Toronto Union Park | 303.26m | 58s | Oxford Properties | Pelli Clarke Pelli

Black Beetle said:
This is incredibly dull; from the tower designs to that of the park. Preliminary or not, this is not a good start. The Front St rendering is so utterly sterile. Compare that with the audacious, highly imaginative base that was proposed for this site in the previous plan (whether that was a serious design or not).

The two larger towers immediately reminded me of HP’s Lakeside Residences. I thought the latter was bland, but this is even more cold and lifeless; especially at street level. I don’t see how this can get much better, given the architect involved. It would be nice to have an international design competition. This current vision looks like it could have been designed by any number of Toronto’s firms. For such a high profile site, this ought to display plenty of verve. Ideally, none of the towers would be identical, as well. We have far too many twin and triplet developments around the CN Tower. I also find the tower arrangement to be awkward and lacking porosity.
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Agreed. In certain renderings it makes an initial good first impression, but beyond that it's quite disappointing. I'd expect better at such a premier location.



AlvinofDiaspar said:
From what little there is available to be seen, I am not that impressed by the landscape design - it felt like period "going through the motion" (gazebo - check; lawn - check; etc.)

AoD
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It matches the rest of the project.
 
A flyover:


191945
 
I don't know why Oxford felt it was necessary to involve another architect once again, when Foster had provided them with a plan and design in the first place? Yes, it removed the MTCC, but get them to alter their plans according to your new intentions...and voila!, a new plan!

Cesar Pelli has produced some intriguing designs in his day, but those days seem long gone now...The designs of the folded wing, or unfurling wing, or whatever it is, do not come across as innovative or new. Instead, this looks like a bunch of styles mashed together to result in something Oxford likes - pastiche and pretty generic. And what is going on in the park? Do they really think we need every type, design and size of pavilion known to man in the park - it's so busy, you can hardly walk 10 feet, before you are once again being introduced to another pavilion...oh and another TORONTO sign..maybe have 10 of those to mix and match with the pavilions?
 
This project looks very similar to the One Congress at Bulfinch Crossing project in Boston, also designed by Pelli
pcparch.com

One Congress at Bulfinch Crossing - Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects

One Congress Tower at Bulfinch Crossing is a 43-story signature office tower for a phased transformation of new transit-oriented, mixed-use development. Boston’s existing Government Center Garage—an above-grade parking structure—will become six buildings, totaling 2.3 million gross square feet...
pcparch.com pcparch.com
 
syn said:
Agreed. In certain renderings it makes an initial good first impression, but beyond that it's quite disappointing. I'd expect better at such a premier location.





It matches the rest of the project.
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Preliminary concept, just about what you'd expect.
 
p5connex said:
I don't know why Oxford felt it was necessary to involve another architect once again, when Foster had provided them with a plan and design in the first place? Yes, it removed the MTCC, but get them to alter their plans according to your new intentions...and voila!, a new plan!

Cesar Pelli has produced some intriguing designs in his day, but those days seem long gone now...The designs of the folded wing, or unfurling wing, or whatever it is, do not come across as innovative or new. Instead, this looks like a bunch of styles mashed together to result in something Oxford likes - pastiche and pretty generic. And what is going on in the park? Do they really think we need every type, design and size of pavilion known to man in the park - it's so busy, you can hardly walk 10 feet, before you are once again being introduced to another pavilion...oh and another TORONTO sign..maybe have 10 of those to mix and match with the pavilions?
Click to expand...

they could have hired KPF or Roger Stirk Harbour. ive never been a fan of Pelli
 
I don't particularly care for design of the towers, but I don't find it to be so bad that warrants a complete redesign - the real meat is the MTCC portion. The park deck can use a complete, careful redesign though - taking into account how it will flow with the broader context of decking that section of the corridor. Going through the motions in a piecemeal fashion is insufficient.

Ideally, this would be the time to study how the open space for the entire precinct (including CN Tower/Ripley/SkyDome) can be unified in a coherent manner that actually facilitates knitting that area back into the city.

One thing I am gratified by is the amount of density asked for - there isn't a better place than this for it.

AoD
 
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Those gaudy swoops on the office towers are really not growing on me. I do like the splashes of colour on residential tower 04 though. If the materials are good, and if they get the overgrown, overwhelming podium under control, that tower could look quite nice.
 
You can bet your sweet bippy there will be many changes between now and then, and things may look a whole lot different.
 
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