Taken 8-26-2023

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It's too bad that almost every post in UT these days seems to begin with some slag about Toronto or Toronto architecture. It is reminiscent of more juvenile gaming message boards, and is unfortuate since these forums used to be much more about actual building discussion ... both the pros and the cons. That said, there are still great posts on here, but I can't help but notice how many are just juvenile slags.

With regard to this project, are we surprised that the heritage buildings are the stars of the show? They are wonderful little buildings ... but it doesn't meant the main tower is terrible. I walk past this daily and it's a great project. Is it the top project in the city? Nope. But it's decent quality and they've done an excellent job of bringing back that part of Yonge. The base also looks like it'll fit well with the surrondings. It seems like unless you are building The One or a Gehry tower, you may as well not bother ... per some posters.
 
I agree with Lychee that there are so many complainers on this site slagging this or that about Toronto. I usually gloss over the whiners and you know who you are. It's usually he same people who I generally ignore. I do agree that some buildings going up are banal but others are quite quite admirable. Perhaps it is human nature to focus on the negative however I do wish some people would just keep their bemoaning to themselves but that would be censorship. Meanwhile back to the glorious renovations to the historical block. The little brick buildings are wonderful. The tower is what it is. housing.for the investor class I suppose and profits for the developers.
 
Lyphe said:
It's too bad that almost every post in UT these days seems to begin with some slag about Toronto or Toronto architecture. It is reminiscent of more juvenile gaming message boards, and is unfortuate since these forums used to be much more about actual building discussion ... both the pros and the cons. That said, there are still great posts on here, but I can't help but notice how many are just juvenile slags.

With regard to this project, are we surprised that the heritage buildings are the stars of the show? They are wonderful little buildings ... but it doesn't meant the main tower is terrible. I walk past this daily and it's a great project. Is it the top project in the city? Nope. But it's decent quality and they've done an excellent job of bringing back that part of Yonge. The base also looks like it'll fit well with the surrondings. It seems like unless you are building The One or a Gehry tower, you may as well not bother ... per some posters.
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You can lament it all you want but as someone who works every day in this industry there is very little culture of design within most development shops. Design quality is treated as a bothersome nice to have, rather than a fundamental objective. In that vein, I have no idea how lost we would be without firms like aA and HPA pushing clients into some semblance of interest and prioritization. And here's the most frustrating part of all: it doesn't have to cost more, you just have to care.
 
LUVIT! said:
I agree with Lychee that there are so many complainers on this site slagging this or that about Toronto. I usually gloss over the whiners and you know who you are. It's usually he same people who I generally ignore. I do agree that some buildings going up are banal but others are quite quite admirable. Perhaps it is human nature to focus on the negative however I do wish some people would just keep their bemoaning to themselves but that would be censorship. Meanwhile back to the glorious renovations to the historical block. The little brick buildings are wonderful. The tower is what it is. housing.for the investor class I suppose and profits for the developers.
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When you build something that will exist for 100+ years and be seen by millions of people, I don't think it's too much to ask that it be better than banal or even quite admirable. It should be creative, high quality, and interesting.

The fact that run-of-the mill brick buildings built a century ago are the star of the show on many projects in Toronto speaks volumes.

The Cheapening isn't done for altruistic reasons. It's not about affordability or availability. It's to pad profit margins and because developers simply don't care.

Personally, "who cares" is not the standard I aspire to for society.
 
I thought people would appreciate the 'podium', entrance and its detailing here, it's a cut above most condos.
 
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