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Antiloop33rpm
Guest
Long live moderism. Long live Toronto. Long live the box! It still amazes me that something so big can still come off as so graceful. It will be a long time before Toronto sees a tower that comes close to this (having just typed that the new Liebskind condo tower could prove to be very interesting).
U
urbanboyto
Guest
Beautiful pictures.
The TD centre is a masterpiece of mid-century modernism that puts all the brutal, clumsy knock-offs to shame.
The TD centre is a masterpiece of mid-century modernism that puts all the brutal, clumsy knock-offs to shame.
B
building babel
Guest
The first photo shows the basic I-beam modules used on the main floors of the TD Centre buildings. They echo the 3 x 8 proportions of the building.
The two divisions at the bottom of this module are Golden Rectangles of 3 x 5 proportion. This ratio, which is considered the most pleasing to the eye, was thought to have been discovered by Pythagoras, and the Greeks incorporated it into their architecture.
Mies explored the possibilities of uniformity. A lesser designer might produce monotony, but he created a sense of harmony through the use of geometry, classical proportion and contemporary detail - in this case an ode to the I-beam.
I.M. Pei's CIBC tower across the street used the same general proportions to create harmony, but was turned at 90 degrees and used shiny steel to create contrast. What a good neighbour; it built on the success of the TD.
Wonderful photos Ed!
The two divisions at the bottom of this module are Golden Rectangles of 3 x 5 proportion. This ratio, which is considered the most pleasing to the eye, was thought to have been discovered by Pythagoras, and the Greeks incorporated it into their architecture.
Mies explored the possibilities of uniformity. A lesser designer might produce monotony, but he created a sense of harmony through the use of geometry, classical proportion and contemporary detail - in this case an ode to the I-beam.
I.M. Pei's CIBC tower across the street used the same general proportions to create harmony, but was turned at 90 degrees and used shiny steel to create contrast. What a good neighbour; it built on the success of the TD.
Wonderful photos Ed!
B
blixa442
Guest
Long live moderism. Long live Toronto. Long live the box! It still amazes me that something so big can still come off as so graceful. It will be a long time before Toronto sees a tower that comes close to this (having just typed that the new Liebskind condo tower could prove to be very interesting).
As much as I like Liebskind (and I do) his stuff is all about "look at me, look at me". The TD building is an understated beauty - very, very sublime, but sharp and commending. Quite simply it's a masterpiece, and at dusk there's nothing in the skyline that compares.
B
building babel
Guest
Miesian visual delight: when you stand in the main plaza and look up, his two towers look the same size: the Royal Trust Tower ( 46 floors ) is side-on to you and looks bigger, while the TD Bank Tower ( 56 floors ) is end-on and looks smaller.
S
SD2
Guest
As much as I like Liebskind (and I do) his stuff is all about "look at me, look at me". The TD building is an understated beauty - very, very sublime, but sharp and commending. Quite simply it's a masterpiece, and at dusk there's nothing in the skyline that compares.
That's true to a certain extent...but remember, when these were built, they were very much "look at me, look at me" buildings.
B
building babel
Guest
You couldn't help but look at them: in the late 1960's no other tall buildings on the skyine were anywhere near their height.
The point is, because of their aesthetic appeal, we enjoy looking at them.
The point is, because of their aesthetic appeal, we enjoy looking at them.
S
shawnmicallef
Guest
We may enjoy looking at the ROM too, when it's done. I enjoyed looking at it's skeleton as i walked towards it along Bloor yesterday from Yonge.
M
miketoronto
Guest
I love the TD Centre. It has a class all its own.
It was funny I was on the King Streetcar and there was some tourist couple sitting infront of me. And the ladies words as we passed the TD Centre was "oh my gosh those black buildings are ugly, why did they ever build them".
I was ready to like lean over and tell her what a masterpiece they were. But oh well, I guess not everyone gets the beauty of them.
It was funny I was on the King Streetcar and there was some tourist couple sitting infront of me. And the ladies words as we passed the TD Centre was "oh my gosh those black buildings are ugly, why did they ever build them".
I was ready to like lean over and tell her what a masterpiece they were. But oh well, I guess not everyone gets the beauty of them.
B
building babel
Guest
miketoronto:
Never confuse a complete stranger's drive-by criticism from the 504 with serious architectural criticism. It'll end in tears.
