jaborandi
Active Member
...and there needs to be some kind of restriction or cap on the number of naff gits born each year.
...and there needs to be some kind of restriction or cap on the number of naff gits born each year.
ShonTron
Moderator
Member Bio
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2007
- Messages
- 12,462
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- Ward 13 - Toronto Centre
I say there needs to be a cap or restriction on both nasty answers to dumb posts and dumb posts.
Keep it nice, people.
Keep it nice, people.
jaborandi
Active Member
My apologies
Big Daddy
Senior Member
I will be honest with you, I’m not a big fan of this style of architecture especially when I see what has been going up lately. The towers at City Place looked so interesting when they were renderings, now they all look the same and I fear that twenty years from now we will have a new "Jamestown". If the architects design the "X" with the right materials and glazing, it's possible that it could look striking in contrast to the other buildings in the area. However, as with almost all new condo towers going up now, they cut corners and cheapen the design such that the end product barely resembles the original "artist concept". Frankly, I’m quite confident that that’s were this one is headed. (I live in a Great Gulf home)
What buildings do I like? I like the "Aura", the "Uptown", ROCP 1 and 2, “Absolute World†1 and 2, “Trump Towerâ€, “Mars†Phase 2, “West Harbour Cityâ€, “Hullmark Centreâ€, “Emerald Parkâ€, “Pier 27†and “Cube Loftsâ€. I like to see an architect craft or sculpt his/her building – create something that is interesting to look at and says something about the people who built it and or live in it I like that will be beautiful in forty, fifty years from now (eg. The Uptown). Most of the curtain wall apartment buildings (that’s what they really are) will be dowdy tired old buildings in twenty years and many in less. You can tell how much thought and care went into a building by looking at its design. How much thought went into the "X"? An architect wasn’t really required – the structural engineers could have designed this one – in fact, maybe they did.
grey
Senior Member
Those "structural engineers" designed a tower that looks way better than ROCP 1 & 2 ever will. What's your honest opinion of the TD centre, then? Do you hate its simplicity as well, or are you just opposed to the idea of an homage (= unoriginal/unimaginative?)
Big Daddy
Senior Member
Why duplicate the TD Centre? The TD centre has its merit, but for me, the simplicity goes too far - the centre is too austere – it’s devoid of verve. I like to see life and vitality in a building or complex and TD has neither - "X" will follow suit.
Aura has a magnificent podium that opens it up to interesting shops, and other people positive possibilities. It will add life and add to the existing character of its destination. What will "X" add to Yorkville?
Urban Shocker
Doyenne
Nothing, since it isn't in Yorkville.
Andrew3D
Active Member
The great thing about the TD Centre is it's simplicity. The whole complex feels like a massive art gallery, which unlike other office towers around has a timeless feel to it. It's really tough to find an ugly angle of the TD Centre. If X can come as close as possible to it's downtown inspiration then we're in for a treat. If I was in the market at the time of early sales I would have given X some serious consideration. The only thing holding it back for me is the location not the design.
Jayomatic
Active Member
I can't wait to see how this building turns out and there are many examples of this style of architecture in hundreds of buildings around the world. There was a recent office conversion over in england somewhere where they stripped the building down to its bare steel and filled the expanses with glass creating a striking modern condo.
I find this style of architecture to be one of styles which never shows its age and the fact a condo is built in this style is refreshing. I think it all comes down to how simple they make the cladding. If they fussy it up with too many mullions and divisions, I think it will hurt its appearance.
I find this style of architecture to be one of styles which never shows its age and the fact a condo is built in this style is refreshing. I think it all comes down to how simple they make the cladding. If they fussy it up with too many mullions and divisions, I think it will hurt its appearance.
Urban Shocker
Doyenne
The TD Centre takes full advantage of the possibilities that large lots offer - not only in the design of the towers but the spaces between them. And almost half of X's site is landscaped open space, perhaps another homage to TD-style.
jaborandi
Active Member
This, in Chicago, is going on sixty years old, and it looks neither dowdy nor tired.
If anything, this is more likely to seem dowdy and tired in twenty years or less...
The French Quarter looked dowdy and tired before it was finished. The original TD Centre looks as elegant and striking as it did 40 years ago. I have never really given it much thought before, but it does seem timeless. I think the primary coloured accents in X will be a brilliant touch to what looks to be a brilliant development, despite the fact that one of my favourite Toronto landmarks was sacrificed for it.
Sir Novelty Fashion
Senior Member
Sir Daddy: Whether or not you like the look of buildings like this (forum rules entitle you to a dissenting opinion, but grudgingly), I think that you kind of nailed it there.
Buildings like the TD Centre force people to ask your question exactly: what roles do form and function play in architecture? A lot of people will tell you that there's something beautiful in a building whose design takes its cues from its engineering, and not a generalised desire to make it look faintly Greek-like. (Y'know, with the columns and the triangles and the stones and stuff.)
Where you're wrong is where you assume that a "simple" look (which is actually exquisitely detailed, but structured and repetitive) indicates a lack of thought. They thought about it, boy howdy, and love it or lump it, what you see is what they came up with.
HiRiser
Active Member
Like it or hate it, X is definitely different from your typical condo designs. Kudos to Great Gulf for allowing to go beyond the usual "green" and transparent glass box.
condovo
Senior Member
What makes Mies Mies are materials of the highest quality and absolute precision in execution. Whether X can achieve this and pull off a Miesian homage to Mies remains to be seen.