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Some causes for concern in condo design
Apr 21, 2007 04:30 AM
Christopher Hume
If condo design were as strong as condo sales, Toronto would be one of the most amazing architectural cities in North America.
The bad news is that it isn't. The good news is that it continues to get better.
Unlike Mississauga, Toronto still doesn't have a Marilyn Monroe, a spectacular and iconic building chosen from entries to an international design competition. On the other hand, unlike Mississauga, the situation in Toronto is more urban and, therefore, more contextual. There are simply fewer opportunities for the iconic in Toronto than in the City that Hazel Built.
One of the tiny handful of occasions in the city is the site on the southeast corner of Bloor and Yonge Sts., one of the most important intersections in Toronto.
Several proposals have come forward in the last few years, but now Bazis International, a development company based – are you ready? – in Kazakhstan, has announced it will proceed with an 80-storey hotel/condo atop a low-rise retail podium.
So far so good; the site remains ridiculously underused and if any property in the city calls out for densification, this is it.
Problem is that architecture isn't up to the location. The architect, Roy Varacalli, has come up with a design so slick it will be hopelessly out of place in this ever-conservative burg. More work is needed on the project, so let's hope that what finally gets built will be better than the drawings we've seen.
Interesting, too, that when city council approved the project four years ago, it was a completely different scheme. Only the height remains the same, but that seems to be only thing city planners and politicians care about. This is hardly the way to build a great city.
But then, that's something we gave up on a long time ago. Even our beauty-minded mayor, David Miller, has done nothing but talk about the possibilities. His inaction on, among other places, the waterfront, reveals Miller to be just another bottom-line vote-getter, not a civic leader.
At the same time, there's a small project at 799 College St., N-Blox, sure to attract all kinds of attention – and for all the right reasons. Resembling a series of glass boxes stacked one atop the other, this represents residential infill at its best, simple and practical, yet dramatic and thoroughly urban.
Designed by Quadrangle Architects, here is the loft reconfigured for the 21st century. Too bad it won't be finished until late next year.
Another noteworthy is One City Hall Place, a large mixed-use development that extends west and south from Bay and Dundas Sts., not far from City Hall. The architect, David Pontarini, has fashioned a vast slab of a building without overpowering this important site. Its virtues are its urbanity and sheer architectural exuberance.
Sadly, one of the largest residential complexes underway, CityPlace, has yet to open up the area around the Rogers Centre. Despite the high quality of the architecture itself, this whole project demonstrates that building design is only one part of an equation that includes many variables.
As a piece of planning, it fails; though not finished yet, it seems unlikely that this neighbourhood will ever be fully integrated into the larger city. This, of course, was one of the fundamental mistakes that doomed Regent Park, St. James Town and the like. True, CityPlace is more upscale, but disconnection is the kiss of death.
Another cause for concern is the Daniel Libeskind-designed condo/cultural centre at the Hummingbird Centre.
If early illustrations are any indication, the boot-shaped building does not rank among Libeskind's finest hours, but then there's the fact that the 1960 performing arts centre should be left alone; it has enough architectural merit in its own right that it deserves more respect than to be buried alive beneath such an ill-conceived proposal.
What makes the project especially obnoxious is the fact that Hummingbird is owned by the city. Instead of protecting Toronto's heritage, our municipal politicians will allow it to be altered beyond recognition.
For all its much-vaunted multiculturalism, the only language that's spoken – or rather heard – in Toronto is that of money. Forget about planning, forget about heritage, the almighty dollar has spoken.
Some causes for concern in condo design
Apr 21, 2007 04:30 AM
Christopher Hume
If condo design were as strong as condo sales, Toronto would be one of the most amazing architectural cities in North America.
The bad news is that it isn't. The good news is that it continues to get better.
Unlike Mississauga, Toronto still doesn't have a Marilyn Monroe, a spectacular and iconic building chosen from entries to an international design competition. On the other hand, unlike Mississauga, the situation in Toronto is more urban and, therefore, more contextual. There are simply fewer opportunities for the iconic in Toronto than in the City that Hazel Built.
One of the tiny handful of occasions in the city is the site on the southeast corner of Bloor and Yonge Sts., one of the most important intersections in Toronto.
Several proposals have come forward in the last few years, but now Bazis International, a development company based – are you ready? – in Kazakhstan, has announced it will proceed with an 80-storey hotel/condo atop a low-rise retail podium.
So far so good; the site remains ridiculously underused and if any property in the city calls out for densification, this is it.
Problem is that architecture isn't up to the location. The architect, Roy Varacalli, has come up with a design so slick it will be hopelessly out of place in this ever-conservative burg. More work is needed on the project, so let's hope that what finally gets built will be better than the drawings we've seen.
Interesting, too, that when city council approved the project four years ago, it was a completely different scheme. Only the height remains the same, but that seems to be only thing city planners and politicians care about. This is hardly the way to build a great city.
But then, that's something we gave up on a long time ago. Even our beauty-minded mayor, David Miller, has done nothing but talk about the possibilities. His inaction on, among other places, the waterfront, reveals Miller to be just another bottom-line vote-getter, not a civic leader.
At the same time, there's a small project at 799 College St., N-Blox, sure to attract all kinds of attention – and for all the right reasons. Resembling a series of glass boxes stacked one atop the other, this represents residential infill at its best, simple and practical, yet dramatic and thoroughly urban.
Designed by Quadrangle Architects, here is the loft reconfigured for the 21st century. Too bad it won't be finished until late next year.
Another noteworthy is One City Hall Place, a large mixed-use development that extends west and south from Bay and Dundas Sts., not far from City Hall. The architect, David Pontarini, has fashioned a vast slab of a building without overpowering this important site. Its virtues are its urbanity and sheer architectural exuberance.
Sadly, one of the largest residential complexes underway, CityPlace, has yet to open up the area around the Rogers Centre. Despite the high quality of the architecture itself, this whole project demonstrates that building design is only one part of an equation that includes many variables.
As a piece of planning, it fails; though not finished yet, it seems unlikely that this neighbourhood will ever be fully integrated into the larger city. This, of course, was one of the fundamental mistakes that doomed Regent Park, St. James Town and the like. True, CityPlace is more upscale, but disconnection is the kiss of death.
Another cause for concern is the Daniel Libeskind-designed condo/cultural centre at the Hummingbird Centre.
If early illustrations are any indication, the boot-shaped building does not rank among Libeskind's finest hours, but then there's the fact that the 1960 performing arts centre should be left alone; it has enough architectural merit in its own right that it deserves more respect than to be buried alive beneath such an ill-conceived proposal.
What makes the project especially obnoxious is the fact that Hummingbird is owned by the city. Instead of protecting Toronto's heritage, our municipal politicians will allow it to be altered beyond recognition.
For all its much-vaunted multiculturalism, the only language that's spoken – or rather heard – in Toronto is that of money. Forget about planning, forget about heritage, the almighty dollar has spoken.