Future Canadian Skylines - Page 4

MrChills · #61 Posted **Dec 2, 2008, 4:22 PM**

The Toronto Skyline looks sick!

It would be interesting to see a birds eye view of the GTA, and Horseshoe area to see all the development and swallowing of land over the years. It's amazing how much the area has been developed over the years and continues to sprawl out and up

WhipperSnapper · #62 Posted **Dec 2, 2008, 4:26 PM**

^^^yeah, the eastern waterfront is lacking transit connections, above that an established midrise community with an above average amount of heritage structure, and above that, a slum/wasteland by Canadian standards. Big changes a-happening in the eastern half but, hard to say if it will be that skyline altering. The big three re-development projects covering some 100 city blocks are mostly six to ten storeys.

caltrane74 · #63 Posted **Dec 2, 2008, 5:31 PM**

Regent Park and St. Lawerence Market are the areas heading east towards the Don River. - Not zoned for High Rise, at least not yet.

Market Wharf (St. Lawerence Market) is the exception at the moment. - It's at the far right of the render Maldive did.

Coldrsx · #64 Posted **Dec 2, 2008, 6:49 PM**

Regent Park is moving to high-rise... and awesome at that in its rebirth!

when i was in Boston at Greenbuild, i had a great presentation from the Toronto Public Housing guys

http://www.regentparkplan.ca

WhipperSnapper · #65 Posted **Dec 2, 2008, 7:36 PM**

"high-rise" compared to Cityplace or Fort York Neighbourhood?

Maldive · #66 Posted **Dec 2, 2008, 7:40 PM**

Thanks for chiming in guys... "the squeaky wheel" theory... when I need a little lovin' after spending (wasting?) 3 hours on one friggin' building (Aura) as I did this past weekend for the "ultimate" rendering I alluded too... I stop and recite the mantra "do this for yourself and don't do it for the applause"... but I am clearly a needy, shameless attention-whore who needs the affirmation of others to continue the work... translation: the applause mitigates the ridiculous amount of time I spend doing these things instead of doing something useful with my career or life

Quote:

Why does 335 King West look shorter than 300 Front Street when it's supposed to be 20 metres taller?

Also, from that particular angle, shouldn't the RBC Centre appear almost directly behind Simcoe Place rather than next to it?

^No. I work from recent photographs so most rendered buildings are 90+% accurate in height and location according to the chosen POV. The pano assumes a head turning in both directions... since no-one's periphal visions could capture this in one glance. BTW, there's a reason no-one from Toronto has issues with "perceived heights" because... they know this a render of what the eye might see from this POV, not a flat collection of drawings on the same plane (such as the diagram page).

And we all know a building 1000 feet tall that sits blocks north of a 700 foot building, when viewed from grade/lake/human POVs... looks shorter than it is. Skylines aren't flat to scale... they have depth, and the perceived height of a building in a skyline is contingent on it's location/distance away from the naked eye.

You must know this "naked eye" concept... perhaps you don't know this POV of Toronto though. That's in fact why I did this render... because ICE (located just north of the Gardiner Expressway) looks so damn tall relative to the much taller FCP which is located 5 blocks north.

To answer your specific query... 335 King is north of 300 Front Street West... voila... looks shorter than if they were side by side.

P.S. on the eastern skyline issue.... the pano is ridiculously wide so it had to stop somewhere, so it stopped at Jarvis. In the future, the east of Jarvis waterfront will indeed be born though not as dramatic as west of downtown. The East Bayfront project (Jarvis all the way to Parliament) will have tallish "medium rise" built form with very tall clusters at key intersections Jarvis, Sherbourne and Parliament. Near Parliament, the 30 storey Pure Spirit will be joined by two taller towers called Clear Spirit (about to begin construction). Also... as Cal pointed out, the highrises of the $1 Billion Regent Park revitalization will duck into the waterfront east skyline despite being well north (not much in the way so you'll see 'em).

WhipperSnapper · #67 Posted **Dec 2, 2008, 8:10 PM**

Quote:

Regent Park revitalization will duck into the waterfront east skyline despite being well north

True, the 24 storey "chimney" dominates as if it were 40 storeys

Ramako · #68 Posted **Dec 2, 2008, 8:49 PM**

Maldive, thanks for your answer..

I'm aware of the dynamic of skyline POV's and I'm also familiar with Toronto, from this and other perspectives, since I was born and raised there.

My specific inquiry with regards to 335 King West is that, even taking everything you've mentioned into consideration, it still seems too short. For example, 335 King would be closer to the lake than Festival Tower, which is on the north side of King, yet it appears to be the exact same height even though it would be 20 metres taller.

The reason I bring up the location of the RBC Centre is because I've been looking at this recent photo of the skyline:

Based on the position of buildings around the Skydome and the visibility of BA Centre, it looks as though this photo was taken from further east than the photo you used for your template. You can see that RBC is already half eclipsed by Simcoe Place. I'm assuming that if this same photo were taken from a slightly more westerly position (facing Skydome directly), that RBC would be even more hidden by Simcoe Place.

I know it's nitpicking, but you should take the fact that I'm staring at your renderings so much as a compliment.

ExcaliburKid · #69 Posted **Dec 2, 2008, 8:52 PM**

We need one of the Edmonton-Specials up here to show our "future skyline". AKA Microsoft Paint-over-generic-downtown-photo.

Maldive · #70 Posted **Dec 2, 2008, 9:30 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ramako

Maldive, thanks for your answer..

