The Great Canadian Skyline Thread! - Page 477

Monolith · #**9521** Posted **Feb 8, 2016, 8:53 PM**

Smoke by Kyle Mistry, on Flickr Taken on January 5, 2016

Downtown Vancouver from the top of Grouse Mountain by m1i1k1e1, on Flickr Taken on January 3, 2016

DSC_9636 Burnaby Mountain by Anthony Maw, on Flickr Taken on January 2, 2016

Sam Sleeps Within by Chris Morley, on Flickr Taken on January 1, 2016

Chadillaccc · #**9522** Posted **Feb 9, 2016, 3:12 AM**

http://calgarybuzz.com/2016/01/things-you-might-not-know-about-calgary/

Pinion · #**9523** Posted **Feb 9, 2016, 9:22 AM**

Vancouver Panaroma by Horizon Star, on Flickr

SkahHigh · #**9524** Posted **Feb 9, 2016, 2:43 PM**

DSC_0101 by Greg Guarino, sur Flickr

Chadillaccc · #**9525** Posted **Feb 10, 2016, 2:43 AM**

http://www.realworldwallart.com/collections/city-landscapes/products/calgary-city-view

caltrane74 · #**9526** Posted **Feb 10, 2016, 1:28 PM**

Interesting pictures...

esquire · #**9527** Posted **Feb 10, 2016, 3:35 PM**

Interesting G&M commentary on the impact of skyline-redefining buildings at street level. I doubt this will come as a surprise to most here, but it does bear thinking about so as to improve the streetscape a bit. The stark spaces or big box-type retail at the bottom of many newer towers look impressive on a rendering, but they aren't always fantastic in terms of what they do for the pedestrian environment....

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toro...oaring-skyline-is-a-dud/article28682510/

Quote:

A structure that might look dramatic to someone sitting in a nearby tower or a passing plane is often a dud at the ground level. Tall glass walls like those you might see at an indoor shopping mall face the street. The boxy spaces inside sometimes remain empty long after the building has opened, giving it a woebegone air. When those spaces are filled, the new occupant often turns its back to the street, covering the glass and concealing what is within. Passersby are presented with a blank, faceless wall that is the furthest thing from the inviting diversity they get on an old shopping street like Queen Street West.

These design failures make a big difference to the feel of the street outside. People encounter buildings at eye level, not from some perch in the sky. Good streetscapes draw people in, not shut them out like the chain drug marts or grocery stores that often emerge at the base of new buildings. Getting what architects call the “ground plane” right is a big deal, and Toronto is blowing it.

#**9528** Posted **Feb 10, 2016, 3:47 PM**

Content removed

RueBulmer · #**9529** Posted **Feb 10, 2016, 6:53 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by esquire

Interesting G&M commentary on the impact of skyline-redefining buildings at street level. I doubt this will come as a surprise to most here, but it does bear thinking about so as to improve the streetscape a bit. The stark spaces or big box-type retail at the bottom of many newer towers look impressive on a rendering, but they aren't always fantastic in terms of what they do for the pedestrian environment....

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toro...oaring-skyline-is-a-dud/article28682510/

The streetscapes of these work best with restaurants and cafes and the like. Other notable exceptions are grocery and convenience stores. Not every street can support business. Sometimes I wonder if a planning model that mimics a more residential street might work. A small lawn with shrubbery and flowers.

beatlesque · #**9530** Posted **Feb 10, 2016, 8:46 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by esquire

Interesting G&M commentary on the impact of skyline-redefining buildings at street level. I doubt this will come as a surprise to most here, but it does bear thinking about so as to improve the streetscape a bit. The stark spaces or big box-type retail at the bottom of many newer towers look impressive on a rendering, but they aren't always fantastic in terms of what they do for the pedestrian environment....

Good post. I personally think Chad's thread on the public realm in Canadian cities is one of the most interesting ones in this section, although it tends to be forgotten. However, it seems that there's often more interest in how cities look from a km away than the urban experience at street level. The contrast with Europe, where I am currently, is striking. At the same time, I do see a lot of huge changes that have happened, including The Forks in WPG of course.

beatlesque · #**9531** Posted **Feb 10, 2016, 8:51 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by RueBulmer

The streetscapes of these work best with restaurants and cafes and the like. Other notable exceptions are grocery and convenience stores. Not every street can support business. Sometimes I wonder if a planning model that mimics a more residential street might work. A small lawn with shrubbery and flowers.

True - all of these options for new towers could make sense. In general, the street interaction seems pretty neglected in Canadian cities, although maybe that's changing. Some of the pictures of Calgary on recent pages are beautiful, for example, and it would be great to bring more and more street beautification into the downtown. I know there are real initiatives there and elsewhere to work on the street level alongside the skyline...

#**9532** Posted **Feb 10, 2016, 9:55 PM**

Content removed

ainvan · #**9533** Posted **Feb 11, 2016, 9:50 PM**

The 6ix

Mississauga Photo: Toronto Skyline From Port Credit Marina by drum118, on Flickr

ainvan · #**9534** Posted **Feb 11, 2016, 10:04 PM**

Big City Nights by kotsy, on Flickr

scryer · #**9535** Posted **Feb 11, 2016, 11:34 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by beatlesque

True - all of these options for new towers could make sense. In general, the street interaction seems pretty neglected in Canadian cities, although maybe that's changing. Some of the pictures of Calgary on recent pages are beautiful, for example, and it would be great to bring more and more street beautification into the downtown. I know there are real initiatives there and elsewhere to work on the street level alongside the skyline...

Vancouver does street interaction very well. Even for office skyscraper buildings with no street-level commercial space.

rousseau · #**9536** Posted **Feb 12, 2016, 2:20 AM**

That "Toronto" sign is iconic and something tourists flock to, but I'm not a huge fan, personally. Though it's certainly an apt totem of this age of ours, in which narcissism and primary colour in-your-face self-promotion are valued over substance and subtlety. It's very Drake/hip-hop, in other words. You just know, and I know I've read this kind of thing somewhere, that vacuous kids all over the U.S. watching broadcasts of NBA games in Toronto are witness to shots of this view cutting directly from helicopter panoramas of the skyline at night, and are thinking: "Cool."

I say this as a diehard NBA fan who hates everything about the NBA save for what happens on the court between blows of the whistle. I know I'm a curmudgeonly minority whimpering in the woods with this opinion, but I can't help it. It's not Glenn Gould's Toronto anymore, and it's a bit sad that the city hasn't retained more of that character in its headlong rush into world prominence.

shappy · #**9537** Posted **Feb 12, 2016, 3:41 AM**

Crappy quality cell pic but hopefully will be able to get some better shots soon

speedog · #**9538** Posted **Feb 12, 2016, 3:55 AM**

It's been ages since I've taken a picture with my old Canon DSLR, actually had to teach myself how to use it again while taking the picture below tonight, 3.5km as the crow flies from downtown. Definitely need more practice...

Black Star · #**9539** Posted **Feb 12, 2016, 3:59 AM**

http://calgarybuzz.com/2016/01/things-you-might-not-know-about-calgary/[/QUOTE]

This has to be one of my favorite shots of Calgary.

kool maudit · #**9540** Posted **Feb 12, 2016, 9:31 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by rousseau

I know I'm a curmudgeonly minority whimpering in the woods with this opinion, but I can't help it. It's not Glenn Gould's Toronto anymore, and it's a bit sad that the city hasn't retained more of that character in its headlong rush into world prominence.

Toronto's ascent is one in which the city will take on the characteristics of its age to a great extent. That's OK, though. It's the period after the gold rush where identities are really cemented.