News   Mar 28, 2024
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TCHC: 88-90 Carlton (12s, Stanford Downey)

Towered:

No, the French College is the vaguely Brutalist building across Mutual St.; the badly aged PoMo to the west is Tobias House II - aka exhibit 10 as to why stucco/EIFS is a bad idea in Toronto.

AoD
 
stucco is bad on any structure where there is dirt and water around. All these houses with stucco will look hideous in 10 years, guarenteed...I have many issues with this stucco trend incl. depreciation being very quick...
 
March 18th Update

Click on the thumbnail to enlarge, then click again on the image for full size.

 
With the brick scrubbed up and some accents added, I'm coming around on this facade. It's all about the accessories.
 
A quantum leap above anything else on that strip except the Collège Français which I kind of like. I still think that façade wasn't worth saving though. Thanks for the pics.
 
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It's always interesting for me when people indicate they like buildings I can't stand, like the Collège Français, which I feel has a loathesome street presence. And I mean this in an entirely positive way - I know from experience that when I pass by buildings that posters here have said they liked, it won't change my opinion of a building that I dislike, but somewhere my brain is keeping a tally and it will recall that someone, somewhere, liked such-and-such a building and it leavens my own feelings for it. So, thanks, condovo.

I enjoy the new highrise portion of 88-90 Carlton, and especially the entrances along Mutual, but I have passed by enough now to know that I am never going to enjoy the old facades on the front. I didn't especially care for those buildings when they existed, and having part of them preserved now for many more years only strikes me as unfortunate. I look forward to the front of the building having some greenery, but current bunch of concrete there is not particularly pleasant, though I'm sure it will improve.

And I tend to agree with Towered about Tobias House, I consider myself quite forgiving, but I really dislike that building and think it is ageing badly as well. There is one parcel of land left on that block, please let it become occupied by something worthy. Barring that, let it remain a parking lot to be used as a beer garden for various events like Pride.
 
I love the texture and layers the preservation of these buildings brings to the street. I like the buildings too. They add a little character to a neighbourhood that is full of it (character I mean). This is messy urbanism done right and has nothing to do with leaning hydro poles and cracked sidewalks.
 

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