Toronto 80 Bloor Street West | 263.4m | 78s | Krugarand | Arcadis

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It was a placeholder of sorts from what I gather.

And an indication of how much further Toronto still has to go. In top cities beautiful designs are the intended end result and get built. In Toronto we just draw mirages of what we'd like to build but have no intention of building. If we want to be taken seriously as a top global metropolis like New York we need to be top shelf in EVERYTHING we do. Settling for stuff that would be a nice building in Edmonton won't get us there.
 
And an indication of how much further Toronto still has to go. In top cities beautiful designs are the intended end result and get built. In Toronto we just draw mirages of what we'd like to build but have no intention of building. If we want to be taken seriously as a top global metropolis like New York we need to be top shelf in EVERYTHING we do. Settling for stuff that would be a nice building in Edmonton won't get us there.
I'd like to agree with you...but I don't think we're the only city in the world that has proposals with fantastical placeholders in their renders.
 
And an indication of how much further Toronto still has to go. In top cities beautiful designs are the intended end result and get built. In Toronto we just draw mirages of what we'd like to build but have no intention of building. If we want to be taken seriously as a top global metropolis like New York we need to be top shelf in EVERYTHING we do. Settling for stuff that would be a nice building in Edmonton won't get us there.
I mean yea toronto isn’t unique in this sense... everywhere does this. I mean in other cities it's more common than here to never finish a mega project even if it already under construction, so we’re ahead in that regard.
 
And an indication of how much further Toronto still has to go. In top cities beautiful designs are the intended end result and get built. In Toronto we just draw mirages of what we'd like to build but have no intention of building. If we want to be taken seriously as a top global metropolis like New York we need to be top shelf in EVERYTHING we do. Settling for stuff that would be a nice building in Edmonton won't get us there.

With great respect, NYC is far from top-shelf in much of what it does.

The same could be said of London, Paris, or Tokyo.

It's perfectly fine to admire other places for one aspect of things they tend to do better than Toronto on average; or a particular project that is just exceptional; but its really hyperbolic to take that from the specific to the general.

This is a fine example of NYC architecture:

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And the adjacent public realm:

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Let's be clear, NYC has lots of great buildings, streetscapes and parks.

Those are praise-worthy.

But it's not every building or streetscape or park.
 
And an indication of how much further Toronto still has to go. In top cities beautiful designs are the intended end result and get built. In Toronto we just draw mirages of what we'd like to build but have no intention of building. If we want to be taken seriously as a top global metropolis like New York we need to be top shelf in EVERYTHING we do. Settling for stuff that would be a nice building in Edmonton won't get us there.
Since Toronto is starting to become a high tech leader in North America. These tech enthusiast should create big high tech mechanical drones. That can attach complicated facade parts like a puzzle to these skyscraper. Creating the original vidual rendering facades that the architect designed. So we don't have to go through cheap final result like Mirvish gehry development for eg.
 
With great respect, NYC is far from top-shelf in much of what it does.

The same could be said of London, Paris, or Tokyo.

It's perfectly fine to admire other places for one aspect of things they tend to do better than Toronto on average; or a particular project that is just exceptional; but it's really hyperbolic to take that from the specific to the general.

This is a fine example of NYC architecture:

View attachment 305900

And the adjacent public realm:

View attachment 305901

Let's be clear, NYC has lots of great buildings, streetscapes and parks.

Those are praise-worthy.

But it's not every building or streetscape or park.
False equivalence. Comparing the standards being discussed for a redevelopment proposal on our Mink Mile with an old existing grocery store in Harlem does not help support your point.

The watering down of proposals happens everywhere and people need to understand that renders really don't mean much in the grand scheme of things. Anyone can get a shiny render made but it's really what's in the SPA that matters ultimately with regards to how something will pan out.
 
And an indication of how much further Toronto still has to go. In top cities beautiful designs are the intended end result and get built. In Toronto we just draw mirages of what we'd like to build but have no intention of building. If we want to be taken seriously as a top global metropolis like New York we need to be top shelf in EVERYTHING we do. Settling for stuff that would be a nice building in Edmonton won't get us there.
While Toronto is definitely not at New York levels yet, as others have mentioned New York has plenty of mediocre projects as well. When it's not your city, the only projects you really gravitate towards or see are the major ones and the really well done ones.

Because we are in Ontario and follow this forum we are exposed to nearly all the ongoing projects in toronto. Most of us would have nowhere near that scope on New York projects. We see their super slims, Hudson's yard and maybe the other odd building and go, look at all the fantastic architecture and building designs going up in new york!

Likewise someone from New York who follows construction and buildings probably has no idea about this, or Concord house, or yv11 or really any other building in the mid 200m range.

They see the One, M+G, CIBC Square, maybe they see pinnacle one yonge, and union park. And likewise they go wow, look at all the quality projects Toronto is building I wish New York would have every building built to that standard.

It's all a matter of perspective and where you live and what you pay attention to
 
False equivalence. Comparing the standards being discussed for a redevelopment proposal on our Mink Mile with an old existing grocery store in Harlem does not help support your point.

The watering down of proposals happens everywhere and people need to understand that renders really don't mean much in the grand scheme of things. Anyone can get a shiny render made but it's really what's in the SPA that matters ultimately with regards to how something will pan out.

I'm not excusing shortcomings in delivery of some projects in Toronto, nor drawing an equivalence between the Harlem Grocery store and the Mink Mile; I was responding to a specific statement that was hyperbolic and showing it to be so.

Nothing more, nothing less.
 

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