This looks somewhat similar (see link). My contention has more to do with the standard, minimalist, straight line approach to design in this city; where any deviation from that is often called ‘too busy.’ There seems to be an obsessive, unrelenting tendency toward this ‘less is more’ design philosophy, and it is tiring. Remove the pointed roofline, and this looks like almost any other neomodernist, institutional building in the city that has been built in the last couple of decades. This proposal might have been more practical with respect to its interior spaces (though, we know very little about each proposal’s interior layout). The Shiberu Ban proposal would have been a one-of-a-kind structure in Toronto. Nothing remotely resembles its supple, elegant, organic curves. It was easily one of the most imaginative buildings this city has ever had the chance of possessing: from the clever Super Mario warp pipe on the roof, to the the tree-like columns and neo gothic window arches at the main entrance (which remind me of the World Trade Center); the large, curved, wooden beams throughout the interior space; the spiral staircase; the honey gold glazing & roof panels, etc. Is the winning proposal (though, certainly more attractive) really that far of a step up from the adjacent Innovation Centre, that has yet to be built? It looks very conservative and still very timid. A sharp-angled roofline doesn’t really push the envelope, in my opinion. That’s the only really distinctive feature I can see with this design. It doesn’t move me in any way. This could fit into any university or college campus anywhere in Canada and not really stand out, in my view. Even to the layman, I think the Shigeru Ban proposal would demand one’s attention and would turn heads. Anyone could appreciate it solely on a visceral level. It would be nice to see this proposal get built somewhere else in the city. It is too good of a design to give up. Unfortunately, that won’t happen.
https://www.google.ca/maps/place/Sp...2!3m1!1s0x882b34c07c298151:0x6d8ea3c7a0056e10