Toronto YWCA Elm Centre | ?m | 17s | YWCA Toronto | SvN

Alas...I have only seen it in these pictures. However, in most of the shots (especially the distance ones) the yellow is the exact same colour as the insulation they use in construction, before they apply the overlying glass spandrel. In fact, that is what I thought I was seeing when I first looked at the last few images... I said to myself... "Oh, it's half finished and they haven't installed all the grey spandrel yet." then I just went "oh" :(
 
I personally love the yellow. And it doesn't look like insulation-- it's clearly a pattern along the entire facade. It's a tastefully selected yellow and it works well with the brick, as well as lighting at different times throughout the day. It never looks cheesy or too bright.
 
Traynor said:
I believe the bright blue is only waterproofing barrier plastic. However it does look as if the mustard yellow is in fact the choice for the spandrel.

Although I applaud the use of colour it should only be attempted by those who are not colour-blind... Or in this case Hue-blind because maybe a different shade of yellow would have been nicer.

:confused:
Click to expand...

The pictures do not show this, but they are installing blue glass panels that are the same general shade of blue as the building wrap. I likewise enjoy the use of colour (x condo for example) but the choices here are garish and overwhelming. On the upside, this building is a neighbour to Sick Kids, and I'm sure the kids will love it!
 
College Park said:
The pictures do not show this, but they are installing blue glass panels that are the same general shade of blue as the building wrap. I likewise enjoy the use of colour (x condo for example) but the choices here are garish and overwhelming. On the upside, this building is a neighbour to Sick Kids, and I'm sure the kids will love it!
Click to expand...

I must be a kid, because I'm liking it so far... although it may become overwhelming once the building is fully up and clad... but yeah, I'm a happy kid right now:

YWCABlues1.jpg


YWCABlues2.jpg


YWCABlues3.jpg


42
 
finally a full-on embrace of the power of colour! and a very interesting and unique palette of colours it is...

5cee9606.png


4f1ac560.jpg


4c332519.jpg
 
I walked by the site today. Wow! The colours are extremely vibrant and look great. Hoping this spurs more developers in the future to consider putting coloured glass and cladding on their projects. This city needs more colours....
 
^Really? That's what Denmark or Sweden are for.

There is colour like Scotia Plaza and then there is this IKEA-esque motif. I hazard to guess this is appealing to those under 40. They don't remember a world without IKEA and its Scandinavian colour palate.

Paris, London, Tokyo or New York are never considered chromatically bland and they are not known for their use of primary colours. I guess I'm getting old but the whimsical use of bold colours is best suited to junior kindergarten classes and Toys-R-Us stores... In my humble opinion.
 
Paris is a museum, Tokyo an architectural wasteland, and New York architecture of the past forty years is definitely conservative and monochromatic. The same applies to London. It's a big reason why were seeing a massive push for gravity defining curves and twists in these city. 105 Norfolk or the William Beaver House, for example, are pretty brightly coloured too.
 
Last edited:
You damn kids need to stay off of Traynor's lawn. City building is Serious Business, to be undertaken by sober men in grey flannel suits.

Joking aside, a burst of bright colour is welcome. I wouldn't want an entire cityscape of crazy Alsop-ish colour, but I think it's important to punctuate the grey here and there. If you have a mix, then both sides come out looking better.
 
tkip said:
I walked by the site today. Wow! The colours are extremely vibrant and look great. Hoping this spurs more developers in the future to consider putting coloured glass and cladding on their projects. This city needs more colours....
Click to expand...

I so agree. More colour.

It is the same reason why everyone on this forum screams like a small child when they see more photos of Absolute World. Do we want more buildings like or similar to Absolute World? (personally I still don't like the building). Colour is way more effective in my opinion verses built form.

Plus, I thought everyone loved IKEA :)
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top