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Future Westbank Project (Bjarke Ingels)

If there actually is some legitimacy to this rumor then I say 'Yes' certainly 'could be more.' Toronto could use a proverbial 'BJi,' so I say bring it on.
 
Can anyone pin-point the next location for a Westbank development...they did say that they had bought a property in the core.
I use to think that they had bought into 156 Front/43 Simcoe, but that lot has already been taken up by Cadillac Fairview, forget Southcore (except 1 Yonge), Maybe 33 Temperance (former Sappire Tower location) or even maybe 199/205 Yonge or the Yorkville Cumberland Parkiing Garage and Holts area.
They could also be in negotiations with the city to buy Block-31 at CityPlace,,,,,,What do you think
 
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It's hard to get excited about a new Westbank project. I'm sure it will just get destroyed in an Israeli air strike anyway. Eh? Eh? Anyone? <crickets>
 
Assume this was disclosed as part of the media tour of Shangri-La?

Any reason to believe it would be a high-rise project versus something low- or mid-rise? Looking through the portfolio, looks like Ingels has stayed shortish to date (although that could be a reflection of most of his work being in European cities).
 
Wow. Their portfolio looks astounding!

Highrise or lowrise wouldn't matter. It seems like any project that comes from them would make a huge statement!
 
From the Globe (first spotted by OldManKensey)

Two Toronto condominium schemes are coming up right behind Shangri-La, he told me recently. He was short on details – understandably, since both projects are still in very early stages of development – but he did say that his favoured architect for one of the two is Denmark’s Bjarke Ingels.

“Bringing Bjarke in to do a building, if we’re able to put this all together, is going to open people’s eyes in Toronto to a world of possibilities,” he told me. “It will be a new form of development, not something anyone has ever seen before. When you see it you’ll go: Wow!”

If Mr. Gillespie follows through and hires Mr. Ingels to do the design – we should know some time next year if this deal is going through – it could indeed be good news for Toronto. In the five short years since he founded the Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) in Copenhagen, the architect has become something of an international sensation. His fame is partly due to his boldly imaginative schemes for residential, commercial and cultural venues. (BIG’s first Canadian enterprise, a mixed-use Vancouver tower, is now on the drawing board. Developer: Ian Gillespie.)

But a powerful part of BIG’s appeal is the firm’s proven ability to deliver large-scale designs that satisfy the demands of the real-estate industry while fully embodying Mr. Ingels’s commitments to city-building and high artistic standards. Toronto would probably be fortunate to get a Westbank building by this rising star in the architectural firmament.
Click to expand...
 
Some new info on the BIG/WestBank project from LeftCoaster, an industry insider from SSP:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?p=5555942#post5555942


LeftCoaster said:
Hey guys since there is a lot of talk about the upcoming BIG buildings in Toronto you might be interested to see what he has planned for Vancouver:
http://www.glessnergroup.com/images/20/img_glessner_12.jpg

I've seen his Toronto proposals and I think I like the Vancouver one a bit better, but they are all very cool and unique.
Click to expand...

When asked regarding height of the buildings:

Well I suppose that is true too but the Toronto BIG buildings will both be around 100m. One slightly above and one slightly below.
Click to expand...

When asked regarding if it will be downtown:

^ Magic 8 ball says outlook not so good...
Click to expand...

Regarding design compared to BIG's Vancouver proposal:

Definitely not less interesting, they are very interesting, I just happen to like the Vancouver one more. I'm sure there are just as many people who will like the Toronto design more too, they are pretty damn cool.

And the two may be in one complex...
Click to expand...
 
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Not downtown? I wonder if that means somewhere like Mississauga or somewhere like Yonge & Bloor or Yonge & Eglinton? I never know what people mean by downtown in this city.
 
If anyone reading this thread for the first time hasn't had a chance to go through Ingel's portfolio, I highly highly recommend it. There's is some ludicrously off-the-wall stuff in there. A hotel you ski down the roof of? A tower that becomes a staircase? A bigass floating ball?

My personal favourite Ingels concept to date turns out to have been recently cancelled... a massive waste-to-energy plant that puffs smoke rings that, again, you can ski down (seem to be a common motif).

Ingels also did a pretty cool TED talk.
 
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