Northern Light
Superstar
I always knew @AlvinofDiaspar was a man of diverse and wide-ranging talents..........but I didn't know he did impersonations...........have to add that to the list, as this is an excellent @Amare impersonation!
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Yonge-Dundas Square/Sankofa Square (Brown + Storey Architects)
- Thread starter MetroMan
- Start date
I always knew @AlvinofDiaspar was a man of diverse and wide-ranging talents..........but I didn't know he did impersonations...........have to add that to the list, as this is an excellent @Amare impersonation!
Northern Light
Superstar
In all fairness to @AlvinofDiaspar above..........
Nothing he said was at all inaccurate, I would only add.........the design was terrible from day one, and time has not healed the open wound.
Nothing he said was at all inaccurate, I would only add.........the design was terrible from day one, and time has not healed the open wound.
Amare
Senior Member
You never know everyone, maybe the city under the fine stewardship of our amazing dear mayor John Tory will commission a complete redesign of the square. He seems like a total visionary who would lead the charge of change!
UtakataNoAnnex
Senior Member
And CF will restore 401 Bay's original cladding and pigs will fly... >.<
Natika33
Active Member
Given that there doesn't seem to be a 10 Dundas St East thread, I hope it's okay that I make a comment about it here. I like the building, but I've always felt it was a lost opportunity to not have a coffee shop using the windows where the Winners is. If there was a coffee shop there, it would look more like a mini Shibuya crossing.
Northern Light
Superstar
Oh....there's a thread..............6,733 posts deep over 449 pages..........LOL
Don't feel bad about not finding it, UT's search function is a bit wonky............
Here ya go:
The Tenor (10 Dundas St E, Ent Prop Trust, 10s, Baldwin & Franklin)
Just to the side is local legend Easterbrook's where a 30k Around The Bay Road Race is just being completed; 42 To nitpick: the Around the Bay 30K is a running race, not a bike race. (Although I often wish I could hop on a bike around the 20K mark!) These pics are a lot of fun – thanks for...
Np
You and I will have to disagree............in as much as I'm not a fan of Shibuya..... (disagreeing is just fine btw, the world would be too boring if we all thought the same thing!)
But, you and @ProjectEnd should be able to agree on that last bit.
Though, I'm not sure that he thinks the existing building is all that redeemable..........merely that the idea of it has potential if executed by people who had talent and cared. LOL
I shouldn't put words in his mouth, but I will quote his post from p.175 of the thread:
So lets think of these second rate signs as temporary or subject to change...it'll ease the pain.
LOL
Natika33
Active Member
Thank you! I'll go reiterate my comment over there. Certainly I can agree that disagreeing is fine.Oh....there's a thread..............6,733 posts deep over 449 pages..........LOL
Don't feel bad about not finding it, UT's search function is a bit wonky............
Here ya go:
The Tenor (10 Dundas St E, Ent Prop Trust, 10s, Baldwin & Franklin)
Just to the side is local legend Easterbrook's where a 30k Around The Bay Road Race is just being completed; 42 To nitpick: the Around the Bay 30K is a running race, not a bike race. (Although I often wish I could hop on a bike around the 20K mark!) These pics are a lot of fun – thanks for...urbantoronto.ca
Np
You and I will have to disagree............in as much as I'm not a fan of Shibuya..... (disagreeing is just fine btw, the world would be too boring if we all thought the same thing!)
But, you and @ProjectEnd should be able to agree on that last bit.
Though, I'm not sure that he thinks the existing building is all that redeemable..........merely that the idea of it has potential if executed by people who had talent and cared. LOL
I shouldn't put words in his mouth, but I will quote his post from p.175 of the thread:
So lets think of these second rate signs as temporary or subject to change...it'll ease the pain.
LOL
khris
Senior Member
So they put a new screen on the CityTV building, but didn't bother to get rid of the rust on the structure supporting it? I get it's hiding a lot of it now which is good, but still.
C-mac
Senior Member
Where they really needed to put a new screen is on the 10 Dundas Street East building in place of idle Telus billboards, and where the Winners and other store signs are, anything would be better then that. They look so cheesy.
Having that said, I'm happy with another screen in the square.
Having that said, I'm happy with another screen in the square.
kotsy
Senior Member
Yonge-Dundas Square is a disaster — Torontonians deserve better
It’s time to rip out the concrete and the stage that no one performs on and replace the entire thing with a green oasis.
www.thestar.com
Northern Light
Superstar
Yonge-Dundas Square is a disaster — Torontonians deserve better
It’s time to rip out the concrete and the stage that no one performs on and replace the entire thing with a green oasis.
