Ramako said:
I think what they did was taking more of a risk. They could have just re-produced the facade, which most people on this forum and elsewhere would have expected. Instead, they went out of their way to produce something which stands out and has clearly spurred debate. The fact that half the users here love it while the other half hate it is a testament to the fact that it was a risky move.
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This.

It's like the Stuart Reid installation at Union. You can love it or hate it, but in my own opinion, the fact that it generates discussion and debate means that as art/architecture, it's working.
 
I get that it would look better, maybe look closer to right, but it would cease to be much of a statement. Art isn't always about 'looking right'; this piece is meant to provoke a little and it's working.

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Ramako said:
I think what they did was taking more of a risk. They could have just re-produced the facade, which most people on this forum and elsewhere would have expected. Instead, they went out of their way to produce something which stands out and has clearly spurred debate. The fact that half the users here love it while the other half hate it is a testament to the fact that it was a risky move.
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Well said.
 
someMidTowner said:
This.

It's like the Stuart Reid installation at Union. You can love it or hate it, but in my own opinion, the fact that it generates discussion and debate means that as art/architecture, it's working.
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I am actually not sure this is the best metric on which to evaluate art.
 
I'd personally rather see the project strive to please the masses, rather than the few. A fully extended building would look pleasing to the many. The art debate is limited to a few.

How many passers by are realistically going to start a conversation about heritage when looking at the blank wall?
 
wmedia said:
I'd personally rather see the project strive to please the masses, rather than the few. A fully extended building would look pleasing to the many. The art debate is limited to a few.

How many passers by are realistically going to start a conversation about heritage when looking at the blank wall?
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I 100% agree wmedia! Well said. Being 'bold' or 'risky' just to please the few is misguided. We need bolder architecture in Toronto but it also needs to be appealing to a good % of the population. We will never get consensus but if a vast majority of the population thinks it stinks, it probably isn't that appealing.
 
If we did everything to please the masses, everything would be lowest common denominator. No thank you. Culture and interest are built up by deviating from some mushy, bland norm, not by pandering to it. This city is easily big enough for a little something for everyone, and it would be horrible beyond measure if there were no "conversation starters" here… no matter whether some people don't want to be engaged. You can't make everyone happy: don't try to.

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wmedia said:
I'd personally rather see the project strive to please the masses, rather than the few. A fully extended building would look pleasing to the many. The art debate is limited to a few.

How many passers by are realistically going to start a conversation about heritage when looking at the blank wall?
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You're jumping to a lot of conclusions based on your own personal opinions. You would like a fully extended building, so you assume that it would "look pleasing to the many". Unless you've done polling, not sure how you know what pleases the masses.

Numerous people here have expressed opinions here, on both sides, in respect of building. Many, including myself, have not done so in respect of "art", but rather architectural preference. Not sure why you trivialize the opinions of others as "the art debate".

As for your last question, as many people I would assume as would start a conversation in front of any other architecture.
 
The vast majority of passersby will have no context to understand this choice, unless something like an interpretive plaque is provided.
 
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