Canadian Skyline Thread III - Page 42

J.OT13 · #**821** Posted **Feb 27, 2024, 5:11 PM**

A few from hoggytime on Skyrise.

https://skyrisecities.com/forum/threads/ottawas-skyline.10479/page-2#post-2055808

https://skyrisecities.com/forum/threads/...rds-of-good-hope-csv.37545/#post-2055820

https://skyrisecities.com/forum/threads/...p-le-groupe-architex.37204/#post-2055822

ScreamingViking · #**822** Posted **Feb 27, 2024, 9:18 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by niwell

The original decision was to remove liability and was never intended to be enforced, but was thankfully reconsidered (the signs have been proven to have limited effect on ultimate liability anyways).

Yep. In Hamilton, there's a covered reservoir that is popular for tobogganing. Several years back, a guy went down the hill where the signs said he should not be, and tore himself a new 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵 when he went over something sticking out of the ground.

He sued. And he won.

I think the city then put up more fencing and barriers to better protect the "users"

Ironically, this guy ran for city council in the latest municipal election (he did not win a position though)

Harley613 · #**823** Posted **Feb 27, 2024, 9:23 PM**

Ottawa is only 2 years away from having a notable skyline, and 5 years away from having an impressive skyline (A few impressive skylines developing in the metro, actually). FINALLY.

zoomer · #**824** Posted **Feb 27, 2024, 10:52 PM**

Ottawa always strikes me as teetering on the edge. One day it will all come together like a secret plan that was built out in the open while no one was paying attention and then boom! Boom = a very dense, varied in all ways, rich urban fabric with an expansive and interesting skyline. Or it all could be a jumbled mess of mediocrity that could be Anywhere southern Ontario. Two exaggerated extremes for dramatic effect, but I’m hoping/pulling for it to be the former and I’m fairly confident that’ll be the case.

davidivivid · #**825** Posted **Feb 28, 2024, 1:40 AM**

https://www.facebook.com/melaniejeanphotos/photos_by

J.OT13 · #**826** Posted **Feb 28, 2024, 4:36 PM**

Here's another shot of Ottawa's West end from Harley613.

https://skyrisecities.com/forum/threads/ottawa-from-above.37644/#post-2056689

TorontoDrew · #**827** Posted **Feb 28, 2024, 6:20 PM**

Ottawa's new builds look almost the same as those in Kitchener and London.

Acajack · #**828** Posted **Feb 28, 2024, 6:56 PM**

Ottawa's CBD already has great massing which will only get better, but with few exceptions the buildings aren't great and of course nothing stands out in terms of height or prominence due to the restrictions.

kool maudit · #**829** Posted **Feb 28, 2024, 8:24 PM**

Ottawa doesn't need or want canyons or skylines. What would these canyons or skylines be saying? It is not primarily a commercial city. It has no need for the visual language of commerce.

Ottawa rises and falls on the degree to which it communicates its meaning as a federal capital.

Acajack · #**830** Posted **Feb 28, 2024, 8:29 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by kool maudit

Ottawa doesn't need or want canyons or skylines. What would these canyons or skylines be saying? It is not primarily a commercial city. It has no need for the visual language of commerce.

Ottawa rises and falls on the degree to which it communicates its meaning as a federal capital.

I'd argue Ottawa already has urban canyons. They're not deep but they do produce the required effect, and a surprising one for a city not known for having a distinctive skyline at all. (Views of Parliament Hill notwithstanding.)

Rico Rommheim · #**831** Posted **Feb 28, 2024, 8:47 PM**

The Ottawa skyline was wasted the second the amazing gothic parliament towers and the elegant office buildings on wellington were given a bland 60's-70's office block for a backdrop. Increasing the height of the skyline with a few spandrel towers here and there will enhance nothing.
Sorry I don't mean to be a 🞵🞵🞵🞵, I spend a lot of time in Ottawa and I rather like the city, but the visual appeal of its downtown isn't going to be saved by a bunch of boring kitchener-style towers.

kool maudit · #**832** Posted **Feb 28, 2024, 8:50 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acajack

I'd argue Ottawa already has urban canyons. They're not deep but they do produce the required effect, and a surprising one for a city not known for having a distinctive skyline at all. (Views of Parliament Hill notwithstanding.)

It does, but I don't think they add very much to the city's visual effect. I think they're even a bit confusing, muted in both height and demeanor.

You could ask whether they could be more, but even if you rebuilt something like Chicago's LaSalle Street along Laurier, what would the Board of Trade building be?

