alklay
Senior Member
Debate is absolutely pointless if one cannot tell the difference in scale between a 50 story building and the lowrise Rackhouse.
H
Hydrogen
Guest
Apparently, measures have shifted to whether something is "photogenic" or not.
Urban Shocker
Doyenne
Or, as you've put it, "There will eventually be many opportunities to photograph the new, unphotogenic above-ground parking lot."
H
Hydrogen
Guest
No doubt bound to make someone happy.
My reference to the "unphotogenic" parking garage had to do with it being left without a "silly" covering. My subjective view is that the goings-on inside it be hidden from view.
My reference to the "unphotogenic" parking garage had to do with it being left without a "silly" covering. My subjective view is that the goings-on inside it be hidden from view.
SP!RE
°°°°°°
The curtain wall/glass on Pure Spirit looks so chintzy. Especially in person... it looks very plasticky and cheap. Ugh... SPIRE was far nicer.
purespirits
New Member
You know I thought that as well let me tell you:
I work right beside Spire and Purchased in Pure Spirits and honestly as of today I went to view Pure Spirits and thought the glass looked cheap but I then went to Spire and honestly its the same glass! it looks exactly the same up close. The difference I believe is that Spire is a finished product, whereas PS is only 10 floors up of partly finished glass... so point is lets wait and see the finished results and also take into account that Spire is much more slender which also adds to the dramatic look.
At the end this is all my opinion what do you all think?
Irishmonk
Senior Member
The circular arguements regarding the relative aesthetic merits of the new towers don't address the real issue at hand, namely: what effect will these towers have on the district's ability to become a viable tourist attraction? Nearly all of the comments on the tower(s) that I have heard in person are scathingly negative, in the vein of WTF?!. In my view this doesn't bode well for the district's future as a major city attraction.
Imagine if a developer bought the Parthenon and then surrounded it with 3 30-50 story glass towers. I'm sure a room full of designers and architecture students could debate its aesthetic merits until the cows come home. The impact, however, would be far fewer tourists and, of course, international outcry. Now, the Distillery ain't the Parthenon but the same principle applies: something small and unique is being surrounded by a group of much larger things that are not unique. In such an equation, the small unique thing rarely, benefits.
Imagine if a developer bought the Parthenon and then surrounded it with 3 30-50 story glass towers. I'm sure a room full of designers and architecture students could debate its aesthetic merits until the cows come home. The impact, however, would be far fewer tourists and, of course, international outcry. Now, the Distillery ain't the Parthenon but the same principle applies: something small and unique is being surrounded by a group of much larger things that are not unique. In such an equation, the small unique thing rarely, benefits.
unimaginative2
Senior Member
A low, attractive, and useful multi-storey parking garage?
It's worse than that. Part of something small, unique, and cohesive is being demolished and replaced by a much larger high-rise condo/parking garage combo.
Urban Shocker
Doyenne
Attempting to portray the delightful regeneration of the Distillery District as being akin to - nay, worse than - a theoretical demise of the Parthenon is surely one of the more ludicrous scaremongering gambits that we've seen, born of unimaginative2's fevered brow, so far on this thread.
alklay
Senior Member
He simply used it to illustrate a point. It was clear that it was not to be taken so literally.
Urban Shocker
Doyenne
Sometimes I wonder how many of you have actually been to the Distillery District, given the views expressed here. It isn't a small site at all; Rack House 'M' is huge and probably has enough square feet of space to house the same number of people as the Clear Spirit condo will house. Despite the shift from complaining about height to using the code-language "scale" it is clear that height is the issue with the opponents of regenerating the buildings. None have said how many storeys ( oops! "scale" ) would be acceptable.
alklay
Senior Member
I did. 5 1/2. Does seeing a number make a difference?
unimaginative2
Senior Member
I don't know how many times I can tell you, US, and I think several others (though not all those who oppose the new condo/garage) share the same viewpoint: My problem is with the demolition of part of a National Historic Site and its replacement with a condo/parking garage. I don't care if you don't like the look of the building. It is a National Historic Site, and I've cited several precedents for comparable buildings being very successfully and attractively reused. It does not need to be torn down, and it shouldn't be torn down.
I love how you said that the purpose of the podium for which the heritage building is being demolished is "the entrance to the apartments, and retail space," even though you know full well that the overwhelming majority of the podium is a parking garage. Come on, US. Be honest. You support tearing down a heritage building to build a multi-level parking garage.
I love how you said that the purpose of the podium for which the heritage building is being demolished is "the entrance to the apartments, and retail space," even though you know full well that the overwhelming majority of the podium is a parking garage. Come on, US. Be honest. You support tearing down a heritage building to build a multi-level parking garage.
syn
Senior Member
"Demise" is a matter of opinion. For Urban Shocker Greece it could be a wonderful regeneration of the Parthenon District.
Now, I don't think anyone is comparing the Distillery to the Parthenon as far as historical significance on an international scale is concerned. When looking at Toronto, however, they might as well be. Toronto has lost a lot of it's built history and areas like the Distillery are quite rare. It should be treated with care, but instead developers are allowed to essentially build whatever they'd like and demolish a sizeable piece of the District to do it.
Urban Shocker
Doyenne
The fact that it is a national historic site doesn't preclude one of the buildings being taken down, the materials reused, and a better use being introduced as a result of that new construction. This isn't, as Tewder puts it, "colonial-Williamsburg" - it is the site a former commercial business complex being relaunched for further commercial, residential and cultural enjoyment by the city as a whole, by tourists, and by whoever else wants to come.