Interesting take.
I feel about the same in respect of the existing buildings and space.
However, his thoughts don't seem to be all that fleshed out.
A green oasis on top of a Green P Garage? Not all that viable. At minimum, the green would be ripped out every few decades, the garage is also very close to the surface limiting soil depth unless you raise up the grade level of the square a bit; and then there's the matter of whether the garage is designed to support the weight of that amount of soil and organic material.
I'd certainly be open to removing the garage, but that's expensive, and the City then forgoes the associated revenues; plus I suspect some of that space might end up as part of a larger Dundas Station in the future as that station can get quite packed.
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Repurposing the billboards as 'art gallery' is mildly amusing and would arguably be an improvement; but they are privately owned, and I don't really want the City to buy them, I'd rather that eyesore was demolished.
That, would, however, bring us back to one of the reasons 10 Dundas is designed so awkwardly, the hideous Ryerson/TMU Parking garage, removing that would damage TMU's revenues and upset a few folks who use the facility (to be clear, I would be entirely supportive of removing it); needless to say, the fix is a lot more expensive and involved than he would make it out to be.
I hasten to add, that would be a very small 'green oasis' taken on its own, and I don't think it would amount to anything that would draw tourists.
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picard102
Senior Member
The premise that no one performs on the stage is a bit silly, I've been to plenty of concerts there and when I worked next to the square there was almost always something going on in the stage area. There is something setting up in the photo attached to the article even.
A "green oasis" would be trampled to death in a month, and be tent city within two.
Not sure a billboard art gallery would be any better at attracting tourists either.
A "green oasis" would be trampled to death in a month, and be tent city within two.
Not sure a billboard art gallery would be any better at attracting tourists either.
alklay
Senior Member
The trees that are presently there, are having a difficult time surviving. I am not sure a "green oasis" is viable.
And I am not sure it is needed or wanted. The stage does indeed get used - it just has a horribly ugly canopy on it. Change the canopy and we can have a thing of beauty and something useful.
And the surrounding buildings help little in making this space a pleasant place to be in.
As for the billboards, I thought they did display "art" every so often (at least the Eaton Centre ones did). But again, it's such as apple pie idea that it is almost trite. Why not hand out roses to everyone who enters the square? People like roses. Or cookies? (and if we want 'art" on the billboards, it's a quick fix as the city can mandate a portion of the screen time to be such).
A little more greenery on the square would be great. As would a new canopy and a few new surrounding buildings. I am not sure a green oasis is either viable or the best use of this space.
And I am not sure it is needed or wanted. The stage does indeed get used - it just has a horribly ugly canopy on it. Change the canopy and we can have a thing of beauty and something useful.
And the surrounding buildings help little in making this space a pleasant place to be in.
As for the billboards, I thought they did display "art" every so often (at least the Eaton Centre ones did). But again, it's such as apple pie idea that it is almost trite. Why not hand out roses to everyone who enters the square? People like roses. Or cookies? (and if we want 'art" on the billboards, it's a quick fix as the city can mandate a portion of the screen time to be such).
A little more greenery on the square would be great. As would a new canopy and a few new surrounding buildings. I am not sure a green oasis is either viable or the best use of this space.
UtakataNoAnnex
Senior Member
One thing I seems to comes to mind with Yonge-Dundas Spamalot..er, I mean Square, is how utterly inhospitable it is to everyone that is unfortunate enough to cross it...whether they are affluent, homeless and all points in between and beyond. I've noted warmer and more welcoming Brutalist edifices and nuclear bunkers than this place...
...now I get that this is my opinion, and more fans of this public "space" will finger wag that I've got it all wrong here. But I can't help feel this space needs a purging all with a wrecking ball and a flame thrower. Then rebuilt from the ground up with something vastly more welcoming sans billboards. There doesn't need to be trees or grasses or whatnot...but something better than this. And something that stays the hell away from mimicking Times Square, in the same opinion.
...now I get that this is my opinion, and more fans of this public "space" will finger wag that I've got it all wrong here. But I can't help feel this space needs a purging all with a wrecking ball and a flame thrower. Then rebuilt from the ground up with something vastly more welcoming sans billboards. There doesn't need to be trees or grasses or whatnot...but something better than this. And something that stays the hell away from mimicking Times Square, in the same opinion.
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