caltrane74
Senior Member
Trump takes Manhattan - by me
The more I see of Trump Toronto, the more I like it. I think it may be Eb's best work. Very urban.
Ok, um you are going to have to explain this to me... how is this his best work? And It is very urban because of the limitations of the site- there is nothing special about this building, its just tall...... Personally I think this building is one of the ugliest in the city- Its a post modern monstrosity with no character or architectural ambition.
So if someone can enlighten me to why this is a good building please go ahead.
azzo
Trump takes Manhattan - by me
Those aerial shots are amazing.
Viewed from that angle, there is a clear difference in scale between all of the Class A bank towers (including B/A) that were built since the TD centre and the rest of the office bulidings in the core. The pre-1967 office buildings were not block-spanning forms and have similar footprints to the pre-war office buildings in Lower Manhattan - the difference, of course, being that they were not nearly as tall.
Trump Tower is basically a throwback to that era of building within lots and parcels rather than establishing a giant hulking mass on its own plaza. It's also as tall as a Wall street tower like 70 Pine or 40 Wall. I think Toronto's financial district would have been more architecturally interesting and varied - and the canyon effect of Bay street more perceptible - if we had continued to build like that.
Bay Street's canyon effect is very much perceptible. Buildings from all eras tend to be built up to the street. It's King Street which is really affected by the plazas like that of the T-D Centre, but then again, King Street is an impressive street in the Financial District with a superb built form. The plazas have their own merits, allowing green spaces, pedestrian flow and interesting positioning of towers. They showcase the Modernist ideal of building tall buildings: both high density and open spaces could be achieved. Obviously, many Modernist plazas often didn't work too well, but in the Financial District I think they do. I love walking through the plazas of the T-D Centre as a shortcut, surrounded by beautiful architecture and sculptures.
While it's true that if the Modernists built on smaller lots more could have been preserved, what they achieved in Toronto's Financial District is admirable and interesting and something that cities with nothing but walls of buildings side-by-side could admire too.
^ Are you in this one?
I love walking through the plazas of the T-D Centre as a shortcut, surrounded by beautiful architecture and sculptures.
I do like the podium on the inside but the destruction of the old bank of Montreal building is probably more regrettable than the Star Tower. At least the Star was replaced by a 950 footer. The Bank of Montreal mirrored the Bank of Nova Scotia perfectly too.
Now that more of the glass is up, I'm really liking the contrast with the stone. Doesn't look so bleak after all.