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1 St Thomas (Lee Development, 29s, Stern)

What's your opinion of 1 St. Thomas?

  • Total voters
    33
  • Poll closed .
Well, buildup ...

Stern's Darden School of Business is a faux Jeffersonian academic theme park. His Disney Boardwalk unashamedly ( indeed boastfully ) cribs styles from the 1870's to World War One. His East Hampton Library continues the Tudorbethan style of the original building, faux on faux. Celebration, his New Urbanist Florida compound, offers nothing but retreads of earlier styles from his Sears Catalogue of safe bourgeois comfort food style-pablum. His Edgewater Apartments in Vancouver rival the Cheddington. His Spangler Campus Center at Harvard Business School is faux Georgian. His Vogelstein Dormitory at the Taft School in Connecticut is Oxbridge neo-Gothic.

The question isn't where to begin but when to stop ...
 
But that's my point - you are using words like "faux" and "crib" selectively. I'd expect that in every example you cited I'd see inspiration plus obvious points of distinction. No-one ever suggested Stern, or anyone else, is attempting to be 100% orginal.

Still waiting for examples of tracing, not inspiration.
 
The snow-sculpture penis erected last weekend by the lads of Gate House, across the road from 1 St. Thomas, had more originality going for it than Robert A. M. Stern's big thing does.
 
buildup said:
There's often a correlation between accomplishment and tolerance. Obviously Stern is more accomplished, by any practical measure, than anyone on this board. And he obviously has an identifiable style. Yet, he is well known for fostering an environment at Yale where competing architectural styles find acceptance and expression.

And while he may be arrogant, at least its supported by a record. He's a blushing violet compared to his critics.
Click to expand...

Again, my comparison of Stern to Kenneth Whyte...
 
OK, at the suggestion of several, I've done the best I could at separating the architecture debate from the construction/project thread, with a few liberties to keep some sort of flow.

If there are enough comments or requests that this separation should be reversed, it's easy to do (only takes a second).

Again with the ground rules. Debate is great. Please keep it civil and remain respectful of others and mindful that others have different opinions than you, and they (mostly) have at least some merit or validity.

Thank you. We return to your regularly scheduled free-for-all.
 
I've tried to separate construction and photo updates in this thread from the much wider debate on the building, Stern and architectural styles.

For now, the debate thread is here.

It is easy enough to reverse the split, but it was suggested by several here. Please let us know if we should revert.

Thanks!
 
L-a-s-t P-o-s-t

This is also my last post to this thread. So post all the pictures and praise to high heaven your marvelous Stern building. Toronto, you deserve every last inch of it!

- Z
 
Hydrogen said:
No, no. You are supposed to hate this and like the sophisticated contemporary brick parking garage podium at the Distillery with its thoughtfully designed hole revealing the essential truth of its garageness.
Click to expand...

LOL!
 
Giving it some thought, and based on feedback from several members, I have reversed the thread split. I thought it made sense at the time (given some calls for it), but agree that unlike most thread splits, it does make an impact on discussion.

However, I wonder if it makes sense to move the thread to buildings and architecture since it is complete and occupied, and the nature of the debate becoming in many ways broader than just about this building.
 
^ should you choose to move the thread... this Stern building planned for Paris may be of interest:

A07053%20Vue%20Depuis%20L%27Esplanade%20De%20La%20Defense1.jpg
 
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