Toronto Forma | 308m | 84s | Great Gulf | Gehry Partners

Since these are still "works in progress", and the final design (including the heights of the towers) has apparently not yet been fixed, it may be some time before we find out the specific heights of the buildings. Every new variation in design might shift the roof heights up or down by many metres.

So all I would be confident in saying is that the final as-built heights (provided that they are not chopped in height) are likely to be in the 270m to 310m range.
 
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AlvinofDiaspar said:
MetroMan:

I don't know about that - the crinkly, torn paper crisscrossing the podium is typically how Gehry depict his signature forms. That said, I think it isn't necessarily a bad thing that he chose to move away from that - I much rather he comes up with something distinctively "Toronto" (sans the value-engineering bit) than building yet another Walt Disney.

AoD
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Very true, actually. Plus, a molten titanium thing across the street from Roy Thomson Hall would not be a good idea.
 
Another screen capture from the video:

gehryx.jpg



They definitely look to be Scotiabank / First Canadian Place height here.

If they were built like this, they would definitely pull the bulk of skyline westward, with Cityplace backing up from the front. East of yonge would seem even more easterly.

One interesting thing they might do is de-emphasize the city's bank buildings as the dominant reason for downtown's tall buildings. Between The CN Tower, the Skydome, Cityplace, the new Shangri-La and Ritz-Carlton plus these three towers with their attendant art facilities, the reason for skyscrapers in the core would be notably moved away from just finance to pleasurable tourism, group events, residency and the arts.
 
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One for now? Globe and Mail: 'We're going to be responsible,' developer behind proposed Mirvish project says

"We're going to be responsible," Peter Kofman, president of Projectcore Inc., a developer and project manager that is working on the Mirvish project said in an interview Monday.

He said the plan is to build the first tower on the eastern side of the property, and then weigh the market's reception to that before deciding when and how to proceed with the second and third towers.

"If the market's not there then we can wait," he said. "We're not pressured."

Construction could begin on the first condo tower in 18 months or two years, he said. Prices and unit sizes are still in flux, and will depend on the market.
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So just what else did Gehry say, other than that he is building sculptures for people to live in? That, and I want to see the very preliminary floor plans that are clearly on display!

syn:

Trust me, you'd be even less impressed by the website of Gehry International.

AoD
 
I wonder if they've considered making these mixed-use towers. For a project of this scope a combination of office and residential space could be perfect.
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
So just what else did Gehry say, other than that he is building sculptures for people to live in? That, and I want to see the very preliminary floor plans that are clearly on display!

syn:

Trust me, you'd be even less impressed by the website of Gehry International.

AoD
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Yeah I saw his website too...I was shocked. Simple is good, but simple and bad is a deadly combination. :p
 
canmark said:
One for now? Globe and Mail: 'We're going to be responsible,' developer behind proposed Mirvish project says
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The first phase of this project (east tower) obviously should have to stand alone on its own merit in terms of planning since the "let's see how it goes" is not reassuring. I think they should build the two western King&John buildings first with all the frills, then "see how it goes". No free pass on this one based on a promise from a developer with not much of a track record.
 
CanadianNational said:
Another screen capture from the video:

gehryx.jpg



They definitely look to be Scotiabank / First Canadian Place height here.

If they were built like this, they would definitely pull the bulk of skyline westward, with Cityplace backing up from the front. East of yonge would seem even more easterly.

One interesting thing they might do is de-emphasize the city's bank buildings as the dominant reason for downtown's tall buildings. Between The CN Tower, the Skydome, Cityplace, the new Shangri-La and Ritz-Carlton plus these three towers with their attendant art facilities, the reason for skyscrapers in the core would be notably moved away from just finance to pleasurable tourism, group events, residency and the arts.
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The picture makes no reference to 10 York, 90 Harbour etc. It is within the realm of possibility that this is how things turn out :p

You write well. Once upon a time, this town's raison d'etre was what went on at King and Bay. If once cares to dwell on the symbolic, this picture shows vividly what has changed in Toronto's make-up during the last generation.
 
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Thumbs down to this thing. We're losing a very pleasant urban block with a nice streetwall for a jumbled, but trendy, mess. Build it on a parking lot, but don't sacrifice this block for that.
 
I am inclined to go easy on the website and presentation, since the people involved were evidently caught flat-footed by the accidental release of the video on Saturday. They must have been scrambling in the two days since then to pull together enough information, in a polished enough format, to appease the public. No small task when the project is still in flux with no final design selected.

I will say that I think that this project looks to be a MASSIVE step up from what was there before. No slight intended to the Princess of Wales Theatre, or the pleasant but unremarkable warehouses next to it, but this is architecture at a whole different level.
 
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Looks like this is the official website http://mirvishandgehrytoronto.com/

I've never heard of ProjectCore before today, I wonder how Mirvish came up with that? I would also enjoy more mixed-use in this, but I don't know where the demand will come from, downtown commercial re seems to be even slower than residential... the middle tower would be perfect for offices and extension of PATH retail
 
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When I first saw this thread and saw 2 X 88 plus 90 - I was transfixed, like everyone else. Now it appears they are proposing three towers in the 80 story range - and we all know the city will take a shot at further reducing this to the high sixties maybe seventy stories. Not that this is not substantial, but its already being watered down and becoming less iconic and more just another project - not the mesmerizing project we all got a glimpse of Saturday. (We already have a number of projects proposed or underway that are taller)

I hope that this ends up being an icon for the city and not just another condo project because, Ghery aside, that would simply be another 2,600 condo units in a city with too many average, small condos already and seriously, Ho hum.
 
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