ProjectEnd
Superstar
Why would that matter?
Toronto KING Toronto | 57.6m | 16s | Westbank | Bjarke Ingels Group
- Thread starter Ziggy
- Start date
jje1000
Senior Member
Because despite the efforts of 3XN and Safdie in the later phases, the majority of waterfront architecture is comprised of 1.) Badly aged B-tier architecture from the 70s-90s 2.) Window wall rent-a-box condos 3.) Suburbia-tier office park architecture; all of which squander the naturally beautiful qualities of their sites?
Definitely very interested to see if this manifests itself in the final built project (or is just an aesthetic conceit), considering that nature is inconveniently messy and ivy has some destructive properties. Would really help soften up and make the architecture less intimidating in my opinion.
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ptbotrmpfn
Senior Member
Sorry natureis so inconvenient for you. But it’s the other way around in reality. We are the Inconvienence to nature. But back to the project. Looks amazing. Those circular corner mirrored balls things are “neat”
jje1000
Senior Member
Well, I'm not asserting that for me, but for property managers, developers and engineers, this may very much be an incovenience.
This is why so few buildings have greenery on them (or why greenery on buildings is often 'bubbled-up' in planters and beds)- it's simply more convenient to not have to deal with nature/to tightly control it, than to deal with its unpredictable nature.
Irishmonk
Senior Member
I often find myself with similar thoughts about the quixotic nature of Toronto development (and have made comments here to that effect), but I have to remind myself that architecture is not (to use an overused phrase) a zero sum gain. Having something nice in one part of town doesn't equate to a loss of something nice somewhere else. The more high quality projects that get underway here, the better chance that the bar for overall design rises a little bit higher.
The other thing to consider with this project is that it is located on a heavily used transit corridor in a high profile part of town--though maybe not quite to the level of the central waterfront--so it will be seen and appreciated by hordes of people--including tourists and the all important celebrities.
If all goes according to plan and the design doesn't get value engineered to death, it will be a huge shot in the arm for architecture aficionados , and increase the chances of BIG coming back to design more buildings here (maybe even something on the blessed waterfront--if there is still room there).
westtoeast
Active Member
I think Westbank tends to sell their units at a steep enough price that they don't have to resort to value engineering, I really think this building will live up to the renders. Then again I'm a big BIG fan so maybe I'm overly optimistic
.dwg
Active Member
As much as I like this project...
1) All condominium projects are value engineered. It is almost impossible to conceive a project without value-engineering because it is essentially built in to the process.
2) BIG is not a firm known for good detailing or a material sensitivity. I don't expect the cladding or details to be highlights here; BIG is all about the massing.
1) All condominium projects are value engineered. It is almost impossible to conceive a project without value-engineering because it is essentially built in to the process.
2) BIG is not a firm known for good detailing or a material sensitivity. I don't expect the cladding or details to be highlights here; BIG is all about the massing.
alklay
Senior Member
They have already confirmed that the cladding will be a form of glass block. I suspect that the cladding will be about 1000 times better than 95% of the present condos going up. If that is material insensitivity, I'm all for it. 
Midtown Urbanist
Superstar
We have just one waterfront.
skycandy
Senior Member
stjames2queenwest
Senior Member
Looks awesome!
heatscore
Active Member
That model looks amazing.
The model is pretty amazing… but not super easy to shoot: with light reflecting off the plexiglas box that surrounds it (often more light than coming from the model itself), means that you've got to manoeuvre around quite a bit, and then do a lot of processing of what you end up with to get the features to stand out. That said, I've got 20 pics here which I'll split over two posts, the first concentrating on the development's upper levels:
It looks to me that that there will be two types of glass block used on the exterior, either that or the same block but with white, solid walls being it in places, as there are definitely translucent sections, and those that don't transmit light from the interiors.
This last shot will lead us down to street level for the next photos
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It looks to me that that there will be two types of glass block used on the exterior, either that or the same block but with white, solid walls being it in places, as there are definitely translucent sections, and those that don't transmit light from the interiors.
This last shot will lead us down to street level for the next photos
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Now we'll spin around the building, mostly checking out the interface with King Street, the walkthrough from the new cat park to the south, and the interior courtyard space wth the crystal balls hanging above it.
…and that's the best of what I got of the model.
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…and that's the best of what I got of the model.
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Attachments
someMidTowner
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Easily solved (in camera) with a polarizing filter. Not much you can do after the fact besides dodge and burn until it's less noticeable