Canada's 10 Tallest U/C

[kool maudit]

This is good SSP. Very classic.

The CN Tower is often underestimated. A lot of people think it is something like the Space Needle. As the diagram shows, however, it is very substantial even when compared to a beast like the Sears Tower.

As far as beasts go, though... Chicago's '70s giants are just very commanding in a way that Toronto's towers are not. They are tall, broad and opaque.

Towers like The One and One Yonge would actually need to be significantly taller than something like Aon Center before having a similar visual impact.

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by kool maudit

This is good SSP. Very classic.

The CN Tower is often underestimated. A lot of people think it is something like the Space Needle. As the diagram shows, however, it is very substantial even when compared to a beast like the Sears Tower.

As far as beasts go, though... Chicago's '70s giants are just very commanding in a way that Toronto's towers are not. They are tall, broad and opaque.

Towers like The One and One Yonge would actually need to be significantly taller than something like Aon Center before having a similar visual impact.

I think that applies to office skyscrapers more broadly - at least post-war office skyscrapers. They almost always have larger floor plates. AON and Sears are fully office while Hancock is half office. And there doesn't seem to be much chance of Canada getting an office supertall. FCP got remarkably close but they've all been shorter since then. Office supertalls seem to be rare in NA in general (outside of NYC). SF and Philadelphia each got one within the last decade but neither has occupied floors above 300m. Both reach that height with roof elements pushing them above 300m which is also different than the Chicago examples.

But fortunately, you don't necessarily need to be "the same" to be as good. Being wider can have more visual impact in terms of occupying more space visually, but being thinner also can make things seem taller and more dramatic. So we'll have to see how it plays out.

[biguc]

Originally Posted by kool maudit

This is good SSP. Very classic.

CN Tower v Sears Tower is vintage 2004 shit. I never thought I'd see its like again. Worth logging in for.

Toronto's skyline has grown a lot in 20 years. Give it another twenty and you could probably plunk the Entertainment District into Liberty Village, Yorktown into East Core, and South Core into the Portlands. That will probably beat Chicago. It almost certainly will if some 400m towers go up.

And then there's everything going on elsewhere in the metro. Toronto's starting to get a South American megacity look, with all the secondary skylines popping up. Imagine things when Eglington is a 15km long skyline. How do you even compare Chicago's skyline with a Chicago-lite skyline set in Sao Paulo?

[TorontoDrew]

I don't think it will matter if Toronto has more supertalls, or a 400m tower, the sheer number of official skyscrapers will just eclipse Chicago and every other north American city except for NYC.

I doubt anybody here will say Dubai has an amazing skyline and they have 36 Supertalls built or U/C. As of right now Chicago's skyline layout works better then Toronto's when viewed from the lakes. That will change going into the future.

[hipster duck]

Originally Posted by TorontoDrew

I don't think it will matter if Toronto has more supertalls, or a 400m tower, the sheer number of official skyscrapers will just eclipse Chicago and every other north American city except for NYC.

I doubt anybody here will say Dubai has an amazing skyline and they have 36 Supertalls built or U/C. As of right now Chicago's skyline layout works better then Toronto's when viewed from the lakes. That will change going into the future.

I think Dubai has an amazing skyline.

[TorontoDrew]

That is a pretty cool angle, but personally it just doesn't feel like a real city. The Burj is a beautiful tower however.

[Nouvellecosse]

I'm shocked that anyone would doubt that Dubai has a spectacular skyline. I hear a lot of criticisms of Dubai including that it's too car oriented, unethical labour practices, environmentally unsustainable, etc. But its skyline?

[WhipperSnapper]

Dubai is an ensemble of unfinished mega master plans surrounding the old city of Deira. Developers keep increasing the number of masterplans before finishing the existing ones. That goes for towers as well. So many rotting half finished towers. It just comes across as an auto centric sandy hell hole. The supertalls are very spread out across the masterplans

I'm hopeful it will come together in my lifetime.

[niwell]

The silhouette of the skyline from certain angles is neat, but when details of the buildings come into view not so much IMO. Was never a fan of Burj Khalifa personally - it lacks the integration with the surrounding area that supertalls in NYC or Chicago have.

[TorontoDrew]

Okay let's see if we can veer back to Canada's top 10 now before we invoke another cities name.

[WhipperSnapper]

One Yonge 2 could be 450 metres with Dubai slab heights

[Maldive]

The One | 328.4m | 91s | Mizrahi Developments | Foster + Partners l u/c

Crane jump.


BloorMan

BloorMan

BloorMan

BloorMan

[Innsertnamehere]

In the opposite theme of this thread, one of Canada’s tallest structures was demolished today:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WP2-r9VHa3o

[softee]

^ And now since CHCH moved to their new tower way to the West on the other side of Hamilton I can't pick up their OTA signal with my window antenna any more from the East side of downtown Toronto. Bummer.

[Maldive]

The One (centre) and 11 YV rising together.


MaybeThisTimeIllWin


Pinnacle One Yonge | 344.9m | 105s | Pinnacle | Hariri Pontarini l u/c


Riseth

A tower crane sitting on a platform 20 feet up the building.


Riseth

88 floors to go ;-).


mburrrrr


The One and 11 YV in the b/g (8 Wellesley on the left).


j_yyz

[TorontoDrew]

8 Wellesley looking good!

[Maldive]

Pinnacle One Yonge | 344.9m | 105s | Pinnacle | Hariri Pontarini l u/c


Jeff Morgan


Concord Sky | 299m/300.6m | 85s | Concord Adex | a—A l u/c

The first floor above grade (hey hey party time ;-).


rdaner

[Maldive]

The One | 328.4m | 91s | Mizrahi Developments | Foster + Partners l u/c

Raising the core.


BloorMan

Johnny Au

Johnny Au

[Harley613]

Originally Posted by niwell

The silhouette of the skyline from certain angles is neat, but when details of the buildings come into view not so much IMO. Was never a fan of Burj Khalifa personally - it lacks the integration with the surrounding area that supertalls in NYC or Chicago have.

Ohhhh there's a lot I don't like about Dubai, and areas of the city I really dislike, but in my personal opinion, the Burj Khalifa and Downtown Dubai is one of the coolest urban environments on Earth. The omnipresence of the Burj Khalifa as the centrepiece of the area IS the integration. It's unchallenged for a reason. Have you visited?

[WhipperSnapper]

Downtown Dubai was sand when I was in Dubai but, I've seen enough of it. It's very masterplanned with delineated subdivisions. I personally need some history, organic development and traditional pedestrianized street grids to feel coolness.