Toronto's Top 40

[adma]

You stupid, stupid, stupid cheddingtonista. LOL!

Honestly, certain members' pronouncements are starting to get a little excessive (not to mention repetitive). "You don't like it, ergo you don't understand it and you're in love with McMansions". LOL!

Statements like that (and moreover, points of defence like that) don't help your case for extreme-makeovering of the subway, etc.

Oh, BTW, a proposed (and ultimately carried-out) extreme-makeover of Pei's similarly-conceived 5 Place Ville Marie in Montreal led to its inclusion in Heritage Canada's 10 Most Endangered Places in 2005. So, be forewarned before you offer to tamper with these so-called "ugly boxes"...

 

[TKTKTK]

Statements like that (and moreover, points of defence like that) don't help your case for extreme-makeovering of the subway, etc.

It's not entirely untrue!

Oh, BTW, a proposed (and ultimately carried-out) extreme-makeover of Pei's similarly-conceived 5 Place Ville Marie in Montreal led to its inclusion in Heritage Canada's 10 Most Endangered Places in 2005. So, be forewarned before you offer to tamper with these so-called "ugly boxes"...

He shoulda put a dragon on it. People love dragons.



just kidding. It's going to be hard to figure out what to keep and what to toss for a long while. And some buildings will suffer this same fate. I kinda think the replacement facade is way ugly, but maybe this opens the door to it being replaced by something fantastic down the road. At the same time, the loss of Pei's original facade is probably not going to turn out to be a mistake on the same scale as the one to replace 2 Columbus Circle's (in NYC).

 

[Urban Shocker]

Visually, I.M. Pei's building stole a lot of the TD Centre's thunder when it was first built. It created harmony by adopting similar proportions and height, and it sat parallel with the street grid like the TD Centre, but it also stood out - shiny and attention-grabbing - and subverted the matte black towers as a backdrop.

 

[TKTKTK]

OK, it's more than a big McMansion. It's a McCastle. The tourists love it. And I don't mind that it's there at all, I like it actually, it fits in to the local landscape in its own way, but it's not a top 40 hit.

And what about a McDragon, eh?

 

[Tewder]

I can see why Casa Loma isn't on people's list. The history of the place really makes it like WR Hearst's Castle in San Simeon (the inspiration for CF Kane's Xanadu and CM Burn's Burns Manor), or like a mega, mega McMansion.

OK, it's more than a big McMansion. It's a McCastle. The tourists love it. And I don't mind that it's there at all, I like it actually, it fits in to the local landscape in its own way, but it's not a top 40 hit.

Well in defence of the castle on the hill.... I can't remember what the specific requirements for inclusion in the list were but the fact that one may not like the aesthetic in question or that it may not be 'popular' today doesn't make the building unimportant. Isn't that the same argument in defence of brutalist buildings?

 

[egotrippin]

Don't get me wrong anyone, I like Pei's Commerce Court West building, I just wouldn't include it in my top favourites.

 

[Urban Shocker]

The rather desperate way they junked-up Commerce Court's outside courtyard - Museum station makeover anyone? - doesn't bother me in the long term. I have faith that the junking-up will itself, in the fullness of time, also be junked - and the purity of Pei's original design reinstated.