Toronto's Ugliest Building

[TonyV]

If I may, I would like to nominate the building at the southeast corner of Broadview and Danforth for this dubious honour. It was once a bank branch, now it is a real estate office. Somewhere along the line, a top floor was added to the structure, using only crude cinder blocks, and there are steel beams sticking up one storey above the addition. You have to see it to believe it. I don't want to waste efforts at this time with a picture of it. Maybe some other time.

I am sure many of you have seen the mess. I wish this sort of savagery could be prevented.

If I'm not mistaken there was a pretty big fire in that corner building in or around the late 80's. It didn't have to be demolished but when it was cleaned up, windows replaced and such they added that dreaded addition on top.

Thanks for kick-starting my memory. I do recall that fire. In any event, if I were a local merchant in that part of the city, I'd still be mortified with the visual damage done. Long ago when one approached Danforth/Broadview heading eastward, the curved building fronts on either side of the intersection combined to make an announcement. They still do, but one of the buildings is so badly tortured.

 

[Irishmonk]

Metropolis / nee: Dundas Square / whatever it is now.

10 Dundas East and I second your vote on it: it's pure architorture at its worst, both inside and out. The 5 Uglies on QQW are also criminally sub par and impossible to hide. As is the Toronto Star building, and Harbour Castle/Harbour Square. Actually, that whole section of the central waterfront from Freeland to York is just terrible.

Not sure if Yonge/Eglinton Centre has been mentioned (though it's getting a facelift.)

There are so many others across the city but most of them have been mentioned. (HBC, Sheraton Centre, MTCC, etc...)

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

10 Dundas E. would be my vote too. I dislike just about everything about that building so much that I get a bad taste in my mouth as I pass by.

 

[Hipster Duck]

Personally, the ugliest building in Toronto is the ferry docks to the island. It's just a simple brutalist shed that you can't see from the street, but think about how you're treated in its interior space. You pay your fare and then you are confined to a roofless, cement holding cell with steel grates until somebody unlocks you and you proceed to the ferry. So, what should be the beginning of a romantic getaway to the islands has all the ambience of a prison transfer.

My runner up would have to be the Bush shed + the existing GO concourse at Union station where you really do "scurry into the city like a rat". At least the concourse is being redone. The Bush shed is truly awful, and I don't understand why people would defend it in the name of heritage.

 

[ON1]

Surprisingly, the ROM's crystal addition was the first thing to come to my mind. When it was first launched, I wasn't a big fan and thought that it might grow on me but it hasn't at all. It's just a sharp blob that ice likes to fall from in the winter.

 

[adma]

The Bush shed is truly awful, and I don't understand why people would defend it in the name of heritage.

Who says it'll still seem so "truly awful" once the pertinent parts of it are cleaned up/restored/upgraded in the new schema? Unless you feel it'll be a "Lyle Studio facade" bit of pathos...

 

[junctionist]

Personally, the ugliest building in Toronto is the ferry docks to the island. It's just a simple brutalist shed that you can't see from the street, but think about how you're treated in its interior space. You pay your fare and then you are confined to a roofless, cement holding cell with steel grates until somebody unlocks you and you proceed to the ferry. So, what should be the beginning of a romantic getaway to the islands has all the ambience of a prison transfer.

My runner up would have to be the Bush shed + the existing GO concourse at Union station where you really do "scurry into the city like a rat". At least the concourse is being redone. The Bush shed is truly awful, and I don't understand why people would defend it in the name of heritage.

The lack of romance in the ferry docks is an interesting critique. Design-wise, I like their Brutalist monumental quality, contrasted with whimsical details like the triangular signs mounted high, which hold signal lights for the ferries. It shows how versatile Brutalism could be. But it's true: the ferry docks are a space lacking in the warmth or romance associated with the ferry ride to the Islands. They're far from the ugliest building, but not without their flaws. Harbour Square around them was a terrible development taking up a massive amount of land at the waterfront's most prominent site downtown. Its Queen's Quay facade is also very cheap and sterile. The negative influence those buildings have on perceptions of the waterfront cannot be overestimated.

When it comes to Union Station's shed, I thought similarly until I took a look at the structure one time when I wasn't in a hurry. It has some interesting details in its many metal supports. I think this photo demonstrates it. There are graceful arches, beams with a series of "X"'s, and continuous skylights over the tracks. It has an early-twentieth century vibe to it, and it's not hard to imagine the steam engines which once rolled in and out. The problem is that the inside of the roof structure is so dirty as to discourage anyone from really looking at it. If it was cleaned up, with more attractive signage, lighting (for instance, lighting up the arched supports), and better platform paving and seating, it could be a great space.

 

[adHominem]

Personally, the ugliest building in Toronto is the ferry docks to the island. It's just a simple brutalist shed that you can't see from the street, but think about how you're treated in its interior space. You pay your fare and then you are confined to a roofless, cement holding cell with steel grates until somebody unlocks you and you proceed to the ferry. So, what should be the beginning of a romantic getaway to the islands has all the ambience of a prison transfer.

I'm usually the first to defend Brutalism, but you make a very good point. Aesthetically I don't mind the docks, and as junctionist points out they have some very charming details. But functionally they're an absolute disaster. Why does a space that has to process thousands of people on the hottest days of the year not have any shade?

Anyway, for ugliest building, I nominate the residential block at the NE corner of Bloor & Symington. That thing just depresses the fuck out of me every time I walk by. It kills the street dead. And now there's a matching one on the south side of Bloor at Ruttan!

 

[Hipster Duck]

Thanks, adHominem. I like some brutalism, too, but I think one of the reasons it gets such a bad rep is because so many brutalist buildings have horrible functionality. Many brutalist buildings are carved up by weird interior spaces, have unintuitive corridors and feature raised and sunken common areas that cut down on usability and accessibility. For the same reason, I think the ROM crystal will be poorly judged by future generations; you have to climb a fire exit on the side to access the different floors, and 1/3 of the crystal is wasted by an interior atrium that is not particularly inviting.

---

I think functionality is the main reason I dislike the Bush shed, too. It was built to vent steam fumes, but nowadays it only serves to make the traveler's experience dark and dispiriting. The width between the columns of the Bush shed also makes it impossible to retrofit the platforms to be wider, which is why you have a very claustrophobic, non wheelchair accessible crawl space of about two feet between stairwells and the track edge. In this case, the utility of the station as a major commuter hub should outweigh almost any aesthetic concerns. It might have been fine when it was just used for intercity trains pulled by steam locomotives, but it does a poor job at serving the millions of commuters who mainly use it today.

 

[imperfect]

A fabulous example of the BRUTALIST style in the Corbu-bu spirit - not ugly - simply BRUTAL

 

[imperfect]

Welcome insertrealname

There was an article in the Star (by Christopher Hume I believe) on the Toronto Public Library building renewal.

AoD

referring to or even acknowledging what Hume has to say is an admission of shallowness as far as knowledge of Architecture and Building is concerned.

 

[imperfect]

I know you said 'building' but can I vote for all of Yonge Street south of Bloor, both sides all the way to the lake?

Also, all of Duffefin from the Exhibition to the 401.

And Dupont is pretty gross from Avenue Road to Dundas Street West.

And the new Trump tower as soon as it's built. He has a remarkable ability to build the gaudiest structures in every major city.

Oh and of course Robarts.

ROBARTS - Fort Book - Another fine example of BRUTALISM - it matures well and the context continually make it look better.

 

[imperfect]

Who says it'll still seem so "truly awful" once the pertinent parts of it are cleaned up/restored/upgraded in the new schema? Unless you feel it'll be a "Lyle Studio facade" bit of pathos...

Whatever PATHOS is invoked by hte reconstructed Lyle Facade at One Bedford ought be directed to the bureaucrats of the City and Heritage agencies that imposed this requirement on the developer - design by committee never works.
there are other examples of this historic facadism in the city - all originating from the same bureaucrats - one is in a building on Bay, west side south of Richmond .................. this is an example of TORONTO zeitgeist - weep now and forever hold your peace/piece

 

[gabe]

I like Robarts, i can't stand The Ryerson University Library building.

 

[adma]

referring to or even acknowledging what Hume has to say is an admission of shallowness as far as knowledge of Architecture and Building is concerned.

I smell a ban coming on...