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Toronto 1980s

These - and especially the photo's from the '70s on the other thread - show what a pioneering venture Harbour Square was when it was planned in the ( pre-Harbourfront ) mid-1960s. The only context the condos fit into when they first went on the market was entirely industrial - railway tracks, disused factories and a declining but still working harbour. Who in their right mind would have wanted to live by the lake in those days? A few brave souls, I guess ...
 
I know Toronto was the city that worked back then... but my God is it ever depressing-looking.

I much prefer the Toronto of today, it just shows how far we've come in 2 short decades.
 
Filip said:
I know Toronto was the city that worked back then... but my God is it ever depressing-looking.

I much prefer the Toronto of today, it just shows how far we've come in 2 short decades.
Click to expand...

I agree. I remember visiting Toronto as a kid in the 1980s and thinking, something's not quite right. It wasn't quite as cool as the other big cities I'd visited, something was missing. Now it's one of my favourite cities to visit in North America. It's come a long way.
 
It's rather sad to look at these pictures and realize that, since Revell's New City Hall, Mies's TD Centre, and Pei's Commerce Court went up some 40 years ago, Toronto hasn't built any government or office buildings of internationally recognised architectural significance in the downtown core and business district. The creative promise that those buildings represented has been largely dissipated.
 
Urban Shocker said:
It's rather sad to look at these pictures and realize that, since Revell's New City Hall, Mies's TD Centre, and Pei's Commerce Court went up some 40 years ago, Toronto hasn't built any government or office buildings of internationally recognised architectural significance in the downtown core and business district. The creative promise that those buildings represented has been largely dissipated.
Click to expand...


I don't know about "internationally recognized", but I think TO has had some decent additions in the past decade (the 90s were a bit of a blackhole). OCAD, The Gardiner Museum, ROM Crystal (controversial, but let's not get into that) and I have faith in the new AGO addition. You can't see them in the skyline, but I think those buildings have had a positive impact on the neighborhoods.

That said, it would be nice to get a really top class office tower. I don't necessarily mean tall, but nice. Something Gherkin-esque. BAC is a bit of a disappointment in that regard. Interestingly, Mississauga is getting a rather impressive addition (Absolute World), which would probably shock someone from the 80s.

p.s. I.M. Pei designed CC West? Gah! That is my least favorite of the bank towers, so bland! I work in CC East (equally bland) and have to stare at that thing all day.

EDIT: I wasn't alive at this point, I am amazed by how large the rail way tracks were. Wow, complain about CityPlace, but it is a big improvement on that.
 
Urban Shocker said:
It's rather sad to look at these pictures and realize that, since Revell's New City Hall, Mies's TD Centre, and Pei's Commerce Court went up some 40 years ago, Toronto hasn't built any government or office buildings of internationally recognised architectural significance in the downtown core and business district. The creative promise that those buildings represented has been largely dissipated.
Click to expand...

That's unfortunately true. The only other office development which comes to mind is Brookfield Place with its Galleria. But the creativity must have dissipated into our cultural institutions and educational centres.
 
Thanks Mike. Great pictures

Urban Shocker said:
It's rather sad to look at these pictures and realize that, since Revell's New City Hall, Mies's TD Centre, and Pei's Commerce Court went up some 40 years ago, Toronto hasn't built any government or office buildings of internationally recognised architectural significance in the downtown core and business district. The creative promise that those buildings represented has been largely dissipated.
Click to expand...

We have had some since ... like Santiago Calatrava's BCE Place ... But I agree, we have not had our fair share given our status on the world stage.
 
Every boom has given Toronto landmark office developments downtown.. Except this one, but it's a given, we will have to wait for the next round (not many companies left who would take a 2 million sqf tower anyway...)
 
great 2 threads!! What a difference... Toronto has really grown up in the last few years.. you dont even have to look that far back to see the difference..I would even compare the city to what it was 10 years ago to see how much has actually changed!
 
Wow..great photos.

I was born in 79 and raised in Toronto my entire life, and I don't remember it being so barren, but I guess that's the way it is when you see something on a daily basis...you don't notice the change.

It's strange that I don't remember a time when ScotiaPlaza, TD tower, BCE place, etc. weren't around.

And I don't remember the train tracks being so prominent either.

Anyone notice the copter?
 
Filip said:
Every boom has given Toronto landmark office developments downtown.. Except this one, but it's a given, we will have to wait for the next round (not many companies left who would take a 2 million sqf tower anyway...)
Click to expand...

Toronto had a boom since then?
 
Perhaps not internationally recognized, the best of Toronto's financial core towers is Scotiabank Plaza. I'm sure that statement will be largely contested, but it and the TD Canada Trust Tower are my favourite downtown skyscrapers. They carried the creativity and promise into the 1980s and early 1990s in my opinion. Since then we've seen some more wonderful towers (Simcoe Place and the Sun Life buildings on King), but sadly they are too short. If either of those developments was built twice as tall, they'd be truly spectacular.
 
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