The Great Canadian Skyline Thread!

[Chadillaccc]

Imagine how absolutely incredible this view will be in 3 years with Brookfield Place between Suncor and EAP, and Telus Sky between The Bow and Suncor. A wall of giants


Calgary Skyline Northeast by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

[logan5]

The Calgary Tower is pretty pointless at this time. Plus it's pretty damn ugly. Blow it up and replace with a quality residential tower. That part of downtown Calgary needs some work.

[Chadillaccc]

Catching the sun while we can along the Bow River walk. #yyc #bowriver #calgary by Wing Ting, on Flickr

http://www.meetingscalgary.com/photo-gallery

[Ramako]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

Imagine how absolutely incredible this view will be in 3 years with Brookfield Place between Suncor and EAP, and Telus Sky between The Bow and Suncor. A wall of giants

Indeed... the Suncor, Bow, EAP, Brookfield Place and Telus Sky cluster will soon approach the levels of density found in Toronto's CBD prior to the boom when it consisted of FCP, Scotia Plaza, TD Centre, CCW, Canada Trust Tower and Bay-Wellington Tower. In terms of CBD height and density, visually speaking at least, Calgary in 2018 will be roughly in the same ballpark as Toronto between 1992 and 2007!

Edit: These diagrams help to show the comparison. Calgary's size and number of highrises in 2018 (http://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?searchID=65206117) pretty much goes toe-to-toe with Toronto in 2006 (http://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?searchID=65206177) for over the first 4 pages/100 entries.

The scary thing is that Toronto highrises built only after 2007 (http://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?searchID=65206158) blows them both out of the water.

[Ramako]

Originally Posted by logan5

The Calgary Tower is pretty pointless at this time. Plus it's pretty damn ugly. Blow it up and replace with a quality residential tower. That part of downtown Calgary needs some work.

I'd be curious to hear from Calgarians... how cherished and revered is the Calgary Tower? Is it considered untouchable or is there actually a chance that it could ever be demolished in favour of some massive development?

[Doug_Cgy]

With longtime Calgarians, it's very cherished. It's a creature of its time, and I think it's a good symbol of our city. Could be worse, we could be stuck with the FUGLY Harbour Centre, tower plopped on a hideous building monstrosity

[Allan83]

Originally Posted by Ramako

Indeed... the Suncor, Bow, EAP, Brookfield Place and Telus Sky cluster will soon approach the levels of density found in Toronto's CBD prior to the boom when it consisted of FCP, Scotia Plaza, TD Centre, CCW, Canada Trust Tower and Bay-Wellington Tower. In terms of CBD height and density, visually speaking at least, Calgary in 2018 will be roughly in the same ballpark as Toronto between 1992 and 2007!

And that gives you an idea of just how dense Calgary’s CBD is. In 2007 Toronto had a population of about 5 million. Calgary in 2018 should have a population of somewhere around 1.6 million.

[Allan83]

Originally Posted by Ramako

I'd be curious to hear from Calgarians... how cherished and revered is the Calgary Tower? Is it considered untouchable or is there actually a chance that it could ever be demolished in favour of some massive development?

The short answer is no, but a better question is why would you even consider doing that? It’s not like there aren’t any other development sites. Would Torontonians consider tearing down the CN Tower and putting in a big development? Maybe you would, and maybe that’s why you ask the question, but I’m quite sure Calgary wouldn’t be interested in that, although extending the Calgary tower is a realistic possibility, although currently no one is talking about doing it.

[logan5]

Originally Posted by Doug_Cgy

With longtime Calgarians, it's very cherished. It's a creature of its time, and I think it's a good symbol of our city. Could be worse, we could be stuck with the FUGLY Harbour Centre, tower plopped on a hideous building monstrosity

If Harbour Centre were to disappear, I wouldn't shed any tears, but it has some function with all its office space. The Calgary Tower is suppose to be an observation deck. Obviously obsolete. Other than that it has no function, not even from an architectural standpoint. I guess Calgarians find some sentimental value in it, but man it sure is ugly, especially these days with so many great buildings surrounding it.

[Ramako]

Originally Posted by Allan83

The short answer is no, but a better question is why would you even consider doing that? It’s not like there aren’t any other development sites. Would Torontonians consider tearing down the CN Tower and putting in a big development? Maybe you would, and maybe that’s why you ask the question, but I’m quite sure Calgary wouldn’t be interested in that, although extending the Calgary tower is a realistic possibility, although currently no one is talking about doing it.

I asked the question because the poster above me suggested that it be demolished. Whether it holds the same place in hearts and minds of Calgarians as the CN Tower does with Torontonians is not something I could speak to, not having ever spent any time in Calgary. I was just curious.