It would need to be some sort of state entity, I guess, but then you could ask what kind of state entity would best communicate its purpose through such a grandiose, imposing building? I wouldn't want our central bank or our supreme court to look like this. It would send the wrong message.

So going all the way has a dystopian effect, and going a bit of the way has a muddled one.

kool maudit · #**833** Posted **Feb 28, 2024, 8:52 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rico Rommheim

The Ottawa skyline was wasted the second the amazing gothic parliament towers and the elegant office buildings on wellington were given a bland 60's-70's office block for a backdrop. Increasing the height of the skyline with a few spandrel towers here and there will enhance nothing.
Sorry I don't mean to be a 🞵🞵🞵🞵, I spend a lot of time in Ottawa and I rather like the city, but the visual appeal of its downtown isn't going to be saved by a bunch of boring kitchener-style towers.

I agree. Stacking condominium owners and public sector workers into the vague silhouette of a boisterous commercial city is just confusing.

It should be a gracious capital of monuments and parkways, with landmark structures that reflect its unique purpose as the capital of confederation.

MolsonExport · #**834** Posted **Feb 28, 2024, 9:32 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by zoomer

Ottawa always strikes me as teetering on the edge. One day it will all come together like a secret plan that was built out in the open while no one was paying attention and then boom! Boom = a very dense, varied in all ways, rich urban fabric with an expansive and interesting skyline. Or it all could be a jumbled mess of mediocrity that could be Anywhere southern Ontario. Two exaggerated extremes for dramatic effect, but I’m hoping/pulling for it to be the former and I’m fairly confident that’ll be the case.

True, but mediocrity is at least aiming above what one of the fastest growing Ontario urban centres is achieving (KW, with their wretched towers).

giallo · #**835** Posted **Feb 28, 2024, 9:43 PM**

Low-slung Robson St flanked by the CBD and Coal Harbour.

GeneralLea · #**836** Posted **Feb 28, 2024, 9:44 PM**

I can see it known in decades from now as a Southern Ontario vernacular of architecture...although perhaps it's better to word in a different arrangement.

In any case, the lack of 'missing middle' density is becoming more apparent in some of those images of Ottawa, although I think overall the Ottawa region does better in building at varying heights compared to Southern Ontario cities, partly due to higher land values in said municipalities.

I think the Ottawa skyline will be quite a substantial form in a few decades, moreso for it's length/breadth, rather than the scale in terms of height of say Toronto, or Montreal.

Nouvellecosse · #**837** Posted **Feb 29, 2024, 12:14 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by kool maudit

It does, but I don't think they add very much to the city's visual effect. I think they're even a bit confusing, muted in both height and demeanor.

You could ask whether they could be more, but even if you rebuilt something like Chicago's LaSalle Street along Laurier, what would the Board of Trade building be?

It would need to be some sort of state entity, I guess, but then you could ask what kind of state entity would best communicate its purpose through such a grandiose, imposing building? I wouldn't want our central bank or our supreme court to look like this. It would send the wrong message.

So going all the way has a dystopian effect, and going a bit of the way has a muddled one.

Yes but what's the best direction to move in now that we've already at the muddled middle point? The only real options are to somehow go back buy demolishing stuff that already exists, keeping things as they are, or moving forward in a different direction.

However, while it's true that it would require larger buildings for a highise city to create the grand monuments that act as terminating vistas, you wouldn't need something as large as the board of trade in the context of Ottawa's much shorter canyons. So I don't know that it would need to be dystopian.

WhipperSnapper · #**838** Posted **Feb 29, 2024, 1:13 AM**

Take an Ottawa high rise and cut it in half. You basically have a Washington DC vernacular. The typical 27 storey Ottawa residential high rise falls in no mans land. It's too tall to control shadowing on the streets and yet not tall enough for the bland architecture to feel exciting.

WhipperSnapper · #**839** Posted **Feb 29, 2024, 1:20 AM**

What would the board of trade building be in a dystopian Ottawa? Obviously, Wayne Tower ... home of Easton Man

Harley613 · #**840** Posted **Feb 29, 2024, 2:29 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

Take an Ottawa high rise and cut it in half. You basically have a Washington DC vernacular. The typical 27 storey Ottawa residential high rise falls in no mans land. It's too tall to control shadowing on the streets and yet not tall enough for the bland architecture to feel exciting.

At least 30 is the new 27 in Ottawa, and 35-40 will be the new 30 in the next five years. The Great Clump is slowly but surely breaking.