Yorkville has some great buildings and a bunch of solid designs U/C and in the proposal stage. That Foster proposal certainly is not the first or only nice design for Yorkville at the moment. In fact I think there are a number of better projects on the market at the moment. But you'll never make everybody happy on this site.
Another project is going ahead in the Sillery neighbourhood in Quebec. This district has very important significance for Quebec City and its history is has long as the city itself. It is bordered on one side by the cliff overlooking the St-Lawrence river and by a road formerly known as the King's road on the other. It has been successively inhabited by French and British nobles and Governors, wood Barons, powerful religious orders, etc. Though many have been destroyed, the district still has the highest concentration of historic villas in Canada. Many of these mansions were built on great estates and a great emphasis was put on the gardens. As a consequence, this part of town boasts some of the most beautiful parks in the Province.
The religious congregations also left their mark on this district but times have been hard lately and these congregations have been forced to sell some of their crown jewels to promoters. Case in point: the Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc sisters motherhouse is being redeveloped but at least, the promoter had to follow very strict guidelines.
New buildings will be built behind the patrimonial motherhouse and part of the gardens next the the cliff will be transferred to the city in order to develop a linear park from the Old City all the way to Cap-Rouge.
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"The destructive effects of automobiles are much less a cause than a symptom of our incompetence at city building" - Jane Jacobs 1961ish
I dont think avant garde contemporary buildings suit Yorkville. This one is okay but the street level looks cold and depressing. I'd prefer more ornamentation. It'd be better suited to somewhere in the entertainment district or maybe around Bay and Gerrard.
I think opulent, traditional buildings like One St Thomas or restrained designs like The Florian are better suited to Yorkville.
Foster's simple grid design is the opposite of "avant garde". Have to agree to disagree on Florian/1StThomas/ornament... I'd be embarrassed to live in either of those.
I think you're both right and wrong at the same time. All of these designs are well suited for Yorkville because it has one of the most diverse skylines in the city if not country. I would also not be embarrassed to live in One St Thomas, I only wish it was taller.
The building itself is gorgeous and the pool looks dreamy.
That said I sure as hell wouldn't want to live there. It is so completely disjointed from the rest of the area that it looks like a gated community without the gate. The architecture is lovely but it reminds me of something you would find in a wealthy suburban Atlanta development.
Foster's simple grid design is the opposite of "avant garde". Have to agree to disagree on Florian/1StThomas/ornament... I'd be embarrassed to live in either of those.
Agreed. Maybe when Shuttleworth was around. Still, F+P has always been restrained compare to Calatrava or Nouvel. Now they are a factory like SOM or KPF.
Some of the ugliest buildings have the best bones. I wouldn't be embarrassed by how a building looked.
Was in MTL last weekend, amazed at the transformation of some areas and how much bigger it felt already.
That said, had to deal with so many Habs fans and UFC everywhere.
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"The destructive effects of automobiles are much less a cause than a symptom of our incompetence at city building" - Jane Jacobs 1961ish
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