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Toronto's Ugliest Building

D

DarnDirtyApe

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Opinions?
 
Don't hate me, but I no longer HATE the Nightmare on Elm Street.

It's horrible, but I respect my enemy.
 
I don't even think that Elm street building you guys hate even comes close to the ugliest building. I would actually rank it better architecture than the average highrise slab because at least someone tried creating some kind of cohesive design theme. Didn't we come to some kind of informal agreement that the ugliest building was the highrise on the South-west corner of Bloor and Dundas? (I'm not sure if that was the exact intersection).
 
Ya, usually when this topic comes up that one comes out as the winner (loser?).
 
It's hard to pick one winner/loser for ugliest building in Toronto. There are much uglier buildings in other cities. To me, Toronto's problem is more of a blandness problem and a lack of attention to detail problem than sheer ugliness. What I do find ugly about parts of Toronto though is the incoherent streetscapes, the seemingly random developments that occurred with no thought given to the neighbourhood or context... the 'random buildings that just fell out of the sky' look. That's worse than individual buildings, IMO.

If I had to pick one, that beast at Dundas and Bloor would be up there. I also find the new Ryerson Business Building to be quite hideous. The Nightmare on Elm St could become quite tolerable if its surroundings were built up. A concrete brutalist bohemoth surrounded by a parking lot does make for an attractive combination.

I'm still waiting for the day when poor design, cheap materials and shoddy workmanship are banned in the city.
 
When we say ugliest building, I'm not sure why we pick on only larger buildings. I've driving my bike extensively around the burbs and I could pick any number of chipboard chateaus that are uglier than those proposed here. And they are multiplying by the hundreds, whereas the bar has been raised to some extent on taller, more prominent buildings.

77 Elm has a poetic beauty to it. Every time it comes up here on the forum this debate occurs. It's often stated that if the carpark were converted to some glassy use, it would be an incredible building. I agree.
 
Bloor and Dundas looks ugly, but the mix of uses and the way it meets the street are many times better than most of the better looking buildings in the city.
 
77 Elm Street is actually on the City's Inventory of Heritage Properties, it was designed by Uno Prii, the architect for most of the cool apartment buildings in the Annex.
 
There are much uglier buildings in other cities. To me, Toronto's problem is more of a blandness problem and a lack of attention to detail problem than sheer ugliness. What I do find ugly about parts of Toronto though is the incoherent streetscapes, the seemingly random developments that occurred with no thought given to the neighbourhood or context
Click to expand...

Probably the most accurate description in my opinion. Many streetscapes, particularly some main arteries, simply lack a sense of place. Too often there is nothing unifying or cohesive. It leaves one with a sense of "placelessness." This is particulalrly jarring when one turns off such a faceless main street to find an otherwise nice residential neighbourhood.
 
I've seen a lot uglier. My pic -, take any buillding along Dufferin and you're pretty much guaranteed to have a winner or loser should I say.
 
I think my problem with 77 Elm is how ugly it looks from afar as part of the cityscape. It's ugly at the street level, but not THAT bad.

I also dislike the Bloor & Dufferin building, as well as the high-rise + podium at vaughan road/bathurst/St. Clair, but I only had a picture of 77 Elm.
 
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