The Great Canadian Skyline Thread!

[TorontoDrew]

Originally Posted by mistercorporate

Please god, don't let this guy be from Toronto...

If he was from Toronto he would have listed it before Vancouver.

[isaidso]

The only thing disturbing is that people actually get upset when someone voices an opinion they don't agree with. Honestly, some react like their mother just got shot. I live in Toronto, I like the skyline, but how on earth is that any reflection on me? I didn't build the darn thing.

[kool maudit]

Originally Posted by isaidso

The only thing disturbing is that people actually get upset when someone voices an opinion they don't agree with. Honestly, some react like their mother just got shot. I live in Toronto, I like the skyline, but how on earth is that any reflection on me? I didn't build the darn thing.

agreed. subjectivity granted, why should i take it as a slight if somebody thinks montreal looks like shit?

[SkahHigh]

Originally Posted by kool maudit

agreed. subjectivity granted, why should i take it as a slight if somebody thinks montreal looks like shit?

It's just a question of city pride, nobody likes to have their city bashed by someone else...

[kool maudit]

sure, but in a forum devoted to the comparison of such things, surely city pride must yield to the need for robustly differing opinions?

[Ramako]

Originally Posted by SkahHigh

It's just a question of city pride, nobody likes to have their city bashed by someone else...

Not even the skylines of New York or Hong Kong are universally loved by 100% of people in the skyscraper geek community. Some people just have very particular tastes. There's no need to feel insecure because a couple people don't like Montreal's skyline, especially when it's otherwise widely adored.

[mistercorporate]

Originally Posted by kool maudit

sure, but in a forum devoted to the comparison of such things, surely city pride must yield to the need for robustly differing opinions?

Yes, but there is something to be said for tact when others have demonstrated the same. If this was an all out city vs city thread then by all means do the same but there was a good measure of "polite company" here and it will rub them the wrong way. Naturally, tactless or obnoxious statements will invite a direct response to discourage that sort of behaviour and bring the lesson home.

[travis3000]

Originally Posted by scrapin

I'm sorry if I have offended anybody, I'm just stating things off of what I see. Canadian cities outside of Vancouver, Toronto, and Calgary also have their charms like I said earlier but it takes some very good photographers to make their skylines look good. That doesnt mean that they arent quality cities to live in though. I appreciate people taking time out of their day to post pictures but if you have to look hard to find something good in a skyline then just admit that it isnt that great lol.

Each to their own but I will just mention I completely disagree with you. Montreal has a gorgeous skyline. I have so many awesome pics from Montreal on my computer. The density, unique blend of architectural styles, and the river with bridges makes it a stunning skyline in Canada, def in the top 3 IMO.

[Beedok]

Originally Posted by scrapin

Montreal, Edmonton, and Winnipeg skylines might as well be 70's Russian skylines... i kid i kid.

Toronto and Vancouver skylines are breathtaking, Calgary is a good smaller mix of the 2...everything else pales in comparison, even though they have their charms as well.

So you're saying Montreal, Edmonton, and Winnipeg have the best skylines?

[kool maudit]

Originally Posted by Beedok

So you're saying Montreal, Edmonton, and Winnipeg have the best skylines?

oh come on.

now you are just playing to the gallery.





there is a point at which eccentricity becomes perversity, oddness for the sake of oddness, a willed refusal of all ratios and proportions ordinarily celebrated.

one can dispute mozart with a preference for beethoven or even schoenburg, but not with the sound produced by stepping on a kitten.

nobody would have held the skylines of 1970s russia up as a formal ideal, as exemplars of the concept of "skyline". not only do they barely produce a line against the sky (they kind of blur the ground edge, and are too uniform and closely arranged to stand out in silhouette) even their builders justified them on terms of housing availability and not aesthetics.

[le calmar]

The Montreal skyline can be unimpressive from certain angles. But from other vantage points it can look massive. The view from the Champlain Bridge is my personal favourite.


financialpost.com

[Martin Mtl]

Trolls will be trolls. The key is to not bite.

