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From the Globe:
SKEW-HAHA: YES, IT'S CROOKED AND NO, THEY WON'T FIX IT
By LEAH McLAREN
Saturday, December 3, 2005 Page M1
Most people are familiar with the Tip Top Tailors sign, that cherry neon monolith that sits atop a landmark condo conversion on Lake Shore Boulevard. But in recent months, you may have noticed something different about it: It's crooked. And if you've been waiting patiently for the past six months for the developers to adjust it, don't hold your breath. The cockeyed sign is now a permanent fixture of the city's west-end skyline.
That's right: It's intentional.
"It's a practical joke. It's just fun. There's nothing deeper to it than that," said Peter Clewes, the architect behind the Tip Top Lofts condo project. "Toronto's far too serious. It needed something quirky."
Trouble is, while everyone who lives and works in the area now has to look at the wonky sign, not everyone shares Mr. Clewes's sense of humour.
"I walked by the sign for weeks thinking, 'That's a funny place to leave it,' before I realized that was where it was going to stay," said Dennis Bryant, a home renovator who lives and works in the area. "Aesthetically, it just doesn't fit. It's a funky effect, but it's not a particularly funky building."
Other residents complain that the design is too clever for its own good. "I think they're trying to be jaunty, and it looks like they've tried too hard," says Ed Hanley, a musician who lives just south of the sign. "It gets a bit Krusty-the-Clown when things get off on an angle like that."
But for the project's developers, the lopsided billing is part of the evolution of the building.
"It's a tip of the hat to the new construction!" raves Nick Whittington, the on-site agent in charge of condo sales. He admits that he often gets "wise guys" who wander into his sales office with a smirk on their faces just to let him know his sign is askew. "They're just giving me a little jab in the ribs. They get the joke. I think it's brilliant humour."
As for those people who see the sign as an irritating eyesore -- a cockeyed picture frame in the distance that they can never reach out and straighten -- Mr. Whittington says, get over it. "Someone like that has missed the point."
"I don't see enormously anal people getting involved in the project."
But it's not just buyers who have to look at the sign -- it's the entire city. And as irritation over the Tip Top tilt grows, the debate is beginning to sound a lot like the controversy a few years ago about the overhanging sign on U of T's Graduate House at Harbord and Spadina.
While the angle is obviously a bone of contention, most residents claim to like the sign itself. "I'm all for leaving old things and having an attachment to the past. It just looks like they stuck it up there," says John DeCarlo, owner of Codes Pro Media, a small business that operates in full view of the Tip Top emblem.
Most people in the area say they do feel, however, that an excellent job has been done restoring and reconfiguring one of Toronto's most iconic art-deco industrial buildings.
The building's transformation from shirt factory to residential space included a six-storey addition. That effectively doubled its size, raising the controversial sign to twice its original height. On the original 1920s structure, there were three large neon signs, facing north, west and east. When Context began construction, it took them down, and decided to salvage the best letters from all three. Mr. Clewes says Grafton Fraser, the company that now owns the Tip Top name, thought the sign was "great publicity."
Now that the sign has been up for half a year, some people in the neighbourhood are getting used to it. Jane Neff, a local garden designer, is one of the few vocal defenders in the neighbourhood. "I like that it's a new twist," she said. "It's the only quirky thing about an otherwise spiffy building. And it's subtle enough that it's not too tiresome."
As for the project managers, they don't seem concerned about the local grumblings. And why would they? The building is complete and nearing capacity. Just last week, Mr. Whittington says he sold $2.7-million worth of square footage. And, last summer, Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones even stopped in to take a look, sent by their friend Gerry Schwartz.
Did they say anything about the sign?
"Sadly," Mr. Whittington admits, "they did not."
GB
SKEW-HAHA: YES, IT'S CROOKED AND NO, THEY WON'T FIX IT
By LEAH McLAREN
Saturday, December 3, 2005 Page M1
Most people are familiar with the Tip Top Tailors sign, that cherry neon monolith that sits atop a landmark condo conversion on Lake Shore Boulevard. But in recent months, you may have noticed something different about it: It's crooked. And if you've been waiting patiently for the past six months for the developers to adjust it, don't hold your breath. The cockeyed sign is now a permanent fixture of the city's west-end skyline.
That's right: It's intentional.
"It's a practical joke. It's just fun. There's nothing deeper to it than that," said Peter Clewes, the architect behind the Tip Top Lofts condo project. "Toronto's far too serious. It needed something quirky."
Trouble is, while everyone who lives and works in the area now has to look at the wonky sign, not everyone shares Mr. Clewes's sense of humour.
"I walked by the sign for weeks thinking, 'That's a funny place to leave it,' before I realized that was where it was going to stay," said Dennis Bryant, a home renovator who lives and works in the area. "Aesthetically, it just doesn't fit. It's a funky effect, but it's not a particularly funky building."
Other residents complain that the design is too clever for its own good. "I think they're trying to be jaunty, and it looks like they've tried too hard," says Ed Hanley, a musician who lives just south of the sign. "It gets a bit Krusty-the-Clown when things get off on an angle like that."
But for the project's developers, the lopsided billing is part of the evolution of the building.
"It's a tip of the hat to the new construction!" raves Nick Whittington, the on-site agent in charge of condo sales. He admits that he often gets "wise guys" who wander into his sales office with a smirk on their faces just to let him know his sign is askew. "They're just giving me a little jab in the ribs. They get the joke. I think it's brilliant humour."
As for those people who see the sign as an irritating eyesore -- a cockeyed picture frame in the distance that they can never reach out and straighten -- Mr. Whittington says, get over it. "Someone like that has missed the point."
"I don't see enormously anal people getting involved in the project."
But it's not just buyers who have to look at the sign -- it's the entire city. And as irritation over the Tip Top tilt grows, the debate is beginning to sound a lot like the controversy a few years ago about the overhanging sign on U of T's Graduate House at Harbord and Spadina.
While the angle is obviously a bone of contention, most residents claim to like the sign itself. "I'm all for leaving old things and having an attachment to the past. It just looks like they stuck it up there," says John DeCarlo, owner of Codes Pro Media, a small business that operates in full view of the Tip Top emblem.
Most people in the area say they do feel, however, that an excellent job has been done restoring and reconfiguring one of Toronto's most iconic art-deco industrial buildings.
The building's transformation from shirt factory to residential space included a six-storey addition. That effectively doubled its size, raising the controversial sign to twice its original height. On the original 1920s structure, there were three large neon signs, facing north, west and east. When Context began construction, it took them down, and decided to salvage the best letters from all three. Mr. Clewes says Grafton Fraser, the company that now owns the Tip Top name, thought the sign was "great publicity."
Now that the sign has been up for half a year, some people in the neighbourhood are getting used to it. Jane Neff, a local garden designer, is one of the few vocal defenders in the neighbourhood. "I like that it's a new twist," she said. "It's the only quirky thing about an otherwise spiffy building. And it's subtle enough that it's not too tiresome."
As for the project managers, they don't seem concerned about the local grumblings. And why would they? The building is complete and nearing capacity. Just last week, Mr. Whittington says he sold $2.7-million worth of square footage. And, last summer, Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones even stopped in to take a look, sent by their friend Gerry Schwartz.
Did they say anything about the sign?
"Sadly," Mr. Whittington admits, "they did not."
GB
