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

I blame the city. They should just say...NO
You clearly do not understand how 'city planning' works; the City can say no to things like height and density that go beyond the zoning, they cannot say no to 'design' features like pink windows or a confused mish-mash of architectural styles. Of course, the City DOES often say "no' but is almost invariably over-ruled by appeals to LPAT (whose existence and record probably reduce the number of City "no" s in the first place.)
 
You clearly do not understand how 'city planning' works; the City can say no to things like height and density that go beyond the zoning, they cannot say no to 'design' features like pink windows or a confused mish-mash of architectural styles. Of course, the City DOES often say "no' but is almost invariably over-ruled by appeals to LPAT (whose existence and record probably reduce the number of City "no" s in the first place.)
Pink windows would be refreshing though...
 
Sorry Canderel must've temporarily hacked my internet connection.

Given the interview to Torstar (?) awhile ago re: design as built vs. rendering and the DRP, I doubt they cared!

Anyways, it's a riot reading some old posts from 10+ years ago:


"The Aura will respect the lines of the Eaton building. The podium matches the height lines of the old building. It is an art deco treasure. We cannot mimic it, our design refines it," said Berardo Graziani of Graziani + Corazza Architects.
Aura will be massive. Its builders will be pouring concrete for the next few years as it goes up 75 storeys (including a four-storey podium). There will be a large retail operation in the podium, above and below the street. An underground mall will link Aura with College Park and the subway.
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"People love to live in tall buildings, especially tall buildings overtop subways, that is the new way," said Riz Dhanji, Canderel Stoneridge's vice-president of sales and marketing. "At the Aura you can walk to the subway, to work, to school or use your bike (Aura will have 200 bike racks). With a direct link to College Park and its Dominion store, people won't have to go outside.
"We will have a landscaped rooftop (patio) on the fifth floor, and top-notch recreational facilities," he continued. "What people are looking for is convenience, and we will have a combined 180,000 square feet of retail space available for the right set of tenants." All of the stores, boutiques and restaurants will have floor-to-ceiling windows, facing onto Yonge St.


More than 12 years later - the basement sits empty and a good chunk of the rest of the podium will be turned into an Ikea.

AoD
 
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This monster replaced an ugly decades old parking lot. It removed the parking lot but kept the ugly. Maybe the land is cursed. It’s just soooo awful.
 
This monster replaced an ugly decades old parking lot. It removed the parking lot but kept the ugly. Maybe the land is cursed. It’s just soooo awful

For all the failures, it is getting an Ikea...some *might* consider that a curse yet. Anyways, the basement mall must be super creepy of late - and given open access, must be a bit dicey.

AoD
 
The whole College Park complex is such a mish-mash from different eras: the former Eaton store (late 1920s), 777 Bay and the apartments (70s), the twin College Park residences (early 2000s) and finally Aura (2010s). Each addition seems to be worse than the predecessor, although it's debatable whether Aura is uglier than Residences of College Park. Good thing there's no more land left to develop (other than Barbara Ann Scott Park, which will remain as a park in the foreseeable future), or we'd see something truly hideous.
 
The whole College Park complex is such a mish-mash from different eras: the former Eaton store (late 1920s), 777 Bay and the apartments (70s), the twin College Park residences (early 2000s) and finally Aura (2010s). Each addition seems to be worse than the predecessor, although it's debatable whether Aura is uglier than Residences of College Park. Good thing there's no more land left to develop (other than Barbara Ann Scott Park, which will remain as a park in the foreseeable future), or we'd see something truly hideous.

Said it before, will say it again - the entire superblock is a giant mistep and an utter waste. Nevermind how bad RoCP 1&2 were; even 777 Bay and College Park suites are pretty wanting in terms of what it did to the site.

Hideous? Wait 20, 30 years when all these buildings start to seriously age. The Liberty is slowly getting there (just look at the faded window claddings)

AoD
 
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