Great Canadian Skyline Thread II - Page 473

SkahHigh · #**9441** Posted **Nov 12, 2018, 10:24 PM**

IMG_8128 by Olivier Martineau, sur Flickr

IMG_8125 by Olivier Martineau, sur Flickr

rousseau · #**9442** Posted **Nov 12, 2018, 10:32 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by giallo

Love me a good Vancouver aerial.

That's a nice shot. Really captures all the office density. And no mountains required!

rousseau · #**9443** Posted **Nov 12, 2018, 10:34 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by niwell

London housing is a bit more uniform at a block level due to a higher level of speculative development, but there are a lot of similarities between residential housing in old Toronto and London “suburbs” (still within the Greenbelt but outside the central city). Which of course makes a lot of sense!

Heh heh...I got razzed on this forum years ago for suggesting this. Though probably I didn't word it quite so precisely, so my claim may have sounded more extravagant than I intended. Will have to do a search and find that discussion.

dleung · #**9444** Posted **Nov 13, 2018, 2:32 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

Quote:

Originally Posted by dleung

All these slate mansard roofs and monotonous cladding, so oppressive!

Of course, I'd love to see the development of a "west coast" style that is better than what there is now, but a bit of critical thinking helps in terms of understanding why we sometimes like monotony, instead of just regurgitating the same not-even-accurate "green glass" line from SSC.

I think he was referring to monotony in terms of a city's skyline rather than streetlevel. Obviously a skyline tends to be visible from far outside of an immediate neighbourhood or district and looms over the city forming an integral part of many cities' aesthetic identity. Although even if he was referring to the street level, I don't actually recall him saying that he prefers, or even likes, Parisian-style midrise monotony. I think we'd need to hear some additional detail before suggesting a lack of critical thinking.

It wasn't directed just at him, but a general comment about the design discourse. Need of variety in architecture/materials/shapes is only a very recent concept in urban landscapes. I'm strongly of the opinion that if we did it right, we won't have to waste time aiming for "a good mix of styles". Also there are actually people who love Vancouver's aesthetics specifically because of its uniformity - for better or worse there was a unifying vision that is evident. The city has lost that vision lately though.

MonkeyRonin · #**9445** Posted **Nov 13, 2018, 3:10 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by dleung

It wasn't directed just at him, but a general comment about the design discourse. Need of variety in architecture/materials/shapes is only a very recent concept in urban landscapes. I'm strongly of the opinion that if we did it right, we won't have to waste time aiming for "a good mix of styles". Also there are actually people who love Vancouver's aesthetics specifically because of its uniformity - for better or worse there was a unifying vision that is evident. The city has lost that vision lately though.

Uniformity is all well and good when it's a uniformity of human scale & material depth; less so when it's a uniformity of architectural sterility.

Basically, Parisian architectural uniformity ≠ 90s/00s Vancouver condo uniformity.

Monolith · #**9446** Posted **Nov 13, 2018, 4:40 AM**

Vancouver Skyline Pano from the Straights of Georgia by Steve Carney, on Flickr

drizzo_613 · #**9447** Posted **Nov 13, 2018, 2:24 PM**

View of Ottawa from Claridge Icon. Photo from their website.

HomeInMyShoes · #**9448** Posted **Nov 13, 2018, 2:48 PM**

^That photo looks like it could be from 1978.

mistercorporate · #**9449** Posted **Nov 13, 2018, 2:50 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

^That photo looks like it could be from 1978.

That's part of Ottawa's charm. Ottawa does the 1970's vibe quite well, Hamilton does it poorly.

TorontoDrew · #**9450** Posted **Nov 13, 2018, 7:19 PM**

[IMG]

bloor by Andrew Moore, on Flickr[/IMG]

Taken from my phone on Sunday. Went out for a 65k bike ride.

David1gray · #**9451** Posted **Nov 13, 2018, 10:18 PM**

Calgary skyline as seen from De Winton on October 29, 2018.

CP 463 ft. The Pioneer by David Gray, on Flickr

Franco401 · #**9452** Posted **Nov 13, 2018, 11:30 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by TorontoDrew

[IMG]

bloor by Andrew Moore, on Flickr[/IMG]

Taken from my phone on Sunday. Went out for a 65k bike ride.

Are there any other bridges like that in the world? A bridge carrying a fully enclosed subway route from one underground section to another over a road?

dleung · #**9453** Posted **Nov 14, 2018, 4:52 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

Quote:

Originally Posted by dleung

It wasn't directed just at him, but a general comment about the design discourse. Need of variety in architecture/materials/shapes is only a very recent concept in urban landscapes. I'm strongly of the opinion that if we did it right, we won't have to waste time aiming for "a good mix of styles". Also there are actually people who love Vancouver's aesthetics specifically because of its uniformity - for better or worse there was a unifying vision that is evident. The city has lost that vision lately though.

[/i]Uniformity is all well and good when it's a uniformity of human scale & material depth; less so when it's a uniformity of architectural sterility.

Basically, Parisian architectural uniformity ≠ 90s/00s Vancouver condo uniformity.

Of course. I'm just saying that we don't spend enough time critiquing design, and too much time on "too much green glass, let's do black.... now there's too much black, let's get some fake art deco in the mix" ad nauseum

Chadillaccc · #**9454** Posted **Nov 14, 2018, 5:31 AM**

IG @ mikemaciaszek - https://www.instagram.com/mikemaciaszek/

logan5 · #**9455** Posted **Nov 14, 2018, 5:40 AM**

How do you criticize buildings that are so bad they are beyond critiquing? I mean these green towers are about as basic as you get. they meet building codes and that's about it. Some basic black towers would do nicely.