Toronto The Uptown Residences | ?m | 48s | Pemberton | Burka

Roy G Biv said:
I just got back from Berlin, so maybe it's just that I'm sick of the "it's a step up for Toronto!" mentality. It's shit. Other cities are doing 3 times better in less prominent spaces. Here, we focus on the cheap.
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This isn't just meant for this poster^^^ Its meant for all the complainers.


I would be curious to see ANY 50 story res. tower in Berlin, let alone one thats better than this. This tower is very elegant, and adheres to a century old form, that has stood the test of time.....please check the negativity , once in a while . Theres a lot to like about this project..
European skyscraper design, ain't all that people, in fact a lot of them are over bloated and hideous. ( the Turning Torso...I mean pleeeeze. HIDEOUS!! ) Seriously Berlin???...you wanna draw comparisons and you choose Berlin???....They have no skyline. Which only exagerates the impact of any 300 foot building.
The form is American in origin....and this tower will age nicely. This is a skyscraper forum....You want 12 story German apts.....go to that forum. You just want people to think ...oh he was in Berlin.....he must know something....well if you did you would praise this tower for it's massing, and recognize Its appearance on the Yorkville skyline has been immediate, and impactful, and really adds a ton to the center of the Yonge Bloor skyline.
Last if you wanna compare and criticize Uptown, do so against the Wall St towers its impersonating, at least then, the lack of ornamentation would be a real critique.....Not some blanket statement about " other cities doing 3 times better". Its just bandwagon mentality comment, and sounds like complaining for the sake of it.
People hate the glass towers , they hate the green, the spandrel, the pre cast, it just goes on and on....
Show me , whats so great in Berlin....then make fair comparisons. Not some blanket statement,about how cheap we are. The Chrysler Building ain't ever getting built again, and that goes for all the post WW1 towers, congrats to the Uptown for acknowledging its ancestors, and pulling it off the best that todays economics allows. Sorry if a little abrasive, I just get sick of wading thru post after post of negative blather from people who have never built a sandbox.
 
^^^ relax dude. Couldn't care less about the history behind the design. MY OPINION is that this particular building is ugly.
 
One need not turn to New York to criticize uptown. One St. Thomas is a good example of a contemporary building that does a much better job of mimicking the form of early 20th century skyscrapers without resorting to cheap finishes. One St. Thomas even manged to pull off the rounded-edge roofline that was displayed in renderings for Uptown. Despite differences in unit price between the two buildings, there's no denying that Uptown was well ceonceived but poorly executed. To the extent that some people act as apologists for bland architecture borderlines on skyscraper fanaticism.
 
Automation Gallery said:
Yeah jet, but you cant please everyone..especially some UT forumers that think the grass is greener everywhere else.:rolleyes:
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It's amazing...the worlds falling apart, the U.S. can't even rebuild the WTC, whats it been 110 years, ooops I mean 10..... (what has Toronto completed in the last 6 years 40 towers?) towers are stalled, cancelled and even abandoned midway everywhere else, yet TO has kept on churning away. Its amazing.....
Theres NO ONE building great stone structures today, not the Chinese , not the Emirates, not the British. This is what we build with today...and nothings gonna change that. Just like the days of solid wood construction are gone,( as opposed to veneer)
The quality of the glass is what separates high end (FS/SL) from low end nowadays( Success Cityplace) ,....
Uptown looks like something thats always been there,and if thats not good design??? ....Here in the US, any town would be happy that the market is healthy enough just to build 1 Uptown. Its okay to not like a design, but this constant barrage of insecure drivel is nauseating. The rest of the world (including the Germans) would welcome this market, ....and the rest of the world, is EXACTLY WHO HAS BEEN INVESTING, DESIGNING AND PURCHASING THESE PROJECTS.!!!!! (Some of you need to read that last part again)
(Absolute/FS/ Trump/Aura/SL/Ritz/Ice/1 Bloor/ and yes even Uptown are on par with anything....anywhere.
You think Toronto has so far to go in your complaints, yet the rest of the FRIKIN world is coming here!!!!! Do you get it. Not Berlin, not Moscow, not Miami,....cold, hockey mad , 5 months of winter having Toronto. This is the place, where politics, finance, and safety/welfare all collide better than ANYWHERE else. The world likes you!!! Your ok, and gosh darnit people like you..:eek:
WAKE UP. Quit worshiping others and realize, we are good enough , our designs are fine, our execution is fine, we are not on par...... NO SIR WE HAVE SURPASSED the standards, and have become the watched.... So take all your inferiority and insecurity, to your local bank, and deposit it there......at least you know it will be safe.
Imagine Canadians whining after Crosby won the gold, "Ohh but his stick, wasn't real wood, and the color of tape he used was a little too pale" . You would be slapped!!!! Take some self confidence with you, next time you represent Canada abroad, I'm proud as hell of Toronto, and what she has accomplished, I brag every day about what's happening up there....and when I come here to check up on things,.... I get great pics from Redroom, Caltrane, Jasonzed(?) and the rest,.......surrounded by a bunch of mousish whiners, hoping someone will tell them theyre ok??? Man up Canadians. Accept the mantle, its ok to be great.

