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C'mon, only in a city like Toronto people have the mentality that good contemporary design and aesthetics are incompatible with building, in general (and building infrastructure in this case). As diverse and international as this city is, it seems like a lot of people don't travel enough to see...

I have never liked the brutalist concrete silo aesthetic anywhere in the world, but particularly at prime waterfront locations where industrial uses have long been phased out. I am 100% for maintaining and restoring heritage architecture, but this giant piece of junk ain't one, in my opinion...

I certainly didn't mean to come off in a belligerent way. I just wanted to describe the physical state of the city as I see it, and the prevalent municipal mentality without blaming it on the historical heritage of the people that founded Toronto. That has been done many times, and I think it is...

I definitely do not want to divert from the original thread (thanks to alll contributors regarding construction progress photos and other information), however, since your are responding to my comments, I have to reply. I disagree with you about the Spanish, Norwegian, and French responding to...

While I love Toronto, especially the good aspects which make this city a great place to live in, there are some undeniable truths about our lack of urban realm grand vision and unwillingness to spend money to acomplish it. In general, It really is sad the state of the public realm, wheather it...

Colour schemes aside, the quality of the materials of the Montreal buildings is far superior than CAMH.

1) Grey spandrel garbage. 2) Cheap glazing. 3) Greedy developers with no sense of civic duty to give back to the city good architecture, and who clearly don't give a s**t. 4) Pseudo architects with no integrity. = absolute nightmare & disgrace. And we will have to see this garbage for the rest...

Whether the "client" is a developer, a municipality, a government, corporation or individual, caring about design and its place in constructing a memorable urban experience matters tremendously. Maybe not in Toronto or Canada or North America, but it does in cities which coincidentally, are the...

Unless you are taking about the 0.1% of top tier architecture firms in the world (none of which we have in Toronto) architects really are the beggars in the beggars/choosers equation of the construction industry. The client (or developer) who holds the purse, really has the power. That is why...

Urban planning in this city is an embarrassment. So, yeah, let's create the St. Jamestown look with all towers (which already have dubious architectural merits) at the same height. And then we complain we have a city that looks the way it does. Most of our developers are bottom of the barrel...

I always thought the silos were ugly and should be demolished. Then this year British Architect Thomas Heatherwick completed the Zeitz MOCAA (Museum of Contemporary Art Africa) in Cape Town, and I was impressed with his creative genius in the re-use of their silos to create a stunning piece of...

Subway going through nearby?

In case it wasn't clear already, this Star interview with Mizrahi sheds light on his 'philosophy' on design (and likely not only for this project but for everything he does): http://www.thestar.com/life/homes/2013/02/21/sam_mizrahi_is_a_micromanager_and_proud_of_it.html Funny thing is, that...

Well, obviously that is in order for the next election, but in the meantime...

Based on the news, I would say the main reason is: Gord Perks. It is unbelievable that our ward and its residents, ultimately, are held hostage by this character (same one who came up with the moratorium on West Queen West new restaurants and bars). Perks is an unabashed left wing...

Such flawed logic. So, what about London, Tokyo, New York, Paris, Berlin subway systems? Is it because communists in their city councils? Communism ran aground in the early 90's, and trying to revive it is a futile, if not foolish and dangerous experiment. I don't know where you got your...

I live in Roncesvalles (which really is a completely different demographic group of your 'typical' Parkdale-south of Queen St. crowd. We live in a democratic open market economy (as opposed to a regulated-communist economy). The forces of gentrification respond to those organic forces. There is...

Yes, it seems like that is the case: http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2007/07/12/dovecorp-ccaa.html?ref=rss This guy is also responsible for the faux greek revival townhouse crap development at the corner of Lytton Blvd. and Avenue Road; and yes those are stucco! (known as EIFS in the...

^ The capitals of all the scandinavian countries deal with the same type of weather conditions we do in Toronto; but they look amazing. So I don't think it's an issue of climate, but one of lack of civic culture and lack pride in the built and urban environments, and of course, misplaced...

West Queen West I actually took a stroll last Tuesday evening mainly from Macdonnell to Roncy and was quite surprised with all the bars, restaurants, galleries, stores and other businesses that are giving this stretch of Queen Street West that cool hip vibe that we all like. Here is a list of...