CALGARY | Brookfield Place Calgary | 247M / 811 FT | 56 Floors - Page 19

Blader · #**361** Posted **Feb 15, 2014, 9:11 PM**

^^^
It hurts that the spider is a placeholder. It's an incredible piece done by renowned sculptor Louise Bourgeois.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Bourgeois
I've seen this one - drool
http://xfinity.comcast.net/slideshow/news-artmuseums0414/5/

Surrealplaces · #**362** Posted **Feb 15, 2014, 11:10 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Placeholder art for the rendering, nothing more than that.

That sucks.

Is there any chance there will be a piece by the same artist?

Blader · #**363** Posted **Feb 16, 2014, 1:54 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Surrealplaces

That sucks.

Is there any chance there will be a piece by the same artist?

Not a chance, certainly not a spider. The one depicted in the drawings is 'Maman'. There are 7 in total, all over 30 feet in height. They'll never come on the market. They're priceless in todays market. You can see a 'Maman' at the National Gallery of Canada. They had the foresight to acquire it for 3.2 million - in retrospect they stole it.

Surrealplaces · #**364** Posted **Feb 16, 2014, 8:28 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blader

Not a chance, certainly not a spider. The one depicted in the drawings is 'Maman'. There are 7 in total, all over 30 feet in height. They'll never come on the market. They're priceless in todays market. You can see a 'Maman' at the National Gallery of Canada. They had the foresight to acquire it for 3.2 million - in retrospect they stole it.

Unfortunate. Oh, well, maybe it's time for an upcoming artist

Blader · #**365** Posted **Feb 16, 2014, 10:09 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Surrealplaces

Unfortunate. Oh, well, maybe it's time for an upcoming artist

That's my notion! Could we convince Brookfield to spend?

Surrealplaces · #**366** Posted **Feb 18, 2014, 8:45 PM**

Brookfield Place by Construction Mafia, on Flickr

Surrealplaces · #**367** Posted **Feb 18, 2014, 8:46 PM**

Brookfield Place by Construction Mafia, on Flickr

TriWolf · #**368** Posted **Feb 21, 2014, 3:08 AM**

So is this as far down as they're going? It'd be nice to see some actual construction by spring.

Bigtime · #**369** Posted **Feb 21, 2014, 3:10 AM**

Nope, they are going 6 floors down so that hole is going to get much deeper.

DarthMalgus · #**370** Posted **Feb 21, 2014, 3:32 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Nope, they are going 6 floors down so that hole is going to get much deeper.

Boo! That means it will be like 2 years before the tower reaches grade level...

TriWolf · #**371** Posted **Feb 21, 2014, 7:24 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarthMalgus

Boo! That means it will be like 2 years before the tower reaches grade level...

Well they're already 2 stories down and it's only been... 5 months...

Surrealplaces · #**372** Posted **Feb 21, 2014, 5:32 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by TriWolf

Well they're already 2 stories down and it's only been... 5 months...

Mind you they didn't really start digging until what.....6 weeks ago? I think. Plus coming out of winter, the digging will go faster.

DarthMalgus · #**373** Posted **Feb 22, 2014, 1:13 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Surrealplaces

Mind you they didn't really start digging until what.....6 weeks ago? I think. Plus coming out of winter, the digging will go faster.

They've actually been moving at a decent pace, it's just such a huge project that it will take a really long time.

I wish more Calgary developers would go with above-ground parking levels like in many US cities...these deep underground parkades take ages to excavate and build.

Downburst · #**374** Posted **Feb 22, 2014, 3:45 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarthMalgus

They've actually been moving at a decent pace, it's just such a huge project that it will take a really long time.

I wish more Calgary developers would go with above-ground parking levels like in many US cities...these deep underground parkades take ages to excavate and build.

Are you serious? Above-ground garages come at a huge expense for street life and the pedestrian experience. Why not take the extra few weeks/months for such obvious, tangible improvements?

DarthMalgus · #**375** Posted **Feb 22, 2014, 6:08 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Downburst

Are you serious? Above-ground garages come at a huge expense for street life and the pedestrian experience. Why not take the extra few weeks/months for such obvious, tangible improvements?

Yes I am serious. I see no way in which a creative design such as that for "colours" in Beltline has in any way negatively affected the pedestrian experience. I am not talking a typical concrete parking structure but rather something that is designed to blend into the building architecture. Not to mention it would make the overall building height taller. And in this case, for a 6 floor underground parkade, we are likely talking a good year or so, not "weeks/months".

Last time I was in Toronto I found out some of the new downtown waterfront condos had parking above grade. It was designed so as to blend in very well with the building architecture.

Edit: sorry I see you don't live in Calgary so won't be familiar with Colours. Go check out the rendering for Guardian Tower, a 44 storey tower currently u/c here in Calgary. Parking integrated into the podium design. But architectural design is such that no one will know that its parking.

rike5 · #**376** Posted **Feb 22, 2014, 6:28 AM**

^The Guardian has above ground parking!? Your point has been made...

Downburst · #**377** Posted **Feb 22, 2014, 7:09 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarthMalgus

Edit: sorry I see you don't live in Calgary so won't be familiar with Colours. Go check out the rendering for Guardian Tower, a 44 storey tower currently u/c here in Calgary. Parking integrated into the podium design. But architectural design is such that no one will know that its parking.

I have been following Guardian- I didn't know that was a parking podium. While I agree that it's well-integrated, and while I also agree that such a base can reclaim a little of what might be lost with an above-ground garage, I still think that it is a poorer use of space versus, say, ground-level retail.

You're right about me not being local- I am a Bostonian, and a lot of my of my issues with above-ground garages (and especially ground-level parking) come from their being quite the number of garages and such around town. While some feature some degree of ground-level retail, many have only minimal retail presence or none at all. They are a negative on the pedestrian experience and I'd hate to see that in a city as beautiful as Calgary.

Cowtown_Tim · #**378** Posted **Feb 22, 2014, 4:07 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Downburst

I have been following Guardian- I didn't know that was a parking podium. While I agree that it's well-integrated, and while I also agree that such a base can reclaim a little of what might be lost with an above-ground garage, I still think that it is a poorer use of space versus, say, ground-level retail.

You're right about me not being local- I am a Bostonian, and a lot of my of my issues with above-ground garages (and especially ground-level parking) come from their being quite the number of garages and such around town. While some feature some degree of ground-level retail, many have only minimal retail presence or none at all. They are a negative on the pedestrian experience and I'd hate to see that in a city as beautiful as Calgary.

The Colors condo tower has above ground parking and also retail at grade. It's kind of the best of both worlds. I don't have a photo of it handy unfortunately.

TriWolf · #**379** Posted **Feb 22, 2014, 8:23 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Downburst

Are you serious? Above-ground garages come at a huge expense for street life and the pedestrian experience. Why not take the extra few weeks/months for such obvious, tangible improvements?

One of my local above ground parking structures has a snack bar and a sitting area complete with landscaping. Above ground parking can supplement the city at street level if it's done right.

Deepstar · #**380** Posted **Feb 22, 2014, 10:07 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by TriWolf

One of my local above ground parking structures has a snack bar and a sitting area complete with landscaping. Above ground parking can supplement the city at street level if it's done right.

The key is like yo say, having it done right. So many above ground parking structures look awful, but many of the more recent ones are pretty good.