Toronto L-Tower | 204.82m | 58s | Cityzen | Daniel Libeskind

Build Up said:
(...) without the boot thou:(
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^ It will turn out just fine. We miss the "boot" because we saw it first. If we had never seen it, we'd be loving this tower 100%. It's the most unconventional design of a tall tower in Toronto since the CN Tower. There's nothing like it anywhere in the city.

Ritz teases with bold design, L Tower goes all the way. :)
 
I was so excited about that boot and the public component but I'll take it even without the beautiful boot but they better not cheap out on this and change the roof to a flat top or something. Then I'd lose it!
 
MetroMan said:
^ It will turn out just fine. We miss the "boot" because we saw it first. If we had never seen it, we'd be loving this tower 100%.
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I disagree. The problem is that the "boot" was so integral to this design. Without the boot, the design just doesn't make sense. The sense of balance is gone, the sense that the tower was architecturally part of the Sony Centre, and the tower ends so awkwardly-- not just as if it were designed that way-- but as if a piece of it was literally lopped off. Wait-- it was!

And therein lies the problem. The tower's design should be adjusted. It doesn't reflect well on Libeskind to just remove a piece of his tower and pretend nothing ever happened-- you have to adjust, sculpt, evolve the tower when a change as dramatic as the podium area being removed occurs.
 
Hey, I will miss the boot but it always looked like a hack job of the sony centre.
 
Spire, I share your pain, but the developer is not going to request changes to the tower that will imperil any of their sales.

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Yeah... too true. Stupid developers :mad: hehe.

I think what bothers me is how the "boot" brought graceful curves into the vocabulary of the Sony Centre. Without it, the tower looks tacked on and not in a way that matches the current, edgier angularity of the Sony Centre.

Hopefully we won't regret this too much in the future.



PS. Couldn't they rough in the connection for the "boot" so that when funding is in place it can still be built?
 
brise said:
voila



It also says that David Miller, Dalton McGuinty, and Daniel Libeskind "have indicated they will attend".
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I'm perplexed that they're still calling it the "L Tower" and using the L Tower logo, it's rather misleading to those who may still purchase there or are unaware that it has even been scaled back.
 
I don't know why they couldn't have built the boot or maybe a smaller version of it, and used it for retail or offices. I think it still might have been viable in a smaller form. Lower Yonge Street could use some retail or maybe another restaurant on that corner. That little square that they plan to put there will be quite useless. I'm sure even it's modest design, will be compromised to be nothing more than concrete and a few benches.

Hey, where did that fountain go? The Toronto cheap-out!
 
Also, you can still make a case for calling it an 'L' based on the architecture alone. The east elevation behind the Sony Centre and along the Esplanade acts as the new boot. Check out the model:

Mike in TO said:
3426513539_f1fc42a7df_o.jpg


3426513489_fc45ff8316_o.jpg
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Torontovibe said:
I don't know why they couldn't have built the boot or maybe a smaller version of it, and used it for retail or offices. I think it still might have been viable in a smaller form.
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You may 'think' that it is viable, but the development proponent and financial partners who have spent the last few years trying to make it work and have done extensive due diligence and have access to volumes of material to support their conclusion, obviously don't believe that it would work or aren't in a position to take the risk to construct the 'boot'.

SP!RE said:
It doesn't reflect well on Libeskind to just remove a piece of his tower and pretend nothing ever happened-- you have to adjust, sculpt, evolve the tower when a change as dramatic as the podium area being removed occurs.
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Maybe it could have been finessed better, but Libeskind doesn't have much of a choice - the expected senior levels of government funding never materialized, therefore the initial vision could not be executed - what was Libeskind supposed to do? Walk away from the project or work with his client to make the best of a difficult situation? Buildings evolve and change all the time - especially in the cultural/institutional sector where Libeskind has spent a considerable amount of his career in.

SP!RE said:
Yeah... too true. Stupid developers
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No one is ever happy... fans of a building, yet angry with those that put themselves at considerable risk to make it happen (albeit a watered-down version). The developers were in a position to a) walk away from the project or b) scale down the project to make it work. It's too bad that we aren't getting the initial vision, but overall it's a pretty stunning and unique project (should make all the 'box-haters' and people obsessed with height happy).
 
The "stupid developers" comment was half in jest. Hence the "hehe". I realize that they just can't make everyone happy.

As for Libeskind walking away from the project-- I never suggested he should do such a thing. But I do think he should have done something better than this afterthought we get-- the base is a horrendous disaster ("chopped and melted") and the tower just doesn't work in its current state. So maybe some changes would have been nice.

Anyways :cool: in the skyline it will be STUNNING-- just from ground level it will be awkward.
 
Mike in TO said:
Maybe it could have been finessed better, but Libeskind doesn't have much of a choice - the expected senior levels of government funding never materialized, therefore the initial vision could not be executed - what was Libeskind supposed to do?
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That's why I don't get why McGuinty will be there.
 
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