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Why Is Toronto Aesthetically/Architecturally Boring? Answer Needed!

Roy G Biv

Roy G Biv

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I need a good canned answer to this question.

My Spanish visitors have enjoyed their time here, but cannot comprehend why every building in the city looks like a shoe-box. They want to know why seemingly no-name European cities have more going on architecturally (yes, they like the ROM and the AGO). The new world seems like it should be a hub for modern art.

So what's my canned, simple answer?
 
Our big burst of development occurred in the 50's/60's right?
That would be my simple answer.

And to keep up with the population burst, we built lots of commie blocks.

Have the no-name Euro cities even had rapid population increases in the past century? I would think they've been largely constant. So unless they got the $hit bombed out of them during WW1/WW2, their awesome historic architecture should be intact for the most part.
 
They want to know why important projects built within the last 10 years, and those being proposed right now, are boring. My answer is, "it's cheaper to be boring", but that holds true in Europe as well.
 
Appropriate answer: "Most mid to low-rise buildings built in North America after the second world war were built with a specific store's purpose in mind (eg. LCBO, Money Mart, Esso, etc.) and are expected to be torn down or significantly renovated with their next use so there's no emphasis on aesthetics and more on branding."

Inappropriate answer: "When Spain stops sending over Justin Bieberish teenagers whose parents expect them to learn English but basically just hang around H&M in packs and make a nuisance of themselves, then we can talk about whether your country is a legitimate arbiter of taste."
 
We lost a huge amount of 5-15 story early 19th century architecture for the likes of "modernization" of the downtown and the complete lack of historical respect. You can thank mostly the Eaton Centre for that. You can thank FCP the box for the destruction of one of the greatest art deco buildings in the city; the old Toronto Star building. You can thank the two great fires of 1894 and (1914?) which mutilated the downtown. Toronto also liked to develop over great existing buildings rather than logically finding open space instead and building there. We lost old union station to the present one we have today, rather than building it somewhere else, or possibly trying to integrate it into the old one. Old buildings were demilished like no tomorrow in the downtown core for the likes of parking lot's in the 60's and 70's. Our major building boom occured at possibly the worst time (1960's - 70's) where architecture at that time looked like mutilated crap (see brutalism and concrete). One of the most historic armories in NA located onUniversity Avenue was destroyed for a brutalist 1970 courthouse. I can go on and on.. but I don't have the time right now.
 
And now it would cost far more to construct columns, engraved letters, statues, shapes, patterns, gargoyles, and stuff. And any recreation would look like some cheap Disney knockoff.
 
It would be more interesting to debate your question/conclusion. For all the very well- documented mistakes the place has endured over the years, do you really think that Toronto comes out boring , aesthetically/architecurally ? I wonder how many cities the size of Toronto pay so much attention to these kind of apprehensions.
 
Again, I understand the historical justifications, but they were wondering why prominent, NEW developments continue to be boxes (now they are glass).

I look at a city like Hamburg, which has very interesting commercial and residential infills going up all the time.

Does the mainstream concious of the average Canadian attribute less importance to good/interesting architecture? Why can our developers get away with being cheap?

For all the very well- documented mistakes the place has endured over the years, do you really think that Toronto comes out boring , aesthetically/architecurally ?,
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Yes. European visitors have regularly mentioned as much to me. We can call them pretentious, but if any of us have been to Europe, we know they're just telling the truth. The fact is that Toronto is starting to be held to a higher standard than it used to be. It attracts more wordly people these days, and it's unfortunate that the city lags behind its status. It's not Barcelona, but it's also not Cleveland.
 
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Then one can look at the MARS building, especially in contrast with the older building incorporated in it. With the MARS building they weren't even trying, dull colour, no design, no patterns, and even the windows are boring squares.

An example of a building that only exists so serve it's functional purpose and no more than the some of it's parts.
 
Well I certainly don't have any canned, simple answers for you Roy. I wish that I did.

In contrast I just escorted some Philadelphians through Toronto for a week and basically they were "blown away" by some of the cooler aspects. We kept going back to a favourite view - the view of the downtown skyline from the vicinity of (front of) St. Lawrence Market. There is your case in point - that particular view is of a collection of non-box and box buildings, with a few old spires and triangles thrown in for the mix. They also agreed that there is a "coolness" (the good kind of coolness) to the newer glass boxes.

My answer is the same as some of the other answers: timing, and geography.

My guests had a great time here. I feel that I should emphasize that. They feel that this is an "outstanding and great" city on its own merit. There's gotta be something in that. Not a canned, simple answer, this, but maybe it's not just architecture; the streets are so busy, and the sidewalks full of people, those two points give Toronto a strong appeal.
 
TonyV said:
Well I certainly don't have any canned, simple answers for you Roy. I wish that I did.

In contrast I just escorted some Philadelphians through Toronto for a week and basically they were "blown away" by some of the cooler aspects. We kept going back to a favourite view - the view of the downtown skyline from the vicinity of (front of) St. Lawrence Market. There is your case in point - that particular view is of a collection of non-box and box buildings, with a few old spires and triangles thrown in for the mix. They also agreed that there is a "coolness" (the good kind of coolness) to the newer glass boxes.

My answer is the same as some of the other answers: timing, and geography.

My guests had a great time here. I feel that I should emphasize that. They feel that this is an "outstanding and great" city on its own merit. There's gotta be something in that. Not a canned, simple answer, this, but maybe it's not just architecture; the streets are so busy, and the sidewalks full of people, those two points give Toronto a strong appeal.
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Nice post Tony.

I think it has a lot to do with where the guests come from. Maybe if I entertained more Americans and less people from Munich, Berlin, Valencia etc.... A part of me feels helpless when they visit, because what is going to impress them? You can scratch out anything related to art, because they simply do it better: architecture, parks, galeries etc. Other than good, cheap food, there's not too much.
 
^If I wasn't from North America, I would be fascinated by Toronto because of its exoticness. I was fascinated with Taipei, even though it is a city of mediocre architecture, few tourist attractions and very little foreign exposure; simple things like singing garbage trucks and Karaoke palaces amazed the hell out of me.

2/3 of the enjoyment I get out of a European city is just observing the differences in mundane everyday activities between our culture and theirs. Why would this be any less of a thrill for foreigners visiting Toronto?
 
Toronto isn't boring. This is the city where you can see an ornate Victorian beside a sleek high-rise with a lot more variety along a streetscape. The T-D Centre is one of the finest skyscraper complexes in the world. Even the "big name" European cities have streets lined with mostly mundane buildings, such as Paris.
 
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