Toronto MaRS Centre Phase 2 | 112.77m | 20s | Alexandria | B+H

Thank you for the pictures. This will be a huge building, yet it doesn't seem to overshadow or dominate the corner, something which would not be wanted on this corner especially,
 
I kind of see this project as a return to the pre-war vertical factory. Since we have a post-industrial economy, having 10M square feet of biotech researchers toiling away in labs and fume hoods is somewhat equivalent to the beehive of workers cranking out Fords in an Albert Kahn-designed assembly plant.
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Wow! I love that analogy. Too bad though they don't all pour out like the 10,000 that would leave Highland Park or River Rouge. That to me is the picture that defines early 20th century manufacturing.
 
It still remains to be seen how much momentum can be generated both economically and in terms of research and development form Mars. But I must say that until now I am very impressed. This organization really seems to be making a difference and serving as a model for other industrial sectors. All the stakeholders seem to genuinely want to collaborate to produce results not only in their fields of interest but for the community as a whole. This is very refreshing given the bad attitudes towards innovation, creativity, and global competitiveness prevalent both in government and corporate culture in this country.
 
It still remains to be seen how much momentum can be generated both economically and in terms of research and development form Mars
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Considering the first phase was filled so quickly shows there is significant momentum. Looking good.
 
the addition goes a long way in creating more of the feel of a grand entrance into Queen's Park. I like.
 
What if you started over, had a competition, w/ people that create biomeds like this?

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Once again, I am not upset, but still disappointed with a building in Toronto. There is nothing wrong with the latest MaRS, except the style does not make me do cartwheels. If I find myself alone in this view, so be it.

If there was a competition, I want to see the other entries. If there was no competition, and this is what they selected on their own, they didn’t do their due diligence.

Last year, two innovative bio-medical research buildings came on line in two different parts of the world – one was in Berlin Germany; the other was in Canberra Australia. The Australian contribution was by a Melbourne-based firm, which I will temporarily call the Brothers Lyon - Corbett, Cameron and Carey (along with four Principals making 7 partners). Of the two new buildings, the most “out there†was the one from Australia. The latter doubles as a research school, with the school and a degree of private enterprise co-existing at the same location.

This may be the type of building you would do cartwheels over, at least I would:


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Exterior JCSMR/Australian National University in Canberra, Australia​

The caption gives you the abbreviation most used/ JCSMR translates to John Curtin School of Medical Research. (The name comes from John Curtin who was an Australian Prime Minister.)

One of Australia’s highest honour given to an architect or firm for a building is the Master Builder Award. The creators of JCSMR at ANU received the 2006 Master Builder Award. Imagine a couple of buildings like this as your grand entrance to Queen's Park. But what is most fascinating about Lyons, the real name of the architectural firm that designed this building, is that they constantly turn out these types of low-rise gems with both great interiors and exteriors, environmentally responsible, and fairly inexpensive.


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Interior JCSMR/ANU
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Prior to this, Lyons won the 2002 Victorian Architectural Medal; and prior to that, they were chosen to represent Australia at the 2000 Venice Architecture Biennale. Not bad for a firm that began just 12 years ago.

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^^ nice building but not really a realistic example of what MaRS could have been. (as I doubt you could translate it into a highrise set on a tight lot in an urban setting)
 
Just to get slightly off the topic of MaRS, but wouldn't it be nice to see a building similar to what Zephyr posted on the waterfront for Project Symphony?
 
Is that achitecture or archi-pornography? Simply put, what right do we have to look the world over and pick and choose buildings from this or that city... this or that context... and emphatically declare our own experience to be poorer than the rest? One one hand, we unfairly compare ourselves to the world in its entirety... on another, we unfairly compare our own unique intersection of client/site/needs/goals to that of each such institution.

I'm not trying to say that we shouldn't aim high, architecturally speaking, but rather that we should be careful at what, and with what, we're aiming.
 
Indeed; beyond that, we already have our architectural equivalent - CCBR (and perhaps Pharmacy).

re: Model pics

I wonder why the Ontario Hydro building is also done instead of plastic instead of wood; MaRS phase 3 in the making?

AoD
 
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