Urban Shocker
Doyenne
fouronesix makes the point that the short/tall relationships between National Club/Trump and Campbell House/Canada Life is disanalagous to the Royal Alex block/Theatre Park situation under discussion - because we're dealing with single, isolated buildings in those cases. That's true, but I don't think it disproves the idea that such contrasts can work. Indeed, if a single low-rise building can hold its own under those rather zany circumstances, then the short/tall relationship that exists between the collective of buildings on the north side of King and Theatre Park must be considered as perfectly viable, too.
What I've been stressing in this thread is the idea that visual relationships between buildings change - depending on how close or far you are from the pairings.
For instance, from the intersection of Bay and Queen's Quay the ROCP condo looms up dramatically behind the campanile of Old City Hall, dwarfing it. But as you walk north on Bay, ROCP becomes increasingly less evident and Old City hall more so until ( somewhere north of King ) ROCP becomes a secondary element in the line of sight. Similarly, seen from the Quay, the Brookfield Place towers exist only in relationship to the other tall towers around them, and the cluster of historic facades at their base is invisible. But when you walk north to Yonge and Wellington, the towers are foreshortened because you're nearer to their bases and the historic facades are now visible and have a collective 'heft' that more than matches the towers. The Distillery is another example of this effect - the tower(s) signpost the district from afar, yet the visual heft of the heritage buildings and aA's condo podium are finally experienced when you're up close and they ( not the condo ) form the majority of the visual component when you're walking around there. Alklay makes the point, after seeing the new renderings, that "It certainly overpowers the Royal Alex (and at the very least, draws your eyes upwards and away)" but the Royal Alex doesn't even stand out particularly strongly against the other older buildings on the north side of King - in fact, it is probably the least forthcoming of them all. The new tower will signpost it.
What I've been stressing in this thread is the idea that visual relationships between buildings change - depending on how close or far you are from the pairings.
For instance, from the intersection of Bay and Queen's Quay the ROCP condo looms up dramatically behind the campanile of Old City Hall, dwarfing it. But as you walk north on Bay, ROCP becomes increasingly less evident and Old City hall more so until ( somewhere north of King ) ROCP becomes a secondary element in the line of sight. Similarly, seen from the Quay, the Brookfield Place towers exist only in relationship to the other tall towers around them, and the cluster of historic facades at their base is invisible. But when you walk north to Yonge and Wellington, the towers are foreshortened because you're nearer to their bases and the historic facades are now visible and have a collective 'heft' that more than matches the towers. The Distillery is another example of this effect - the tower(s) signpost the district from afar, yet the visual heft of the heritage buildings and aA's condo podium are finally experienced when you're up close and they ( not the condo ) form the majority of the visual component when you're walking around there. Alklay makes the point, after seeing the new renderings, that "It certainly overpowers the Royal Alex (and at the very least, draws your eyes upwards and away)" but the Royal Alex doesn't even stand out particularly strongly against the other older buildings on the north side of King - in fact, it is probably the least forthcoming of them all. The new tower will signpost it.
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) will BJL have to sell his Rolls?