Toronto X2 Condominiums | 160.93m | 49s | Lifetime | Wallman Architects

egotrippin said:
A lot of the ubiquitous '60s and '70s apartments are perfectly fine. A lot of them would look decent with a few modern updates, such as glass balcony railings and new windows. Removing the years of tacked-on siding plastered over a lot of them would help too.
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When the only high-rises in an area are those ubiquitous 60s/70s apartment towers, the area may very boring because of the generic architecture. But now that a lot of these areas are getting new condo towers, the diversity can improve the area a lot. The cluster of old towers becomes a dense base for the new towers. There are a lot of generic 60s/70s apartment towers that could use modern touches, but unfortunately, some of the more unique apartment towers from the era such as one of the Tower Hill buildings on St. Clair West are now losing their balcony railings in favour of modern glass versions, and the railings were subtle but important details of the original designs. There was one Uno Prii midrise apartment building in the Annex that had this unique circular motif on the balcony railings which were destroyed for generic glass in the 2000s.

In the photo above, it's also evident why opaque railing systems were originally chosen: so you wouldn't see balcony junk. The green railings on that yellow brick building compliment the colour of the brick nicely. Bottom line, sometimes glass balcony railings are fine on these 60s/70s apartment buildings, but owners need to scrutinize the original choice closely in terms of design value.
 
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X2:

4981286124_4cd479aec7_b.jpg
 
Demolishing moving along well, at the rate they are moving it should be done in about a week.

Click on the thumbnail to enlarge, then click again on the image for full size.

 
junctionist said:
When the only high-rises in an area are those ubiquitous 60s/70s apartment towers, the area may very boring because of the generic architecture. But now that a lot of these areas are getting new condo towers, the diversity can improve the area a lot. The cluster of old towers becomes a dense base for the new towers. There are a lot of generic 60s/70s apartment towers that could use modern touches, but unfortunately, some of the more unique apartment towers from the era such as one of the Tower Hill buildings on St. Clair West are now losing their balcony railings in favour of modern glass versions, and the railings were subtle but important details of the original designs. There was one Uno Prii midrise apartment building in the Annex that had this unique circular motif on the balcony railings which were destroyed for generic glass in the 2000s.

In the photo above, it's also evident why opaque railing systems were originally chosen: so you wouldn't see balcony junk. The green railings on that yellow brick building compliment the colour of the brick nicely. Bottom line, sometimes glass balcony railings are fine on these 60s/70s apartment buildings, but owners need to scrutinize the original choice closely in terms of design value.
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Yeah the loss of the original balconies on the Tower Hill building and Prii's building is a shame, but the generic metal, peeled-paint, balconies are an eyesore on a lot of the older apartments. I wish Toronto had a devoted heritage consultant, or group of consultants, that could approve or reject modifications to existing buildings based on impact to the original design. A lot of ham-fisted renovations mar our current streetscapes.
 
49
 
They're giving us more of what we love: large mechanical boxes on the roof :rolleyes: .

They might have heard some complaints about the rendering for X, which was produced at such an angle so the presence of the box wouldn't be immediately known to the observer, because the X2 rendering above is more upfront about it.
 
At street level, X (1) really turns my crank, and its art installation is the best thing I've seen around this area in years.

The "fake history" of the Rogers building, across the street, has been put to shame by X.
 
sorry if this has been asked already -- anybody know why the developer chose to put the low-rise podium facing east and the tower on the west side of the lot. I would think most people would enjoy the podium rooftop amenities later in the day when the sun is in the west. Also, X2's placement blocks the SW city views of X residents unnecessarily IMO (the best view of the downtown skyline).

Love the artwork in front of X.
 
ProjectEnd said:
But, in its own way, how is X's "fake history" any different than Eb's attempt to the east?
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There's no fake history to be found. There's one building that ornaments a modern office building with references to past styles through spires and other elements, and one that continues with the Modernist aesthetic because it's still seen as attractive and relevant.
 
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