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The Architect:

Actually 18 Yorkville was one of the more highly regarded projects of its' time - and the architectural treatment of the lower levels remains a gold standard for that area which atrocities like Regency would be hard pressed to meet.

AoD
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
The Architect:

Actually 18 Yorkville was one of the more highly regarded projects of its' time - and the architectural treatment of the lower levels remains a gold standard for that area which atrocities like Regency would be hard pressed to meet.

AoD
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Yuck. The tower is ugly and the podium is a street killer along Yonge, somehow worse than the Library. The podium part of it may look good, but it still is a blank stretch along Yonge which is awful considering the street it's on.

No idea how it is highly regarded by any means.
 
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Toronto Urban Design Awards 2007:
The Winners

Award of Excellence
Building in Context - Private
Mid-rise building

18 Yorkville and The Villas at Yorkville
18 Yorkdale and The Villas at Yorkdale

Address: 18 Yorkville Avenue / 21 Scollard Street
Architecture/Urban Design: architectsAlliance
Landscape Architecture: Janet Rosenberg and Associates
Client: Great Gulf Homes

Jury Comments
The mid-rise component of this development stands out as an appropriately scaled, contemporary response to the need for increased density in established neighbourhoods. Front doors and stoops on the ground-floor units respect the Victorian row-house vernacular, while a simply and beautifully detailed façade civilizes the extra density.

http://www.toronto.ca/tuda/winners/2007/2007_building_awardex_villas.htm

AoD
 
I thought the debate is about architectural merit, not whether it is a "street killer" (and quite frankly, that's a function of block level redevelopment more than anything else). As to whether the tower is "ugly" or not, well, that's your opinion, but relative to the local towers 18 Yorkville does rather well, particularly considering its' time.

BTW, post-hoc editing of your original post certainly makes for a good case, no?

AoD
 
18 Yorkville should also get some credit for it's context in history. When that went up it set an awful lot of precedents for the area. It replaced that lousy grocery store with the parking lot around it, it was a new level of density for the area, and it really helped to draw "Yorkville" east of Bay. Architecturally, too, it (along with Radio City) kind of ushered in the aA age.

Sometimes it's easy to forget what an area looked like 10 years ago. It's really hard to criticize 18 Yorkville on any level when you still remember the way things were
 
whatever said:
18 Yorkville should also get some credit for it's context in history. When that went up it set an awful lot of precedents for the area. It replaced that lousy grocery store with the parking lot around it, it was a new level of density for the area, and it really helped to draw "Yorkville" east of Bay. Architecturally, too, it (along with Radio City) kind of ushered in the aA age.

Sometimes it's easy to forget what an area looked like 10 years ago. It's really hard to criticize 18 Yorkville on any level when you still remember the way things were
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Good points. I shopped at that grocery store for years (80's & 90's) before it turned into a junk shop and was eventually demolished to make way for 18 Yorkville but I had completely forgot about it already!
 
Wow, I could swear a lot of us thought 18 Yorkville was one of the better towers to go up in the last decade or so. From top to bottom ...
 
The_Architect said:
18 Yorkville is awful, that picture is quite good, I love the old library and fire station.
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Urban Shocker said:
I beg to differ. The tower and townhomes of the earlier 18 Yorkville are a delightful starter set study for those interested in the greater Clewes oeuvre - as exemplified by this block - and a worthy successor to William Hay's Yorkville Town Hall of 1860 which once stood on the site.
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There's another interesting comparison for avid Clewespotters - between early works by The Great Man and later, taller, more austere examples of his work - in the Spire / Indigo 50 Lombard Street pairing.
 
Is that little crepe place still in the podium of 18 Yorkville? That was hardly a "street killer" and says something in a town where condo podiums can barely support a dry cleaners.
 
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taal said:
Wow, I could swear a lot of us thought 18 Yorkville was one of the better towers to go up in the last decade or so. From top to bottom ...
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I'm sure the majority of us do. It would help if Mr. Starchitect might explain why he dislikes the tower so, or at least how it is the definitive street-killer he describes since the general consensus (on UT and around the city, given the awards it's won) is that it's just splendid.
 
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