Juma
New Member
Wow, thank you for sharing this. I was really curious as to how that was going to be implemented, it looks better than I thought.
Toronto Forma | 308m | 84s | Great Gulf | Gehry Partners
- Thread starter golodhendil
- Start date
Wow, thank you for sharing this. I was really curious as to how that was going to be implemented, it looks better than I thought.
E.B.
Active Member
City council is insane. As mirvish stated, "they want a made-in-Toronto solution to ‘fit in with what exists,’†he told an Empire Club luncheon gathering Thursday. “Don’t put your head up too high, don’t stick out".
Imagine if Mirvish said to the city, you don't want something unique, artistic or grand, then I should consider closing the Royal Alex, Princess of Wales and my other theatres. Then the city can have what they want, a bland, grey, artistic wasteland.
Imagine if Mirvish said to the city, you don't want something unique, artistic or grand, then I should consider closing the Royal Alex, Princess of Wales and my other theatres. Then the city can have what they want, a bland, grey, artistic wasteland.
Redroom Studios
Senior Member
what podium?
I give 2 thumbs up to city council for blocking this hideous monstrosity! how can anyone even evaluate this idea when it is such an abstract mess of tissue paper that would be impossible to construct in reality. to me it just looks like a pile of garbage that someone attempted to arrange into a vertical form. aside from that I dont like the idea of the three towers of similar height but different design arranged in a straight row. it's big and flashy but not at all well thought out. clearly Mirvish is looking to pad his retirement plan.
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City Council has not blocked this gorgeous complex: it hasn't gone to City Council yet. It's not going to the OMB for sure, either, the traditional media are jumping the gun on that (although there's still a likelihood it will go). The deal is that Planning is playing by the rulebook, as they pretty much have to. It's Council that may be able to save it: they were the ones who said yes when Planning said no to the Massey Tower. If there's a solution prior to this going to the OMB, then it will come from Council. Councillors have much more leeway when it comes to applying the rules than Planning does.
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ProjectEnd
Superstar
buildup
Senior Member
In general, on any subject, negative comments tend to be over-represented as people vent frustrations and insecurities which have little to do this the subject at hand. That said, the overwhelming response from lumpen (like me) and architectural critics has been overwhelmingly positive. People on the whole are excited.
Therefore if this dies, someone will be held accountable in the court of public opinion - fairly or not. And it's likely to be a small-minded big-city planner. These opportunities do not come along often and the city deserves to have a few masterpieces to offset ROCP, Aura's etc.
Everything in life is a trade-off. Perhaps the buildings currently on site have some value, but they pale in comparison to what is being offered by Gehry & Mirvish.
Therefore if this dies, someone will be held accountable in the court of public opinion - fairly or not. And it's likely to be a small-minded big-city planner. These opportunities do not come along often and the city deserves to have a few masterpieces to offset ROCP, Aura's etc.
Everything in life is a trade-off. Perhaps the buildings currently on site have some value, but they pale in comparison to what is being offered by Gehry & Mirvish.
ushahid
Senior Member
u r right and for how long they will preserve those old tiny boxes, which are falling a part. we come to earth live our life for 60-80 years and then leave. it is the same with those theatre buildings they have lived their lives.
jje1000
Senior Member
My concern is how feasible it is to build the thing as envisioned (along with heritage issues). The Gehry example interchange42 posted at the top of the page cost $127 million, and I wonder if Mirvish can afford a similarly clad-but much larger building without cutting any corners. I hope we don't end up with another ROM Crystal (which in itself cost $135 million).
I keep trying to explain (to no avail apparently) that planners are required to judge an application against a checklist of rules and regs.
It's up to the Councillors at City Hall to decide how to apply the rules, and when to ignore the recommendations of the Planning Department.
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adma
Superstar
By your logic, the Royal Alex ought to be dispensible as well. (But that's on a tangent.)
One Nut Kruk
Banned
What an unbelievably short sighted attitude. What are those Londoner's thinking, allowing the Tower of London to still stand, nearly a thousand years after its construction? Its "lived" well more than tenfold that of a human life.
buildup
Senior Member
Quite correct, my apology, planners are just doing their job and I agree rules are in place to prevent undesirable outcomes. Someone in City Council needs to campaign for some sort of special exemption. Where is Adam Vaughn on this?
freshcutgrass
Senior Member
You know somebody is on to something when it inspires that kind of comment. It's the architectural equivalent to "my 3 year old could have painted that" comment about a Rothko.
Ultimately, you could rationalize/justify the demolition of the Royal Alex, but I don't see a realistic parallel here.
Preservation of a building requires a reason of some kind to do so. There has to be some sort of historical, architectural, cultural, contextual significance. The buildings in question don't rate highly in any of those categories.
Add to that the notion that land owners have some rights in terms of what they can do with their own property and their rights to maximize revenue.
That's before we even look at what we are getting as a replacement for said buildings. When looked at from pretty much any angle, there isn't much of a case for preservation here, but a pretty damned good one in favour of the proposed project.
E.B.
Active Member
I get what you're saying about the planners seeing it first, then council. but the quotes from Mirvish & Peter Kofman seem to indicate that a decision has been made and he is going to the OMB.
How long does it usually take for council to make a decision? And how long would the OMB look at this and make a decision?
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Mirvish and Kofman were quoted out of context at the lunch. When they said this would go to the OMB, they were responding to a question posed something like 'what happens if the City says no?'
We don't know exact timing yet, but it looks like Mirvish/Projectcore want a City decision in the next couple of months. There should be another public consultation soon I would think.
Adam Vaughan has not made a definitive statement on the project, as best I know.
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We don't know exact timing yet, but it looks like Mirvish/Projectcore want a City decision in the next couple of months. There should be another public consultation soon I would think.
Adam Vaughan has not made a definitive statement on the project, as best I know.
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