Never confuse a complete stranger's drive-by criticism from the 504 with serious architectural criticism. It'll end in tears.
A
adma
Guest
Remember when the TD Centre plaza used to be termed "bleak" and "desolate" and all? Maybe that's an evening/weekend/winter bias, but correct me if I'm wrong--it seemed to me that it's more intensively used than ever? And continues to be? Is it something to do with "programming"? Or the downtown-core crowd simply having more of a knack of how to "use" urban space than they used to? A little bit of synergy from everything? Our subliminal "Europeanizing"?
Of course, it may not be the same standards of personal decorum that prevailed in 1967; but heck, I'd think Mies would be pleased, anyway. Maybe giving a stony lecherous ogle at the iPodding secretarial-staff hotties...
Of course, it may not be the same standards of personal decorum that prevailed in 1967; but heck, I'd think Mies would be pleased, anyway. Maybe giving a stony lecherous ogle at the iPodding secretarial-staff hotties...
S
SD2
Guest
You couldn't help but look at them: in the late 1960's no other tall buildings on the skyine were anywhere near their height.
The point is, because of their aesthetic appeal, we enjoy looking at them.
That's part of it, but they were also quite different than anything built here before.
Modernism was fresh, daring etc. at one point too.
B
building babel
Guest
adma:
I wonder when it become politically correct to automatically equate modernist structures that have tall towers and open plazas with the "bleak" and the "desolate"? For a while, in the public mind, the TD baby was thrown out with the bathwater of changing fashions in planning or something.
And ain't life just one long struggle against putting on idealogical blinkers, of going along with received opinions? It requires such vigilance to use our senses to experience the world first hand.
I'm not sure when this "bleak' and "desolate" thing began to kick in re: the TD Centre. It wasn't rampant when I came here in '70. I think there were few if any programmed events in the plaza then, but people used the space in the summer months: I've seen quite a few photographs from the early days of the Centre and the plaza was always popular in the good weather with girls from the typing pool eating their sandwiches on the grass etc.
Yesterday there was a March of Dimes $5 BBQ lunchtime fundraiser thingy happening there. Tons of people. Of course it is smaller space, but it gives Dundas Square - and perhaps even Nathan Phillips Square - a good run for their money as a well used public venue ( even though it is actually private space ).
Yesterday I wandered into the low banking pavillion and had a look around. The tall wooden ( walnut? ) panels also echo the proportions of the towers and the basic "I-beam" modules of the windows and lobbies. Mies micromanaged every designed aspect of the building. There's harmony between the towers, which are of very similar proportions, and between the window modules and the towers themselves, and in the interior spaces of the banking pavillion where, naturally, there are Barcelona chairs.
I wonder when it become politically correct to automatically equate modernist structures that have tall towers and open plazas with the "bleak" and the "desolate"? For a while, in the public mind, the TD baby was thrown out with the bathwater of changing fashions in planning or something.
And ain't life just one long struggle against putting on idealogical blinkers, of going along with received opinions? It requires such vigilance to use our senses to experience the world first hand.
I'm not sure when this "bleak' and "desolate" thing began to kick in re: the TD Centre. It wasn't rampant when I came here in '70. I think there were few if any programmed events in the plaza then, but people used the space in the summer months: I've seen quite a few photographs from the early days of the Centre and the plaza was always popular in the good weather with girls from the typing pool eating their sandwiches on the grass etc.
Yesterday there was a March of Dimes $5 BBQ lunchtime fundraiser thingy happening there. Tons of people. Of course it is smaller space, but it gives Dundas Square - and perhaps even Nathan Phillips Square - a good run for their money as a well used public venue ( even though it is actually private space ).
Yesterday I wandered into the low banking pavillion and had a look around. The tall wooden ( walnut? ) panels also echo the proportions of the towers and the basic "I-beam" modules of the windows and lobbies. Mies micromanaged every designed aspect of the building. There's harmony between the towers, which are of very similar proportions, and between the window modules and the towers themselves, and in the interior spaces of the banking pavillion where, naturally, there are Barcelona chairs.
G
GeekyBoyTO
Guest
babel:
The "bleakness" might have more to do with the generally homogenous land use in the area (think lack of activity after the office hours) and our winters...
GB
The "bleakness" might have more to do with the generally homogenous land use in the area (think lack of activity after the office hours) and our winters...
GB