Traynor said:
Owning and operating a surface parking lot was way more profitable than trying to maintain an aging building. So we lost a lot of old buildings. Some lots have been vacant for going on 40 years because of the suburban boom and the car.
Click to expand...

And a major driving force was that property taxes on the surface parking lot were much lower than on an empty or partially empty building.
 
Great photos/news today!!!
This week has been great. America got it's first piece of cladding on 1WTC now WE get our first piece of cladding on Shangri-la!..
The colours much darker than i expected, but it looks good. i like the shade they're going for, it looks much darker than the renders. will it get much brighter/silvery (the photos show clear skies) in overcast?

a bit of Shangri-la vancouver to it?

7193d0cc5e3452502dcda5ce2c5876e8.jpg

http://media.nowpublic.net/images//71/9/7193d0cc5e3452502dcda5ce2c5876e8.jpg
 
I was walking by the site this afternoon when I saw them setting up that orange hoist and I was pretty sure it was for the cladding. I waited around for awhile but eventually left knowing that Cal would provide pics as soon as humanly possible. Anyway, this is the last time we'll see the skeleton of Shangri-La like this. Cladding should go up pretty fast.

shangrilan15.jpg
 
Funny thing is, the buildings on the Shangri-La site were themselves of the 50s-modern auto era that created all those parking lots--and they, in their ironic turn, bit the dust on behalf of parking lots (and presumed future development) in the 1980s. (Prior to the 50s, whatever stood on those sites was probably marginal; a byproduct of the grand plans for the University Ave extension colliding with Depression-era reality.)
 
Hey I just walked by the Shangri La and now that we know what the cladding will look like, I find that it is mimicking two nearby buildings... 200 University, and The Dominion Insurance Building across the street. Each of these two towers also have fins on the curtianwall. So at ground level, I can say this is gonna really work!
 
caltrane74 said:
Hey I just walked by the Shangri La and now that we know what the cladding will look like, I find that it is mimicking two nearby buildings... 200 University, and The Dominion Insurance Building across the street. Each of these two towers also have fins on the curtianwall. So at ground level, I can say this is gonna really work!
Click to expand...

I think that piece has a fin because it abuts the center spine running up that facade. Personally I doubt all the pieces will have them, except for the two that join that pillar. I'm guessing the next pieces to the left of that one will be flush with the glass
 
Last edited:
you guys are better than me. You can judge the whole building from 1 piece of glass. Amazing.
I must say I like what I see on the daytime picture. It does reflect a bit blue to me as well but I am wondering if it is because we are pickup the hue from the "blueskin" below and beside it.
I was kind of thinking it would be more silvery. However, if it is a paler blue (than perhaps the 4S) I can sure live with this.
I think based on this 1 piece, it is promising but I am looking forward to seeing pics in a couple of days showing a bit more to get a more complete impression.
 
Traynor said:
I think that piece has a fin because it abuts the center spine running up that facade. Personally I doubt all the pieces will have them, except for the two that join that pillar. I'm guessing the next pieces to the left of that one will be flush with the glass
Click to expand...

I agree with that too.
 
Traynor said:
I love this kind of stuff...

In case you are curious what the Shangri-la site looked like 45 years ago... Taken in 1966 from the top of City Hall looking Southwest.

20100814-cityhall1966.jpg

(Found on a cool site called blogTO found in a "Toronto of the 60's" thread found here: http://www.blogto.com/city/2010/08/toronto_of_the_1960s/ )
Click to expand...

Fascinating - I just always assumed that the buildings taken down for the Shangri-la parking lot would have been run down Victorians. What's even more amazing is that Bishop's Block survived that demolition, though I assume that was only because it had a seperate owner.
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top