Reimagining Ottawa’s architecture

[Harley613]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

None of the arguments why Ottawa's architecture is sub-par holds up. Same or similar climate, labour and construction costs. same interest rates. Pretty sure the Ottawa Market can also get higher rents and condo sale prices than any of those other example cities. Really just the GTA and Metro Vancouver that have higher prices.

There are three reasons why Ottawa is like this, that I can think of:

1) Cheapskate Developers
2) People don't demand better from said Cheapskate Developers
3) City Council doesn't demand better from the Cheapskate Developers that finance them

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Harley613

There are three reasons why Ottawa is like this, that I can think of:

1) Cheapskate Developers
2) People don't demand better from said Cheapskate Developers
3) City Council doesn't demand better from the Cheapskate Developers that finance them

Giving reasons like this without mentioning the federal government is like talking about the New Brunswick economy without mentioning Irving!

The feds drive the office market in Ottawa to a considerable degree and their tastes and preferences are as bland as can be.

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Giving reasons like this without mentioning the federal government is like talking about the New Brunswick economy without mentioning Irving!

The feds drive the office market in Ottawa to a considerable degree and their tastes and preferences are as bland as can be.

The feds don't buy or dictate styling for condos though. And the city could absolutely impose design standards on federal development if it wanted. It just has a rather deferential relationship.

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Giving reasons like this without mentioning the federal government is like talking about the New Brunswick economy without mentioning Irving!

The feds drive the office market in Ottawa to a considerable degree and their tastes and preferences are as bland as can be.

Agreed and in a City heavily dominated by government workers (many of whom I find to be risk averse) which I find spills over into the look of other buildings in the City.

I find here in Ottawa that the general population doesn't seem to place a high interest on the 'gentle interplay of rhythmic patterns along the dominant facade that both draws the viewer in to the private realm and also evokes a sense of harmonic distortion that challenges the publics viewpoints on the role of the building within the urban tapestry of the overall urban entity that the public is a key component of'.

[OTSkyline]

But there's a housing shortage and 98.7% of the buildings going up in Ottawa are ugly and uninspiring. What can residents do? Boycott and wait on the sidelines?

I'd also be surprised if "cheap developers" was not a common thing in other places like Edmonton, Kitchener and Hamilton too...

So what gives Ottawa? Are other city councils actually invested in the look & design of new builds in other cities?

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by OTSkyline

But there's a housing shortage and 98.7% of the buildings going up in Ottawa are ugly and uninspiring. What can residents do? Boycott and wait on the sidelines?

I'd also be surprised if "cheap developers" was not a common thing in other places like Edmonton, Kitchener and Hamilton too...

So what gives Ottawa? Are other city councils actually invested in the look & design of new builds in other cities?

I was wondering the same thing. Do city councils elsewhere send developers back to the drawing board if a building is ugly or even drab? I know that aesthetic considerations are common in certain historic districts in some places, but for the most part it's the architect's client that drives aesthetics - or lack thereof.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

The feds don't buy or dictate styling for condos though. And the city could absolutely impose design standards on federal development if it wanted. It just has a rather deferential relationship.

Good point about condos but as Proof Sheet says I think that the federal presence is so big that it colours the entire sector in the city.

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Good point about condos but as Proof Sheet says I think that the federal presence is so big that it colours the entire sector in the city.

That's less the federal government than just the innate suburbanite nature of Mississauga on Rideau. It's not just condos. We build some ugly subdivisions too. Cities built around people whose only priorities are to be able to drive to work for as little as possible in taxes and fees will never be good looking.

People blame the federal government and public servants for this mindset. And I used to think this too. But then I started looking at the tech enclave in Kanata. You want to talk about ugly......

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

That's less the federal government than just the innate suburbanite nature of Mississauga on Rideau. It's not just condos. We build some ugly subdivisions too. Cities built around people whose only priorities are to be able to drive to work for as little as possible in taxes and fees will never be good looking.

People blame the federal government and public servants for this mindset. And I used to think this too. But then I started looking at the tech enclave in Kanata. You want to talk about ugly......

The tech enclave was at its origins created by former public servants who lost their government jobs in downsizing, was it not?

