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

Well... we can all agree to disagree on whether AURA is a BIG Failure or a success ....

But no matter how much we will discuss here; AURA is currently not, and will never be a landmark people will travel to see and take pictures.....period!!!!
If anyone put up such a huge building at a core intersection of a city the size of Toronto, and realize that every other building in the city with that size and height is waaaaay better architectually, then it's JUST a PLAIN simple FAILURE ....
Let's stop defending AURA.... and spend our energy to make sure we do not get such disappointment in our city any more ...
 
I think this was mentioned in the restaurants coming and going thread a while back but perhaps worth repeating that a second location of Reds Wine Tavern will be coming to Aura (the original location is in the financial district):

http://www.postcity.com/Eat-Shop-Do...Tavern-is-opening-a-second-downtown-location/

While this doesn't have the cache of say a Momofuku or Guu, this is certainly a hell of a lot better than one of those pseudo upscale chains like Earl's or Joey's.

And with Bahn Mi Boys just opening across the street things are looking at least a little better on this stretch of Yonge beyond fast food chains.
 
dt_toronto_geek said:
Aura was clearly pre-planned for two big retailers for the large spaces and who-knows-what for those crappy cubby-holes in that claustrophobic mini mall downstairs - presumably with a future PATH connection in mind. Most condos with retail on the street have decent, flexible retail spaces, I think the problem is that the monthly leases for the newer buildings downtown are so expensive that they bump out any business except established corporations that expect high turnover so they can afford the space and comfortably turn a profit. There's also the setup costs for a new business, combine that with exorbitant monthly rents and it leaves few independent retailers that can afford to go into these new places, or get financing. Even if an established business on Yonge St. gets pushed out because of redevelopment and they think they could afford the rent there's no way many developers are going to lease to a martial arts specialty store, leather fashion, a tattoo parlor, army surplus, a head shop/rock & roll shop, anything "adult entertainment" related etc. eliminating at least half of what's on Yonge St. between College & Bloor Sts.
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Thanks, but that didn't answer the question. I'm not asking about type of retail, I'm asking about better design of retail podiums. If this is expensive retail it certainly doesn't look expensive. The street level fenestration leaves a lot to be desired. How do we work towards better retail design at the base of future condo towers? That entrance to Bank of Montreal is about as basic and sterile as one could get.
 
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thedeepend said:
"the principles of aesthetics make no claim of measurement"

This is a demonstrably false statement.
As i said: there are all sorts of ways to measure value, quality, beauty, aesthetics, design, artistic merit, etc etc--many of them are centuries old. and Aura fails every last one of them.

Fibonacci Numbers and The Golden Section in Art, Architecture and Music
http://www.maths.surrey.ac.uk/hosted-sites/R.Knott/Fibonacci/fibInArt.html

Mathematics in Art and Architecture
http://www.math.nus.edu.sg/aslaksen/teaching/math-art-arch.html

Mathematics and Art
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematics_and_art

The Mathematics of Beauty
http://www.ias.edu/about/publications/ias-letter/articles/2012-fall/teicher-mathematics-beauty

The Golden Ratio
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_ratio

SACRED GEOMETRY and THE MATHEMATICS OF BEAUTY
https://notes.utk.edu/bio/greenberg.nsf/0/d76cc765b2dec9a285256b890050ada0?OpenDocument

Mathematical beauty
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematical_beauty

On Beauty
http://www.thersa.org/large-text/fellowship/journal/archive/autumn-2010/features/on-beauty

Chapter XIII - Beauty in the Industrial Arts: Architecture
http://www.authorama.com/principles-of-aesthetics-14.html

FINAL POST on this.
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None of that is axiomatic. It fails those normative measurements, but no objective aesthetic standard. Aesthetics is philosophy's neglected stepchild. And I hate Aura.
 
isaidso said:
Thanks, but that didn't answer the question. I'm not asking about type of retail, I'm asking about better design of retail podiums. If this is expensive retail it certainly doesn't look expensive. The street level fenestration leaves a lot to be desired. How do we work towards better retail design at the base of future condo towers? That entrance to Bank of Montreal is about as basic and sterile as one could get.
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I did answer the question, then went on a rant. Most retail spaces are designed as good as can be expected in most cases - and they are just that, "spaces". It's up to the lessee to take the space or the "shell" and modify or customize the inside and outside to suit their needs and to attract business in - that's not the job of the developer, or us. I can cite many examples of retail spaces at the base of a condo or office building where retail can be vibrant and serve the needs of the neighbourhood well - though many of them are condos built in the 80's & 90's. There's any number of examples along Bay Street (think offices & condos built pre-2000), Church Street, or look at the S/E corner of Carlton & Yonge (The Ellington condos built around '92), further east is the Lexington condo across from Maple Leaf Gardens (an unremarkable building built in the 1980's) which has good retail along Carlton Street. I think it's going to take time for good retail outlets to find their place in these new developments downtown and to grow organically to properly serve the neighbourhood. If you look at older, larger US cities or to Europe so many great retail strips are found along busy corridors at the bottom of office buildings and apartment houses, though it took decades and in some cases hundreds of years for those retail areas to become as vibrant as they are today. Our immediate problem is as the downtown Yonge Street tear-down happens we'll be looking at bleak replacement retail as the unique shops and restaurants slowly disappear - though I know some will argue that's a good thing.
 
