Toronto Corus Quay | ?m | 8s | Waterfront Toronto | Diamond Schmitt
Riverdale Rink Rat
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Cool office building!
Where are the offices?
Where are the offices?
Urban Shocker
Doyenne
The first one's the $500 million Copenhagen opera house:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Copenhagen_Opera_side_1.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Copenhagen_Opera_side_1.jpg
SP!RE
°°°°°°
That makes no sense and we've been through this.
CORUS QUAY is an office building, which is NOTHING like an opera house in program, format, etc. Also, economically it would make no sense to spend millions and millions extra to create a standout building when really, CORUS QUAY is one building in a much larger development of buildings along the water. Why would this one have to be the one to stand out? Because it's the first building to be constructed in the masterplan? Makes no sense, sorry.
AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
Don't get me wrong, I absolutely look the Copenhagen Opera House (and even more - the Danish Royal Theatre, the 3rd pic) from those views - but had anyone actually bothered to look at what the Back of House (or even the sides) of both buildings are like? In fact the latter had been savaged by the architectural press (see Arch. Record) for the urban design aspects.
AoD
AoD
ProjectEnd
Superstar
/\ Shocker's posted photo really shows where this one fell down.
Urban Shocker
Doyenne
Actually, it really shows how sensibly it holds up. I think it's silly to expect all sides of any building to engage equally with the surroundings. The Copenhagen opera house is no different from Gehry's Walt Disney Concert Hall or our Four Seasons Centre in that it has a front entrance/exit for the public that always gets photographed and is usually located on a major street or pedestrian promenade, and a back and sides that aren't permeable to the public no matter how Big Hair the building looming above the streetscape may be. A stage door or a loading dock represent equally important aspects of what such buildings are and need not be disguised as something they aren't. No different from the Corus office building, really.
ProjectEnd
Superstar
Off topic, of course, but how, exactly does that heavy, non-porous, stone exterior engage the pedestrian or wider public? I guess there are parallels to the large, equally impenetrable expanses of glass which clad the "grande horizontale" of the seemingly transparent Corus building.
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Urban Shocker
Doyenne
I find the sides of both buildings quite attractive. I wouldn't expect to find doorways and entrances on either, or retail emporiums, or any number of other things since they're the sides of buildings where the main entrance is elsewhere.
ProjectEnd
Superstar
So buildings then are just objects in space which can only be accessed through one door and experienced in one dimension? What a ridiculous notion. I'd rather (and do) subscribe to the notion that buildings have a responsibility to engage and respond their surroundings on all sides. The south side of Boutique's loft building, Corus' north facade, and the disastrous Mystic Pointe area are all the results of architects and planners focusing on a building having one or two 'show' sides while allowing the rest languish in spandrel panels and large expanses of precast.
Why would you, or should you, not expect to see doorways on the sides of buildings, or retail emporiums and restaurants on side streets where you'd least expect them. Pearl St. for instance, could be a fantastic little pedestrian zone, but because it has been relegated to a service road, no life is allowed to flourish there. Likewise, I'd much rather travel down Hohlenbergs Kvarter than Ekvipagemestervej since the mix of uses, and the vibrancy of the neighborhood would surely comfort me more than the ass-end of an Opera House. But hey, we're all different, right?
Why would you, or should you, not expect to see doorways on the sides of buildings, or retail emporiums and restaurants on side streets where you'd least expect them. Pearl St. for instance, could be a fantastic little pedestrian zone, but because it has been relegated to a service road, no life is allowed to flourish there. Likewise, I'd much rather travel down Hohlenbergs Kvarter than Ekvipagemestervej since the mix of uses, and the vibrancy of the neighborhood would surely comfort me more than the ass-end of an Opera House. But hey, we're all different, right?
Irishmonk
Senior Member
A 500 million dollar opera house would never fly in this economic climate, nor should it--ever, really. Besides, our more modest hall is the one reaping the hosannas around the world. (At least, according to the Toronto Star 
)
)
Urban Shocker
Doyenne
The main entrance to the opera house on University Avenue or to the atrium entrance on the waterfront promenade side of Corus don't have to be experienced in the same way as the entrance to the delivery areas on the opposite sides of the building, or the stage door at a side of the opera house. Buildings can be enjoyed in all their multi-dimensional splendour for what they are. You're the one who sees only one dimension; I'm fully engaged with all functional aspects of these buildings and how they're represented in their varied forms.
Automation Gallery
Superstar
Of course it makes sense, all along throughout the years all we have seen is mediocre developments on Toronto's waterfront ......Why are they building office buildings by the waters edge anyways, when other land is avaiable in this so called masterplan, the mayor is always blabbing that the waters edge is for Torontonians. Please
this is the start of again more bad planning with yet another mish-mash of proposals.
condovo
Senior Member
Exactly
tkip
Active Member
The point is taken but.....
While the design of the building certainly could have been better, it's still just a low rise office building. I would imagine that the next wave of buildings will get more attention and hopefully look better. This building isn't the end of the world.
While the design of the building certainly could have been better, it's still just a low rise office building. I would imagine that the next wave of buildings will get more attention and hopefully look better. This building isn't the end of the world.