Those 3 double-height balconies at the base really throw off the balance entire building at street level, because with a building of this height, the balconies above them look like their sandwiched together in comparison. Synchronization is broken.

EDIT: Haven't seen this before. Setback lighting on Aura from tonight. Lightsaber blue:
*Also the darkest skies i've ever seen on the webcam.
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source: http://www.collegeparkcondos.com/webcam.html
 
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From this perspective the uneven floors at around the top of the first third of the building look particularly bad. You almost want to take a digital rendering of this building in some kind of drafting software and just straighten it out and make it less...inelegant.
 
Aura could have been elegant had it been sleek all the way down like it is on the top portion. Unfortunate, but once the lights turn on it will give us something to smile about.
 
On top of all its other shortcomings, now that the construction canopy has been removed, it's drawn my attention back to that dog's-breakfast where the podium and tower join. There's no way they actually looked at that and thought, "Yeah, that transition looks good!".
 
I know this has been asked a million times (so my apologies if I've missed anything in the thread of late) but any clue about when the lights will be back on? The only time they were lit up was when I was out of town and I feel cheated!
 
MCDM said:
I know this has been asked a million times (so my apologies if I've missed anything in the thread of late) but any clue about when the lights will be back on? The only time they were lit up was when I was out of town and I feel cheated!
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I don’t know when they will turn on the lights but I can see from my vantage point that the exterior of the upper floors is not complete yet.
 
The metal canopy is finally all off the building so you can now see all the way up from the sidewalk on Yonge. It's a looooong way up!

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Wanna learn the difference between good and bad architecture? Zoom in on the podium and top of buildings and compare
WrAvYbH.jpg

Very bad.

(Although to be honest, yesterday, from Bay Street, Aura struck me as a very typical mid-2000s blandcouver tower on steroids. Not as offensive perhaps as some of the travesties going up around the 416/905. Still, a real mess at podium/ground level--which is really a typical Vancouver trademark if you strip away the landscaping. It's really just a giant rental tower--an update on the sort of '70s slabs many folks call home.)
 
Redux said:
*Sorry Steveve, just the trail of a passing plane (or UFO). There is no set-back right there. :(
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yes you are right, forgot the setback was much lower on the cam and no lighting :(

that closeup by urbandreamer really does make the top look horrible. I've never quite seen it that way. I understand it's still under construction, but I'm doubting they will actually go back and fix up the details. Thankfully these things are less noticeable from a distance.

and from street level looking up, the setbacks help offset it's massive height, however, the elegant part (upper) is barely seen from the ground, and instead, you're faced with a giant slab of a condo building for the first 50+ floors.
 
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This tower really should've been a landmark, and considering its prominence should've been handled by a more capable architectural team. Sadly the only thing it succeeds at is being tallest. Truly a glorious statement of "meh".
 
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