[Beedok]

Originally Posted by kool maudit

oh come on.

now you are just playing to the gallery.

That guy was trolling and insulting the cities so I was countering. Hence all the smilies. It was a joke.

(Although I will stand by my dislike of New York. That picture looks better because it's black and white so hides the unpleasant shades of brown and beige that dominate the city. I realise no everyone feels that way though.)

[kool maudit]

nope, not everyone feels that way. in fact, the new york of that era pretty much gave the world the term "skyline", at least in its contemporary use as the silhouette of a city's most prominent buildings. it was in that city, along with chicago, that the concept of the skyscraper was conceived and first elaborated upon, and its for this reason that "standing by" your dislike of it for whatever reason appears as a shallow statement.

one might prefer modern architecture, or modern sculpture (say). but that doesn't mean that it doesn't sound strange and blithe for someone who really likes giacometti to just "dislike" donatello.

one very much comes from the other. there's a history there, a record of subsequent innovation that is part of an informed take on the subject.

to just flatten the history of sculpture into a series of random images to be selected from according to private taste... well, people will find your views odd and lacking coherence. they will not reflect the subject as a human endeavour.

this is why you see opposition here, i think. it's not 100% subjective.

[giallo]

Originally Posted by kool maudit

oh come on.

now you are just playing to the gallery.

Looking at a picture of the Singer Building is like looking at a picture of a dead family member.

[Rico Rommheim]

Really, who gives a shit if some guy doesn't like the arrangement of high-rises found in the downtown core of the city in which I live? How can anyone take anything that's said on this board personally?

[ciudad_del_norte]

Originally Posted by isaidso

The only thing disturbing is that people actually get upset when someone voices an opinion they don't agree with. Honestly, some react like their mother just got shot. I live in Toronto, I like the skyline, but how on earth is that any reflection on me? I didn't build the darn thing.

My quality of life not impacted by what people think of my city or its skyline ....so I don't typically find these forums nearly as offensive as some do.

Although, more generally, I also don't necesarily understand the need of many to put down cities explicitly or implicitly. Sometimes it is just a general statement of opinion, but too often on here it's totally the "i'm going to put you down so I feel better about my city". Which is what it is I guess...the insecurities and need for approval sometimes seem so transparent .

[Beedok]

Originally Posted by kool maudit

nope, not everyone feels that way. in fact, the new york of that era pretty much gave the world the term "skyline", at least in its contemporary use as the silhouette of a city's most prominent buildings. it was in that city, along with chicago, that the concept of the skyscraper was conceived and first elaborated upon, and its for this reason that "standing by" your dislike of it for whatever reason appears as a shallow statement.

one might prefer modern architecture, or modern sculpture (say). but that doesn't mean that it doesn't sound strange and blithe for someone who really likes giacometti to just "dislike" donatello.

one very much comes from the other. there's a history there, a record of subsequent innovation that is part of an informed take on the subject.

to just flatten the history of sculpture into a series of random images to be selected from according to private taste... well, people will find your views odd and lacking coherence. they will not reflect the subject as a human endeavour.

this is why you see opposition here, i think. it's not 100% subjective.

I respect the innovations in technology and engineering they pioneered. Being the first means respect for your effort, but the first never masters it. The Wright Brothers built the first airplane, but I wouldn't feel safe riding in it or consider it the pinnacle of aviation. Da Vinci pioneered a number of things, but if you go right down to it most of the time his faces just looked weird and not quite right. I respect the amount of effort and study both of them had to employ, but they don't win my award for favourite.

Favourite skylines will be 100% subjective. It's about whether you like certain architectural styles, geometric shapes, and so forth. Plenty of people despise the concept of highrises altogether.

[Martin Mtl]

And for the record, that historic picture of New York is beyond awesome.

[Calgarian]

Originally Posted by Martin Mtl

And for the record, that historic picture of New York is beyond awesome.

Absolutely, maybe the best skyline ever!