ganjavih
Senior Member
I agree, we're getting green-glassed to death. While it's better than the grey concrete look that dominated Toronto for decades, how about trying brick, stone, or steel?
auratic
New Member
the ubiquity of this colour is rather irksome at this point. i am curious. what is it that drives this kind of corporate "mind meld" or lemming like behaviour? is it simply a matter of economics--ie is green glass simply the most economical to purchase in large amounts? conformity/conservatism amongst architects/developers? design 'trendiness'? the dreaded "generalized mediocrity" that haunts the dreams of those who imagine Toronto to be a place where originality and brilliance might be rewarded? all of the above?
anyway, its certainly unfortunate, especially given the fact that glass is such a beautiful material on its own merits. why does it even have to be coloured at all? at its worst, all this pigmented glass becomes the architectural equivalent of flavoured coffee: it masks, rather than complements, the inherently valuable properties of a substance.
Northern Magus
Active Member
Good question. Risk aversion in an otherwise competitive and fickle market??
Redroom Studios
Senior Member
green glass in and of itself doesnt offend me... it can be a striking contrast colour when used in the right context. its when you get large groupings of buildings all made out of the exact same material that they end up looking very dull and lifeless. here's looking forward to the next trend in highrise design! Mixed materials... anyone.... please!
dt_toronto_geek
Superstar
I couldn't agree more.
There are some fantastic examples of mixed materials used successfully in at least a dozen midrises that come to mind this cycle but only a few striking highrise examples. Glass is great when done well but we're getting far too many mediocre to crap glass buildings.
nrb
Active Member
Recycled and impure glass has a natural green tint from iron oxide. Colouring glass is actually a rather expensive and complicated process, especially considering the large amounts that would be used in a curtain wall skyscraper.
Apparently in order to tint glass black, for example, you would have to add nickel. That would be much more expensive than tinting it using an oxide.
Traynor
Senior Member
How about the nearly 2000 ounces of 24 karat gold used to tint the Royal Bank Plaza's North and South Towers? That sure is different glass! Then again as the richest bank in Canada, they could afford to be so extravagant.
Urban Shocker
Doyenne
Repeating colour and form can give a pleasing unity, though. Victorian Toronto was a predominantly red brick city of similarly designed residential and commercial buildings because of the local clay and the products made from it by the Don Valley Brick Works. Other cities have exploited access to local materials - granite, limestone, sandstone etc. - with similar success. Novelty shapes and contrasting colours won't automatically create a more dynamic urban environment.
“In things to be seen at once, much variety makes confusion, another vice of
beauty. In things that are not seen at once, and have no respect one to another,
great variety is commendable, provided this variety transgress not the rules of
optics and geometry.” - Sir Christopher Wren
“In things to be seen at once, much variety makes confusion, another vice of
beauty. In things that are not seen at once, and have no respect one to another,
great variety is commendable, provided this variety transgress not the rules of
optics and geometry.” - Sir Christopher Wren
Redroom Studios
Senior Member
I would agree with that sentiment and your oft cited example of the TD Centre, where the buildings are all of the exact same design, varying only in scale and orientation. My concern lies with the growing cluster of green glass condos by different developers growing in the former railways lands and the equally worrying grouping of RBC, Ritz, Metro Hall and Festival Tower. Though differing in shape they are essentially of the same colour which because iof its over use becomes a non-colour. As a contrary example where a mix of colours and materials works well is the bank towers of the main financial core. Each one (taking TD as a singular) is different and they play off each other wonderfully. Its just perplexing why suddenly the range of materials made use of has been so diminished?
p.s. - I own a copy of "The Works of Christopher Wren" which I rescued from a library book sale for the princely sum of $1. can you imagine?
p.s. - I own a copy of "The Works of Christopher Wren" which I rescued from a library book sale for the princely sum of $1. can you imagine?
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tkip
Active Member
I have to agree with the overuse of green glass. What I've noticed is that when one developer introduces something different, then they all jump on that bandwagon and we get clones. I love a lot of these towers by themselves but it becomes tiresome seeing the same repetition over and over again.
G
gabe
Guest
Ritz is looking great! Is the hotel going to be ready by the summer? It would be nice to see the hotel finished before film festival.
catcher_of_cats
Active Member
Ritz as seen from the Bathurst Bridge...
Red Mars
Senior Member
Recent pics
4grand
Active Member
I've been ranting and raving about the absurd plethora of green glass buildings for years now, but I've always comes across as a Luddite.
Back in the 60's & 70's, people thought that the concrete slabs of brutalism were 'futuristic', 'sleek', and 'modern'. I regret any brutalist architecture in Toronto. It is one style I wish never existed.
Let's just hope this green glass phase we're going through doesn't turn out to be as much of a mistake as our obsession with paving buildings was.
Back in the 60's & 70's, people thought that the concrete slabs of brutalism were 'futuristic', 'sleek', and 'modern'. I regret any brutalist architecture in Toronto. It is one style I wish never existed.
Let's just hope this green glass phase we're going through doesn't turn out to be as much of a mistake as our obsession with paving buildings was.
condovo
Senior Member
Actually, Ritz's glass isn't really green at all. It just seems to photograph that way. In person it's actually greyish-clear. RBC Centre is definitely green though.