Looks incredible. Kudos to the developers of the QM for bringing Halifax this civic delight.
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:yeahthat: :stunned: :omg:
^Is this Halifax or a city in Western Europe? The street level feel here is world class. It makes me want to go on a vacation in my own Downtown. More of this please. |
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The plaza area was full of people going back and forth, the patios had diners and drinkers, and the flickering lights added even more interest to a pretty nice-feeling space. Two thumbs up in-person... emphatic two thumbs up with a dark sky. |
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Great shots, that has really turned out nicely - especially at night with all the lighting features. Thanks for posting them.
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What do the creepy statues depict?
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The red/green lights under the docks are also a navigational reference - boats and aircraft use red and green lights to mark their left and right sides. I assume the door/elevator (?) inside the Tidal Beacon is an accessibility feature, but at this point it's not really clear where it leads to, or if it even leads anywhere, which adds to the intrigue. It's all a far cry from the steel lighthouses and paint-your-own-lobsters that were the reference points for "public art" here until pretty recently. It feels like there has been an abrupt and rather extreme shift over the last few years from a somewhat cheap, folksy-kitschy aesthetic and approach to arts and culture (including architecture) to a sleeker, more highbrow and/or flashy, and emphatically "of the times" approach. There's a sense that the late 90s/early 2000s stuff was mostly designed to placate people (without truly aiming to impress anyone) while the new stuff is mostly designed to impress or intrigue people, with varying degrees of success. |
The four statues are indeed facing the four cardinal directions. The figures are meant to represent sirens, which are part of Greek Mythology. Sirens were humanlike female figures that sailors would see in the distance in the fog, the sailors would sail toward them to meet them and wreck on the shore in the fog. The granite blocks that each one sits on top of are single pieces of solid granite that weigh 20,000lbs. They are so heavy they aren't even fastened down. "Sirens continued to be used as a symbol for the dangerous temptation embodied by women regularly throughout Christian art of the medieval era."
The elevator on Rise Again leads from boardwalk level to the top of Rise Again, so that those who need it can take it rather than the stairs. Quote:
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Meanwhile, Tim Bousquet used his blog yesterday to crap all over this development as part of his campaign against Scott McCrae and Armour Group, hinting that they would be using their influence to abscond with the NSCAD buildings on Granville once they relocate.
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It seems to happen incrementally without much overall sense that as the heritage assets disappear the remaining ones (including complete buildings and not just facades) become more valuable. It's completely reasonable for a Halifax-sized city to maintain a few blocks of old buildings in pristine condition. And even rebuild some. It would be transformative if the NSCAD block were given a good restoration (it's not in great shape right now) and then another block or two of historically accurate facades were built with some towers on top. And whether or not the ramparts bylaw is followed makes ~0 difference to that public benefit equation, but might lower the budget and overall possibilities. |
As well-meaning as the accessibility mandate is, I do wonder if it might be the death knell for many old/historic buildings such as these which cannot easily be made accessible in any sort of cost-effective manner.
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Article about this project in Architectural Record (some nice photos too): https://www.architecturalrecord.com/...axs-waterfront
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sigh |
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