Looked a lot nicer in the original render...

19690617-Star-Starsnewhometorise25storeysonwaterfront.jpg

3 years later this would be torn down in favor of the One Yonge St slab -

 
I'm more interested in the brown glass buildings which were never built. I wonder what the background is of those...
 
No that was torn down for First Canadian Place.

Actually I did know that much of that block was leveled for FCP, I worded that post all wrong.
 
I'll speak in favour of developing the giant parking lot and preserving the Star building: it's actualy pretty decent period architecture.

The thing about concrete/brutalist structures is that they can be incredibly reflective of their context: surround them with empty crumbling concrete lots and they can indeed feel cold and brutal, and yet surround them with decent buildings or with nature and they really come into their own.

There's one thing I'm willing to bank on: whatever goes up will make the current building look tiny.
 
Last edited:
There's one thing I'm willing to bank on: whatever goes up will make the current building look tiny.

I agree, looking at what could have been built back then (two 23-25 storey office towers) and what is being built nearby.
There is definitely something big brewing up for here.... Hey, can someone get ther calculator out.

Conveyed -Part 1 Address to be assigned
The lot frontage is 62.55 m and the lot area is 16 316 m². The vacant property will be used as a commercial parking lot.
Retained -Part 2 1 Yonge Street
The lot frontage is 90.23 m and the lot area is 10 651 m². The existing office building will be maintained
 
Last edited:
I'll speak in favour of developing the giant parking lot and preserving the Star building: it's actualy pretty decent period architecture.

The thing about concrete/brutalist structures is that they can be incredibly reflective of their context: surround them with empty crumbling concrete lots and they can indeed feel cold and brutal, and yet surround them with decent buildings or with nature and they really come into their own.

There's one thing I'm willing to bank on: whatever goes up will make the current building look tiny.

Agreed -- I don't understand the hate for this at all. At worst it's mediocre brutalism. There are hundreds of uglier buildings in Toronto.
 
In my opinion the logo is the best aspect of the building.... i just hate this architecture.... i really dont like it at all.... At least i was born in the 90's.... Ugh i dont pity you guys but i just cant believe you survived the effects of the 70's architecture
 
One_Yonge_Street.jpg


Agreed -- I don't understand the hate for this at all. At worst it's mediocre brutalism. There are hundreds of uglier buildings in Toronto.

i just hate this architecture.... i really dont like it at all.... At least i was born in the 90's.... Ugh i dont pity you guys but i just cant believe you survived the effects of the 70's architecture

The ability of this building to produce very visceral reactions is pretty interesting.

Are people reacting to the international style it's fashioned in? Probably not: you don't hear folks loathing the TD Centre. Similarly, if 1 Yonge was clad in black like the TD Centre or in white like First Canadian Place, would there be the same viseral responses? Probably not.

So what we're left with is the use of bare concrete as cladding, possibly even (more specifically) to how it ages and the feeling it produces in certain urban contexts.

I'll admit that 1 Yonge isn't the most imaginative example of brutalism: but its international style militates against that. For ease of reference, imaginative brutalism looks like this:

f28825830937035e018afca7f3730f7e-med


Yet it should be borne in mind that the unadorned, unbourgeois nature of bare concrete was part of what drew architects to it in the 60s and 70s -- in addition to the freedom it offered to create forms and structures that had up til then been impossible using traditional masonry and brick.

What definitely needs to change is the context of 1 Yonge: an aging concrete structure in the middle of a barren and desolate zone of asphalt just doesn't work.

Change its context, and you'll see people's views of it change as well.
 
I love the glowy, handmade look of the rendering. Thanks for posting.

So...is the the whole lot we're talking about?

ts.jpg


Or just part?

Correct me if I'm wrong here.

I put the red line around the low buildings at the back - I'm presuming they're the ones to be demolished for parking.
The blue line is the Star building more or less intact.
The yellow line goes around what I think might be the portion to be severed.

That northern parcel is really large. Goodness.
 
Last edited:
Indeed - it's all about context. As it stands right now, this building (along with Westin and the whole mess) stands in contrast of what the area could become.

re: Red box in the map

Maybe that space should be reserved for realigning Lakeshore Blvd East.

AoD
 
I love Brutalism, I hate One Yonge.

Most people assume I hate Brutalism when I say I hate One Yonge, but that's not it at all. I love Brutalism that is creative, not an eyesore like this building.

This is Brutalism done right:

419560155_2f25006985.jpg


20030630_14.rgb_595.jpg


Robarts_corner_750px.jpg


massachusetts-umass-dartmouth-university-library-brutalism-paul-rudolph-from-kelviin-on-flickr2.gif
 
Built a supertall please.

I love the glowy, handmade look of the rendering. Thanks for posting.

So...is the the whole lot we're talking about?

ts.jpg


Or just part?

Correct me if I'm wrong here.

I put the red line around the low buildings at the back - I'm presuming they're the ones to be demolished for parking.
The blue line is the Star building more or less intact.
The yellow line goes around what I think might be the portion to be severed.

That northern parcel is really large. Goodness.




I wonder "if" the red blook is for moving Lakeshore if the city will exchange the north part of the lot closer to Gardiner so that the a rentangle supertall building can be built?? And IMHO a supertall likely won't be out of place given that the portlands and and everything in between will eventually be built upwards into the sky. A supertall could very much function in this iconic address.
 

Back
Top