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

[thedeepend]

Congratulations for sounding so pompous thedeepend. Your hate for a building that is far from being completed is now well-noted.

well, thank you, but no congratulations are required. *blush*. if you'd spent the last 30 years of your life living and creating art and culture in downtown Toronto, you'd know where i'm coming from but, anyway...

i do hate this building--passionately. i hate it now, and i am going to hate it when it is finished. among the many reasons i know i am going to hate it are:

a) all of the buildings this architect has ever designed are bad. if you can point me to one remotely notable building by this firm, by all means post it.

b) as is always the case with this developer, the materials being used are as cheap as they come. you can see from the Wall Of A Million Mullions they are presently banging together that they are using the same old cut-rate window wall system that you see on dozens of lousy, cheesy condos all over the GTA.




c) but mostly i hate it because this awful company, with their awful architect, are threatening to build even more of their awful buildings in the downtown core. the one they are proposing to build up the road is--incredibly--even worse than the 78 story embarrassment this thread is devoted to.


*image from Travis, post 266, 460 Yonge St. thread

[BrianSolo]

the reality of this situation is that people who care about good architecture in this city hate this building.

I'm not an architect, but I do know what I like. Some may agree with me, and many may disagree. I'm just a bit surprised that anyone who claims to have such vast knowledge as you profess to would speak for ALL the people who care about good architecture. Is there no room for another opinion, or is yours the only one that counts. You're sounding somewhat like an architectural 'bible thumper'.

[caltrane74]

More Friday Night Shots by me

[Ramako]

well, thank you, but no congratulations are required. *blush*. if you'd spent the last 30 years of your life living and creating art and culture in downtown Toronto, you'd know where i'm coming from but, anyway...

i do hate this building--passionately. i hate it now, and i am going to hate it when it is finished. among the many reasons i know i am going to hate it are:

a) all of the buildings this architect has ever designed are bad. if you can point me to one remotely notable building by this firm, by all means post it.

b) as is always the case with this developer, the materials being used are as cheap as they come. you can see from the Wall Of A Million Mullions they are presently banging together that they are using the same old cut-rate window wall system that you see on dozens of lousy, cheesy condos all over the GTA.

c) but mostly i hate it because this awful company, with their awful architect, are threatening to build even more of their awful buildings in the downtown core. the one they are proposing to build up the road is--incredibly--even worse than the 78 story embarrassment this thread is devoted to.

So two of the three reasons that you dislike this building are essentially that you don't like the other buildings designed by the architect? Wow, no bias there.

Your only legitimate reason seems to be poor materials. I don't think that's enough reason to make me hate a building passionately.

[ptbotrmpfn]

Moving on.

[flonicky]

There should be a thread where everyone postx five examples of buildings that represent their tastes so we can refer to it to see where people are coming from style-wise.

[Ramako]

More Friday Night Shots by me

Aura looks amazing in that photo. Notice how the two tones of blue in the window wall of the tower (created by the combination of spandrel glass and clear glass) effectively mirror the two tones of blue in the curtain wall of the podium (created by light and shadow). If this was done deliberately, I'd be very impressed.

[someMidTowner]

I agree ramako, but some (arrogant) people around here think its alright to crucify us for having that opinion

[Gphorce]

I've mentioned this before I think, but those blue stripes in the curtainwall won't be there when it's finished. The covering on the mullions are blue. I think they are silver underneath. It looks like they peel away. Hope this clears things up for some people.

[condovo]

buildup:

DRPs can't ensure excellence - they can only prevent disasters.

AoD

They failed.

[SP!RE]

Your only legitimate reason seems to be poor materials. I don't think that's enough reason to make me hate a building passionately.

But he wasn't talking about what is enough to make YOU hate a building, he was speaking to why HE takes issue with it. He stated his reasons (and I agree with many points even though I've chosen to remain positive as much as I can because whether I like it or not, Aura is happening and I'd may as well focus on its positive points) because people put him on the defensive by criticizing those who take issue with this building.

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My "middle ground" argument between the people who hate this project and those who like/love it:

At the end of the day, let's all try to be polite and POSITIVE. Even if you don't like this building, there's no need to be negative and shit all over the situation and make it worse than it already is for you. That 1) doesn't make the building any better and 2) ticks off the people who are being positive about this project.

[Ramako]

Great photo, but again - what is with those horizontal lines on those ground floor windows/spandrels? Why are they so utterly random in height - except for the last two, which for some reason match? Surely there's a more sleek way to put this building together. It *really* feels like, "Oh crap we need to get the drawings out to meet the construction deadline - don't worry that it doesn't make sense!"

Passing by this incomprehensible building makes me want to cry.

It seems unlikely to me that the architect would make such a design choice for no apparent reason.

Yonge Street slopes gently downward from College to Gerrard. As a result, you'll notice that the heights of the store fronts along Ross and Macdonald's College Park gradually step down as you move south along Yonge:



http://www.blogto.com/city/2011/04/a...onto_taxicabs/


It seems pretty obvious to me that store fronts along Aura's podium is an attempt to echo that effect:



By: rdaner

[SP!RE]

While that's true, I think what troubles some of us is that they would try to use that approach on a modern design where all the other horizontals stay constant/parallel across the entire Yonge Street facade.

The old College Park also has expanses of stone above the storefront windows which give "breathing room" for the change in grade and the change in the store-front heights as they move down the slope. Aura's podium has very stressed horizontal lines in its glass all around its storefronts, so it makes the change in alignment of those silver strips a strange sight.

Disclaimer: Everything I have just said is nothing but my opinion at the end of the day, as it is a subjective comment about design and has nothing to do with the quality, or functionality of this building. I am not trying to foist my opinion on others, but rather engage in a civil exchange of ideas and viewpoints. There, I covered my ass.

[Ramako]

But he wasn't talking about what is enough to make YOU hate a building, he was speaking to why HE takes issue with it. He stated his reasons (and I agree with many points even though I've chosen to remain positive as much as I can because whether I like it or not, Aura is happening and I'd may as well focus on its positive points) because people put him on the defensive by criticizing those who take issue with this building.

-------------------------------------

My "middle ground" argument between the people who hate this project and those who like/love it:

At the end of the day, let's all try to be polite and POSITIVE. Even if you don't like this building, there's no need to be negative and shit all over the situation and make it worse than it already is for you. That 1) doesn't make the building any better and 2) ticks off the people who are being positive about this project.

I'll admit that this building is no masterpiece. Some might say it's even mediocre or subpar. What bothers me are the posters who insist that it is an utter and total "disaster". What hyperbole.

What's worse is that it's often accompanied by large doses of self-righteousness and indignation, not to mention the constant snark that those who can appreciate this building only do so because of its height. How pompous. It leads me to believe that some of these posters go out of their way to amplify the derision for this tower precisely because it is so big, as if to make a statement about their supposedly superior and nuanced sensibilities.

[Miscreant]

Awesome shot, caltrane. Your constant updates, to echo another member here, are so appreciated.