Great Canadian Skyline Thread II

[Coldrsx]

@ianoyeg

[Coldrsx]

@kmoorephotos

[GeneralLea]

Wow

[mistercorporate]

Originally Posted by niwell

IMO Melbourne has a pretty bad skyline. Looks pretty good from a distance but the architecture is... not good.

Australian jaws drop when they see Toronto's downtown, that's all I need to know about Melbourne/Sydney's urban credentials. Now their suburbs are another story and blow ours out of the water.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by mistercorporate

Now their suburbs are another story and blow ours out of the water.

At least we don't have to worry about deadly snakes and venomous spiders in our gardens though.

[mistercorporate]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

At least we don't have to worry about deadly snakes and venomous spiders in our gardens though.

That's true, we have only to worry about falling deathly sick or freezing to death by our deadly winters

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by mistercorporate

Australian jaws drop when they see Toronto's downtown, that's all I need to know about Melbourne/Sydney's urban credentials. Now their suburbs are another story and blow ours out of the water.

For me Sydney, and to a lesser extent Melbourne, have the edge due to the street level environment in their CBDs. The skyscrapers are rarely set back behind things like podiums or large plazas and instead often have the entry/lobby/reception areas inset under the actual footprint of the tower which I LOVE.

https://goo.gl/maps/3kNguSmboqH2
https://goo.gl/maps/GeEdoRWcnmT2


And they're better at doing large areas of wall-to-wall highrises without having large gaps between the buildings making the environment appear denser and more impressive.

https://goo.gl/maps/VqU7WzS8VGJ2

If an Australian's jaw drops when being introduced to a Canadian CBD, I would strongly suspect that it isn't because they're impressed.

[zoomer]

/\ Wow, those google street view shot examples are terrible!! Extremely narrow bleak, dark sidewalks, hemmed in by the buildings and the road, very pedestrian unfriendly- no lingering around there! CBD should still be inviting, not depressing.

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by zoomer

/\ Wow, those google street view shot examples are terrible!! Extremely narrow bleak, dark sidewalks, hemmed in by the buildings and the road, very pedestrian unfriendly- no lingering around there! CBD should still be inviting, not depressing.

Actually those kind of CBDs are incredibly inviting to someone who loves dense and imposing CBDs. I could walk around there for days. Narrow, dark and hemmed in by the roads, but anything but bleak. More like a fascinating and intriguing maze of urban layers.

But of course I realize this is personal preference. Some people don't like tall buildings, some don't like density, some don't like imposing streetwalls, etc. There are even people who claim to love suburbia which I can't identify with at all.

[Metro-One]

Originally Posted by zoomer

/\ Wow, those google street view shot examples are terrible!! Extremely narrow bleak, dark sidewalks, hemmed in by the buildings and the road, very pedestrian unfriendly- no lingering around there! CBD should still be inviting, not depressing.

That was my feeling as well, haha. Give me downtown Vancouver or Victoria anyway over those screen shots!

[zoomer]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

Actually those kind of CBDs are incredibly inviting to someone who loves dense and imposing CBDs. I could walk around there for days. Narrow, dark and hemmed in by the roads, but anything but bleak. More like a fascinating and intriguing maze of urban layers.

But of course I realize this is personal preference. Some people don't like tall buildings, some don't like density, some don't like imposing streetwalls, etc. There are even people who claim to love suburbia which I can't identify with at all.

If it’s primarily the buildings you love, then yes the imposing nature of those Sydney examples would be pretty powerful. To me it’s almost too close, I’d rather have the buildings set back a bit further so I could appreciate their form and design a bit better. Looking down West Hastings in Vancouver towards the Marine Building is a bit of a combination of the two styles for me, The buildings here feel more imposing than most of Vancouver, yet still has a nice pedestrian feel.

West Hastings

But as Metro-One says, I also much prefer the Vancouver and even Victoria pedestrian focus approach - maybe it’s a west coast preference thing.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

If an Australian's jaw drops when being introduced to a Canadian CBD, I would strongly suspect that it isn't because they're impressed.

Makes for a witty rebut except it's not believable. Australian and Canadian CBDs are comparable so it's not likely that their jaws would drop when introduced to ours or vice versa. The only CBD that is significantly larger/better than anything else in Australia/Canada is the one in Toronto.

If their jaw did drop it wouldn't be for some negative reason like you're insinuating. That said, I doubt they would react like that. Being put off that it's better is more in line with their national demeanour.

Btw, those links you gave weren't very flattering. They made Sydney look quite small but I suppose it is compared to Toronto.

[Nouvellecosse]

^ I think they make Sydney look huge so I guess our senses of perception are just different.

In terms of the "jaw dropping" my reply wasn't meant to be witty. I just don't consider it believable that they'd be impressed, but I haven't met many Australians so who knows.

Originally Posted by zoomer

If it’s primarily the buildings you love, then yes the imposing nature of those Sydney examples would be pretty powerful. To me it’s almost too close, I’d rather have the buildings set back a bit further so I could appreciate their form and design a bit better. Looking down West Hastings in Vancouver towards the Marine Building is a bit of a combination of the two styles for me, The buildings here feel more imposing than most of Vancouver, yet still has a nice pedestrian feel.

West Hastings

But as Metro-One says, I also much prefer the Vancouver and even Victoria pedestrian focus approach - maybe it’s a west coast preference thing.

That section is great. i love how the highrises rise directly from the sidewalk, that they're pretty slender rather than spanning multiple lots, and how they're nestled closely between the other buildings.