[Allan83]

Originally Posted by logan5

If Harbour Centre were to disappear, I wouldn't shed any tears, but it has some function with all its office space. The Calgary Tower is suppose to be an observation deck. Obviously obsolete. Other than that it has no function, not even from an architectural standpoint. I guess Calgarians find some sentimental value in it, but man it sure is ugly, especially these days with so many great buildings surrounding it.

Not at all. Lots of great pictures posted on this site are taken from there.

Ugly? I guess its ugliness is a function of time, but I think most Calgarians like to preserve our historic buildings, and I’m sure that in the fullness of time it will look pretty again.

[Wooster]

Originally Posted by logan5

If Harbour Centre were to disappear, I wouldn't shed any tears, but it has some function with all its office space. The Calgary Tower is suppose to be an observation deck. Obviously obsolete. Other than that it has no function, not even from an architectural standpoint. I guess Calgarians find some sentimental value in it, but man it sure is ugly, especially these days with so many great buildings surrounding it.

Why is it obsolete? Great view of the core of buildings to its north - unobstructed views of the city and mountains the other 180 degrees. It's an icon. It stays.

[logan5]

In Vancouver, Brazilian graffiti artist Gustavo and Otavio Pandalfo are going to paint those huge concrete silos on Granville island, maybe they could do the same for the Calgary Tower.



http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http%...rc&uact=3&dur=955&page=2&start=6&ndsp=11

[middeljohn]

Originally Posted by Ramako

Indeed... the Suncor, Bow, EAP, Brookfield Place and Telus Sky cluster will soon approach the levels of density found in Toronto's CBD prior to the boom when it consisted of FCP, Scotia Plaza, TD Centre, CCW, Canada Trust Tower and Bay-Wellington Tower. In terms of CBD height and density, visually speaking at least, Calgary in 2018 will be roughly in the same ballpark as Toronto between 1992 and 2007!

Edit: These diagrams help to show the comparison. Calgary's size and number of highrises in 2018 (http://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?searchID=65206117) pretty much goes toe-to-toe with Toronto in 2006 (http://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?searchID=65206177) for over the first 4 pages/100 entries.

The scary thing is that Toronto highrises built only after 2007 (http://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?searchID=65206158) blows them both out of the water.

The unfortunate downside to this, with Calgary having a massive downtown, disproportionately large for its population, is that after 6pm it's essentially a ghost town. Here in Edmonton I'm most definitely jealous of some of their towers, however with similarly sized like Edmonton and Calgary having proportionately sized downtowns, it still stays quite active after work hours.

[Ramako]

Originally Posted by middeljohn

The unfortunate downside to this, with Calgary having a massive downtown, disproportionately large for its population, is that after 6pm it's essentially a ghost town. Here in Edmonton I'm most definitely jealous of some of their towers, however with similarly sized like Edmonton and Calgary having proportionately sized downtowns, it still stays quite active after work hours.

Down the line, an influx of residential and hotel towers into the core (like Toronto is currently experiencing) will help to add more round-the-clock life to downtown. Calgarians can probably look forward to that occuring during the next big boom. It's already kind of starting with Telus Sky.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Ramako

I'd be curious to hear from Calgarians... how cherished and revered is the Calgary Tower? Is it considered untouchable or is there actually a chance that it could ever be demolished in favour of some massive development?

I wanted to rhyme in then stopped myself just in time.

I don't think it's doing for Calgary what the CN Tower does for Toronto or the Oriental Pearl does for Shanghai. I'll leave it at that.

[Ramako]

Originally Posted by isaidso

I wanted to rhyme in then stopped myself just in time.

I don't think it's doing for Calgary what the CN Tower does for Toronto or the Oriental Pearl does for Shanghai. I'll leave it at that.

In terms of what it "does" for Toronto, I'm guessing your meaning is that, beyond its function as a symbol, communications tower or observation deck, the CN Tower acts as a psychological anchor for Torontonians, in that wherever you are in the city you can instantly orient yourself by finding the tower, kind of like the North Star. There's something reassuring about its - for lack of a better word - omnipresence.

That's not to say that Calgary Tower isn't equally important to Calgarians for a different set of reasons, but it's worth noting when comparing the respective roles of the two towers.

[TallBob]

Calgary (Husky) Tower, is quite ugly.... Having said that, there are several ways to remedy that and make it a "nice looking" structure (hide or cover-up the core somehow) would be a start. I doubt however, that will happen.

[isaidso]

The CN Tower and Calgary Tower are symbols of their respective cities. Despite its age, I feel the CN Tower is still viewed as a marvel and a huge asset for this city. It's world famous and influences people's perceptions of Toronto: tourists and those who've never been here. The reaction to the Calgary Tower isn't as favourable imo.

Is it a benefit or a does it detract? I think Calgary deserves something better, but in the end that's for them to decide.

[Symz]

We visited Calgary about 3 weeks ago. We went up in the tower, thought it was great and we had fun. There were lots of other people up there doing the same. What else could you ask for?