So, the last few days if not a week theres been no activity up top. Are they just working on other parts of the building or has a problem with the set back come up?
 
ptbotrmpfn said:
So, the last few days if not a week theres been no activity up top. Are they just working on other parts of the building or has a problem with the set back come up?
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Looks like activity to me:
dWgKZjr.jpg

*From the Aura Webcam
 
thedeepend said:
Fibonacci Numbers and The Golden Section in Art, Architecture and Music
http://www.maths.surrey.ac.uk/hosted-sites/R.Knott/Fibonacci/fibInArt.html

Mathematics in Art and Architecture
http://www.math.nus.edu.sg/aslaksen/teaching/math-art-arch.html

Mathematics and Art
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematics_and_art

The Mathematics of Beauty
http://www.ias.edu/about/publications/ias-letter/articles/2012-fall/teicher-mathematics-beauty

The Golden Ratio
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_ratio

SACRED GEOMETRY and THE MATHEMATICS OF BEAUTY
https://notes.utk.edu/bio/greenberg.nsf/0/d76cc765b2dec9a285256b890050ada0?OpenDocument

Mathematical beauty
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematical_beauty

On Beauty
http://www.thersa.org/large-text/fellowship/journal/archive/autumn-2010/features/on-beauty

Chapter XIII - Beauty in the Industrial Arts: Architecture
http://www.authorama.com/principles-of-aesthetics-14.html

FINAL POST on this.
Click to expand...

I personally don't agree that observing subjective reactions influenced by instinctively favourable geometry is the same thing as measuring beauty.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Measurement
All measurements consist of three parts: magnitude, dimensions (units) and uncertainty.

A measured scale of beauty would mean we could objectively compare ANY two objects and all come to the exact same conclusion which is more beautiful, in a repeatable experiment. It's an interesting discussion, but maybe I'm splitting hairs on semantics, so I'll stop! :)
 
I think the lack of independent and interesting retail in condo projects has less to do with economic factors and more to do with the corporate management structure and rules and regulations of the condominium itself. The implications of this are that you will never turn a street of condos into an area of interesting independent retail. Never. They are mutually exclusive land usages.

I haven't been to the underground retail at Aura so I can't judge; however, before we right them off we shouldn't forget that an entire small town of people are theoretically supposed to inhabit this building. If I lived there and wanted to get my suit drycleaned I would probably choose to do it in the basement rather than around the block. Wouldn't you?
 
Has anyone noticed that aura actually looks worse when in the light (for example when viewed from the west)? In those circumstances it's just a mess of spandrel and the curve glass colour does not go well with the bottom part's colour. I think that is one of the definitions of ugly (looks good only in the dark) I can't say I've seen any good looking buildings come from this developer. They are terrible and will likely hold an infamous connotation in toronto's history.
 
It looks pretty good from teh northwest, actually. The view of it from around QP Circle and Grosvenor is pretty decent. Once it is fully built and glazed, it should be much better.

THe main issue IMHO is everything under the setbacks. From there upward, it looks great.
 
Thernan said:
It looks pretty good from teh northwest, actually.
THe main issue IMHO is everything under the setbacks. From there upward, it looks great.
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Oh yeaaah ..... let's just wait till the top portion is finished, hopefully we can see if it's worth preserving or collecting signatures to tear it down....

Everything below the setback is just Willoridge (Martingrove + Egrinton) Appartment in glass .....
 
Ok now your just being a tad bit irrational. lol lets tear down something cause only a select few with no taste dislike it. its hardly an eye soar. Theres about a dozen worse buildings in Toronto well deserving to be torn down then this. If this bothers you that much move. problem solved! Or better yet, lets all sign a petition to get the moronic people out of Toronto who say such Asinine things.
 
They had quite the pause before the last setback too but I suspect the weather was an issue over the past few days.
 
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