I'm aware of the dynamic of skyline POV's and I'm also familiar with Toronto, from this and other perspectives, since I was born and raised there.

My specific inquiry with regards to 335 King West is that, even taking everything you've mentioned into consideration, it still seems too short. For example, 335 King would be closer to the lake than Festival Tower, which is on the north side of King, yet it appears to be the exact same height even though it would be 20 metres taller.

The reason I bring up the location of the RBC Centre is because I've been looking at this recent photo of the skyline:

Based on the position of buildings around the Skydome and the visibility of BA Centre, it looks as though this photo was taken from further east than the photo you used for your template. You can see that RBC is already half eclipsed by Simcoe Place. I'm assuming that if this same photo were taken from a slightly more westerly position (facing Skydome directly), that RBC would be even more hidden by Simcoe Place.

I know it's nitpicking, but you should take the fact that I'm staring at your renderings so much as a compliment.

Sorry ... didn't know you were from Toronto. Ignore all the POV crap comments. Perhaps this will be more useful

The pic you posted is useful. You'll note that RBC lines up perfectly a bit behind Simcoe Place, as it does in my render. This indeed was the starting/middle point of the render.

The key here is future "render" versus future "photo".

Working with a pano this wide that is not distorted, fish-eyed or otherwise weird as hell requires a certain conceit.. that is to say... it's fact meets future but not one confined to a single shot from a camera lens.

Since no-one could even see this vista in one glance... just as no camera pano could approximate this without "stitching"...let's approximate the "impact" if we were sitting in the lake, sipping martinis, occasionally turning our heads to west (and perhaps drifting a bit west courtesy of a warm mid-day breeze) and then turning our heads to the east and drifting back east.... I call this "scrolling" ;-)

So the east/west pov assumes some scrolling/drifting... but the north/south POV tries to accurate represent "perceived" scale (big buildings looking shorter than they are because they are well north of us ... and we've had a few martinis).

So it's a stitched pano with a bit of drift. Does that make sense? It's ultimately artistic license of course but a render like this communicates far more (which is my intent) than a distorted camera POV because every "slice" of the render is fairly well scaled and accurate from the general POV.

*In other words, you WILL be able to see any large slice of this pano, from a real POV, south of the waterfront, sometime in the future....

Ramako · #71 Posted **Dec 2, 2008, 9:37 PM**

^^

That explanation is more than suitable for me! Much appreciated.

WhipperSnapper · #72 Posted **Dec 2, 2008, 10:39 PM**

335 King is more vison than an actually proposal when it comes down to it. Mirvish ain't a Muzzo or Del Zotto and, even if he does manage to break ground, in all likelihood it won't be for anything near 170m tall.

Maldive · #73 Posted **Dec 2, 2008, 10:55 PM**

Damn, I like a bracing cold shower as much as the next surfer, (without a wetsuit), but I was trying to rinse the conditioner from my hair under a trickle of warm H2O... and zap... brrrrrrrr.

WhipperSnapper · #74 Posted **Dec 3, 2008, 5:53 AM**

Shock to the system ... don't want to end up in Muzzo or Del Zotto's condition.

I just shave my head and call it a day

Maldive · #75 Posted **Dec 6, 2008, 7:07 PM**

Thought I'd keep this thread alive while I work on a mega-pano... for those who might be interested in the process. Everything is done in Photoshop.

I was able to purchase a huge rights-free daytime pano (thumbnail example below) of Toronto that goes all the way from Fort York to Jarvis (such as the pano I did for this thread) PLUS continues northeast all the way to Yonge & Eglinton (see Quantum identified).

I couldn't believe Yonge & Eglinton would be viewed but when I zoomed in... sure enough... it was Quantum (Minto)... elevation changes obviously help.

This pano angle is indeed the ultimate POV/angle that I alluded to earlier in the thread, same angle as Cherry Beach .. just further south of the Islands.. and serves as my guide to position and scale the new buildings I draw.

I've chosen to use a sunset into night approach which is one of the most beautiful times to view the skyline. This is a real sunset phenomenon just past "magic hour" in Toronto because the sun actually sets on a 45 degree angle from the western shore, thus buildings near the waterfront can appear lit like a typical night skyline shot (interior lights), while those well north of the water are "in between"... reflecting the sunset sky, with a hint of interior lights starting to be revealed.

Challenging to say the least.

As an example, I've included pieces of a few of the buildings I have drawn so far for the pano (various scales)... I'm sure most will be recognized... anyone know what the larger example on the left is?

Ramako · #76 Posted **Dec 6, 2008, 9:59 PM**

Festival Tower?

Do you ever do any drawings for the diagram section?

koops65 · #77 Posted **Dec 6, 2008, 10:01 PM**

I'm guessing Festival Tower...

Maldive · #78 Posted **Dec 6, 2008, 10:46 PM**

^^ Not even close... and if you think I'm using sloppy crayolas.. this scribble exactly matches the elevation, and the southeast face that you will see from the chosen POV.

I think you were seduced by the grid-like crown-element (very similar to Festival) and didn't look at the rest of the building. Festival Tower? No. You must think I suck at this!!

Enjoy, next guess (yes it's a tall one but rarely discussed). Under construction too.

WhipperSnapper · #79 Posted **Dec 7, 2008, 12:36 AM**

Yeah, the spit is best for panoramas from the east ... have an outdated

framed pano up in the office

no clue on the building so just a guess ... crystal blu (because of the midtown theme)

koops65 · #80 Posted **Dec 7, 2008, 1:25 AM**

U Condominiums?