Toronto Massey Tower Condos | 206.95m | 60s | MOD Developments | Hariri Pontarini

[CITY_LOVER]

Thats good to hear and all... But im still trying to get my head around how people find the massing render awesome

I agree with you, however, the reason behind some thinking it's totally awesome is because it's tall, not grey (at least per the render), and not a complete box. In this city, those reasons alone can result in some being blown away (and you can't blame them). The only thing is I wonder if either the north or east wall will be blank/window-less?

 

[shenshen51]

Well i thought the render was boring and thoughtless. For the first time i dont understand the hype

The hype is not from the rendering.. the hype is from the entire project. The combination of restoring the heritage building and the condo itself makes it exciting and hence the hype.. especially when the restored building has such a long and rich history.. I personally love the rendering at the street level.. Love the idea of walking into the main entrance through the bank of commerce building. I personally don't really care about how the condo itself look.. The fact it is situated, in my opinion the BEST location in toronto, on Yonge/Dundas, make it one of the best condo development to invest in. I already know which unit i want.. can't wait!

 

[Automation Gallery]

The hype is not from the rendering.. the hype is from the entire project. The combination of restoring the heritage building and the condo itself makes it exciting and hence the hype.. especially when the restored building has such a long and rich history.. I personally love the rendering at the street level.. Love the idea of walking into the main entrance through the bank of commerce building. I personally don't really care about how the condo itself look.. The fact it is situated, in my opinion the BEST location in toronto, on Yonge/Dundas, make it one of the best condo development to invest in. I already know which unit i want.. can't wait!

Right-on shenshen, well said...and welcome to the forum

 

[Torontovibe]

The sad part about this development is that the historic building will be used as the entrance to the condo, so very few of us will ever get to see the inside. I was hoping it would be the retail portion. The public should have access to these beautiful, historic buildings. It's basically the same thing that happened to the James Cooper Mansion condo. I wish I could see inside that one too.

 

[Automation Gallery]

The sad part about this development is that the historic building will be used as the entrance to the condo, so very few of us will ever get to see the inside. I was hoping it would be the retail portion. The public should have access to these beautiful, historic buildings. It's basically the same thing that happened to the James Cooper Mansion condo. I wish I could see inside that one too.

I dont know about that, they're private property...there are hundreds of historical buildings in town in the same situation and not open to the public
Hey, admiring them beats out lossing them

 

[Johnzz]

what is it that you are "simply stunned" by? the renderings that nobody has seen?

Sorry, my comments relate to unreleased renderings and floor plans. If we're lucky, they (and more) might be publically released this week or next.

 

[greenleaf]

The sad part about this development is that the historic building will be used as the entrance to the condo, so very few of us will ever get to see the inside. I was hoping it would be the retail portion. The public should have access to these beautiful, historic buildings. It's basically the same thing that happened to the James Cooper Mansion condo. I wish I could see inside that one too.

Fair enough that you wish it had a retail portion here, but I'm not buying the access issue. Why should the public be able to see every heritage building interior? This is a similar line of thinking that is leading to the destruction of the old Deer Park United Church at 129 St. Clair.

 

[k10ery]

Emphasis on "these days". Times change. It is inevitable that a public backlash to the banality of Neo-Modernism will occur, just like it did with 70s modernism. A Neo-PoMo if you will. We've seen signs of it already with the original 88 Scott, and Trump. I see no harm in variety. We sorely need it in Toronto.

When I replied to you in another thread about neo-PoMo, Trump and 88 Scott were exactly the buildings I was thinking about. Perhaps you're right about the need for some variety. But take that original render for the top of 88 Scott. It seemed so graceless, it was just calling out for cleaner lines and simpler forms.

If you look around the city now at buildings of the 60s, 70s, and 80s, which decade of architecture do you think we could most do without?

 

[CityPlaceN1]

It is Yonge Street so retail should have been attempted to give that side of the street a continuous retail street wall.

 

[AlbertC]

The historical building will be used as the front lobby, but there will still be retail. There will be a glass box for retail space (where the current "park" is) as part of the podium, and slightly set-back from the bank building to allow the facade to be more visible.

 

[ThomasJ]

Sorry, my comments relate to unreleased renderings and floor plans. If we're lucky, they (and more) might be publically released this week or next.

aha! someone in-the-know! are you part of the development team?

 

[innsertnamehere]

could the glass box be an apple store?..

 

[Tulse]

could the glass box be an apple store?..

Apple already has a very busy store in Eaton Centre, and my guess is that their next expansion would be at One Bloor.

 

[caltrane74]

Massey Tower in Pre sales

http://www.insidetorontocondos.com/the-massey-tower-worksheet

 

[freshcutgrass]

When I replied to you in another thread about neo-PoMo, Trump and 88 Scott were exactly the buildings I was thinking about.

As someone already mentioned, I would not consider those buildings neo-PoMo. I would call them neo-deco, which isn't really a style at all....just consumer-driven "products". 88 Scot is just a slightly more appealing version of the Uptown. Good architects just don't design these things (Sadly, Zeidler's best days are obviously behind him).

PoMo was a very sophisticated style, and there aren't a lot of really good examples. It degraded very quickly into a cheap, unsophisticated style, favoured by shopping plazas and big box centres. I don't really consider any of it "neo", as PoMo never really died...it just became a long, drawn-out affair of poor examples, that the "serious" architects mostly abandoned. Kind of like Rap & Hip Hop music.

Massey Tower obviously is relating to the Eaton Centre towers (or it's maybe just a coincidence). What's interesting, is that it resembles the early days of PoMo in the late 70's, when you could see the shift happening from Late Modernism to PoMo, before the more avant guard stuff started appearing. Eaton Centre, as a complex, was an interesting blend of High tech and PoMo. Even the Young St facade was great as originally intended (early renderings). Of course it's been mostly ruined now, which is a real shame.

A good example of what Massey Tower reminds me of, is Helmut Jahn's Xerox Centre (1977-1980) in Chicago.