Quote:
Originally Posted by IanWatson
Honest question though: how does a city effectively regulate design?
...
Honestly, I think it's more a question of skill and experience in the architecture and development community, as well as economic conditions. There is of course a lot of crap still going up in HRM, but this year's crap is still wayyy better than the crap of yesteryear. And we, as a city, are seeing more and more truly excellent designs.
|
I have to generally agree with that. A lot of the poor design we see is the result of poor builders rather than poor regulation. What makes this Barrington building mediocre isn't its basic form (a short tower with a mixed-use podium). It lies in the details. I don't think we want a situation in which the city begins micromanaging things like cladding materials and other details. I'm not at all an expert on this matter, and I'm sure there are things that can be done, but I'm also sure we don't want to over-regulate aesthetics.
I would also say that this building is exceptionally lame, not typical. Even the worst of what we see going up now is generally better than what was being constructed 20 years ago. It is disappointing that more than ten years after a building like the Vic Suites seemed to set a new standard, we're still seeing such a mixed bagm especially in such central areas. On the other hand, we're also seeing a lot of genuinely good stuff. Over