Toronto Aura at College Park | 271.87m | 78s | Canderel | Graziani + Corazza

someMidTowner said:
Passed by last night, the lights were on for all of the 2nd floor, and man was it bright. More BB&B signage is up, now there is a matching sign on the south wall which makes the one on the east wall look a little less clumsy. Still very anticlimactic having BB&B as the corner signage of the tallest building north of the CBD. It's only a matter of time before people start referring to it as the Bed Bath and Beyond building. Too many B's for me
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Tewder said:
I've been to BBBs before and never found them to be that spectacular in terms of design etc... but they do have great merchandise (for the price point). Their organic sheets are amazing!
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I agree that BBBs have all the excitement of a Home Sense or Home Outfitters or Jysk or any other store specializing in high thread count sheets and pillow shams.

It's funny to watch the Yonge street strip evolve from the 1960s-1980s neon collection of vice to 1990s tackiness to what we have now which is, I guess, 2010s vertical big box suburban blandness. It might seem like I'm being cynical, but I'm not: the excitement has gravitated to other, virgin territories of the city and there are a lot of middle class people living in the condo towers around Yonge street and they need to buy sheets.
 
You make a good point... only I would add that the excitement really hasn't re-emerged to the same degree anywhere that I can think of. Ossington, for all its supposed 'hipness' is nothing like Yonge in its heyday was. Even with the seediness, porn and somewhat louche vibe Yonge, and streets like it in other cities, had a vibrancy that has been lost in a high-tech age where people just don't really need to physically congregate in the same way anymore.
 
Tewder said:
You make a good point... only I would add that the excitement really hasn't re-emerged to the same degree anywhere that I can think of. Ossington, for all its supposed 'hipness' is nothing like Yonge in its heyday was. Even with the seediness, porn and somewhat louche vibe Yonge, and streets like it in other cities, had a vibrancy that has been lost in a high-tech age where people just don't really need to physically congregate in the same way anymore.
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What was lost due to changing behaviour will surely return due to sheer population increase. This area will become more vibrant in time. Saying that, I've only been living here for 6 years, so I can't really make accurate comparisons.
 
Thanks as always, Caltrane... No one I identify more with this project than yourself...
 
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Tewder said:
I like the energy this place creates, street level and on high!
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Agreed. From the above photo, it looks like the retail floors will feel much more transparent and connected to the street than, say, the retail space at the Eaton Centre or 10 Dundas East. Aura will surely help to animate and enliven this intersection.
 
I had hopes for the podium but after passing it just moments ago, it looks as mediocre as the rest of this dump. Somehow, they've managed to perfectly capture the 'generic 1970s departmment store' aesthetic. I guess they were aiming to match the condo turd on College Park but it's a shame we can't aspire to better on our main street.
 
flonicky said:
I had hopes for the podium but after passing it just moments ago, it looks as mediocre as the rest of this dump. Somehow, they've managed to perfectly capture the 'generic 1970s departmment store' aesthetic. I guess they were aiming to match the condo turd on College Park but it's a shame we can't aspire to better on our main street.
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I tend to agree with this statement. It was a missed opportunity not to take a 21st Century spin on the Eatons College Park Deco look of the 1930s. Which was a much grander take on the department store aesthetic. It could have been Neo-Deco. Tall entrance-ways with glass and brass and subtly sculpted marble all around. If done right, it would have been a sleek homage to the ECP and not a Deco pastiche, as the Hoi Palloi on here love to moniker everything.
 
I'd rather have had something better here, and definitely not something that attempts to echo the past, which cannot be done in this day and age without an infinite budget. I'm surprised G+C did as good as they did here, but it could have been much better.
 
SP!RE said:
I'd rather have had something better here, and definitely not something that attempts to echo the past, which cannot be done in this day and age without an infinite budget. I'm surprised G+C did as good as they did here, but it could have been much better.
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I wouldn't give it up as a lost cause, Spire. There are some pretty good throwbacks to pre-war architecture that are very convincing in this city like Quadrangle's Morgan and Robert Stern's 1 St. Thomas. Actually, I think the real crime is that they chopped up the original College Park in the way they did, but I guess that's even harder to fix.
 
For me, it's not even about the particular style. It's the lack of imagination and engagement with the surrounding streets. Shangri La and the Ballet Opera House on University demonstrate how much back and forth is possible between the inside and outside ... Yonge is a place that demands that kind of excitement and action. I'm falling further and further off the fence and I'm really beginning to hate Aura because all it offers is "big". Beastly, indeed.
 
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Traynor said:
I tend to agree with this statement. It was a missed opportunity not to take a 21st Century spin on the Eatons College Park Deco look of the 1930s. Which was a much grander take on the department store aesthetic. It could have been Neo-Deco. Tall entrance-ways with glass and brass and subtly sculpted marble all around. If done right, it would have been a sleek homage to the ECP and not a Deco pastiche, as the Hoi Palloi on here love to moniker everything.
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Problem is we already have an example of when Art Deco goes wrong right up the street: Uptown Residences. It started in a promising manner, but the quality dwindled as the costs went up. Who wants that to happen twice?
 
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