Aura: Residences of College Park III (Canderel, 78s, G+C)

[whatever]

Of course it's architectural. It's been a century and a half since anyone's really built anything with a structural facade.

[ProjectEnd]

A couple of points:

a) Aura is awful in both conception and execution. Sometimes one can make up for the other but here, nobody seems to care.

b) Schulich does indeed sport some spandrel but Sp!re is right to note that the mullion caps are pretty flush: Image.

c) Spandrel is awful when its used to cover space cheaply (eg. The Graziani + Corazza Effect). When it's used self-consciously as part of a design however, it can indeed add some depth to a building. H+P (also architects of Schulich above) seem to have been thinking this way when they were conceiving their Waterloo School of Pharmacy: Image and Image. Here, the plants on the exterior panels have all contributed to the study of pharmacy and medicine at some point in history.

[thedeepend]

here is how the geniuses at Graziani + Corazza are (not ) handling the transition from the cheap curtain wall on the podium, and the cheap window wall system they are using for the condominium tower. not surprisingly, it is amazingly incompetent and astonishingly bad. they are clearly just making it up as they go along.

[BrianSolo]

Good grief! You guys are so sanctimoniously correct in all your views. Everyone seems to be the exclusive authority on what's ugly or beautiful.
The righteousness here reminds me of a bunch of southern bible thumpers.

[condovo]

^^ The basic principles of good design are universal and immutable - unity, emphasis, balance, proportion, contrast, movement, rhythm, volume. It's not just a matter of opinion. Actually, it's more a matter of education (and practice). The elements that make KPMB's George Brown design good (see above) and G+C's Aura design bad (see above) can be explained rather objectively (see above). It's Aura's defenders that are hysterical - they don't know what they're defending (bigness?) - not its detractors - they know what they're detracting.

[67Cup]

^^ The basic principles of good design are immutable and universal - unity, emphasis, balance, proportion, contrast, movement, rhythm, volume. It's not just a matter of opinion. Actually, it's more a matter of education. The elements that make KPMB's George Brown design good (see above) and G+C's Aura design bad (see above) can be explained rather objectively (see above).

The "basic principles" you name may indeed be "universal and immutable" (though you have accorded to architecture attributes traditionally ascribed to the deity.) But a statement about whether a given building displays those characteristics, even by so august and expert a person as the typical UT poster, falls squarely into the realm of opinion. Nicht wahr?

[condovo]

here is how the geniuses at Graziani + Corazza are (not ) handling the transition from the cheap curtain wall on the podium, and the cheap window wall system they are using for the condominium tower. not surprisingly, it is amazingly incompetent and astonishingly bad. they are clearly just making it up as they go along.

Is there a way to get an injunction to stop construction?

[urbandreamer]

^I would rather stop Aura than stop Rob Ford.

[caltrane74]

by me

[Searchlight]

they are both the biggest beasts in this city.

Aura has, to me, become a novelty. It's a race or competition to get those extra couple floors for bragging rights. But it won't be a "community" or a really fun place to live in my opinion. With all the retail, I imagine it will be like thousands of complete strangers pillaging your front yard all day. Sort of like Cityplace where the Roger's Centre crowd thoughtfully leave hot dog wrappers to decorate the streets.

^I would rather stop Aura than stop Rob Ford.

[Ramako]

I don't think it's particularly stunning but it's not ugly either. I can't imagine that I'll cringe when I pass it, as is the case with a lot of towers along the waterfront. And despite the poor cladding it still offers an interesting overall shape, loads of retail and, of course, precedent-setting height. In short, I'm still looking forward to this one.

[toronto3]

This looks great! Love this building... The red is a bit weird though

[a0th]

This looks great! Love this building... The red is a bit weird though

....

[Peepers]

This looks great! Love this building... The red is a bit weird though

The "red" is just a temporary canopy to provide protection to pedestrians below.

[caltrane74]

From Yonge