum Posts' tool is broken.
 
Ramako said:
So was this the big reveal? The secret aA design that was supposedly going to be vastly superior to the massing study boxes?
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Xray_Crystal_Junkie said:
Obviously this is still just a massing study. /sarcasm

Oh how I remember the condesention like it was just yesterday. We, the unwashed masses, couldn't wrap our heads around the fact that those drawings were just place holders for towers of unmatched architectural quality. Us laymen simly didn't understand, and we should all just shut up already.
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These comments are disingenuous, right?

Massive changes have been made to this project through the community working group—more significant changes than have happened to any other project I can remember offhand—and whatever plans may have been in the bag to improve upon the original plan are totally gone now.

A few people from aA or related firms will know what was proposed—and maybe the secret design was only ever one of a number of options—but I'll be very surprised if it is ever made public. Multiple designs are created for any of these larger projects before one is settled on; maybe these particular "lost" special elements will be worked into another project some day. It they ever do, we'll likely be able to report that this is what 501 might have been.

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This proposal just goes from bad to worse. Completely forgettable architecture better suited to Yorkdale Mall, but at least it had appropriate scale to meet the needs of Toronto going forward. Now it doesn't even have that. We'd be better off with no project here and wait till the mindset in Toronto catches up to the realities of the city.

Yonge Street is in trouble if this is the type of building that gets approved for our main high street. Not even close to good enough. Better architecture please. And 20 floors on a portion of Yonge where we basically have a clean slate? Really?
 
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isaidso said:
This proposal just goes from bad to worse. Completely forgettable architecture better suited to Yorkdale Mall, but at least it had appropriate scale to meet the needs of Toronto going forward. Now it doesn't even have that. We'd be better off with no project here and wait till the mindset in Toronto catches up to the realities of the city.
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Please elucidate us on this so-called "scale to meet the needs of Toronto going forward"?
 
interchange42 said:
Multiple designs are created for any of these larger projects before one is settled on;
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I like the changes to the project so don't get me wrong, but I do have to disagree with the above statement as an explanation of how condo design works in Toronto. My understanding, if the architects who instruct me aren't lying, is that most developers now are quite clear on exactly what they want when they approach an architect in this city. QUITE clear. In-house designers come up with a vision, and the architect is needed to make it happen, and to apply their seal to the documents.

This isn't always the case, but I do think the "massing study" defense was a naive one for this project; yes, different iterations were being considered for the podium but I think it's safe to say that the plan was for two Murano-esque towers all along. Yes, some may have been more articulated, some may have been a bit offset, but at the end of the day, those are still very minor differences from a design perspective. Even the towers we see in this new rendering are not all that different in approach, though the massing is different.

Anyways, glad to see that aA has been switching it up a bit lately, and especially that the working group helped mould the design. I think it's far more interesting now, both the podium, and to a lesser degree, the towers. More articulated, more responsive to its site, etc. etc.
 
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