androiduk
Senior Member
Tulips have been planted and you can see buds on the trees that are in direct sunlight. According to a worker, the trees in the shade should start budding in mid May.
Toronto Bloor Street Revitalization | ?m | ?s | Bloor-Yorkville BIA | architectsAlliance
4grand
Active Member
Can someone tell me why the builders/architects of the Marriott thought it prudent to build a concrete wall along Bloor? Urban Planning cannot have changed that much... could it?
dt_toronto_geek
Superstar
I took a similar photo yesterday from the north side but forgot to post it. I'm away for the week now on a laptop so next weekend perhaps. As I walked along on Saturday I imagined the street once the flowers bloom & leaves come out on the trees and I think it's going to look fantastic.
barrytron3030
Active Member
it is precisely because a giant concrete wall is financially prudent that the marriott was designed that way. also, i'm not sure urban planners and architects of the time realized bloor's tremendous potential, nor could they predict how glass and steel modernism would come to dominate the toronto (and international) urban landscape.
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Zeiss
Active Member
I think that behind that ugly wall is not Marriott, it's the Bay store. The Bay doesn't want customers to look from the windows, the customer has to pay attention only inside the store, on the products and buy.
adma
Superstar
Brutalist concrete was the "in" thing. That's all that needs to be said.
androiduk
Senior Member
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upsidedown
New Member
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I probably missed the explanation somewhere..but what are these contraptions?
khris
Senior Member
They're for the roots of the trees to grow in. Otherwise the trees would die.
upsidedown
New Member
Does it water the roots or just give em some extra structure/strength?
khris
Senior Member
I'm not sure. However if you go back through this thread, there is a lot of discussion about it.
MetroMan
Senior Member
Those pillars essentially hold up the sidewalk from compacting the soil. This allows roots to grow freely for long distances rather than being contained in the concrete planters that we see scattered around the city. Trees with these conditions can thrive and live out full lives. We'll actually see full grown trees with beautiful canopies along Bloor in 10 years and longer.
4grand
Active Member
Good point Metro man, that sounds like it will look very nice in the spring/summer/fall.
One thing I wished they had done, and it seems Toronto has never done, is adding that steel/copper? rim around the corner curves in the sidewalk to protect it from unwieldy turning cars maybe? It seems ubiquitous in the US, especially NYC and Chicago... I assume it's an old tradition.
One thing I wished they had done, and it seems Toronto has never done, is adding that steel/copper? rim around the corner curves in the sidewalk to protect it from unwieldy turning cars maybe? It seems ubiquitous in the US, especially NYC and Chicago... I assume it's an old tradition.
condovo
Senior Member
Just don't add salt or pollution.
Those are Silva Cells being installed under the new sidewalks. http://www.deeproot.com/products/silva-cell/silva-cell-overview.html
Hipster Duck
Senior Member
Yeah, I always assumed that it was the copious amounts of salt that we dump on the road that kill our street trees (and my leather shoes).