PS.. Fancy crazy over the top designs don't get built, (CHicago Spire), and that woulda been glass and spandrel too.
 
jetsbackincanada said:
People alluding, to the consistent inferiority of my home town is annoying, especially when the general consensus from the global perspective, is one of a positive place where amazing things are happening, ....so if stating that means I'm melting, so be it.
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How is it that people saying that the Uptown is a disappointment and that many developments in Toronto could be much better related in any way to the inferiority of Toronto?
 
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Theres an under current of inferiority in these threads that I fail to understand....a kinda...."we'll always be second best " thinking, that reveals itself in some posts. The trouble isn't with Toronto, but with standards of quality industry wide. Toronto isn't to blame for, nor deserves credit for all the spandrel, pre cast etc.
Last Uptown should also be given credit for integrating that design is that location. Uptown wouldnt work in Berlin or even London, it needs to be part of a forest to assume her identity. (Midwar tower) You also wouldnt place this alongside a freeway, or suburban park. Its a slender ,urban tower in a dense neighborhood that i would proudly live in.:cool:
 
jetsbackincanada said:
It's amazing...the worlds falling apart, the U.S. can't even rebuild the WTC, whats it been 110 years, ooops I mean 10..... <snip, snip>
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It's about demanding better. Sure there's a lot of negativity here but to a great extent it's justified. Just because the Canadian economy has managed to hold up somewhat during this downturn and is considered a safe place to invest is not an excuse to expect so much mediocrity. We're enthusiastic about how Toronto is transforming at such a rapid pace. If even half of what has been built in the past ten years and what's on the books for the next four was pleasant, interesting or hell, inspiring to look at and used decent materials, I know I'd be happy. But that's just not the case, the truly successful projects are few and far between.
 
dt_toronto_geek said:
It's about demanding better. Sure there's a lot of negativity here but to a great extent it's justified. Just because the Canadian economy has managed to hold up somewhat during this downturn and is considered a safe place to invest is not an excuse to expect so much mediocrity. We're enthusiastic about how Toronto is transforming at such a rapid pace. If even half of what has been built in the past ten years and what's on the books for the next four was pleasant, interesting or hell, inspiring to look at and used decent materials, I know I'd be happy. But that's just not the case, the truly successful projects are few and far between.
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I agree with much of that, but I see far more of these towers as successful projects than you do I guess. But, to be fair, I feel Cityplace is great also!! (and few would agree with that on this forum.)
 
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I must say that I quite like this building at this location. I would rather see a few more interpretations of this style than the sea of green glass that is swallowing the downtown.
 
Uptown is ugly....and it would be ugly anywhere else in the world.

I'd much rather have this in Berlin:

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...thhan Uptown. There are good/bad looking buildings all around the world, Uptown fits into the "bad" category. This is strictly my opinion... If that makes me insecure, then so be it.
 
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