Re: Mississauga Effect!
Some astute assessments by John Bentley Mays from the Globe:
THE PERFECT HOUSE: ARCHITECTURE
Bravo for Mississauga -- with a tiny caveat
Choosing architect Yansong Ma's curvaceous skyscraper for the Absolute project was a gutsy move. Let's hope that mutters of 'change' don't wind up diluting the artistic integrity of the design
JOHN BENTLEY MAYS
For observers of architecture (including this one) who like a bit of fun and flash along with architecture's usual high seriousness, the outcome of the international competition for Mississauga's Absolute tower, announced Tuesday, was generally pleasant news.
Just not absolutely pleasant. But I'll get to my reservations later on. First, the good news.
In a juried contest among six finalists, Chinese-American architect Yansong Ma won the $125,000 prize with a curvaceous skyscraper, reminiscent of a tight dress with Marilyn Monroe inside.
The project is unusual and charming, and it embodies healthy tendencies in contemporary skyscraper design: a readiness to experiment with skins and surfaces, for example, and a yearning to be free at last from the up-and-down stiffness of the modernist tall building style. (Mr. Ma, who is a native of Beijing and now lives there, is a veteran of the distinguished architectural program at Yale University.)
"My work has always tried to develop something more organic, more close to nature," Mr. Ma told me. He conceives of his work as a critique of 20th-century modernism's boxes.
"They were not flexible enough, they are very close to the industrial revolution. Social relations have more complexity, so we need more complexity in this building. We are doing museums, all kinds of projects, but high rises have close relations with technology and culture. High-rises are landmarks of culture."
These are the earnest thoughts of an emerging architect -- the Absolute commission will be Mr. Ma's first built work outside China -- and they speak well of the process that has brought this designer into our midst. So much, in other words, for early fears that the entire competition exercise was merely so much hype and hustle by its organizers, Fernbrook Homes and Cityzen Development Group, co-developers of the Absolute site. The gathering of 92 entries from 70 countries, the winnowing of that large number down to six finalists, and the choice of Mr. Ma was the convincing work of a credible jury composed of developers, architects and urban planners. If the developers sell a few more condominiums because they invested in an interesting design competition, and picked one of the most imaginative proposals to come their way (instead of going with the tried and true), that's definitely no more than they deserve.
Mr. Ma now gets to go back into his studios -- he operates one in Ann Arbor, Mich., and another in Beijing -- and draw off detailed plans for the 50-storey, 450-suite residential high-rise in Mississauga's multitower Absolute project. (Construction is set to begin next year.)
Meanwhile, we get to wait and see if the developers let his skyscraper keep the verve and swing that come across in the illustrations that helped win Mr. Ma win the contest.
At this week's ceremonial unveiling of the results -- Mississauga mayor Hazel McCallion did the honours -- there was some muttering from the developers (too much of for my liking) about impending "changes." Some changes in the course of realizing the design are inevitable, but none should be made that disturb the artistic integrity and enlightened playfulness that make Mr. Ma's building attractive.
At least one change, however, would be welcome. It has to do with the podium. As represented in the competition drawing, the base of the tower looks like a pedestal for a piece of statuary, with one very grand entrance and no other visible relationship with the urban context. Perhaps Mr. Ma was too busy designing his highly theatrical tower to pay adequate attention to its platform -- but neglect of something as important as the building's physical connection to the urban fabric is an ominous sign.
This failing suggests, among other things, that the jury's mind was less on issues of urban design than on effect, costumery, look-at-me visual flair. (I'm not saying those dramatic things aren't important. But neither are they the be-all and end-all of what makes a building work.)
Such inattention to context would be bothersome anywhere in the Greater Toronto Area, but in Mississauga, it's downright deplorable.
After decades of being ravaged by typical suburban sprawl, Mississauga deeply needs the kind of patient architecture that heals and makes whole the damaged textures of the city. If Mississauga gets a "landmark" out of this competition, that's fine.
We surely need symbols as urgently as we need food. But we can hope that, as Mr. Ma proceeds into the design phase of his tower, he will bring to the urbanism of his project the same high-spirited energy he's lavished on its sass.
jbmays@globeandmail.com
AoD
