Toronto L-Tower | 204.82m | 58s | Cityzen | Daniel Libeskind

SLOCRO said:
Thanks for that Traynor. What could have been... disagree completely with the above comment. This would would have been an excellent contribution to Toronto's bleak highrise/bold/modern architecture stock.
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Yes, thanks Traynor! The tower totally makes up for the base, I'd much rather see the Sony Centre intact than that boot, I always thought it was so disrespectful. The scale of it would likely have made the sidewalk on the east side even worse.
 
Tewder said:
The Sony Centre is just about the best podium any tower could ask for. All the L Tower had to do at ground level was shut up and mind its manners, which the boot version absolutely did not do!
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Yep, the boot completely overwhelmed the O'Keefe, and clumsily so. At least what we ended up with is far more deferential to its context, albeit not perfect.
 
Timelapse Update

Sixteen months of L Tower construction compressed into sixteen seconds (30 days/frames per second starting in July 2011):

[video=vimeo;51886308]http://vimeo.com/51886308[/video]

For HD viewing please go to YouTube or Vimeo.
 
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That's a fantastic video udo, thank you!
 
SkyJacked said:
I wonder if stevedominick's awesome window is here somewhere.
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It was very foggy at times.
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Awesome shot and movie skyjacked !! A definite keeper. In that thick fog ... do they still go ahead with concrete pours and stuff or do you have to wait until it clears, who makes the final call ?

To work in that fog must be amazing ... shows how skilled you guys really are. Please keep those photos and movies coming.

Udo -- great timelapse too !!
 
Awesome shots, SMT. Thanks for those. For one, the view from Market and Esplanade over the past few years has changed dramatically, and for the better. There's a beautiful canyon there, especially with how Telus etc. make the street look like it curves much further than it actually does. That type of asymmetry reminds me, on a much smaller scale, of the financial district in Manhattan.

And L's contribution to the Church/Front location is amazing. Just when I thought my favourite neighborhood couldn't get better.
 
That timelapse video makes the building look great. I think the real gems we've gotten in this build cycle are shangri la and L tower. The rest are just meh.
 
Great pics. The Esplanade is one of my favorite street canyon views in the city. Also, the Berczy is solidifying that streetwall quite well.
 
Sony Plaza

At SkyscraperCity I found a reference to the design of the new Sony Plaza on the north side of the L Tower by the landscape architecture and urban design firm Claude Cormier + Associés from Montreal, who also designed Sugar Beach, the landscape for the new Four Seasons Hotel and Residences, and the transformation of Evergreen Brick Works. This is how they describe their Sony Center project:

Originally designed by Peter Dickinson and opened in 1960, the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts has been restored as part of the L-Tower development - an iconic 57-storey residential tower designed by Daniel Libeskind. The open space between the minimalist stone-clad theatre and the blue-steel of the tower’s shard volumes is the Sony Plaza. Elevated above the street and bordered by angular building and landscape forms, the plaza is also partially surrounded by an illuminated fog system to create an ephemeral buffer against the busy adjacent streets. Public art is integrated to create a public experience that is dynamic and theatrical. The surface is paved with a skewed checkerboard pattern in black and white granite that responds to the acute angles defined by theatre and the intersection of Yonge and Front Streets.

I have taken some pictures of the current state of development and compared it with how it is supposed to look eventually:

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Claude Cormier's office confirmed that these renders represent the latest design. In earlier renders as well as the Sales Office model there was a "Libeskind Crystal" sticking out of the building at the base of the L Tower. It seems we are not going to get this any longer.
 
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If this square is meant for the public to enjoy, why is there nowhere for the public to sit? I don't see any reason for anyone to want to be here. What is going to animate the square? They took out the fountains and replaced them with sculptures but still nowhere to sit and take it all in. What purpose does that patch of grass serve for the already small, square? Wouldn't it have been better to put in a few nice planters, with some really beautiful plants and flowers? Do we really need grass at Front & Yonge?


I am really missing the drama and curves, that boot would have brought to this corner, as opposed to this underwhelming design.
 
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Sorry if I am overdoing the L Tower shots, it is its own fault for being so nice.
I can't walk past without taking a picture of the damn thing.

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