Has WhipperSnapper been to the Calgary library? Just because it doesn't have a traditional streetwall of shops doesn't mean it's bad urban form. It has multiple entrances and activates the streets all around it. It's a bridge over what was once a barrier between neighbourhoods. It's an excellent urban insertion.
The Edmonton Milner Library must be the most unredeemable example of architecture in Canadian History. The only things that come close are Clockzilla and Princess Towers in Kingston.
Agreed. I'd also add Missingsausage City Hall.
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The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts. (Bertrand Russell). Sweet Loretta fart thought she was a cleaner, but she was a frying pan. (John Lennon)
I have been to The Calgary Library. I can't say I've circle around it. To be clear, by no means an I holding it up to a street with CRUs as I don't think an institutional building requires CRUs.
The main floor is simply raised too high above street level for me to call it good urban form. The green space is a pretty Cormier space. It's not a great functional space. A pretty place to sit in quiet contemplation is not sufficient for a gathering place. Would have been better to built over that space.
Last edited by WhipperSnapper; Feb 13, 2023 at 3:30 PM.
The Edmonton Milner Library must be the most unredeemable example of architecture in Canadian History. The only things that come close are Clockzilla and Princess Towers in Kingston.
The Princess Tower in Kingston is best appreciated if you come across it unexpectedly.
I saw it for the first time maybe a half dozen years ago, driving into downtown Kingston. It invoked a sensation of both confusion and horror. You can't really take your eyes off of it as you drive by (hence it is a traffic hazard). I find it in this way very much like a train wreck or multi-car pile-up. It is a scene of utter devastation and you know you should be averting your eyes (or at least minding your own business), but yet you are unable to............
One hasn't truly experienced Princess Tower without going inside of it. It was common in the era for student residences to have split floors off elevator lobbies with marked as "upper" and "lower". Princess Tower takes this to the whole nother universe. Each unit is a few stairs up or down from the elevator lobbies. As hard as they tired, you will see units numbered 30something from the second floor elevator lobby.
One hasn't truly experienced Princess Tower without going inside of it. It was common in the era for student residences to have split floors off elevator lobbies with marked as "upper" and "lower". Princess Tower takes this to the whole nother universe. Each unit is a few stairs up or down from the elevator lobbies. As hard as they tired, you will see units numbered 30something from the second floor elevator lobby.
Splitting the floors was to make it harder for large gatherings to take place, like big parties or even protests. I remember going to a campus at Western where the residence was like that and apparently the architect was a well known prison architect who designed structures that made large scale riots much more difficult to take place.
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The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts. (Bertrand Russell). Sweet Loretta fart thought she was a cleaner, but she was a frying pan. (John Lennon)
I have been to The Calgary Library. I can't say I've circle around it. To be clear, by no means an I holding it up to a street with CRUs as I don't think an institutional building requires CRUs.
The main floor is simply raised too high above street level for me to call it good urban form. The green space is a pretty Cormier space. It's not a great functional space. A pretty place to sit in quiet contemplation is not sufficient for a gathering place. Would have been better to built over that space.
It’s built over a ctrain trench and bridges the gap to city hall that used to be impassable. There is a CRU with a coffee shop on the NW side by the lrt platform. It’s a gathering space for many and is truly an experience to see irl. Your critiques would be valid if describing the Bow, but not this very public gathering space. Did you even go inside it or just look from outside?
Quite a few rare angles in the last few pages. Keep em' coming!
On the Calgary Library conversation, they do provide ground level entrances at the front and back. They also have a (I assume) café with patio. I understand WhipperSnapper's comment however, as O-tacular mentioned, the library created a bridge between communities where a vacant piece of land with a tunnel portal once existed. This is a major improvement from what was there before. They did very well considering the site constraints. Anything built on this site would have the same issue where the main level would need to be elevated from the street.
Love seeing large parks/plazas in the middle of built-up areas like that. Edmonton (Churchill Square), Montreal (several, including Dorchester Square), Toronto (Nathan Philips Square), Vancouver (Robson Square) are all great examples. In Ottawa, our large parks/green spaces are all at the edge of waterways, so at the edges of built-up areas. Nothing of significance within the CBD, Centretown, the Market. Anywhere really off the top of my head.
Taken from CMHC's 2021 and 2022 Rental Reports. They updated the cover photos for a few.
First Regina was an angle I was not expecting. First Sudbury shot could pass as England at first glance. KWC they only used that shot because of the covered bridge.
I'm not sure why Sudbury and Belleville (or even Peterborough) have their own sections but many other comparable cities elsewhere don't. And only HFX out east? Strange.
OMG. I didn't even realize that's not our Sudbury. I haven't been in my adult life. I know I went when I was like 8 or something to the science centre but don't really care to know much about the city. And I'm not sure I'll never go again. Maybe if I go on a fishing trip and it happens to be on the way. But damn, I should have known they wouldn't have a street like that. Though if North Bay can have a nice main street that also is made from brick for a section of it, then maybe Subury could have a street like the in pic above? Okay maybe not lol.
That's like a few weeks ago when I posted a pic from Starlight's Canadian Multifamily page and they used a pic of Austin.
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