The Shell Oil Tower

[LowPolygon]

What post-Modern built heritage?

Mississauga City Hall is the only small blip on the radar that denotes the brief appearance of PoMo hereabouts that I can think of.

it seems true to say that there are virtually no important postmodern structures in Toronto...virtually all examples are strikingly half hearted and half baked...

the most egregious being clunkers like Scotia Plaza, Metro Hall, the Sun Life Centre, and the Holiday Inn on King, along with the dozens of 20-odd story green reflective glass and pink granite howlers that squat on the GTA landscape. (this tradition has had an unfortunate last minute resuscitation in the forms of College Park and 1 King West, which can easily rank with the worst of the worst from the 80's)

i suppose one could include the first BCE tower as a lonely good example of early 80's postmodernism...although i'm sure there would be vociferous objections to that from some quarters. note: please don't post same vociferous objections--i will just assume they exist.

(i happen to like BCE place, in part because it just seems rather tasteful with its grey honed granite, and simple unadorned form.)

for proto-post modern we of course have Royal Bank Plaza and a few others...

in any event, the 80's were a period of great hamfisted kitschiness in the city, for the entire period Toronto was awash with one turkey after another utilizing the same same lame ziggurat motifs, "classy" cheesy materials and boneheaded historicism.

 

[adma]

What post-Modern built heritage?

Mississauga City Hall is the only small blip on the radar that denotes the brief appearance of PoMo hereabouts that I can think of.

Within the 416, the best of the PoMo best IMO is the Lillian Smith Library

 

[adma]

Isn't rebuilding akin to facadism - a weak and unsatisfying approach?

Depends. On balance, I don't think Mies' Barcelona Pavillion came off too badly for the fact, even if the "lost masterpiece" mystique was gone forever. And of course, there were all sorts of postwar rebuildings at Warsaw et al--but that was more of a case of striking while the iron was hot and the tabula was rasa and the sentiment was valid. (What might be comparable locally is if they rebuilt the burnt Duke's Cycle block on Queen.)

Then again, when it comes to targets of the "weak and unsatisfying approach" critique, there's the controversy over the proposal to rebuild Berlin's Stadtschloss--and that's been nagging at me re the notion of arbitrarily resurrecting the Shell Tower...

 

[LowPolygon]

Within the 416, the best of the PoMo best IMO is the Lillian Smith Library

i like that one too. unusually fine detailing, and that fantastic arch over the main entrance...

 

[ganjavih]

Yeah, that's some fine PoMo. I wouldn't mind some more of this higher quality PoMo around TO to contrast the minimalist modernism that is so pervasive.

But anyway, back to the Bulova tower...

 

[LowPolygon]

But anyway, back to the Bulova tower...

you're absolutely right, sorry for yanking the discussion 'over there'. 80's architecture is a bit of a pet peeve of mine...

so carry on!

 

[Tewder]

the most egregious being clunkers like Scotia Plaza...

I like Scotia Plaza, and makes a nice statement on the skyline as a contrast to so many boxy minimalist buildings.

in any event, the 80's were a period of great hamfisted kitschiness in the city, for the entire period Toronto was awash with one turkey after another utilizing the same same lame ziggurat motifs, "classy" cheesy materials and boneheaded historicism.

Of course that says something about power and money. But maybe it also says something about the time lag between when a significant building is designed and when it becomes a treasured landmark.

Maybe it says something about the inability to distinguish between what is in fashion/out of fashion and what has an architectural importance that transcends fashion. The Shell Tower was right in the middle of that 25 to 50 year zone of vulnerability - the Dead Zone - when nasty things can easily happen to nice buildings.

Excellent post US...

Deepend, please refer to US.

 

[junctionist]

When I mentioned postmodern heritage I had Metro Hall, the CBC building, the Rogers headquarters building, 35 The Esplanade, Scotia Plaza and One St. Thomas in mind. Of course, the movement has dominated new housing and small projects, and there are interesting examples around the city, like this block on Queen Street. None of those are the definitive icons of the city, and they're not the avant-garde of the movement, but it's what we have of an important cultural movement. It sure is part of our heritage.

Also, I agree about Lillian Smith Library, it is a fine postmodern building.

 

[Dan416]

So since people have fond memories of the "Four Sisters" at Lakeview Generating Station, we should rebuild them? Like, yesterday? I mean, how will people traverse the lake without those landmarks!

 

[JasonParis]

How about a new tower at The Ex that exudes "today"?

 

[Automation Gallery]

How about a new tower at The Ex that exudes "today"?

How about something like this

 

[adma]

Lest we forget

 

[LowPolygon]

how about this?

 

[LowPolygon]

this might be better

 

[MetroMan]

How about something like this

The Vasco da Gama tower didn't do too well in its second life as a restaurant (first life as the icon for Expo98) so they're turning it into a hotel. If you're going to build a tower, it has to have some appeal. This one is actually the tallest building in Lisbon –*although you can get way up higher by going to one of neighborhoods built on the hills of Lisbon.

The issue here is if we tried to build something like this, it would be competing with the CN Tower which looms not too far off in the distance. The CNE tower would lose miserably. It wouldn't stand out in the skyline and it would be far from the highest place to view the city if that's the thrill you're looking for. There wouldn't be much city to view around it anyway.

If you're going to go for a new landmark at the CNE, make it something that doesn't already exist in the city: