Re: Innovative Design Competition - Visual Transformation!
My thoughts, ranked from the ones I liked least to best:
I will first mention that several, if not all the proposals called for a narrowing of Queens Quay and a greenbelt along the ROW. No matter who wins, this should be implemented.
Also a continuous public boardwalk is included in all five.
WASAW
They had.... I guess what one could call a model, but I didn't take any pictures of it. I really couldn't envision their plans for the waterfront. Imagine a bunch of tiny, oddly shaped pavilions theoretically sponsored by major Toronto cultural institutions (ROM, AGO, Zoo, etc), and that's the meat of the proposal. The 'Loop' theme is worked throughout the project, but to me their plans seemed more appropriate for an art installation rather than a master waterfront-plan. Too many endless pedestrian oval paths, not enough justification for anything they were doing. My least favourite of the designs.
Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects & Martinez Lapena-Torres Architects
Perhaps the most "Toronto" of the proposals. They frequently mentioned the practicalities of what would be housed (public washrooms, token terminals, etc) under their five canopies. But so what? Upon first seeing these canopies I had horrible thoughts of the hell-spawns from the canopy at Dundas Square - cheap, unfinished, bare concrete - no thanks! So they're proposing to cover five small areas with these funky roofs. Ok... and?...
Their PowerPoint slides were by far the worse of the bunch, seemed very unprofessional in that respect. It's not a stretch to say those in high school or university/college produce a higher quality visual presentation.
Oh they're also calling for a new island to be created featuring parkland, a Marina, a Native cultural centre, and a tourist trap street or two. Seemed rather unnecessary and useless, and by their own admission wouldn't be around till 2030.
West 8
The presenter basically said their project was cliché-overload, and that sums up their proposal. Take the quintessential 'Canadian-lake view' of large trees, a floating dock, and serene surroundings, and transfer that to downtown Toronto. That's their entry in a nutshell.
The presenter gets points for making fun of the CN Tower (he called it ugly, and showed a very unflattering picture of the base in his presentation), but howls of us imitating Dubai would be defining should this be chosen.
An island shaped like a maple leaf floating just off the shoreline? What do you do when you Kayak there? Why you just walk around a thin path on the perimeter looking at the pond in the middle of course.
As for winter usage - all the floating docks are tugged into the Portlands for safe keeping, so in other words they pack up and go home.
One thing I really liked about their presentation was the use of large trees to line the northern boardwalk. Ugly condos and city life can be temporarily alleviated when you've got a row of 50 foot trees in your view. Oh and they included a relative simple man-made reef under their piers, which serves to clean the water while stimulating passerbyers with views of all the fish swimming about. Also they call for a bike/pedestrian path just south of the ROW.
You may notice in the pictures above a multi-domed structure. This is not a part of their proposal directly, rather they're indicating that location would make a perfect spot for a landmark structure - and they suggested (to match their cliché-overdrive presentation) that it could be a Canadian-timber-igloo. No doot aboot it eh, this one's not going to win, though the winners may be smart to steal... I mean borrow, some of their better thoughts.
PORT
Simple-iconic, practical, fun; all words that come to mind for this presentation. The actual presenter was probably the weakest of the five, but the material behind it was quite strong.
You may notice in my PORT model above, several poles rising from the water. These act as weather beacons (swaying in the wind, and though they changed colours in her presentation I'm unsure if they'll do the same if built. Kind of like multiple-aquatic Canada Life beacons). Movement is huge, as these poles will move vertically, as will a number of their piers. In the third PORT picture above you can see a wavy platform - my understanding was it moves with the water levels, though if that's the case I couldn't see anyone utilizing outside of daredevils, the reckless adventurous teens on school trips, and the like.
There was a very neat skating rink creating use for the land in winter months, one that I hope the winner ste... borrows from.
On the whole I liked the attempt to define the Toronto waterfront with a series of signature structures, however the lack of activities at the end of their piers and the fact they are rather boring poles made me hope they are not chosen.
This leaves...
Foster
Oh Foster, you do great things, we get it. Though not all are happy with your work at the Pharmacy Building over at UofT, I think this will be your redeeming project in our fair city. I can't see them losing, in my mind they were just far above the other entrants.
Here's what I saw as their strongest selling features:
Iconic buildings at THE END OF THE PIERS thus drawing out users of all sorts. Beautiful structures that would instantly evoke 'Toronto' upon viewing in pictures. They somewhat remind me of the Burj Al-Arab, sitting out there in the water with a narrow path connecting them, but not too much that I fear endless parallels.
They acknowledged the difficulties of wind off the lake, and offer a relative clever solution of screens with seating on either side. They assume the smart pedestrian will stop and rest/relax on the bench facing the calm, with their backs and a screen protecting them from conditions.
A desire to bring neighbourhoods to the water was a major selling feature for me. Toronto is a city of neighbourhoods, it's how we define ourselves, and to have Foster's team acknowledge this, and seek community consultation to make each section relevant and desirable to the communities north of each section, shows class and intelligence. They don't micro-plan the details, because they want uses and projects that connect "the city to the water and the water to the city."
There was talk of an amphitheatre in the water, which sparked my imagination of what one could do with water and lights for celebrations such as Canada Day.
On the whole, I'm having difficulties finding fault with their plans. Their phasing of work seemed logical, and they were the most professional of the groups.
It's Foster all the way for me, just ask any of those who were unlucky enough to sit near me during our post-presentation drinking; I talked their ears off about how the Foster proposal was far and away the best.
I can hardly wait for the official announcement, and if all goes right, work to begin on their project.
As a side note, some of the weaker proposals are too dependent on the Gardiner coming down, or the railroad tracks being buried. I think it will be difficult enough paying for what's planned instead of creating plans that call for billions in additional funding.
