vistaway
Active Member
Ground level on the west side of the site already. Nice to see they've installed sidewalk protection along the Main Street side of the site.
Hamilton Lincoln Alexander Hall | 59.31m | 15s | Knightstone | Diamond Schmitt
- Thread starter DavidCapizzano
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jta5
Active Member
These drone shots from Reimar's social media only show one crane so are a couple weeks outdated but offer a great perspective of the site
TheHonestMaple
Active Member
Crazy how fast this one is moving along! Just a couple weeks out of date, and they're already pouring the grade level slab on the west side of the site! Saw them setting up the forms today.
rdaner
Senior Member
^^What is that hulking prison-like structure in the background? Amazing!
Chris R.
Senior Member
The McMaster children's hospital
jta5
Active Member
That place is legendary. Designed by Eb Zeidler, who also designed Toronto's Eaton Centre and Toronto's Trump tower.
More info about it from the Ontario Architecture Association here: https://web.archive.org/web/2014062...591726-mcmaster-hospital-hailed-as-landmark-/
and in this article about its 50th birthday: https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilt...cle_5da9610d-e14f-56d7-a2a0-1ef2864fd944.html
Chronamut
Active Member
I dunno if "amazing" would describe the exterior - more like brutalist 80s architecture lol, and for children no less.
Those staircases make it look like chimneys - like some giant factory lol.. baby factory.. I'll admit the interior and its ability to be flexible is innovative though.
Also I hate his attempted justification for brutalism:
"“When I teach brutalism in my course at McGill to first year architecture students, I tell them to think of it like rock and roll music. It was irreverent, it broke down hierarchies, it democratized. It’s outspoken, the architectural equivalent of free speech … It was really a new vision for the late 20th century. There are really good things about it. It screams accessibility.”"
I don't see it that way, it's just.. brutal looking lol. I like the hamiltonians response: "Many think the building will be eternally ugly." "One resident was quoted as saying, “You know, I don’t think the Russians will ever steal it.” Another said, “It looks like a big prison. But it’s nice inside.”"
Amen.
Those staircases make it look like chimneys - like some giant factory lol.. baby factory.. I'll admit the interior and its ability to be flexible is innovative though.
Also I hate his attempted justification for brutalism:
"“When I teach brutalism in my course at McGill to first year architecture students, I tell them to think of it like rock and roll music. It was irreverent, it broke down hierarchies, it democratized. It’s outspoken, the architectural equivalent of free speech … It was really a new vision for the late 20th century. There are really good things about it. It screams accessibility.”"
I don't see it that way, it's just.. brutal looking lol. I like the hamiltonians response: "Many think the building will be eternally ugly." "One resident was quoted as saying, “You know, I don’t think the Russians will ever steal it.” Another said, “It looks like a big prison. But it’s nice inside.”"
Amen.
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Chris R.
Senior Member
As long as it has windows, I love brutalism. I honestly think Hamilton Place is one of best examples I've ever seen.
Montreal has got some really awesome brutalism as well. I can't imagine you studied architecture and don't have an appreciation for brutalist architecture when used sparingly.
Here's a great video on brutalism:
Chronamut
Active Member
Lol I did study architecture, and no i dont like brutalism - you can't force your visual aesthetic on someone - I just don't like it - I am a craftsman like person - I like detail, embellishments - I like old churches, roman architecture, thing that show a persons personal flair and creativity - the modern world lacks all that in favour of bulk mass and geometric shapes.
I can only ever see brutalism as ugly - every building that is brutalist and rugged and exposed looks ugly to me, and no amt of studying brutalism or understanding its utopian attempt to be for the common man and represent democracy will frankly ever make me like any of it. If I am gonna toss it a bone I will say that at least brutalism sometimes adds things that aren't 90 degree angles, which our current architecture sorely lacks. That and it reminds of of Fallout Shelter and other dystopian futures which I am sure modern media has not helped in promoting lol.
Even the Hamilton center to me feels dated , but at least there's lots of wood in it to detract from just looking at harsh concrete.
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I'm allowed my tastes lol, and clearly many Hamiltonians agree with me on this building. I do love art deco - that's the most "bulky" I do - but I do love elegant designs - and not glass boxes - at least not with some sorta embellishment - the ones in Toronto with those giant diamond shaped protrusions I like quite a bit but that's because there is a design element to it that goes beyond just being a box.
I guess I am just a classicalist, and there's nothing wrong with that right? Takes all sorts to make a world. If it is constructed well I will try to find something good in it - at least brutalism tends to often be symmetrical so I can at least toss it another bone that way. But these compliments are like a woman asking what you like about her and you saying "you have hair". Lol.
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Oddly Oaktree
New Member
I have mixed feelings on Brutalism... I know there are good examples, like the Montreal Metro, but all too often I think it's spoiled by the massively car-centric era in which it was popularized—add to that it's depiction in media post-Clockwork Orange, and it's really become the defacto style of Fascist Parking Garages!
Although I think the intention of being a style for the common person is nice in principle, I'd argue it was developed by mid-century modernist intellectuals that were very out of touch with anything to do with the common person, and in retrospect, is somewhat belittling.
...Still, I'll take Brutalism any day over that as-of-yet unnamed plastic-cladded contemporary style I like to refer to as the "SketchUp Style"... That is, digitally designed architecture that clearly made heavy use of the "Push/Pull Tool" on L-shaped surfaces in SketchUp!
IamNotaRobot
New Member
From what I've been told, the resemblance to a factory was intentional for the time when there was more industry on the west side of Hamilton
Chris R.
Senior Member
They must be at grade level now? I would have to guess so considering the speed they're moving at.
Chris R.
Senior Member
Made a trip to the Dundas Transfer station today, and stopped by. Very much still beneath grade, deeper than I expected, this picture is looking east from Traymore:
Travelling along Main Street it's hard to overstate how huge this project looks to be. It takes a massive amount of Main St frontage and the overhead sidewalk cover makes this looks absolutely massive. Still trying to get the up to date architectural plans from city staff. Wish there was a central page with all that info and documents like every other city in the area...
Travelling along Main Street it's hard to overstate how huge this project looks to be. It takes a massive amount of Main St frontage and the overhead sidewalk cover makes this looks absolutely massive. Still trying to get the up to date architectural plans from city staff. Wish there was a central page with all that info and documents like every other city in the area...
innsertnamehere
Superstar
IIRC the city was supposed to launch an online portal to view development applications (at least new applications) in March, but that got destroyed by the cyber attack. Who knows now when it'll actually launch.
Chris R.
Senior Member
I recalled Joey mentioning that on Twitter, but I didn't even see the City say anything official about that, so I don't know who to even ask about the ETA on that. I asked the staff behind the DRP and they didn't even know about it...