On balance I agree with the masses of Torontonians who are booing this development.
From a distance: for sure, there are some captivating views of this thing.
- Looking from Queen and University, it's easy to be impressed.
- From the west, in general, it's easy to get taken by the upswept top in both directions.
- From the north, fine.
- From the south at Yonge & Dundas, fine.
- From the east, what a mess. That's where one realizes that the developer and architect tried to pile on opposing shapes and forms and it didn't work. It just doesn't make for pretty visuals. Especially bad is the view from Carlton and Parliament where I live. It's a "what were they thinking" reaction all the time (so say a lot of us out this way). Any skyscraper of this magnitude must look nice -- that's the rule. This was adjudicated by the DRP? God help us!
The view from up close: Please spare me.
- I know it's move-in time, just how many living room and bedroom windows have to be eyesores at one time? Piles of boxes, and other messes. Look up close from the north these days. If you have the stomach for it.
- The safety canopy is gone and there is so little drama to this complex. Blandness is bad for this intersection.
- The detail work is (as we all agree) worse than dreadful.
From inside the retail podium:
Sad, sad, sad and depressing. A Sayvette-quality department store (Marshalls) and a dreary housewares store (BBB). Really pleb concourses and corridors -- cheapest of the cheap.
Summary.
The developers have done nothing to make cohesive the messy hodgepodge that is College Park. Lost opportunity - no one at the switch. Bargain basement architect allowed to design an 80 storey building … wha ???
Toronto has endured the shitshow of The Ford Bros, and then came Ghomeshi and I thought things couldn't get worse - until I got a look at the retail segment of Aura. What a trash bin this project is. Someone please save us from more of the same.