Great Canadian Skyline Thread II

[FrAnKs]

Originally Posted by kool maudit

In very different news, and based on my strong feeling that my apartment feels a lot like Canadian soil right now given Sortilège and an old Unicorns record, Stockholm:

Last picture remind me of Québec City.

[rousseau]

Yep to everything kool said. Spot on. And this...

Originally Posted by TorontoDrew

Aerial-Toronto-81 by _futurelandscapes_, on Flickr

...is magnificent, even with the obvious shortcomings (those crap older highrises on Queen's Quay to the left, those crap older lowrises in the so-called "St. Lawrence" neighbourhood) and the fact that it still looks unfinished.

[logan5]

Is there a Toronto bias here because that picture contains a lot of green condo towers, which other cities get bashed for.

That cluster around the CN Tower is the ultimate suburban skyline. This is what Metrotown is going to look like in 20 years.

[TownGuy]

Meh, those are just filler buildings. CIBC Square is going to dwarf the green condos in the middle there.

[Nouvellecosse]

There's been a HUGE amount of criticism on here and SSC directed toward Cityplace and the Southcore/Harbourfront area condos over the years. I'm not sure how anyone managed to miss it.

[kool maudit]

The St. Lawrence neighbourhood was such a darling of Canadian urbanists for so long that it was always a bit of an "emperor's new clothes" thing for me.

I get the '70s and breaking from superblocks and brutalism at a time when that was hard, et cetera, but...it's a bit shit, isn't it?

[logan5]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

There's been a HUGE amount of criticism on here and SSC directed toward Cityplace and the Southcore/Harbourfront area condos over the years. I'm not sure how anyone managed to miss it.

....

magnificent

[Nouvellecosse]

That's a picture showing almost the entire central skyline rather than just that one area, and the largest most dominant buildings in that area, Harbour Plaza, are of high enough quality not to be lumped in with the rest. There are only a few of the bad ones showing prominently in that image (mainly Success and Pinnacle Centre which i despise); not exactly enough to dampen a skyline of that extent. Now a smaller skyline dominated by such stuff, sure.

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by kool maudit

The St. Lawrence neighbourhood was such a darling of Canadian urbanists for so long that it was always a bit of an "emperor's new clothes" thing for me.

I get the '70s and breaking from superblocks and brutalism at a time when that was hard, et cetera, but...it's a bit shit, isn't it?

I dunno, architecturally it isn't great, and there aren't enough mixed uses or engaging streetfronts, but the form & scale are about right. Far more so than any of its contemporaries, at least.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/oibJEMC3NwxPYWVSA
https://maps.app.goo.gl/8nSnadZh29nQk2px6

It's probably been such a darling because there weren't too many other comparable developments like that until recently - and many of those like Cityplace or Liberty Village are arguably even worse.

[Razor]

Those latest shots of both Toronto and Montreal were stunning..Good job!

[Sonog]

Edmonton

@jefrosonic

[Darkoshvilli]

Oh myyyy Edmonton, how you've grown

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

I dunno, architecturally it isn't great, and there aren't enough mixed uses or engaging streetfronts, but the form & scale are about right. Far more so than any of its contemporaries, at least.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/oibJEMC3NwxPYWVSA
https://maps.app.goo.gl/8nSnadZh29nQk2px6

It's probably been such a darling because there weren't too many other comparable developments like that until recently - and many of those like Cityplace or Liberty Village are arguably even worse.

Your two links offer up textbook examples of why architectural design matters as much as or even more than form and scale.

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by kool maudit

The St. Lawrence neighbourhood was such a darling of Canadian urbanists for so long that it was always a bit of an "emperor's new clothes" thing for me.

I get the '70s and breaking from superblocks and brutalism at a time when that was hard, et cetera, but...it's a bit shit, isn't it?

Similarly to how the greatness of Montreal's urbanity would be mindblowingly off the charts if it had streetcars like Toronto, Toronto would be pulse-racing if St. Lawrence and parts north up to Bloor looked like this:

https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.5043526,-...cbrVwcFm7ep8IRiSecVcw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

[Nouvellecosse]

I actually really like the St. Lawrence area. Obviously the architecture in Monkey's links isn't historic and the history of a place is an entire dimension of its potential greatness and depth, but for being newish I like it. With the first link in particular, one thing I wish is that the residents took it upon themselves to personalize the homes to a greater extent. More things like window boxes, planters, vases by the doorstep, vines on the buildings (one of them has them but there could be far more). It would also help if each townhouse had its own trim colour and if there weren't those identical screen doors in front of the main doors. i'd rather the main doors were unobstructed and each was unique in colour or design. These things would give it less of a bland suburban vibe without the architecture being any different.

[Chadillaccc]

By me on SRC

By me on SRC

By me on SRC

[hipster duck]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

With the first link in particular, one thing I wish is that the residents took it upon themselves to personalize the homes to a greater extent. More things like window boxes, planters, vases by the doorstep, vines on the buildings (one of them has them but there could be far more). It would also help if each townhouse had its own trim colour and if there weren't those identical screen doors in front of the main doors. i'd rather the main doors were unobstructed and each was unique in colour or design. These things would give it less of a bland suburban vibe without the architecture being any different.

That's a very good point. I'm not sure if there are ordinances against personalizing the exterior since many of those homes are co-ops.

The residents of this block seem to have been able to do this, and the result is a strip of homes that look very similar to an Edwardian street.

[Martin Mtl]

https://www.instagram.com/p/B16XbMIhWt7/


https://www.instagram.com/p/B16UxfQJ61S/


https://www.instagram.com/p/B16Ro2iJK6L/


https://www.instagram.com/p/B16NDFYHr2D/


https://www.instagram.com/p/B16HCi0hT4j/


https://www.instagram.com/p/B14yHQ2npRZ/


https://www.instagram.com/p/B14ij8iFx8v/


https://www.instagram.com/p/B13vICxJNPa/

[Martin Mtl]

https://www.instagram.com/p/B13ehiCnhnK/

[MonkeyRonin]

Wallace-Emerson by Michael Monastyrskyj, on Flickr