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Re: NPS redesign competition
From Cathy Nasmith's Built Heritage News #96 (listserv)
10. Nathan Phillips Square – Revell’s is the Entry to Beat
Catherine Nasmith
Hovering over the four schemes for Nathan Phillips Square is the one to beat, the original by Viljo Revell. There seems to be no clear winner or favorite among the entrants, lots of great ideas - each scheme having its own strengths and weaknesses in comparison to the original. As required by the competition brief, all entries, are treading very lightly around Revell’s masterwork as they also address its weaknesses.
On March 8 the winner will be announced. Following the Toronto Star poll, Initially the Baird Sampson was the popular favorite, but has been eclipsed by Zeidler moving up from its initial last place position. www.thestar.com/Generic/Article/183774# These two schemes propose the least change. Torontonians like Nathan Phillips Square, and clearly want only minimal adjustments. How will the jury vote?
The green edges of Revell’s design were the areas where the most radical surgery was proposed by all the entrants, and to varying degrees change was proposed to the colonnade/walkway, and roof deck. Three of the four schemes proposed moving the peace garden out to the west. The Baird Sampson scheme’s most interesting move is the continuation of the ceremonial ramp back down to the raised landscape area on the west. Plant architects offered the brilliant stage as staircase to the western edge.
The least popular scheme proposes the biggest change. New Yorker’s Rogers Marvel dramatically introduces a large sweeping forest landscape on the western edge, which also serves to cover all of the new facilities, tidily eliminating the challenge of introducing competing architectural elements to the existing, but also destroying the existing plaza’s rectilinear counterpoint to Revell’s curves. Rogers Marvel were the one team that chose to leave the Peace Garden in place. The other three schemes preserved the square’s geometry and edges, but struggle to find a compatible architecture.
Given the City’s financial challenges it seems unlikely that any of the projects will move ahead in the near future. That would be in keeping with the original competitions for new City Hall, which took almost forty years to materialize from the time the Toronto Civic Arts League first identified this as a location for a future City Hall and civic square. The original “fifth†entry may win by default, perhaps with modest adjustments and more enlightened management of the space than has been evident over the past few years.
What needs to happen is a clear and properly financed decision. Limbo pending fundraising would continue the degraded state the square is in.
From Cathy Nasmith's Built Heritage News #96 (listserv)
10. Nathan Phillips Square – Revell’s is the Entry to Beat
Catherine Nasmith
Hovering over the four schemes for Nathan Phillips Square is the one to beat, the original by Viljo Revell. There seems to be no clear winner or favorite among the entrants, lots of great ideas - each scheme having its own strengths and weaknesses in comparison to the original. As required by the competition brief, all entries, are treading very lightly around Revell’s masterwork as they also address its weaknesses.
On March 8 the winner will be announced. Following the Toronto Star poll, Initially the Baird Sampson was the popular favorite, but has been eclipsed by Zeidler moving up from its initial last place position. www.thestar.com/Generic/Article/183774# These two schemes propose the least change. Torontonians like Nathan Phillips Square, and clearly want only minimal adjustments. How will the jury vote?
The green edges of Revell’s design were the areas where the most radical surgery was proposed by all the entrants, and to varying degrees change was proposed to the colonnade/walkway, and roof deck. Three of the four schemes proposed moving the peace garden out to the west. The Baird Sampson scheme’s most interesting move is the continuation of the ceremonial ramp back down to the raised landscape area on the west. Plant architects offered the brilliant stage as staircase to the western edge.
The least popular scheme proposes the biggest change. New Yorker’s Rogers Marvel dramatically introduces a large sweeping forest landscape on the western edge, which also serves to cover all of the new facilities, tidily eliminating the challenge of introducing competing architectural elements to the existing, but also destroying the existing plaza’s rectilinear counterpoint to Revell’s curves. Rogers Marvel were the one team that chose to leave the Peace Garden in place. The other three schemes preserved the square’s geometry and edges, but struggle to find a compatible architecture.
Given the City’s financial challenges it seems unlikely that any of the projects will move ahead in the near future. That would be in keeping with the original competitions for new City Hall, which took almost forty years to materialize from the time the Toronto Civic Arts League first identified this as a location for a future City Hall and civic square. The original “fifth†entry may win by default, perhaps with modest adjustments and more enlightened management of the space than has been evident over the past few years.
What needs to happen is a clear and properly financed decision. Limbo pending fundraising would continue the degraded state the square is in.