The Great Canadian Skyline Thread! II - Page 35

isaidso · #**681** Posted **Apr 28, 2012, 6:07 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by haljackey

I wish Canada could do something like this:

We could have if we had 300 million people to tax.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rico Rommheim

Problem is nobody in this country would notice, or care.

You'd be surprised how many aerospace enthusiasts there are out there. I'm not one, but have to admit to being impressed during the air show when they fly the fighter jets over the city. They're quite something.

Travis007 · #**682** Posted **Apr 28, 2012, 5:17 PM**

Photo by Shawnmcglock on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shawnmcglock/6964924586/

caltrane74 · #**683** Posted **Apr 28, 2012, 8:37 PM**

Toronto's skyline is filling out. That shot will look a bit better next year with the mirror walled ICE Towers stealing the show.

Chadillaccc · #**684** Posted **Apr 28, 2012, 11:25 PM**

Holy crap. I wish we had a picture from the exact same vantage point, 7 years ago.

The skyline is really looking great!

KnoxfordGuy · #**685** Posted **Apr 28, 2012, 11:56 PM**

The CN Tower will always be a monster. Huge part of the Toronto skyline for many many years to come!

Martin Mtl · #**686** Posted **Apr 29, 2012, 12:16 AM**

It's quite impressive, although we have the impression that half of the high-rises or more on the pic were made with the same mold or by the same architect, with the same materials.

Chadillaccc · #**687** Posted **Apr 29, 2012, 1:07 AM**

It does seem that way, yes.

agrant · #**688** Posted **Apr 29, 2012, 1:12 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martin Mtl

It's quite impressive, although we have the impression that half of the high-rises or more on the pic were made with the same mold or by the same architect, with the same materials.

I wonder where that idea came from?

chrisallard5454 · #**689** Posted **Apr 29, 2012, 1:18 AM**

Though I like Toronto's skyline, I find that to be a very unflattering angle. Lots of empty spaces, and there is to much of the same as previously stated.

leftimage · #**690** Posted **Apr 29, 2012, 1:19 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by agrant

I wonder where that idea came from?

I was gonna say, it looks like Van with a CN Tower in this pic lol. Still mighty impressive. From most vantages though the buildings don't all look the same.

agrant · #**691** Posted **Apr 29, 2012, 1:28 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by leftimage

I was gonna say, it looks like Van with a CN Tower in this pic lol. Still mighty impressive. From most vantages though the buildings don't all look the same.

It begs the question though... why always blue for new buildings these days? And are we stuck with blue for eternity? Probably not.

someone123 · #**692** Posted **Apr 29, 2012, 1:35 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by agrant

It begs the question though... why always blue for new buildings these days? And are we stuck with blue for eternity? Probably not.

It mostly seems to be a Toronto/Vancouver phenomenon. In Calgary the designs from the past few years seem to be all over the place. Montreal has a lot of variety despite having fewer buildings. Halifax has fewer still but many different styles and liberal colour choices.

I suspect the reason for the blue glass condos is that Toronto and Vancouver have a small number of large builders who throw up buildings very quickly and stick with a formula that works.

Ramako · #**693** Posted **Apr 29, 2012, 3:36 AM**

Most of the buildings that look identical in that photo are CityPlace, which is a massive master-planned community by Concord, a Vancouver-based developer. What you are seeing is indeed a "Vancouverisation" of Toronto's skyline. Fortunately, the effect is less pronounced from most other angles.

Martin Mtl · #**694** Posted **Apr 29, 2012, 3:39 AM**

The Ritz Carlton should at least have made an effort. The silhouette is refined, but the cladding makes it look just like any other green/blue glass box.

hockey rules! · #**695** Posted **Apr 29, 2012, 3:42 AM**

Wow amazing picture of Toronto. Downtown has been filled with new condo towers everywhere! You really have a nice skyline...you would just need mountains at the back like Montreal on Vancouver and it would look even better.

vanman · #**696** Posted **Apr 29, 2012, 9:01 AM**

The clear blue glass is what bothers me as well. I mean it doesn't matter if a building's composition is different, if everything is clad with the exact same glazing it all blends together and looks homogenous. I honestly believe that Vancouver has excellent architectural variety, but everything gets washed out because of this. Blue/green glass is at least not nearly as ubiquitous in Toronto as it is in Van.........yet.

Nouvellecosse · #**697** Posted **Apr 29, 2012, 9:58 AM**

So true on both points. Unfortunately it seems Toronto developers are making every attempt to catch up.

dleung · #**698** Posted **Apr 29, 2012, 12:02 PM**

I fully disagree and believe the problem is more the architecture than the colour of glass. How many colours are people willing to use on a building anyway? The logical end to this line of thought is a skyline that looks like a box of crayons. A lot of the usual complaints about transparency and seeing the blinds makes me wonder if people are longing for that mirrored crap from the 80's or on soulless dubai proposals that look like uninhabited sculptures for that very reason.

For me, the ideal glass colour is 100% clear or white from an angle. Technology has brought us past the time when windows were small and cladding was everything. Now we can make the envelope disappear and let the insides tell the story.

There are countless beautiful historic cities all over the planet, yet all the buildings in those cities are identical in style save for a few landmarks. Buildings only looked different if their purpose or scale was different. The need for architectural variety for the sake of variety is a very recent, post-modern, idea. One has to assume that it is to make up for a declining aesthetic on an urban level, and our inability to resolve it with a template that can be repeated and still looks good.

Jodhpur, a city where all the buildings are blue:

http://www.thecoolist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Jodhpur-India-4.jpg

even new buildings:

http://luxedb.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Raas-Hotel-in-Jodhpur-India-2.jpg

Andrewjm3D · #**699** Posted **Apr 29, 2012, 12:42 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by vanman

The clear blue glass is what bothers me as well. I mean it doesn't matter if a building's composition is different, if everything is clad with the exact same glazing it all blends together and looks homogenous. I honestly believe that Vancouver has excellent architectural variety, but everything gets washed out because of this. Blue/green glass is at least not nearly as ubiquitous in Toronto as it is in Van.........yet.

Vancouver up until now has lead the way with some of the best new residential architecture on the continent. It's very true though that they all get washed out and blended into one big blue green blob. Variety done well certainly makes a skyline more interesting.

As for that painted blue city, it would be great to visit but if I was going to spend anytime there I think I'd go crazy.

DrJoe · #**700** Posted **Apr 29, 2012, 12:43 PM**

I honestly don't see the problem. The picture is focused on an area of Toronto thats has recently developed, of course the buildings will look similar. It's no different than any other city or any other era of building. Think New York and all the art deco it built. The theme of the day happens to be blue/green glass. As time passes new buildings will plop up in between the towers creating more variety.