Urbantoronto Architectural Critique Clichés

[Parkdalian]

If the theory goes: Toronto is currently building mostly mediocre high-rises, then this can only hold true if we're measuring ourselves against some standard.

Is this an internal standard (of the ol' "c'mon boys, we know we can do better on the next one") or an external standard (as in, why can't we be building more high-rises like city "X").

If it's an external standar... than who is the standard? What city is currently consistently building high-quality high-rises?

Seriously. Who?
Dubai? Chicago? One of the Chinese-boom cities?

If we have an external standard- who is it?

I think that most people automatically compare everything to Paris, because Paris is some Platonic ideal of a city for most people. Nevermind that half the city's history had to be torn down to make Paris what it is now, or that the construction was at the expense of an Empire's worth of suffering. Or that some of the beauty of Paris is often due to our notions of wealth and sophistication that the city has become the template for. And that old things generally always look better than new things because the ugly old things have been allowed to fall apart. It takes a lot of effort to see past that, and I think some people don't even want to try. The same with comparing the city to New York. New York is the centre of the Western World. We simply cannot compare the pool of wealth that can afford beauty in that city to what we can afford to build in Toronto.

But I also think you are onto the core of what a lot of these complaints are about: people want Toronto to look good at some unidentifiable, but flashy level so that they can show off Toronto in its competition with other cities. This is why there is such an over-concern with having 300+ foot tall buildings. It's because people identify with their city, and they want everyone to notice Toronto because it makes them feel special. It's the Maserati level of aesthetics - people want to drive around in other cities, showing off their ownership of flashy Toronto. Personally, I think it's a bit of a tacky way to get to city-building, but whatever works.

I think Toronto is shockingly beautiful (at least the downtown is - I'm spending a lot of time in Rexdale lately, and it is not giving me hope about our current mayor). I can't understand why other people can't see it, but I think it has to do with some of these cliches.

 

[Ladies Mile]

I come at the questions from a slightly unusual point of view as I suspect I'm one of the few here who find Paris to be hideously ugly and New York to be one of the worst cities on the planet not in a developing nation or a nation at war. Whether or not you disagree, I think many people in Toronto--as elsewhere--simply subscribe to what Robert Hughes called the Tyranny of Distance. We want something because we've heard it's good and because it's someplace else we don't have a chance to judge its actual merits objectively. Tall buildings and wide boulevards have no intrinsic value--none--yet have been hammered into the collective mind on a nearly global level as those aspects which truly define grand urban spaces. Thus you wind up with horrors like Bucharest or Washington on the Paris model and Shanghai or Stalinist through contemporary Moscow on the New York model. Or take a gander at Brasilia, which merges the worst aspects of both.

We have been spared these miserable excesses largely through negative virtues, but negative virtues still are virtues.

 

[Redroom Studios]

I always find something of value and beauty in whatever city / country I travel to. I love the variety of the world... I also love Toronto but have no problem criticizing urban planning or architectural styles within the city. I find it best to take a balanced look at things. If you are 100% supportive of everything then you are no more than an apologist, if 100% against everything then a troll. But lets be honest - its nothing more than an academic exercise for those of us on this board. We arent making decisions so why are there so many angry confrontations rather than simple spirited debate?