Johnny Au
Senior Member
Ah yes, the Swanboat Steve Ferris Wheel, complete with Ferris wheel passenger cars designed to resemble swans and each car playing The Swan from The Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saëns:
Toronto Ontario Place | ?m | ?s | Infrastructure ON
- Thread starter vistaway
- Start date
north-of-anything
Active Member
Or maybe they could take the swan boats and connect them to a long cable overhead, like cable cars. Some sort of swandola lift...
kotsy
Senior Member
W. K. Lis
Superstar
In 1971, they assumed most of the visitors would drive to Ontario Place, and ignored the walk-ins or transit users.
Towered
Superstar
My parents frequently took me to OP in the early 80's, and we always drove. They hated transit.
AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
From the Canadian Architect:
www.canadianarchitect.com
AoD
LANDinc and Martha Schwartz to design Ontario Place Public Realm
Toronto-based LANDinc and New York Design landscape architecture firm Martha Schwartz Partners (MSP) have been awarded the commission by Infrastructure Ontario to design and construction of the public realm of Ontario Place. The soon-to-be developed landscape concept will be a publicly...
www.canadianarchitect.com
AoD
Northern Light
Superstar
From the Canadian Architect:
LANDinc and Martha Schwartz to design Ontario Place Public Realm
Toronto-based LANDinc and New York Design landscape architecture firm Martha Schwartz Partners (MSP) have been awarded the commission by Infrastructure Ontario to design and construction of the public realm of Ontario Place. The soon-to-be developed landscape concept will be a publicly...
AoD
Hmmm, MSP would not have been my first choice. They have some good projects; but a lot of ........'mehs' in their portfolio.
Also, their taste in web design doesn't engender confidence:
Martha Schwartz Partners
Situated at the intersection of landscape, art and climate adaptation, Martha Schwartz Partners (MSP) is a leading international design practice with over 40 years of experience designing and implementing installations, gardens, civic plazas, parks, institutional landscapes, corporate headquarters,
msp.world
Landinc, on the other hand has done some pretty good stuff, including Trillium Park.
FEATURED PROJECTS — LANDinc
LANDinc is a Forward Thinking Architecture Firm See What Inspires Us Bold
www.landinc.ca
daptive
Active Member
Hmmm, MSP would not have been my first choice. They have some good projects; but a lot of ........'mehs' in their portfolio.
Also, their taste in web design doesn't engender confidence:
Martha Schwartz Partners
Situated at the intersection of landscape, art and climate adaptation, Martha Schwartz Partners (MSP) is a leading international design practice with over 40 years of experience designing and implementing installations, gardens, civic plazas, parks, institutional landscapes, corporate headquarters,
Landinc, on the other hand has done some pretty good stuff, including Trillium Park.
FEATURED PROJECTS — LANDinc
LANDinc is a Forward Thinking Architecture Firm See What Inspires Us Bold
Not really seeing a lot of standout projects from LANDinc either, Trillium Park might be their best.
Did learn about a rebuild of the Canada Walk of Fame that never happened though: Link
Northern Light
Superstar
I would have liked to see MVVA as the lead here.
Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates Inc
<p>MVVA’s team of more than 100 people believes in the rejuvenating power of landscape. Our projects are defined by the qualities of their sites and by the aspirations of people who will use them. MVVA landscapes are innovative, generous, and joyful.</p>
Supported, perhaps by West 8 to bring some consistency w/the central waterfront in terms of harder public spaces; alternatively, Cormier rarely disappoints.
Northern Light
Superstar
Margaret Zeidler has an opinion on the Ford gov't Ontario Place makeover........it's not flattering.
I agree w/her take!
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-ontario-place-should-be-renamed-any-place/ (not paywalled at time of posting)
From the column:
"Is a giant tropical spa the best way for Ontarians to celebrate our province? Is it the best use of such priceless public land? Is it even a good idea, given climate change, to rip out a native forest and replace it with hectares of glass-covered space that will require heating and cooling year-round?"
She goes on to advocate for an Ontario Place that revels in native plant landscapes, showcases Ontario food/wine/micro-brew and Ontario innovation as well as Ontario culture (notably music)
I agree w/her take!
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-ontario-place-should-be-renamed-any-place/ (not paywalled at time of posting)
From the column:
"Is a giant tropical spa the best way for Ontarians to celebrate our province? Is it the best use of such priceless public land? Is it even a good idea, given climate change, to rip out a native forest and replace it with hectares of glass-covered space that will require heating and cooling year-round?"
She goes on to advocate for an Ontario Place that revels in native plant landscapes, showcases Ontario food/wine/micro-brew and Ontario innovation as well as Ontario culture (notably music)
jayme2016
Active Member
There has to be someone from Ontario who can do this.
Blovertis
Active Member
How parochial. They did hire a Canadian firm -- it's not like they went to the U.S. and Europe. Funny, I don't see this kind of criticism on the many threads praising Claude Cormier.
AnnetteMeetsJane
Active Member
To be fair, none of the parks that Cormier has worked on has the name Ontario in the title....
Northern Light
Superstar
If you read the full column, what she points out is that none of those companies set to take control of a portion of Ontario Place are based in Ontario.
One is American, one is Austrian and one is based in Quebec.
She's also making that point in that the idea of Ontario Place as originally conceived was to be a celebration of Ontario.
It was meant to reflect the physical place and the people in it, and was originally designed by an Ontario-based architect, used many Ontario building materials and including then pioneering IMAX technology invented in Ontario.
Her argument is multi-faceted but in it she's making the point that both the prescribed uses and the companies behind them don't represent the ideas for which Ontario Place, designed by her father...........was conceived.
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concrete_and_light
Active Member
The selling off of Ontario Place and bulldozing a current ecosystem to put in a glassed over tropical vacation spa is truly offensive and gross and absurd. The Ford gov (and supporters) should be made publicly to defend this ridiculous decision that will make our city worse and go against the spirit of what Ontario Place should be only to give it away to a tacky corporate spa (that likely wont even get enough business to remain viable long-term IMO and will just become a newer junkier more depressing ruin.)