42, A great photo of the top of the Trump and its "onion dome". I'll put on my hard hat and rain coat now as I assert that this top is the best piece of architecture in Toronto from
at least the last half century!

While other developers were tearing down and refacing the lamest of the lame in pomo ornamentation in our fair town, we let Trump build one tall enough for the entire city to see.

Seriously, why they didn't go whole hog with kelly green framing and bronze-tinted glazing, I don't know.
 
Quarter onion dome joined with a lacklustre box mechanical constitute best architecture from the last quarter century in Toronto? Even if I have to restrict it further to last 5 years in hotel architecture it still won't make any list.

AoD
 
I'm not saying I agree but I have heard other people talk about how much they like it as well. I think because it looks more Art Deco than many other recent builds. I don't mind the onion dome it's neat. The varying floor heights and trump sign are what turn me off.
 
I'm assuming Victor's post was tongue-in-cheek.
In all seriousness it wasn't. To me it's top seems to be a fusion of art deco and modern, even reminiscent of New York's Chrysler Building. They definitely didn't cheap out on that
quarter onion dome.
As for you AoD, Mr Smarty Pants, what exactly do you qualify as something better, as far as the top goes?
 
In all seriousness it wasn't. To me it's top seems to be a fusion of art deco and modern, even reminiscent of New York's Chrysler Building. They definitely didn't cheap out on that quarter onion dome.
As for you AoD, Mr Smarty Pants, what exactly do you qualify as something better, as far as the top goes?

Except that it is architecturally coherent in the case of Chrysler Building - did you see it being marred by mechanical? Just because something have a spire attached to it doesn't make the two remotely similar in calibre.

As to your second point - Shangri-La easily bested this project (in a restricted, hotel only comparison), and it isn't even that great in the grand scheme of things.

AoD
 
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In all seriousness it wasn't. To me it's top seems to be a fusion of art deco and modern, even reminiscent of New York's Chrysler Building. They definitely didn't cheap out on that quarter onion dome.

Except, you know, that the spire threatened to fall down last fall. But I guess everything under it isn't "cheap" (condo owners and engineers who've worked post-construction on the building might tend to disagree).

Regardless, while you may see Art Deco, many see the height of thoughtless ornamentation. With the bunker-esque mechanical box, it looks like the entrance to a department store built at the height of 1984.

If the goal was to pay homage to Art Deco, the mechanical box would likely have either been completely hidden, or more likely celebrated and brought into the design. As it is, it's just a big box to tack T-R-U-M-P onto.

We have some great examples of Art Deco in this city already—many within a couple of hundred metres of Trump—that more than outshine anything this building has.

Trump Residences is postmodern all the way (all the wrong ways in the parts that aren't absolutely bland).
 
The spire never threatened to fall down. That was complete bullshit, some non-issue reported by someone not qualified to know what they were looking at, and acted upon by cops who were not qualified to assess the danger posed. If you're wondering why the report on it was not made public after Tory pledged to get to the bottom of it, the gist was probably that it was the shutdown was a hysterical reaction to basically nothing at all. Someone responsible was going to pay, remember, for all that lost productivity? Report buried, because the police over-reacted.

42
 
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An elegant quarter onion dome gracelessly glommed onto a stodgy, unremarkable building. The thing as a whole is a messy patchwork. This is hardly something for future Toronto buildings to aspire to.
 
I've always been a fan of the onion dome and spire, even with it's 'flaws'. Much like Aura's distinctive roofline, it adds flare and character to a skyline that has few 'iconic' buildings that other than the CN Tower that aren't bank buildings.

The amount of negativity surrounding this project has certainly, and unfortunately, risen due to activity south of the border that have made there way here. I really do feel bad for the owners, operators, and shareholders of the property who have gotten unwarranted attention that have affected themselves and the buildings reputation.

While there have always been internal struggles within the project itself (management, etc.), but few projects in the city have received this type of publicity.
 
It's not like Trump was not already know to be a vulgarian nor that his business history was without controversy when he was initially attached to this project. No, no one could have foreseen the particulars of what Trump would do in the years to come, but what has happened since is not out of character from what was known before. I don't therefore have a lot of sympathy for those involved in business dealings with Trump who are now facing the consequences of getting in bed with him.

42
 

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