But yeah, for me it's more about the pedestrian experience than the individual buildings. For instance, i also appreciate areas like this part of Sao Paulo which doesn't have particularly attractive architecture. I just love the idea/feeling of being completely immersed in intense, complex, imposing urbanity. Now don't get me wrong; I love sunshine and I wouldn't want the entire, or even the majority, of a city to be tall and imposing. I just view the CBD as an exception.

[mcminsen]

Quoting officedweller's recent post in the Downtown Vancouver Updates thread.

Originally Posted by officedweller

From Trish Jewison twitter today.

You can see the Cardero excavation and the size of the Bayshore site, if Concord is going to redevelop it.


https://twitter.com/TrishJewison

[mistercorporate]

What? You haven't met many Australians? Which means you probably never visited the country. No wonder your opinion is so out of whack with reality. I never understood people having such strong opinions about things with which they have such little experience. Life is an embodied state, you can't judge nationalities and cities just from Google maps. We built 3 new structures on our property in Australia, yet the streetview and satellite images still show it as it existed 10 years ago (just trees and wallabies). Urban Australians hang out at the beach, not so much in their downtowns. Melbourne's entertainment district is a joke and puny. You can cruise from the first nightclub to the very end of the street in a couple minutes.

Heck, Australians generally dont even think like most Canadians, but you won't pick up on that till you spend time with them. Anyway, that's a whole other sensitive topic and I won't go there.

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

^ I think they make Sydney look huge so I guess our senses of perception are just different.

In terms of the "jaw dropping" my reply wasn't meant to be witty. I just don't consider it believable that they'd be impressed, but I haven't met many Australians so who knows.


That section is great. i love how the highrises rise directly from the sidewalk, that they're pretty slender rather than spanning multiple lots, and how they're nestled closely between the other buildings.

But yeah, for me it's more about the pedestrian experience than the individual buildings. For instance, i also appreciate areas like this part of Sao Paulo which doesn't have particularly attractive architecture. I just love the idea/feeling of being completely immersed in intense, complex, imposing urbanity. Now don't get me wrong; I love sunshine and I wouldn't want the entire, or even the majority, of a city to be tall and imposing. I just view the CBD as an exception.

[Acajack]

I think he meant from a distance or on approach, and not necessarily at street level. There is nothing in Oz that is even close to Toronto's skyscraper cluster.

[he QUOTE=Nouvellecosse;8185895]For me Sydney, i think and to a lesser extent Melbourne, have the edge due to the street level environment in their CBDs. The skyscrapers are rarely set back behind things like podiums or large plazas and instead often have the entry/lobby/reception areas inset under the actual footprint of the tower which I LOVE.

https://goo.gl/maps/3kNguSmboqH2
https://goo.gl/maps/GeEdoRWcnmT2


And they're better at doing large areas of wall-to-wall highrises without having large gaps between the buildings making the environment appear denser and more impressive.

https://goo.gl/maps/VqU7WzS8VGJ2

If an Australian's jaw drops when being introduced to a Canadian CBD, I would strongly suspect that it isn't because they're impressed.[/QUOTE]

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by mistercorporate

What? You haven't met many Australians? Which means you probably never visited the country. No wonder your opinion is so out of whack with reality. I never understood people having such strong opinions about things with which they have such little experience. Life is an embodied state, you can't judge nationalities and cities just from Google maps. We built 3 new structures on our property in Australia, yet the streetview and satellite images still show it as it existed 10 years ago (just trees and wallabies). Urban Australians hang out at the beach, not so much in their downtowns. Melbourne's entertainment district is a joke and puny. You can cruise from the first nightclub to the very end of the street in a couple minutes.

Heck, Australians generally dont even think like most Canadians, but you won't pick up on that till you spend time with them. Anyway, that's a whole other sensitive topic and I won't go there.

In fairness, ending a statement by acknowledging one's limited experience and saying "so who knows" doesn't exactly come across as that strong of an opinion to me. I understand as well as anyone that thoughts and opinions vary. That doesn't change the fact that i can't personally comprehend - based on my own thoughts, experiences, and preferences - why anyone familiar with Sydney or Melbourne would be "jaw-droppingly" impressed by any Canadian city. But of course that's completely different than saying they couldn't like them or appreciate them. And I recognise that people sometimes react in ways that I can't comprehend.

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by Acajack

I think he meant from a distance or on approach, and not necessarily at street level. There is nothing in Oz that is even close to Toronto's skyscraper cluster.

He followed that comment by saying, "that's all I need to know about Melbourne/Sydney's urban credentials". and he doesn't seem like the type of guy that would boil an entire city's urban credentials down to a distant/approaching skyline view.

But then again, this could be yet another case of people behaving in ways that i can't comprehend, so who knows.

[mistercorporate]

I wasn't just speaking about the skyline. Australia has very limited product variety compared to Canada, so I usually begin my walking tour of the city for out of town visitors with a trip to the Eaton center followed by a casual walk across yonge-dundas to grab a snack. That diagonal crosswalk with that mass of loud energetic humanity and the looming modern towers just beyond it are no big deal to someone from Tokyo or NYC but for an Australian its usually quite overwhelming and impressive to experience. Particularly in a midsize country like Canada, it shatters their expectations. Ending the tour with an early dinner at the CN Tower's restaurant usually renders them uncharacteristically silent and contemplative

[Monolith]

Seasons in the Park New Menu May 7 by jenn chan, on Flickr