Toronto Spire Condos | 144.77m | 45s | Context Development | a—A

I think they did a lovely job laying the cinderblock on the Clewes buildings that I've seen or been inside - and painting it too. I don't find a disconnect between enjoying his buildings from a distance and enjoying them up close - one expects there to be a transition as you move closer to something. He has a great eye for form and proportion, knows how to simplify and say what he wants to say without clutter: standing in front of 22 Wellesley and looking up is a far more enjoyable experience than standing in front of the cluttered assemblage that is Element and looking up. I'm sure Clewes could do great things with plywood, though materials don't count for everything.

The "Monet" quote indicates how someone with a one dimensional view of a two ( or three ) dimensional object short-changes themselves: the brushstrokes of a Monet can be appreciated close up, just as the whole painting can be appreciated from a distance. In the AGO's little Chuck Close exhibition there's a smallish self-portrait that can be enjoyed in exactly that way. Up close it is a deliciously blobby, smeared mess of colours - and as you move away it becomes something different, but it is still a Chuck Close.

I don't find the limestone on the Gardiner Museum any more attractive after a rainstorm than the concrete on the St Lawrence Centre after a rainstorm.
 
This stretch of Adelaide doesn't look crappy? One side is cladding the other painted cinder block. Totally makes the building look unfinished.

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Spire-May12,07(14).jpg
 
Ed007Toronto said:
This stretch of Adelaide doesn't look crappy? One side is cladding the other painted cinder block. Totally makes the building look unfinished.

Spire-May12,07(13).jpg


Spire-May12,07(14).jpg
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Agreed.

The building isn't unsightly, but it certainly isn't a work of art.

It looks as though Context went back to the drawing board a few times, and then finally said, "let's just put this damn thing up".
 
Maybe you have to move up close to the 'lovely' cinderblock, during a rainstorm, to fully appreciate it. ;)
 
Urban Shocker said:
I don't find the limestone on the Gardiner Museum any more attractive after a rainstorm than the concrete on the St Lawrence Centre after a rainstorm.
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Yes, we know, babel - but please understand that you're virtually alone, if not completely alone, in this opinion. Recognize your decidedly unpopular idiosyncrasy and quite pronounced contrarianism here.

alklay said:
I am indeed hung up on materials as they are important details. And any good architect should be hung up on such details.
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Inarguable, no? Quite odd indeed for someone with such a developed aesthetic sense to be so dismissive of materials.

Great modernism looks as good close up as it does afar, because of the use of materials and details. Mies' works look as breathtaking up close as they do afar because of his attention to detail and use of materials (his buildings would not be what they were if he used plywood instead of glass - materials count for everything).
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Natch. Learn from your hero, babel.

I mean, now you're defending cinder blocks? Really, come on! The shark, she is jumped.
 
the clewes stuff is good, but they really blew it at street level, imho. Don't know why. I give 18 Yorkville an A-, and spire a B+....but that's just me...

/won't get into it with babel
//frankly, i think he has lost it...:(
 
If we travel further along that shark jumping train of thought, perhaps it was jumped - like the Vivian switch on Fresh Prince or the two Dicks on Bewitched - when Urban Shocker appeared. 'Shocking' us with opinions could be the forum equivalent of expecting twins during Sweeps any time after the 5th season.
 
There's nothing wrong with unorthodox or minority or otherwise unusual opinions...and with a name like Urban Shocker, perhaps it should be expected.
 
The cinder block ain't pretty...but they did a great job with the Lombard St parkette, that's for sure. When I work out in the gym it's such a lovely sight to look onto.
 
Ed007Toronto said:
This stretch of Adelaide doesn't look crappy? One side is cladding the other painted cinder block. Totally makes the building look unfinished.
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It looks like concrete blocks. There is nothing inherently wrong with concrete blocks. How decorated does a bike parking area at the back end of a building have to be?
 
AndreaPalladio said:
It looks like concrete blocks. There is nothing inherently wrong with concrete blocks. How decorated does a bike parking area at the back end of a building have to be?
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not very, but it does look like shit to me...put something over that, a mural or some different textures. and those little panels look pretty ugly too, the ones inbetween the bike rack and the glass lobby
 
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