Canadian skylines of the past

[esquire]

It's crazy how Hull went so quickly from sleepy Quebec mill town to booming, skyscraper-filled federal government hub. Downtown Hull of 1970 and downtown Hull of 1980 were like two totally different places.

[MolsonExport]

Hull: Extreme "urban renewal". Le Corbusier would be proud.

[Tone]

Originally Posted by esquire

It's crazy how Hull went so quickly from sleepy Quebec mill town to booming, skyscraper-filled federal government hub. Downtown Hull of 1970 and downtown Hull of 1980 were like two totally different places.

We can thank P.E.T. for that!

The one with a lone Place du Portage I and Maisonneuve U/C is pretty intense!

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[MTLskyline]

Griffintown, 1896


Montréal 1896. Griffintown >Sud. by DubyDub2009, on Flickr

[MonkeyRonin]

Vintage colour photographs of Toronto at night

Posted by Derek Flack / January 10, 2014

http://www.blogto.com/city/2014/01/vintage_colour_photographs_of_toronto_at_night/

[SignalHillHiker]

Ssssoooo cool!

[Martin Mtl]

^ Gorgeous.

[Rico Rommheim]

Love those vintage Toronto. Is it me or did TO and Mtl seem bigger and more vibrant back in the days? MUst be all them flashy neon signs.

[SignalHillHiker]

Everything was cooler and busier back in the day. The idiots went downtown too. There were no power centres.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by MTLskyline

Griffintown, 1896


Montréal 1896. Griffintown >Sud. by DubyDub2009, on Flickr

Little known fact, that when the Victoria Bridge was first opened it was the longest bridge in the world.

[Martin Mtl]

And that was in 1859 and the bridge is still up and running, while the Champlain bridge, build in 1964, is good for scrap.

[OTSkyline]

The CN tower stuck out SO much with (almost) nothing tall around (except those 2 towers)! So cool and different.

If the tower boom starts going east-west (along the Gardiner and the waterfront) instead of the north-south, the CN tower is just going to get more and more lost and will have a smaller impact on the skyline (although I still LOVE the CN tower)

[caltrane74]

Yonge Street, 1901!

Ontario Government Archives

[Innsertnamehere]

Took me a while to realize what I was looking at for the photo of the Malton Airport..

[caltrane74]

Terminal 1 baby! it was a classic.

The New Airport is not too bad either...

[vegeta_skyline]

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

Is it just me or does anyone else sometimes feel like the late 70's skyline looked better than today's?

As impressed as I am at the density of the city now, there are times & views where it looks like one big mess. Perhaps its the lack of a defining building(s) that really dominates the landscape like FCP did back that makes the skyline just feel somewhat less imposing, at least from afar.


I relate it to New York in the 1930's;

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=202926

Imo, that was the best skyline that ever existed and while much of that has to do with the architecture of the day, the placement of a few defining towers is what really made it stand out.

[MTLskyline]

^ I agree that the Toronto of present day does look a bit cluttered (with the view from the lake usually being the least flattering, from most other angles it looks a lot better). I find that residential towers usually don't hold a candle to office buildings in terms of aesthetics. I think the biggest culprit in cluttering the skyline are the towers along the lake. Today, the view from the lake often looks overwhelmed by the mediocre cookie-cutter condo buildings lining the lakefront. I think it would have been better, both for the skyline and for the street-level feel of the area, if it had been zoned for mid-size buildings (10-15 floors) of high aesthetic standard.

The pre-2000s Toronto skyline's dominant feature was its highly visible core of office buildings, including what are today, still Toronto's best skyscrapers. Today, the predominant feature of the skyline is its sheer size.

Having said all this, I think the view has also improved from a lot of angles and have certainly made the city feel a lot larger. (Not to mention the fact that they have brought a lot of new residents downtown).

The view from the lake in 1992:


Toronto Canada 1992 by Clifford Stead, on Flickr

[yaletown_fella]

I'm not going to lie. Sometimes I wish CityPlace wasn't built. The whole thing should be blown up and started from scratch (exception maybe being Luna)

While Southcore might block the old MINT core, I think it's one of the best things to happen to the city from an urbanity standpoint. Im a nitpicker and would like to see a couple pomo/brick/beaux arts highrises in the area (as opposed to the crappy 10 york proposal) but the vibrancy of the area around Raptors/Jays games and concerts is amazing.

You can't go wrong with big 7-10 story podiums/atrium retail, mixed use towers, and quality materials.

[caltrane74]

Nothing gives the Toronto skyline that "New York Feeling" like this photo. and when I say New York, I mean Buffalo New York!!!! lol!



The Great Buffalo Skyline Appreciation thread.