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by Acajack

The tech enclave was at its origins created by former public servants who lost their government jobs in downsizing, was it not?

Decades ago maybe. What's their excuse since then?

It's a bizarre idea, that just public servants make for a terrible city. Are the public servants making Halifax, or Québec City or Victoria ugly? Are other levels of government especially concerned about aesthetics with office buildings? Are their public servants so much more fashionable? I just don't see it.

What I do see is a highly suburbanized metro that essentially was created out of an amalgam of suburbs. So the suburban mindset and ethos pervades everything. That includes shitty building designs.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

Decades ago maybe. What's their excuse since then?

It's a bizarre idea, that just public servants make for a terrible city. Are the public servants making Halifax, or Québec City or Victoria ugly? Are other levels of government especially concerned about aesthetics with office buildings? Are their public servants so much more fashionable? I just don't see it.

What I do see is a highly suburbanized metro that essentially was created out of an amalgam of suburbs. So the suburban mindset and ethos pervades everything. That includes shitty building designs.

Sorry, didn't want to sound like I was bashing on public servants.

And Ottawa isn't a terrible city of course. Just a bit underwhelming compared to what it could be.

As for the original structure of the city, I am not sure it's that different than many other "great" cities out there so not sure it has that big an impact.

Ottawa has a pretty good historic core, better than most cities to the west of it in Canada or even on the continent.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Acajack

The tech enclave was at its origins created by former public servants who lost their government jobs in downsizing, was it not?

Kanata North tech Park started in the 80s, before the Chrétien cuts of the mid-90s. Did Mulroney make any significant cuts?

I was very young/before my time, so I'm not fully aware of how it all happened.

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Sorry, didn't want to sound like I was bashing on public servants.

Didn't mean to suggest you were. But it's a common enough refrain. "Ottawa is boring because it's a government town.". We've all heard it. But people often say this as a way to excuse and deflect from a lot of the poor choices Ottawa has made.

Originally Posted by Acajack

And Ottawa isn't a terrible city of course. Just a bit underwhelming compared to what it could be.

Sadly yes. And I'll go back to what I said. It's the suburban nature of it. You know what you build when you want to provide a walkable area for suburbanites who want to drive to the place? Kanata Centrum. That's the kind of cultural attraction you'll get when you design a city around cars. And that same mindset pervades everything else.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

Didn't mean to suggest you were. But it's a common enough refrain. "Ottawa is boring because it's a government town.". We've all heard it. But people often say this as a way to excuse and deflect from a lot of the poor choices Ottawa has made.



Sadly yes. And I'll go back to what I said. It's the suburban nature of it. You know what you build when you want to provide a walkable area for suburbanites who want to drive to the place? Kanata Centrum. That's the kind of cultural attraction you'll get when you design a city around cars. And that same mindset pervades everything else.

I think even the oldest of our cities went through phases with an initial pre-car development era, then a period where they sacrificed a lot to accommodate the private car within the urban structure. Even Montreal and Toronto were pro-car for quite some time but they and other cities have been moving away from that for a while now. Ottawa has only timidly been doing that and even so it's mostly in the core whereas in the outer areas which are the fastest growing ones it's almost still business as usual like in the old days.

[Harley613]

Wowwww...we would have to tear down over half the buildings built in this century so far were Ottawa city council to hold developers to their approved designs.... this is INCREDIBLE.

https://www.theguardian.com/global/2...droidApp_Other

[J.OT13]

That's pretty bad. Have a fine system, don't tear down. With housing crisis (don't know if that's going on in the UK), the environment...

[OTSkyline]

The only place worst than Ottawa in terms of design & quality builds is Kitchener-Waterloo.

Guys, look...

[J.OT13]

That's not a far stretch from this:



https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/sho...obinson&page=3

[Tesladom]

Originally Posted by OTSkyline

The only place worst than Ottawa in terms of design & quality builds is Kitchener-Waterloo.

Guys, look...

Looks like modern take on Soviet style buildings

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by OTSkyline

The only place worst than Ottawa in terms of design & quality builds is Kitchener-Waterloo.

I'm not overly lookist with buildings, being all about them ground and lower floors, but even this one has me involuntarily humming the Soviet national anthem.